Music and Maestros

The 9th edition of Thumri Festival organised by Sahitya Kala Parishad, Department of Art, Culture and Languages, Government of Delhi came to a close on September 25, 2019.

Manish Sisodia, Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, thanked the audience by saying, "With every passing year, Thumri Festival is getting bigger with exciting line-up of artists and I am glad that you all have accepted it with open arms. We the entire team of Sahitya Kala Parishad along with Department of Art, Culture, and Languages, Government of Delhi are grateful to you all for this success. I also take this opportunity to thank all the artists who came forward to promote Thumri on such a large scale. Hope we keep on encouraging our young artists to take forward the heritage of Thumri."

On the first day, the evening witnessed some mesmerising performances by eminent artists. Devashish Dey who has an integrated influences from the three leading Gharanas – Banaras Gharana, Agra Gharana and Gwalior Gharana presented Thumri in Raag Des which was followed by a Banarasi Kajri which is a rainy seasonal song. Later, he performed Jhoola which is a song of swings. After his performance, Debapriya Adhikary and Samanwaya presented their act. They performed Tappa, Khayal showing the elements of Thumri in it. Besides, they also performed Bandishi Thumri, Dadra, Jhula to name a few. AratiAnkalikar-Tikekar concluded the evening with her performance.

The second day also saw some exciting artist line-up. The event started by Pandit Sarathi Chatterjee whose first performance was 'Baiyyanpackadlini Shyam, kaise jau main apne dhaam' in Raag Misra Pilu. This was followed by second piece –'Baalam nahi aye more paas', ending his act with 'Paiyyanlaagu kar jori shyam, mose ek hel na hori'. Followed by his performance was of Pandit Ganesh Prasad Mishra, who performed 'Hatojao re na bolo kanha', composed by his father Pandit Mahadev Prasad Mishra. Later he sang pieces like bol banao thumri 'ab na bajao Shyam bansuria vyakul bhayee brij baam', 'Na manungi, namanungi', 'Jhuladheere se jhulao'. The evening came to an end with AshiwiniBhide-Deshpande's mesmerising performance.

The last day was started with a soulful performance by Pandit Rajendra Sijuar, who represents the 'Gaya Gharana'. His first performance was 'mad se bhare tore nain', followed by 'saiyan bulaave aadhi raat'. He concluded his performance with 'naa jaaa balam pardes'. The second performance of the evening was by Dhanashree Pandit Rai. Her first piece was 'Bairan Ho gayi Raina', followed by 'Mor balamwa nahi aaye'. As the evening proceeded, her third piece was Jhoola in taalkehrva 'Jhooladheere se jhulao' and the last performance was 'Sakhiri mora maike mein jiya ghabraye'.

The very well renowned Pandit Channulal Mishra from Banaras concluded the three day long festival with his enthralling performance.