Maati 9 Festival to Celebrate Purvanchal Culture in Mumbai

Mumbai: Awadhi and Bhojpuri songs, stories, and poems from the ghats of Kashi, paintings depicting life in Prayagraj, and cuisine with its regional flavour. These are some of the features of Maati 9, a festival of Purvanchal, to be held on May 16 at the Kalina campus of Mumbai University. Lt Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and MP Jagdambika Pal are among the dignitaries to attend the event.

“The festival will not just showcase the unique culture of Purvanchal or Eastern Uttar Pradesh. It will also explore the region’s Marathi connection. It will resemble a carnival aimed at bringing people from UP and Maharashtra closer,” said Asif Azmi, the festival’s moving force.

Sachchidanand Joshi, poet, playwright, author and member secretary of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi, will perform solo with his stories and poems from Kashi or Banaras. “I have written stories and also composed poems capturing life and traditions on the ghats of Kashi. I will present them as a tribute to the ancient city and its contribution to our civilisational journey,” said Joshi, a resident of MP who traces his roots to Maharashtra. “We still speak Marathi in our home and I write plays both in Marathi and Hindi, and have translated stories from Marathi to Hindi,” he added.

Comprising roughly 31 districts of Eastern UP, Purvanchal has been a centre of arts, culture and folk songs for centuries. “Bombay (now Mumbai) has been a major motif in folk songs of Purvanchal. Songs and poems have described how wives wait for their husbands who went to Bombay for work and did not return for months and years,” said noted folk singer Padmashree Malini Awasthi. She added that third- and fourth-generation Purvanchalis living in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra will relate to the songs she will present. “I will also sing a few Marathi folk songs. When songs praising Shivaji Maharaj are sung in the Hindi belt, they are received with applause even if the Marathi language may not be understood very well,” she said.

“Culture and language are agents of bonding and people originally from Eastern UP will lap up songs and stories from their native places. I look forward to attending this festival,” said Bandra resident Asif Farooqui, who is originally from Azamgarh. Entry is free through registration on mymaati.org.