Sahaj Parav music fest enthralls Kolkata

Sahaj Parav, a four-day root music festival organized recently in the city by Lopamudra Mitra and Kalikaprasad Bhattacharya, saw soulful performances by some of the biggest names of Indian music.
The event, inaugurated by ShubhaMudgal, started with SahajJatra — a carnival of baul, kabigaan, chhau, fakiri and other art forms.
SONGS OF THE SOIL: This apart, exhibitions on Indian folk instruments, aalpona and Assam'ssattariya dance kept the guests engrossed.Veteran folk artistes SalabatMahato, Mansur Fakir, SaraswatiDevi, GirijaDevi, Purna Das Baul, Amar Paul among others were felicitated at the festival. A folk instrumental jamming concert had the audience in a spell. Day Two saw performances by jhumur, baul, fakiri and bhawaiya artistes. The chhau dance of Purulia and Pirergaan by Imran Ali Khan were much appreciated. A musical performance by a few kids, using junk items, had the guests asking for more.
PLAYING IT UP: On Day Three, Kolkatans enjoyed a TaalVadya performance by S Sekhar. It was followed by a stellar performance by ParvathyBaul and Mame Khan. Day Four was dedicated to art forms of Bangladesh. MahajonerNao, a play based on Shah Abdul Karim's life, was a crowd-puller. Soon after, renditions by Fakir Latif Shah and ChandanaMazumder followed. Special guest KailashKher and ParvathyBaul took to the stage for an impromptu gig. A host of celebs attended the event to support the initiative.