Moodbidri: Rajasthani Music, Manipuri Dance, Martial Art Spell-binds all at ‘Virasat’
Pictures by: Dayanand Kukkajje
By Nina Rai Daijiworld Media Network
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Moodbidri, Jan 04: The second day session of Dr Mohan Alva’s five-day cultural extravaganza ‘Virasat’ was held here at Moodbidri on Thursday, Jan 3, which began with the traditional lamp lighting and 'Aarti' ceremony.
Students from Coorg did the honours of welcoming Padmashri Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhat, son Salil and other Rajasthani artistes. Attired in their traditional Coorgi saree, the girls performed the 'Aarti' to the artistes, applied 'kumkum' on their forehead and showered petals and paneer.
Son Salil kick started the musical programme by making the necessary introduction of the artistes and singers from Rajasthan. Warmly congratulating Dr Mohan Alva for organizing the festival ‘Virasat’ on such a grand scale, Pandit Vishwa Mohan said this event is the biggest ever seen in India, the memory of which will forever remain itched in their minds.
"It is an opportunity for all musicians to give off their best and display to the large audience the best glimpse of the rich Indian cultural heritage in its purest form," he declared proudly.
While Pandit Ram Kumar Mishra accompanied him on the tabla, Rajasthani artistes Anwar Khan, Barkhat Khan, Khader Khan, Feroz Khan and Gharzi Khan Barna all began performing on their traditional instruments.
The Rajasthani musical fest first started off with a composition of Rajasthani folk music called ‘Jilmil Barse Meg’ which is a rain song. It had a little ‘alaap’ followed by a folk song. The song was ‘Saawan aayo mero piya naahi aaye.’
The next song sung by the singers and musicians being a famous song of Maand in Rajasthan called ‘Kesaryo baalam ayori maari desh’. After this beautiful rendition by the artistes the next presentation was a folk song called ‘hichki aave re’ meaning person getting hiccups.
Pandit Vishwa Mohan explaining the significance of the song informed that traditionally it is believed that when a person gets hiccups, someone is either remembering him or his beloved is missing him and pleading to him to come back soon. The song based on raag ‘Kervani’ having ‘viraha bhav’ indicating its association with pathos and sadness.
The next song was ‘Maaro pardeshiya chittare’ based on 'pahaadi raag’ which literally means a song and its melody based on mountains. After this was a famous folk song sung by Baba Ramdevji Maharajji which goes ‘Maaro Heallo Sunoji’.
Lastly there was a ‘jugalbandhi’ called 'Desert slide' between the tabla player, the instrumentalist and the singer, which was spontaneously applauded by the appreciative audience.
Concluding this segment the MC for the occasion Rachael Miranda aptly summed up the evening that the music and songs presented by the artistes did indeed ‘touch all hearts.’
After this session Dr Mohan Alva presented momentos to the Rajasthani artistes begining with Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhat and then the rest of the artistes including Devar Khan, Bharkat Khan, Feroze Khan and pandit Salil Bhat.
The second session of the Alvas‘ Virasat began with the music and dance segment of the state of Manipur, wherein Manipuri artistes were accorded a warm traditional welcome in the form of ‘Aarti.’
Introducing this next segment the MC, Rachael Miranda informed that the ‘Manipuri Jagoi Marup’ was founded by Amar Singh in 1963 and its cultural troupe has performed not only in India but even abroad.
Till date it has performed around 4,000 shows worldwide, she added. Dr M Nara Singh is the head of the 40-strong dance and music troupe and he also happens to be a former MLA, minister, secretary of UPA in Manipur and the vice- president of Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA).
In his opening speech, Dr Nara Singh declared that he had brought the greetings of the peace loving people of Manipur and wished all a happy and prosperous new year. He opined that culture should be used as an instrument for peaceful existence and wished for a better, peaceful and prosperous India. He concluded his short speech by saying “Politics divides, while culture always unites.”
The first performance by the Manipuri artistes was the ‘Lai Haroba’ depicting the traditional festival which mirrors the dance and culture of Manipur.
The second performance was the ‘Kan Yanoba’ which is a depiction of the traditional martial art fights. Here the dancers were shown using swords but performing with graceful and artistic movements and gestures.
The third performance was the ‘Kamb dance.’ Kamb are basically tribals of Manipur. So this was a celebratory tribal dance performed with graceful movements basically to indicate a successful hunt or a bountiful harvest.
The fourth dance was the ‘Dol Sholam’ executed by male drummers and performed in wild ecstasy. This is performed only during the holy festival of Manipur. It consisted of the dancers spinning and twirling around in circles, at the same time even balancing and playing the drums. This dance performance won a lot of spontaneous applause from the large gathering.
Then there was a tri-angular dance fight with one person with sword fighting against two. Followed by the ‘Sim Lam Kaboh’ dance which was beautifully presented on stage by the dancers.
The Kaboh is understood to be a half mythical and half real creature of ancient times. The dance was performed during festivals imitating the movement of a fly flitting from one place to another.
The ‘Pung Cholam’ dance is an indispensable part of traditional Manipuri culture. It contains intricate but rhythmic and graceful dance movements. Men with drums and red and yellow shashes performed this dance.
The last performance was a colourful and magnificient ‘Le Basant Raas’ and 'Ras Leela', a dance drama. According to legend during the full moon of 'Chaitra' which falls in April, May Lord Krishna would come to play holi, he would play the flute. The gopis would respond to his music in joy and join in the dance and fun.
Thus with this performance ended the magical 'Manipuri Jagoi' dance extravaganza, which left the audience spell bound with their beauty and grace. Dr Alva congratulated the singers and dancers and presented them with memontos too. The vote of thanks was given by the MC.