Rajarani Music Festival 2013 in Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: The pleasant weather with soothing cold in the evening at the verdant premises of the magnificent Rajarani temple bedecked with colourful lights and appliqué works synchronized with enchanting and sonorous music by great stalwarts attributed to a large gathering on the second day of Rajarani Music Festival.

The evening’s first programme was Odissi Mardala recital by Guru Banamali Moharana & Group from Odisha Mardala Akademi, Bhubaneswar. They began with Jhampa Tala  in ten beats followed by Aditala with sixteen beats in which they showcased Jamana, Chhanda, Prakarana, Ragada, Khandi, Badi, Arasha and Bhauniri Arasha much to the joy of the discerning audiences. They were assisted in Hermonium Shri Rasha Bihari Nath, Violin Suramani Ramesh Chandra Das and Manjira Soumya Ranjan Nayak. The artistes who performed were Guru Bijay Kumar Barik, Surendra Moharana, Niranjan Sahoo, Manaranjan Mohanty, Dibakara Parida and Manas Kumar Sarangi.

In the second phase Internationally acclaimed Carnatic Classical Singer Dr. M. Balamuralikrishnan from Chennai presented the varied nuances of Carantic music on different Rags and Talas. He started with Ganapati Vandana set to Rag Hansadhwani and Aditala followed by Bhubaneswari Vandana set to Rag Kantamani and Tala Tripata.

His rendition in high octave enamoured the audiences who were deeply engrossed by the presentation of this colossus personality in Indian classical music. He added quite a few songs of different Talas perfectly and elegantly synchronized with the Mrudangum played by D. S. R. Murtty. He was assisted in vocal Gala Murli and in violin Peri Sriram Murtty. The atmosphere inside the temple premises was not only musical but thrilled the music lovers for whom the rendition of Balamurlikrishna was indeed memorable.

The dignitaries who graced the occasion were Shri S. K. Chakravarthy, Chief Post Master General and Shri M. R. Pattnaik, General Manger, OTDC Ltd. The musical recitations were thematically and beautifully captured on the canvas by the great painter Shri Baladev Maharatha. The festival till 2^nd day witnessed 3174 domestic and 61 foreign audiences. The programme was conducted by Smt. Sadhna Shrivastava and Er. Shrinivas Ghatuari.