Artistes to celebrate life and times of Kabir in Varanasi
Varanasi: Acclaimed artistes will come together to celebrate the life and times of mystic poet-saint Kabir with musical performances and literary sessions during the third edition of the Mahindra Kabira Festival here.
Scheduled to take place from November 16 to 18, it will give audiences a chance to explore the many fascinating aspects of Kabir’s philosophy as well as this city in Uttar Pradesh, his birthplace.
Conceived by the Mahindra Group and Teamwork Arts, the festival, will expose audiences to uplifting musical performances by Varanasi-based Hindustani classical flautist Hari Prasad Paudyal, thumri singer Barnali Chattopadhyay, sitar player Pandit Rabindra Goswami and Hindustani classical singer Vidya Rao.
“I’ve been interested in the relationship between the ‘nirguni thumri’ and Kabir’s metaphysical oeuvre, and have experimented with singing Kabir in the ‘andaaz’ of ‘thumri’, thus bringing together the yearning of ‘thumri’ with the deep ‘nirguni’ philosophy of the 15th century Bhakti movement protagonist,” Rao was quoted as saying about her upcoming performance in a statement.
“And that is exactly what I will be presenting at the Mahindra Kabira Festival 2018.”
The evenings will witness headline performances by renowned Indian folk singer Malini Awasthi and Indian classical vocalist Kaushiki Chakraborty at the popular Shivala Ghat, the statement added.
It will also feature performances by award-winning singer-songwriter Sonam Kalra, musician and composer Shruthi Vishwanath, nationally-renowned sarangi player and vocalist Lakha Khan and Sufi folk singer Mooralala Marwada.
In the afternoons, literature sessions at the Kabir Math will see experts discuss ideas inspired by Kabir’s poetry.
These sessions, organisers said, would feature writer and mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik and renowned Kabir and Bhakti scholar Purushottam Agrawal, who would speak on the poet, who was born and brought up in a Muslim weavers family by Niru and Nima.
Agarwal will explore the context of vernacular modernity against the problems posed by colonial modernity in the understanding of the era when the mystic Kabira breathed.