Bhubaneswar, Feb. 12: Veterans of Odissi classical music savoured a treat of ragas and folk music at the annual Odissi Music Festival organised by the Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Odissi Research Centre.

The festival was held at Saheed Bhavan in Cuttack. The event concluded yesterday with a number of solos, duet and group performances on classical music.

"The aim of the festival was to help people learn about the various combinations of taal and laya used in Odissi classical music," said Sangita Gosain, the chief executive of the centre.

The other objective of the festival was to showcase Odissi classical music on national and international levels.

The festival witnessed singers performing soulful compositions from Geeta Govinda. Vocalists enthralled the audience by singing selected verses from the work of the 12th century poet, Jayadeva.

The audience also witnessed a mardala recital by Hramohan Khuntia. Khuntia was accompanied by Kulamani Sahoo on the harmonium and Ajay Kumar Barik on the violin.

Mardala is an ancient musical instrument used for accompaniment in Odissi classical music.

The musical sojourn also had performances by reputable artistes, including Satyyanarayan Sahoo, Tapaswini Dagar, Ashirbachan Mohapatra, Keshab Chandra Rout and Prafulla Mangal, on various rare ragas of Odissi classical music.

Their performances were applauded for being intellectually and emotionally satisfying.

A number of songs based on intricate ragas such as Gowda, Baradi, Panchama, Dhanashri, Karnata, Bhairavi were sung at the festival.

Apart from classical music, folk music such as Dalkhai geet, Kendra geet, Jaiphula geet and Ghumura geet won the hearts of the audience. Senior vocalists sang Odia bhajans at the festival.

Nimakanta Routray and group mesmerised the audience with his soulful renditions while a duet performance by Soumya Sampat Mishra and Sonali Mohapatra was also much appreciated.

Vocalists paid tributes to a number of celebrated Odissi musicians, including Kabi Samrat Upendra Bhanja, Prafulla Kar and Raghunath Panigraphi, at the festival.

Vocalists Simanchal Das and Binapani Nayak delivered classical masterpieces one after the other.

The festival witnessed prominent names from Odisha's music circle who performed in the classical styles of chhanda and champu.

For the audience, the experience was memorable. "I got to hear a number of rare ragas at the festival. Listening to popular songs by veteran musicians in the voice of the singers of recent times was a great experience for me," said music lover Sonali Swastika.