Singer Arati Mishra presents the poetic and musical excellence of Maithili poet Vidyapati through her songs and (below) tabla lahara by Pandit Gautam Pal at a concert organised by Bhubaneswar Music Circle at Rabindra Mandap. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, June 20: Love songs based on the divine bond of Lord Krishna and Radha left folk music connoisseurs mesmerised at a musical concert held by Bhubaneswar Music Circle on Saturday evening.

The songs, which were given a whole new dimension by Maithili poet Vidyapati, were recited by veteran singer Arati Mishra. A sonorous tabla recital by Pandit Goutam Pal was another attraction of the concert held at Rabindra Mandap.

Mostly romantic in nature, the ensemble of songs rendered by Arati Mishra described the spiritual aspect of the physical intimacy between Radha and Krishna.

Though the songs were composed in Maithili, the language of a certain region in Bihar, there was much similarity in the words and their pronunciations to some Oriya expressions.

Mishra began her recital with an enchanting rendition of Basana haraite laja dura gela in raga Kafi.

This composition captured sensuous moments of love in a format that lent a touch of innocent devotion.

Accompanied by talented flautist Abhiram Nanda, tabla player Ajay Choudhury and Ajay Das on harmonium, Mishra went on to captivate the audience with a faster composition Baajat drimi drimi in raga Basant. Concluding with a passionate urge of love, Maribo maribo sakhi nichaya based in raga Bhairavi, she presented a total of seven songs that were based on different moods of Radha and Krishna’s love.

Some of the songs were directed by the poet to be sung in a particular raga. But, as those ragas were no more prevalent, Mishra replaced those with her own musical compositions.

“It was during a visit to Bihar that I was deeply inspired by the works of legendary Maithili poet Vidyapati. In the regions that formed Mithilanchal there, they have merged his compositions into folk songs in wonderful tunes. They sing the songs during marriages or other festive occasions,” said Mishra.

“I was so charmed by Vidyapati’s poetry that I even started to research on his poetic and musical excellence,” said the veteran Doordarshan and Akashvani artiste.

As the Union culture ministry has awarded a fellowship to Mishra for her research, she is currently pursuing the research for a project under the Utkal University of Culture.

Following the vocal repertoire, the music lovers of the city were sent into a trance by Ajmer based tabla player Pandit Goutam Pal, a disciple of celebrated tabla guru Pandit Shankar Ghosh.

Playing the solo tabla lahara, Pal’s recital was a unique traditional composition on teen taal (16 beats). Stating off with utthan and moving on to peshkar and kaida in different layas (rhythmic patterns with varied spacing), he concluded with the traditional parana and chakradhar.

“He is a brilliant tabla player and played a wonderful composition. The Maithili songs were also a delight to listen to,” said well-known city based tabla player Kulamani Sahoo.