An artiste performs at the musical evening, Barsha, at Rabindra Mandap in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 21: The three-day annual cultural festival, Barsha, organised by city-based group Chinta O Chetana at Rabindra Mandap, featured some enthralling performances.

The event is being held for the past 35 years to celebrate monsoon.

On the last evening, music enthusiasts got an opportunity to witness a musical recital by a group of artistes led by flute exponent Mohini Mohan Patnaik. Their presentation called Monsoon Melody was a special instrumental dedicated to the myriad moods one associates with the monsoon.

The veteran flautist led from the front while other participants — Sandip Rout, Sachidanand Das, Sushma Panda and Santosh Panda — accompanied him on sitar, tabla and also lent their voice.

Renowned vocalists Arjun Charan Samal and Harapriya Swain rendered melodious compositions on the season. Among senior artistes were Keshab Rout, Bijoy Jena, Laxmikant Palit, Sangita Panda, Susmita Das and Sourav Nayak. The young brigade consisted of vocalists Nazia Alam and Sursarita Rout, who enthralled the audience with their soulful songs — Barasago tume byasta huana and Aaji mun shrabani.

On Tuesday evening, tabla player Tapas Pal planned a special treat for the music lovers. His group, Symphony, presented a fusion that included tabla, dholak, guitar, drums as well as a number of traditional and western instruments. The composition reflected both the sound of raindrops as well as the lightning. The audience appreciated the musical rendition.

Artistes from the Odisha Dance Academy presented a performance on romantic tales of monsoons. The composition captured the transformation that the nature undergoes with the advent of the rains to the emotions people experience during the season. Senior dancer Aruna Mohanty composed the recital.

“Monsoon will always remain special in Indian music, poetry and dance, and this was again reiterated through the performances,” said Arpita Sahoo, an audience.

Organiser of the festival Surendra Das said the city art lovers’ support helped the festival become successful year after year.