The second evening of the annual Samarpan music festival hosted here at the Rabindra Mandap here on Saturday by the Bhubaneswar Music Circle showcased songs of two Muslim poets who are loved, revered and celebrated by Hindus the most over several centuries. They were Odisha’s very own Salabega, an ardent devotee of Lord Jagannath who lived in 17th century and has been a household name for the people of Odisha, and Kabir, the 15th-century saint-poet whom the Hindus and Muslims love to claim as their own.
“Bhajans of Bhakta Salabega”, the first segment of the evening was, obviously, the greater attraction for the audience. And eminent singer-composer Guru Ramahari Das was the right choice to render justice to the Salabega songs and the sentiment of the people attached to the songs. Gifted with a unique voice that traversed between the highest and the lowest octaves with effortless ease, words got wings with emotions as he sanga number of songs of the devotee-poet.
With his longtime collaborator Guru Dhaneswar Swain on mardal and fantastic flutist Abhiram Nanda as members of his orchestra, the concert was a feast to the ears of the connoisseurs.
“Kabir Vani”, the other segment, was presented by Mooralala Marvada from Kutch in Gujarat. Traditionally sung in the villages of Malwa region that stretches from western Madhya Pradesh covering parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat in India and beyond into Sindh in Pakistan, Kabir Vani has been the forte of Mooralala who is a Sufi folk singer from Janana village of Kutch and who has been featured as a singer in the Gujarati film ‘Hellaro’.
“I belong to the 11th generation of the Meghwal singers of the village in Gujarat's Kutch district. I sing the poetry of Kabir, Mirabai, Ravidas and many more but Kabir continues to be my most favourite,” stated the singer showing his 103-years-old Sitar with much pride and joy that he was playing while singing.
His concert showed how explaining the songs of Kabir are as important as singing the songs in the tradition of the folk music that he hailed from. Mooralala was accompanied by Bhikabhai Budhabhai Harijan on, Manjira, Marvada Mohan Govind on Gada Gamela (percussion) and Sukhdev Lakhabhai Harijan on Jhanj.