The stage is set for the fourth edition of Samarpan, the exclusive annual Sufiana music festival, to be held from March 14 to 16 at the Rabindra Mandap here.
It is hosted by the half-a-century-old prominent institution, Bhubaneswar Music Circle (BMC), in association with the State Tourism Department.
The special feature of the three-evening event this year featuring artists from India and Afghanistan has been on women musicians. The BMC has been hosting monthly concerts apart from its annual national music festivals regularly in the capital, informed BMC general secretary Khirod Patnaik.
“We launched this exclusive festival of devotional music in 2013 and it received rave response from the artists and connoisseurs alike instantly. Since then, this festival has been a much awaited affair in the city’s cultural calendar,” he affirmed.
Meanwhile, the Tourism Department came forward as the collaborator and principal patron of the festival, Patnaik informed and added that previously BMC was the collaborator to Odisha Tourism’s prestigious annual Rajarani Music Festival for many years.
Of the eight concerts slated for three evenings, seven will be presented exclusively by women singers. Banaras-based Odia artist Bilambita Banisudha, an Assistant Professor of music from Banaras Hindu University, will open the festival with Hindustani vocal recital on Monday. It would be followed by solo recital by Delhi-based noted thumri singer Vidya Rao, a disciple of the legendary Naina Devi and Girija Devi.
The second evening will open with Ahmad Sham Sufi qawwali group from Kabul. “The group is one of the most popular bands that was banned from performing under the Taliban regime. Since Afghanistan has been the birth-place of Sufi music, we are quite excited to present this troupe that carries forward the seven centuries old Sufi music tradition,” said Patnaik.
The second evening will further feature a concert by seven-member women singers’ troupe - Sangita Gosain, Mitali Chinara, Susmita Das, Rashmi Mohapatra, Meera Panda, Adyasha Das and Sangeeta Panda- who have been the members of the host Bhubaneswar Music Circle.
The closing evening on Wednesday will commence with a solo recital by Aparajita lahiri Brahmachari from Kolkata who has been trained under the legendary Girija Devi. Her concert will be followed by Bengal’s mother-daughter duo Baul singers Ila Biswas and Ayushi Biswas and solo recital by Mumbai-based singer Shruti Viswanath who specializes in the devotional and spiritual music genres of western India.
Curtains will come down on the closing evening with a creative collage of poetry, dance and music by three artist-sisters based in Chennai and Bengaluru — poet Jaya Madhavan, Bharatanatyam dancer Archana Shyam Suryanarayan and singer Bindhu Malini. The trio will stage “Akatha Kahani” (untold story) weaved around the saint-poet Kabir. There is no need for a pass to attend the concerts and all are welcome to enjoy the unique music festival, clarified the hosts.