Abhangache rang soaks audience in devotion

NAGPUR: It was an evening soaked in devotion at Chitnavis Centre on Wednesday where Pt Sanjeev Abhyankar presented some selected abhangs of noted saints of Maharashtra. Titled ‘Abhangache Ranga’ and organized by MTDC in association with Kalidas Samaroh Organizing Committee, the event marked the closure of Kalidas festival organized late last month. Maharashtra governor C Vidyasagar presided over the function.
A vocalist of Mewati gharana, Abhyankar is famous for his devotional songs most of which are composed by him.This evening he picked up abhangs penned by some of the prominent saints like Eknath Maharaj, Tukaram, Dnyaneshwar and Namdev, among others.
Abhyankar, a disciple of Pt Jasraj, started off with chants of Jai jai Ram Krishna Hari, setting the mood of the audience. The rendition in high and low scales presented from an aesthetically decorated stage cast a spell. He picked up an abhang of sant Eknath Maharaj ‘Aise Pandhari che sthan’ which spoke of the pious location of Pandharpur on the banks of river Chandrabhaga. In another abhang by the saint ‘Kaise jaon mi Vrindavan’, Abhyankar’s rendition in his mellifluous voice captured the emotions of the saint in describing the magical flute of Lord Krishna. His next presentation was ‘Deva ari deva Panduranga’ penned by Namdev. The mesmerizing ‘Shri guru sarikha’ by Dnyaneshwar gave a divine aura to an otherwise chilly evening. The limited audience remained hooked to the singer’s presentation even though the governor left midway after hearing a couple of devotional songs.
Anchoring the evening, Renuka Deshkar kept the audience interested with her studied inputs on saints, their writings and sentiments behind such devotion.