Kalyan's Devgandharva Mahotsav begins Thursday
MUMBAI: The 'Kalyan Gayan Samaj' is organising a three day festival, �Devgandharva Mahotsav' from 12 to 14 December 2008. This annual festival is scheduled to be held at Aatre Rangmandir, Kalyan.
Devgandharva Mahotsav organiser Ram Joshi says, This is the seventh year that we would be conducting a three day festival. Our basic motive is to restore and preserve classical music and traditional dance forms....
On the first day, veteran singer Hariharan will render soulful ghazals at 8.30 pm. The second day would have vocal performances by classical singer Devki Pandit and Pandit Ajay Pohankar at 8.30 pm. The festival will conclude on Sunday with a Kathak performance by Aditi Bhagvat in the morning and in the evening a performance by Zitarist Niladri Kumar. The concluding act would be a fusion by Flautist Roopak Kulkarni, tabla player Satyajit Talvalkar and others
Initiated in the year 2002, the artistes featured in the festival include Vishwamohan Bhatt (Guitar), Perveen Sultana(Vocal) Suresh Wadkar ( Sugam Sangeet) in the first year. In the second year, the festival was inaugurated by the Union Minister for Petroleum Ram Naik and featured Shubha Mudgal (vocal), Ronu Mazumdar (Bansuri) , 'Nakshatranche Dene' , a programme of bhavgeet and the musical play 'Matsyagandha' directed by Hemant Karnik.
In the past few years, the festival organised by Kalyan Gayan Samaj saw artists like Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Smt. Shruti Sadolikar Katkar, Ulhas Kashlkar, Ram Deshpande Dr Ashwini Bhide Deshpande, Rashid Khan (vocal), Satish Vyas (santoor), Hariprasad Chaurasia enthralling the audiences with their performances.
Although, it was initially decided to hold the festival only for five years we know that the huge audience response will not let us sit quietly. Seeing a good feedback over the years, we have resolved to keep it going and make it an annual event to look forward to,... says Joshi.
Kalyan Gayan Samaj was set up in 1926 and is one of the oldest cultural institutions in the country. It was established as a monument to the memory of the legend Bhaskarbuwa Bakhle, one of the titanic figures of Hindustani music in the early 20th century.
