Manish Sisodia inaugurates Delhi Classical Music Festival

Sahitya Kala Parishad, Delhi Government's art and culture wing opened the Delhi Classical Music Festival on November 23, 2019 at Sunder Nursery, Hazrat Nizamuddin, New Delhi.

This festival represents journey of Indian classical music with the line-up of eminent artists and their exponential disciples. On first day of the festival, Manish Sisodia, Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi and the chief guest of the event inaugurated the festival with lamp lighting which was followed by the inaugural performance by the Sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan.

The audience was left mesmerized by witnessing the legend playing the Sarod live. Performing against the backdrop of Humanyu Tomb, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan Ji dedicated his performance to Mahatma Gandhi. He played some of Gandhiji's favourite devotional songs like 'Vaishnav Jan tu' 'Ram dhun' and a few other ragas celebrating his 150th birthday. Sharing his experience on playing the Sarod at Delhi Classical Music event, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan Ji said, "Usually the organisers of the other shows schedule my performance at the end of the show and because of this my listeners sometimes had to give a miss due to late night timings. I am glad and thankful that Sahitya Kala Parishad team made my performance as the inaugural act so that my listeners can come and cherish the music."

Talking further about the music, he adds, "I feel connected with every region of the world because my audience comprises of all the religions. I have played inside Tirupati temple, Golden Temple, Gurudawara. In the world, music is considered as a source of entertainment, but in our country we believe in 'Swar hi Ishwar hai'.

The evening continued with the melodious gayaki by noted Hindustani classical vocalist Padma Talwalkar.

Her music represents the blend of three main gharanas namely Gwalior, Kirana and Jaipur. Pandit Jasraj Ji was supposed to perform at this festival but due to his bad health, he had to give it a miss.

The festival will continue on second and third day with eminent artists like Apoorva Gokhale and Pallavi Joshi, Shri Rajendra Prasanna, Faiyaz Wasifuddin Dagar, Kaivalya Kumar Gaurav, Pandit Harish Tiwari and Pt.Umakant Gundecha, Anant Gundecha and Akhilesh Gundecha