Pushkar may well turn out to be the destination for the arts and well being in the coming years, during The Sacred Pushkar. Touted as a composite festival of music, yoga and meditation, the festival also had sessions on cooking with “forgotten grains” to add to the holistic nature of the festival. Now in its second edition, this two-day event may well become a trendsetter for similar events in other tourist hubs .
Organised by Delhi-based Teamwork Arts, the aim of the festival was to awake “your inner divine”. Activities kicked off in early morning with an hour long session of Tibetan yoga exercises for the well being of the heart by the U.S. based Zachoje Dorji. The stage was set on the banks of the sacred Pushkar lake, with the audience on the Jaipur Ghat, facing the stage and lake, with the slow majestic rise of the sun behind – indeed a setting literally made for awakening your inner divine! A combination of breathing and mudras created a wonderful feeling of well being, which was further enhanced by the next session of bhajans by Delhi-based singer Sukriti Sen and her troupe. Sukriti is training under Pandit Madhup Mudgal and is blessed with a sweet melodious voice which she uses with aplomb. She sang several short bhajans including “Shri Ram Chandra kripal bhaj man” and “Jamuna kinare mera gaon” .
The mood changed with the next artist, again Delhi-based Sufi singer Harpreet Singh. A solo act, Harpreet’s powerful vocals and strumming guitar did not disappoint, nor did his choice of pieces composed by Baba Bulle Shah, (“Maati”) Kabir, and even a wonderful new composition based on Suryakant Tripathi Nirala’s “Jhoom jhoom mridu garaj garaj ghanaghor” where the alliteration of the lyrics was matched by the rousing melody.
The music sessions in the evening started with a grand aarti . This was followed by a percussion session by Pandit Bhawani Shankar and Sound of Asia. On the tabla was Pandit Ram Kumar Mishra of the Banaras gharana, and the magic produced by the group was exhilarating. Based in Mumbai for the past five generations, though originally from Rajasthan, and musically a descendant of the famous Kudau Singh gharana of pakhawaj players, Pandit Bhawani Shankar is a prolific composer, apart from being extremely adept on the pakhawaj, an instrument his family has played for generations. His compositions of Raavan stuti, and Shankar paran which he plays on the pakhawaj are indeed rousing.
The next duo act of Shabnam Virmani, with just the plucking of an ektaara was somewhat more tame, though her powerful voice combined with the purity of Kabir’s lyrics soothed. The Soil, a four-member a capella group from South Africa, amazed with their vibrancy, wonderful vocal harmonising numbers and graceful movements on stage.
The undoubted star of the evening was Daler Mehndi in his avatar of singing only spiritual numbers. His opening “Namo namo” started with the first stanzas of the sacred Sikh Japji sahib and later also included lyrics from Guru Govind Singh’s Dasam Granth. But the mood he created was not just because of the holy scriptures, it was his pure powerful voice touching each note with a surety and rightness that was potent. The audience was spell bound. The subsequent numbers “Rajan ke raja”, “Deewani” and others did not have the same spell binding quality, though the crowd went wild with his “Damadam mast kalandar” in which he also incorporated the famous Rajasthani ballad “Kesariya balam” as a tribute to singing at Pushkar.
Daler Mehndi
The second day of the festival featured meditation techniques by Lama Dorji Dambul from Delhi, followed by a Sound Healing workshop by The Soil. Shashank Subramanyam, the talented Carnatic flautist followed next, accompanied by talented North Indian tabla player Pandit Shubhankar Bannerji. Shashank played Carnatic raga Sarasangi which was very similar to the North Indian raga Nat Bhairav said to be composed by Pandit Ravi Shankar. Shashank is amazingly dexterous on his various flutes and produces sounds that are amazingly different. His expertise on his instrument is undoubted, and the training he has received in the North Indian idiom enriches the content of his concert. After a brief alaap and jod, he played two compositions. He ended with a charming South Indian folk tune. Parvati Baul enthralled next.
The evening music session commenced with Mongolian singer Byambajargal Gambodorj. Her bell like voice with almost Western style opera movements, though so completely alien to the Indian ear, was applauded extensively by the eager audience. There was also an impromptu “jamming” session with her and the next item, the Manganiyars from Barmer, Bhungar Khan and his group. They were truly outstanding and the most impressive item of the evening, singing several pieces including “Kesariya balaam”, “Nimura nimura”, “Mast Qalandar” and a beautiful composition based on Raga Des, “Choti Si Umariya”. The three vocalists were wonderful, the interchange between the castanets and percussion well conceived, and the folk instrument “al guza” (essentially 2 flutes) well played. Bhutte Khan, who was on the castanets later, confirmed that the family had been musicians for seven generations.
The Gundecha Brothers’ compositions were suitable for the occasion – the devotional Vedic hymn “tu hee surya”, followed by a jhaptaal composition invoking Lord Ganeshji “Shankar put Ganesh” in Charukeshi. They ended with the very popular Dagar composition “Shiva Shiva Shiva Shiva” in Adana, drut jhaptaal.
The festival concluded with the Wadali Brothers. Without doubt, the inclusion of diverse music, yoga, meditation, walks for knowledge made for an immensely enjoyable time; whether one was spiritually uplifted is a moot point!
