Like popular singer couple Bijay Jena and Harapriya Swain promoting Odissi music through their annual Shruti music festival in the Capital for the past four years, another couple - mardal player Jagannath Kuanr and brilliant singer Mohapatra Minati Bhanja - have come up with another annual festival for promotion of music that they have aptly named Nada Brahma Sangeet Utsav. Into its second edition, the just concluded two-day event at Jayadev Bhawan had its thrust on presentation of ancient and traditional Odissi music and the songs of the immensely popular saint poet Bhima Bhoi. ‘‘Bhima Bhoi’s poems are still popular among the masses but the urban audience is having little exposure to his treasure trove. Therefore we decided to devote an evening of our festival to Bhima Bhoi last year and we repeated the practice this year too,’’ explained Minati.
New Delhi-based Odissi dancer Kabita Dwibedi, who was conferred the Nada Brahma Samman by Governor MC Bhandare for her efforts to popularise Bhima Bhoi’s philosophy through dance, performed her own choreographic composition based on the writings of Bhima Bhoi. Singers Lata Ghosh, Sourav Nayak, Sailabhama, Krushna Roy and Mohapatra Minati Bhanja regaled with Bhoi’s songs during the evening. Legendary singer Pranab Patnaik, versatile Odissi vocalist Shyamamani Devi, popular singer Subas Das, Odissi vocalists Chandramani Lenka and Sangeeta Gosain were the attractions of the inaugural evening. In instrumental music segment, tabla exponent Pandit Umesh Chandra Kar and mardal player Jagannath Kuanr had a pulsating presentation of jugalbandi.