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Coke Studio Bangla’s 'Prarthona' is worth a listen

We could listen to this on loop

We had high hopes from Coke Studio Bangla and the show has delivered on every count. The show aims to celebrate traditional Bengali music across different genres and the first season promises a mix of classical, folk, Sufi, qawwali and fusion music.

Prarthona by Momotaz Begum and Mizan Rahman is an enthralling spiritual song that explores the idea of divinity. The number is a mashup of Girin Chakraborty’s folk number Allah Megh De and Monir Hossain’s Baba Maulana.

The familiar chants of Allah Megh De make a recurring appearance in Prarthona. The summoning of rain is in fact a popular motif in Bengali folklore and the song also makes use of the enigmatic clapping of khartal. The old-world instrument, mainly used in hymns, makes a passage for the Maizbhandari in the second part of the song.