Come Mahashivaratri and the best talent in India yearn to offer their devotional best to Lord Shiva who is also known as Nataraj the Lord of all art-forms. For past several years Seth Kishorilal Jalan Trust of Varanasi has been regularly arranging annual fests to provide an ideal platform for the artistes to present their offerings to Lord Shiva on the occasion of Mahashivaratri. In continuance of this noble tradition this year a three-day fest of artistic offerings to Lord Shiva was held at Hanuman Prasad Poddar Blind School, Durgakund in Varanasi under the auspices of this trust.
Pujya Bhaishri inaugurated this fest on the evening of 28th Feb. 2003 by lighting the auspicious lamp. Kum. Yamini Ghosh of Delhi commenced the programme with her enthralling renderings of the mythological ‘Ardhanarishwar’ episode followed by items based on Holi and Thumri. She was accompanied by Shri Siddhartha on Tabla, Shri Sandeep Niyogi on Sitar and Shri Pradeep Banerji (vocal).
Noted Sitar player of Kolkata, Kushal Das added to the musical ecstasy with Rag Baageshwari. Kum. Sunanda Sharma of Delhi concluded the ecstatic fest with her mesmerizing vocals in the tradition of the Benaras gharana. She presented the devotional prayer ‘Jogiya man bhaayo re bhaayo’ in glorification of Lord Shiva. Kum. Sunanda also presented Tappa and Thumri. She was accompanied by Shri Vinod Lele on Tabla, Shri Santosh Mishra on Sarangi, Shri Mehtab Khan on Harmonium and Kum. Ragini Sarana on Tanpura.
Renowned Tabla maestro Pandit Kishan Maharaj also graced the occasion. The unique and delightful compeering of the famous lyricist Pandit Shrikrishna Tiwari added to the joy and rapture of the audience making the program a memorable event to be cherished for a long long time.