In Ahmedabad on Monday Soulful renditions of Bolava Vitthal conceptualized by Pancham Nishad permeated Gujarat for the second year. Sounds of Abhangwani touches Ahmedabad ahead of Ashadhi Ekadashi. On the eve of Ashadhi Ekadashi, young turks of Hindustani classical music converged to offer devotional scores to Lord Panduranga.The audience comprised a mix of mature listeners and those for whom this was just the beginning of a journey. What bridged the gap between the two categories were the soul stinging notes that came with astonishing intensity.
In Gujarat, the musical journey this year began in Surat and traversed Vadodara before the stint in Ahmedabad on July 11, 2016. Tagore Memorial Hall in Ahmedabad saw geniuses like Raghunandan Panshikar, Devaki Pandit and Anand Bhate delivering magic one after another from the world of classical music. In its 11th year, ‘Bolava Vitthal’, a concert of Abhangwani and a unique stream of Indian devotional music with deep roots in the states of Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka, has been forging ahead as trusted keepers of devotional music. Its efforts have fructified to open doors to a wider base of appreciation of this class of music. It has managed successfully to preserve the age-old genre of Indian devotional music and popularize the sacred soirée beyond the known strongholds.
“This is the second time we have arrived in Gujarat. The response we received last year during our maiden tour of Gujarat overwhelmed us.
Hence, we decided to increase the number of cities covered in this
state too. For 2016, a 10-city tour for Bolava Vitthal nationally is
on the anvil. Other cities on our travel map include Mumbai, Thane,
Nasik, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ratnagiri and Sawantwadi. We are unique and have been able to transcend boundaries, taking Abhangwani beyond the traditional hives of origin. This has been our forte,” said Shashi Vyas, Director of Pancham Nishad.
Traditionally, Ashadhi Ekadashi is an auspicious day with walking
groups of devotees singing ‘Abhangs’ in praise of the Lord. They
travel from their homes on feet to Pandharpur in Maharashtra,
considered the abode of Lord Panduranga. Abhangwani refers to
devotional poetry sung as an ode and begins with a Gajar by all
artistes, trailed by individual performances. Till date, Bolava Vitthal has seen a star-studded assimilation of talent with maestros like Ganasaraswati Kishori Amonkar, Shankar Mahadevan, Suresh Wadkar, Ranjani- Gayatri, Aarti Ankalikar-Tikekar, Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande, Rahul Deshpande, Anand Bhate, Sanjeev Abhyankar,Devaki Pandit, Shaunak Abhisheki and Jayateerth Mevundi singing paeans to Lord Vitthal, another name of Lord Panduranga at the concerts.
