Today in Ahmedabad, a Classical Music Festival named ‘Bolava Vitthal’
a one-of-a-kind devotional musical concert of abhangs and devotional
songs dedicated to Lord Vitthala was held. The musical festival has been conceptualized by Pancham Nishad. Festival will be held in Vadodara and Ahmedabad during July 29-30.
The reverberating sounds of Bolava Vitthal, a one-of-a-kind devotional musical soirée conceptualized by Pancham Nishad will graze the shores of western India for the first time with Vadodara and Ahmedabad being the chosen venues in Gujarat to host the melodious extravaganza.
July 29 is the date set for Vadodara this year at Sir Sayaji Auditorium at 6.30 pm, followed by Ahmedabad’s turn to experience the classiest rendition on July 30 at Tagore Hall at the same designated time.
Featuring Indian artists of the highest caliber and talent, Bolava Vitthal has translated into a brand recognized by the keepers of the Indian musical forms as one, working tenaciously to bring a unique genre of Indian devotional music to the fore, despite initially emerging as a single-concert concept. It has evolved into a 12-city concert tour currently, taking “Abhangwani” beyond the places of origin in Maharashtra and Karnataka.
For the uninitiated, Abhangwani refers to devotional poetry sung as an ode to Hindu God Vitthal or Vithoba. In true spirit of the form, Abhangs begin with a Gajar by all artistes and then is traced by individual performances.
“While there are close to 500 concerts of Abhangwani organized by the devotees of Lord Vitthala in Maharashtra and Karnataka on the auspicious occasion of Ashadi Ekadashi, the unique proposition of Bolava Vitthal lies in the fact that it is the only event that has been able to cross over to other states and cities like Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai, Goa, Satara and Nagpur to name a few. Gujarat being the destination of color and festivals had to be next on our list,” said Shashi Vyas, Director of Pancham Nishad.
In its tenth year in 2015, Bolava Vitthal’s journey commences from Pune on July 17 and comes to a conclusion on August 5, featuring revered Indian classical music stalwarts like feature Shaunak Abhisheki, Ranjani-Gayatri and Jayateerth Mevundi.
Bolava Vitthal has to its credit, the distinction of hosting marqee names and India’s most talented artists. These include Padma Vibhushan Ganasaraswati Kishori Amonkar, Suresh Wadkar and Shankar Mahadevan right upto the more contemporary geniuses like Jayateerth Mevundi, Ranjani-Gayatri, Rahul Deshpande, Anand Bhate and Devaki Pandit to name a few.
