The recital at Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra. Telegraph picture

A spellbinding orchestra by hundred sitarists and Pandit Manilal Nag’s sitar recital were the highlights of a programme organised by Taalim, a forum committed to the promotion of Indian classical music, at Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra on January 10.

The show began with the lighting of the ceremonial lamp by the sitar maestro and its formal inauguration by Birendra Nath Dutta, a veteran singer, folklore scholar and former president of Asam Sahitya Sabha.

The first item of the evening was a classical vocal recital by Ruma Devi Kalita, a graded artiste of All India Radio and Doordarshan. Kalita began her recital with raga Shuddh Kalyan. She rendered the vilambit in ektaal and the drut in teentaal, accompanied by Nitul Goswami on the tabla, Pankaj Sarma on harmonium and Prajnyan Sarma on surmandal. In both the stages, the singer displayed maturity in dealing with the finer nuances of the raga. She next sang a tarana in teentaal and concluded her hourlong recital with a dadra.

The next item, the main attraction of the show, was the playing of a hundred sitars by artistes from different parts of Assam. The 30-minute spellbinding performance comprised rendition of raga Bhupali in teentaal and raga Shivranjani in Rupak taal.

Both the ragas have almost the same notes — only ga is komal in Shivranjani. The artistes flawlessly maintained the authenticity of the composition of sitarist Hem Hazarika.

The sitarists were accompanied by eight pairs of tabla, six violins, two Hawaiian guitars, flute by Parameswar Basumatary and vocal support by Pinaky Bose of Calcutta.

Pandit Manilal Nag’s sitar recital was another significant aspect of the show. Accompanied by young sitarist Shubhankar Hazarika, the artiste’s brilliant playing of raga Maaru Behaag clearly depicted his class. The maestro, an admired name in the national rostrum, was amazingly effortless while dealing with the complex portions of the raga.

Hazarika, a young talent, held his own while playing with the illustrious musician.

The show concluded with a unique and refreshing orchestra titled Naad Brahma. The composition, based on mainly two ragas, Desh and Yaman, and folk tunes of Rajasthan and Bihar, was a fusion of Indian classical and folk music with inputs from Blues and jazz.

The hourlong performance by eight young talents — Hazarika on the sitar, vocalists Pinaky Bose and Monmohan Sarma, Batospati Chakrabortty on base guitar, Nilav Bhattacharjee on the keyoard, Souvik Deb as lead guitarist, Pritam Sengupta on accoustic drums and Sarajindu Adhikary on the tabla, darboka, handsonic and dhol — was refreshing and most enjoyable.