Bhubaneswar: A commemorative cultural programme ‘Smruti Sumanta’ was held at Rabindra Mandap here on Friday evening to honour the memory of late music director Sumanta Mohanty.
Hosted by Sumanta Mohanty Foundation Trust, the nostalgic evening of music and dance was inaugurated by MLA Babu Singh, Special Secretary, Culture Department, Deba Prasad Das, eminent Odissi vocalist Prof Guru Ramhari Das and Dilip Hali.
On this occasion, eminent vocalist Guru Ghanashyam Panda and noted violin player Suramani Ramesh Chandra Das were felicitated with ‘Smruti Sumanta Samman’.
The cultural evening began on an enchanting note with Guru Dr Bijay Kumar Jena’s evocative renderings. He commenced his recital with ‘Mamiyam Chalita Vilokya’ set to Raga Bageshree and concluded with ‘Pashyati Dishi Dishi’ set to Raga Desh, casting a spell on the art lovers. He was ably supported by Guru Sachidananda Dash on the Mardala, Srinivas Satapathy on the Flute and Sitakanta Jena on the Manjira.
Next, Dr Nazia Alam, mesmerized the audience with her soulful renditions ‘Sarasa Basante’ and ‘Sa Birahe’, transporting the audience into a world of devotion and emotion. Guru Bijay Kumar Barik, Srinivas Satrapathy and Sitakanta Jena lenther a good support on the Mardala, Flute and Manjira respectively.
Here it is to be mentioned that Dr Alam, along with late Sumanta Mohanty, had lent her voice to ‘Sampoorna Geeta Govinda’, a five-CD collection released by HMV SaReGaMa in 2008. The project was composed by noted cultural enthusiast and former Chief Secretary of Odisha Dr Subas Pani.
A major highlight of the evening was ‘Moods of Rhythm’, a 25-minute percussion symphony conceived and directed by CSNA awardee and renowned musicologist Guru Dr Dhaneswar Swain. Beginning with ‘Krishna Vandana’, the recital progressed through ‘Sabdaswarapatta’, ‘Mridanga Vaadan’ and ‘Jawab Sawal’, showcasing the rhythmic patterns like ‘Chalan’, ‘Paran’ ‘Chakradar Paran’, ‘Jati’, ‘Tisra’, ‘Chaturasra’ and ‘Mishra’.
The ensemble featured accomplished musicians like Buddhanath Swain on the Mardala, Biswaranjan Nanda on the Tabla, Ajay Kumar Choudhury on the Khanjani, Sitakanta on the Nisan and Jhanja, Soubhagya Narayan Chhotray on the Manjira, Soumya Ranjan Joshi on the Flute, Baibhav Das on the Dholak, Kalandi Charan Panda on the ‘Mrudanga’, Sanjay Kumar Raut on the ‘Nal’ and Raj Kishore Das on the ‘Jodi Nagara’.
The evening came to an end with a vibrating note with two mesmerising group Odissi dance presentations by the students of Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalay, Bhubaneswar. They presented ‘JagannathaAshtakam’ and ‘Sa Champu’, dance choreographed by Lingaraj Pradhan and Pabitra Kumar Pradhan with music composed by Guru Dr Bijay Kumar Jena.
The programme was deftly anchored by Dr Sangeeta Gosain.
Late Sumanta Mohanty, whose untimely and tragic death in October 2008 had shocked Odisha’s cultural fraternity, was fondly remembered throughout the evening as an artist whose musical legacy continues to inspire generations.
