‘Anandvan Bhuvani’ depicts rich culture of Maharashtra

NAGPUR: Citizens vicariously witnessed the roots of Maharashtra’s rich culture and heritage unfurl through Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s life saga in a musical titled ‘Anandvan Bhuvani’, organized as part of the ongoing Khasdar Sanskrutik Mahotsav at Ram Nagar Ground on Wednesday.
The programme, presented by Parag Mategaonkar, commenced with nearly 50 artistes of Jagdamba Dhol Tasha Pathak drumming up a crescendo with resounding chants of ‘Ganpati bappa morya’, ‘Jai Dev’ and ‘Jai Bhavani Jai Shivaji’.
Singers Nandesh Umap, Prasenjit Kosambi, Rahul Joshi and Swarda Gokhale rendered several Marathi and Hindi songs interspersed with Ravindra Khare’s narration of the historical journey of Shivaji, right from his birth.
‘Arti’ of the Maratha warrior, ‘Jaidev jaidev jai jai Shivraya’, was sung by all the four singers. It was followed by Kosambi’s power-packed rendition of ‘Nishchayacha Mahameru’.
Gokhale enthralled the listeners with her soulful performances like ‘Aale re bakul phula’ and ‘Shivkalyan raja’. She joined Joshi and Kosambi on ‘Gondhalala ye’. The tunes of ‘Prabho Shivaji Raja’, sung by Umap, reverberated the jam-packed ground.
The group returned to raise the tempo with the song ‘Shivraj ke aage’. A tinge of humour had the audience chuckle as Joshi and Umap presented ‘Vinchu chawla’ in an animated style.
‘Shoor amhi sardar’ by Kosambi was well-received. Gokhale's ‘Anandache dohi anand tarang’ with Joshi and Kosambi as the backing vocals had the crowd tapping their feet.
Clad in orange turbans, the singers and musicians captured the essence of the theme and added to the visual appeal of striking lights. Khare’s retelling of the various events was appreciated.
Janardan Swami Yogabhyasi Mandal secretary Ram Khandwe was the chief guest. Present at the event were mayor Sandip Joshi, SCZCC director Deepak Khirwadkar, lawyer Anand Parchure, former MLA Madhukar Wasnik, Ravi Waghmare, Jaiprakash Gupta, Parinita Fuke, Varsha Thakre, Damodar Kanhere, Ramesh Mantri, Amar Bagde and Rutika Meshram, among others.
At the outset, Khirwadkar, Gupta and Balasaheb Kulkarni felicitated the singers on the occasion.