IGNCA's seventh full moon concert highlights Gurbani

Every month, on the occasion of 'Purnima' (full moon), IGNCA organises 'Purnima Concert'. In this series Manju Patil, Pandit Rono Majumdar, Jayanti Kumaresh, Vidushi Debasamita Bhattacharya, Pratyush Bannerjee, Vidushi M Rajam, Bhai Shastu etc. have given their presentations.

So far, six 'Purnima Concert' gathering has been organised. The seventh event of the series was recently held in the center's Amphitheater, in which Dr Alankar Singh presented the classical style of Gurubani Kirtan. Gurbani Kirtan was organised keeping in mind the light festival of Guru Nanak which was celebrated on November 23 across the country.

Alankar Singh is the only and first artist to perform Gurubani Kirtan. He has been awarded the Ustad Bismillah Khan Youth Award by the Sangeet Natak Akademi and is currently working as Assistant Professor in the Music department of Punjab University.

At the beginning of his singing career, Dr Alankar Singh said, "About 90 words in Guru Granth Sahib are based on Indian ragas, and there are some ragas that can be used only in Shabad. He started his singing with Tukhari Raga, whose lyrics were 'Sahib des-bidesh aane', after which he sang 'Kasi Aarti Hoya pavakhand' in Raga Dhanshree. In Raga Kirhvani, he sang 'Kaltaran Guru Nanak aaya, Kalayuge Babe Taraa'. In the end, he sang shabad on the base of social equality in Kalavati Raga 'Jahar Pir Jagat Baba, Kudrat kis di kare javba, Gang banaras hindaan, Muslamana makka kaba, Kar-kar Baba ga dia'. On behalf of IGNCA the Member Secretary Dr Sachchidanand Joshi honored Dr Alankar and other performers. At the event, a large number of young artists along with renowned senior artists of the country were present.