A 24 hours musical marathon of Dhrupad in Bhopal

An array of musical performances went on for twenty-four hours to mark the birth anniversary of Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar – also known as International Dhrupad Day. More than 150 artistes from across the globe along with students of city based Dhrupad Academy paid homage to the celebrated artiste by presenting a variety of performances which included instrumental on Harp, Bass Sitar, Mridang, Rudra Veena etc.

The musical marathon started off with

Raag Bhairav

sung by

Gundecha Brothers

who are also the founders of the Dhrupad Academy of Bhopal. Apart from the euphonious performances by the artistes a panel discussion was held on the “Philosophy of Dhrupad”. Artists and enthusiasts from Germany, United Kingdom, Turkey, Italy, United States of America, Spain, etc. actively participated in this event. Italy’s

Igino Brunoni

and

Virginia Nicoli

performed a jugalbandi on flute and saxophone, while United Kingdom’s Richard sang Raag Bhairav leaving all gathered spellbound. A group of students from Turkey, Scotland and United States sang

Ganesh Vandana

bandish, which is a part of Raag Bhopali.

Following these performances was the poetry recital session in which thirty renowned poets including Sajid Premi, Vinay Upadhyay, Hemant Deolkar, Pragya Rawat, rhythmically recited their penned thoughts.

“Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar was the nineteenth generation exponent from the Dagar family that worked tirelessly to preserve this ancient Hindustani classical art form. Initially people from the clan were reluctant to teach Dhrupad to anyone outside it, but ZM Dagar wanted to propagate this art form to a wider audience. Therefore, in these thirty years the art has spread to almost all countries across the globe. This marathon was a prayer sent by the students to the Guru.” -

Murli Mohan Gowda

, coordinator of the event.

“It was a once in a lifetime opportunity for me as I got a chance to witness and perform with so many skilled musicians at one platform. I have been learning for the past four years, and I sang the composition Aeri Haar Gunthao Phulan Ke of Raag Bhopali.” Anjana Iyer, student at the academy

Along with performances galore, there was also an art exhibition on the premises, where fifty artists showcased their contemporary and old paintings, sculptures, pictures, drawings, etc. This exhibition was complimented with a live painting session by Keshav Raut.



By: Farzana Patowari

Pics: Vishesh Sharma