Kulamani Sahoo performs at Malhar, in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 3: Beats of percussion instruments and waves of melody of string instruments created a magical atmosphere at a concert dedicated to the monsoon session hosted at Rabindra Mandap yesterday.

The classical musical evening, titled Malhar, was organised by the Indian Council for Cultural relations as part of its Horizon series of musical concerts.

Senior as well as young disciples of veteran musician Pandit Harmohan Khuntia performed at the evening. The maestro himself led the artistes in some of the jugalbandi renditions.

An assortment of ragas and compositions based on the myriad moods that monsoon brings in were performed by the artistes. The instrumental music evening began with a jugalbandi of tabla and mardala.

Maestro Khuntia was on the mardala while his senior disciple Kulamani Sahoo displayed his forte on the tabla.

The duo started off with a rhythmic cycle of 14 beats and went on to different rhythmic patterns on varying musical syllables or jati. They also played interesting short rhythms by mimicking the sounds of lightning, stormy weather’s music and many monsoon-related sounds on the percussion instruments.

“It was a wonderful experience to watch the jugalbandi of mardala and tabla,” said Arkabrata Swain, a viewer.

Another fascinating round of music was the sitar recital by young Chakradhar Khuntia. The promising artiste won over the audience’s hearts with his brilliant hold on the strings. His repertoire included various ancient ragas and some devotional compositions. The most impressive was his elaborate rendition in raga Miya ki Malhar.

The audience included well-known personalities from the music fraternity such as the doyen of Odissi music Damodar Hota.

Regional director of the ICCR Minakhi Mishra said that almost 50 concerts had already been hosted in the twin cities to popularise classical music under the Horizon series.

“We host a music or dance-based concert either in Cuttack or Bhubaneswar almost every fortnight and we are glad to get a good turnout every time,” she said.