Bridging the times
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The winds of change have shaken many traditions, but not the centuries-old Jhulan Festival of Kolkata. MEENA BANERJEE
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Falguni Mitra
North Kolkata boasts of numerous centuries-old palaces and heritage buildings. In the hustle-bustle of the Bahubazar, Jhulanbari of Ramkanai Adhicary stands out for its Jhulan Festival and the ‘jhulan’ (hanging) bridge that connects the i
dentical twin buildings, one of which is the temple of Lord Krishna, Adhicarys’ residing deity.
Like most of the aristocrats of the bygone era, the Adhicarys, for more than 250 years now, learnt and patronised classical arts seriously. It was a ritual to offer music to their deity. Special occasions and festivals meant special music sessions that inspired top ranking musicians to pay their obeisance at the feet of the Lord. On several occasions more than a century ago Jodu Bhatta, guru of Rabindranath Tagore, had offered Dhrupad accompanied by his host Ramkanai Adhicary on the pakhawaj. The tanpura of the legendary singer bears the testimony of the belief that he died there.
The strong winds of modern times have brought changes, but not enough to dissuade the present generation, led by Utpal Adhicary, from following their rich tradition.
The five-day Jhulanjatra Music Festival, which culminates on Rakhi Purnima, is one such annual ritual maintained by them to the core, replete with the puja with an eye for the minutest detail and the musical offerings.
Bond with environs
This year’s festival commenced with the mesmerising recital of Pandit Falguni Mitra, one of the most active crusaders of Dhrupad’s revival at present. His deep resonant voice, with long gliding movements, heavy gamaks and fast moving phrases of the sampoorna nom-tom alap in raga Bihag once again established the eternal bond between the moods of the man and his environs.
This paved the way for a devotional Chau tala composition by Tansen that had inspired Tagore to trans-create another gem later. The beauty of the lyrics reigned supreme throughout the bol-baant and layakari, superbly aided by Biplab Mondal.
After a Jhap tala bandish in Sorath, a rarely heard raga nowadays, Mitra concluded with “Room-jhoom barakhe” in Shool tala – a beautiful composition by Jodu Bhatta in Kafi.
Vidushi Purnima Sen sang khayals in Jaijaiwanti, Gaud Malhar and a Kafi thumri on the following evening. Vibhas Sanghai and Rupashri Bhattacharya accompanied her on the tabla and harmonium respectively.
The delicate, emotive beauty was the striking power of her rendition. The voice-throw, the bandish, the style of pukar, bol-banao, baant and even the taan patterns came as integral parts of a be
autiful verse.
The veteran vocalist, belonging to the Agra Atrauli school, said once that her erudite ustad, the late Sharafat Hussain Khan, saw to it that she got only what complemented her best. The result is stunning!
Tabla, sitar and sarod, in that order, dominate the musical scene in Kolkata nowadays. Partho Bose (sitar) and Kalyan Mukherjee (sarod), accompanied by Ashok Mukherjee and Ashis Pal on the tabla, represented this clan with élan.
One was pleasantly surprised by solo recitals of the Rudra veena by Asit Banerjee with Apurbalal Manna’s pakhawaj and violin by Tarun Chakraborty, supported by Sujit Saha.
Dalia Rahut concluded the festival with thumri, kajri and jhoola.
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