Guru Banamali Moharana and his group perform talavadya on the occasion of 10th Talavadya Utsav at Rabindra Mandap in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, May 12: The rhythm of the tabla and beats of the mardala (Oriya percussion instrument) resonated in the auditorium of Rabindra Mandap as the Mardala Academy celebrated the 10th edition of their annual function, Talavadya.

The concert of Indian classical percussion instruments presented a repertoire of group and solo renditions of the mardala and the tabla at the event today evening.

Young disciples of eminent mardala player and founder-president of the Mardala Academy, Guru Banamali Moharana, gave a perfect start to the event. Performing a group recital on the Adi Taala, 17 mardala players of the institute presented an overwhelming sonata followed by the jhampa taala, under the direction of their guru.

The group recital included the performance of female mardala players for the first time. Granddaughters of Moharana, Pushpika and Shilpika — both young students — showed their expertise on the mardala.

They were, however, not the only female percussionists of the evening. Tabla prodigy from Calcutta, 25-year-old Rimpa Siva, set the stage on fire with her solo rendition that bound the audience to their seats for close to an hour. The young tabla-player showed remarkable control in her performance.

“It was amazing to see females, that too, so young, perform on percussion instruments so deftly,” said Deepak Panigrahi, a tabla student.

Group renditions by mardala players such as Bijay Barik, Surendra Moharana, Niranjan Sahu and others also left the audience spellbound. Prolific tabla-player Umesh Chandra Kar, former principal of Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya, was awarded the 10th Talavadya Samman for this year by Governor M.C. Bhandare.

Three veteran percussionists – mardal player Harihar Panda, khola player D. Damrudhar Reddy and dhola player Prabhudatta Pradhan — were also felicitated on the occasion.

The exclusive rendition of the evening was a performance by the veteran trio of Panda, Reddy and Pradhan. The three got together on the stage and after an enchanting solo rendition of each instrument, the audience was regaled with a group performance.

Culture department secretary Ashok Tripathy, who was present at the event, announced that a post for a professor in mardala would be soon introduced at Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya.