A sitar crescendo by Ustad Shujaat Ali Khan followed by a sublime recital of Nangiar Koothu, the ancient solo Sanskrit dance-drama from Kerala, cut through the biting winter chill of Delhi at the inauguration of the classical music and dance festival 'Mahima - The Return of the Guru'.
Organised by the Raza Foundation, the two-day festival, which began here yesterday is being held in memory of the Modern Indian painter Syed Haider Raza who died last year.
The event emphasises on the presence, meaning and relevance of the teacher or guru in classical performing traditions of music and dance.
The festival opened with a mesmerising recital by maestro Shujaat Khan from the Imdadkhani gharana, accompanied by tabla players Amjad Khan and Arunangshu Chowdhary who give a rousing performance of Raaga Pancham, a classic melody, that he said, was employed by very few musicians nowadays.
"Artists play according to their moods. There is no one piece of music that I can pick as having been taught to me specifically by my guru. Everything I have learnt has been passed down by my teachers and I acknowledge their contribution every time I play," said the sitarist.
The seventh generation musician and prodigy son of legendary Sitarist Ustad Vilayat who began playing at the age of three, introduced the raga as one, which was often performed by Pandit Ravi Shankar, who used to call it by another name, Raag Hemant.
Beginning the evening on a mellow note, Ustad Shujaat Khan played solo for about half-an-hour raising the tempo gradually before being joined by tabla players Amjad Khan and Arungangshu one by one, the latter injecting a playful beat before a final soaring finish that was greeted by loud and sustained audience applause and a standing ovation.
The 2004-Grammy nominated Sitarist has played all over the world including at the UN Assembly and cut over 100 music albums. He is renowned for his gayaki style of playing the sitar.
The second performance of the evening was the Nangiar Koothu by Kapila Venu. Dressed in typical elaborate garb, Kapila took to the stage to enact 'Saundarya Lahari' (The waves of beauty), the first verse from the famed Sanskrit literary work believed to have been penned by the mystic Indian philosopher, Adi Shankara.
Kapila, the daughter of Mohiniyattam danseuse Nirmala
Paniker and Koodiyattam exponent Gopalan Nair Venu has trained under Guru Ammannur Madhava Chakyar, Usha Nangiar and under Japanese dancer Min Tanaka. The Nangiar Koothu is the female counterpart of Koodiyattam, which has been described as an intangible heritage by Unesco.
"The performance has been choreographed by my father G Venu who conceived this piece around 10 years ago," Kapila said.
Accompanied to the beats of the 'mizhavu' or copper drums, Kapila gave an abridged performance of the dance drama form which usually runs into hundreds of nights.
Employing the navarasas and highly stylised hand gestures Kapila delineated the first verse of Adi Shankara using imagery borrowed from Kalidasa's Kumarsambhava. In true Koodiyattam style, the performance used virtually no props, except for the sole exception of a wooden stool which was used by Kapila to sit on during the enacting.
The verses in this performance talked of the union of Shiva with Shakti and the inseparable nature of their union. Kapila enacted a variety of characters ranging from Shiva, Parvati, the demon Tarakasura, the god of love Kama and others.
Talking about the humble beginnings of this two-day Festival, Ashok Vajpeyi, the Executive Trustee of the Raza Foundation, explained that the event was first organised last year as a private initiative of a gathering of friends. It then led to the creation of this annual platform in Delhi.
"It brought into focus the centrality of the Guru which is now being undermined, though lip service continues to be paid. Raza Sahab had great regard for his school and art teachers. He kept their photographs in his studios both in Paris and Delhi. He never taught except briefly in Berkeley (USA) but many treated him as their Guru," Vajpeyi said.
The second day of the festival today will begin with a kayal recital by Ashwini Bhide from the Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana followed by a performance by Odissi dancer Madhavi Mudgal who will focus on her guru Kelucharan Mohapatra.
