Singing for the love of Lord Krishna and Pandit Jasraj

Today, on the eve of Janmashtami, classical musician Vinay Ramdasan will take the stage along with his wife, vocalist Anuja Zokarkar. Besides celebrating Lord Krishna, the musicians will also pay tribute to late music legend Pandit Jasraj, as it happens to be his second death anniversary (August 17). Since the late legend was a huge follower of Lord Krishna and popularised a genre associated with the almighty, called haveli sangeet, the concert will be celebrating the genre, too.

“Haveli sangeet was taught to me by my guru, Pandit Ramesh Narayan, who is a disciple of Padma Vibhushan Pandit Jasraj ji aka bade guru ji. His music has a deep connection to everything we did. We would celebrate his bhakti towards Lord Krishna. His compositions like Vraje Vasantam and Govind Damodar Madhaveti resonated with everyone. The compositions of haveli sangeet we sing back home (in Kerala) are all composed by him. This is why haveli sangeet is close to me,” says Ramdasan.

Titled Haveli Sangeet - A Tribute to Sangeet Martand Pandit Jasraj Ji, the show will see Ramdasan and his group render various songs from the haveli sangeet style of music, which finds its roots in the temple music of the 16th century to worship Lord Krishna and was hugely popularised by Pandit Jasraj. “Bade guru ji always believed that he was just an instrument that sings whatever his Krishna wanted to hear. This devotion and love towards Lord Krishna made him find his emotions reflect in the works of the great saints like Surdas, Paramand Das, Krishnadas, Kumbhandas, Govindswami and Chhitswami,” he adds.

Sharing his plan for the show tonight, Ramdasan says, “It’s a tribute from me and my family to bade guru ji and a celebration of the birth of Lord Krishna. The show is designed in a way to recreate the sound of the era when haveli sangeet was played in the temples using instruments such as the veena, pakhawaj, ghatam, bansuri, manjira, dhol, tanpura and more. The ever-reverberating feeling of bhakti towards Lord Krishna is what we will try to celebrate.”

While Ramdasan and Zokarkar will be on the main vocals, their co-artistes include Omkar Dalvi (pakhawaj), Saumitra Kshirsagar (harmonium), Umesh Warbhuvan (percussions), Aditya Apte (side percussions), Narayan Mani (veena) and Rajeev Prasanna (flute).

Box text:

Catch it live!

What: Haveli Sangeet - A Tribute to Sangeet Martand Pandit Jasraj Ji

Where: Nehru Centre, Worli,

When: Today (August 17)

Timing: 6.30 pm