traditional music in festival back again

Mumbai reverberated all night to the beating of drums, cymbals and dancing as nearly 200,000 big and small idols of Lord Ganesh were brought in trucks, tempos, cars, two-wheelers or carried on heads, to public pandals or private homes at the start of the 10-day Ganesh utsav festival here Monday. The night was punctuated by cries of welcome Ganpati Bappa Morya and singing of the favourite bhajan, Sukh-karta Dukh-harta and other aarti by millions of devotees amidst fireworks, as the elephant-headed god was welcomed in Mumbai and the rest of Maharashtra on his annual sojourn.

We always talk about the noise pollution during ganesh ustav and the negative aspect of the festival. But people have became more aware about it and focusing on how they will bring back traditional music and spread awareness among the crowd to no using DJ.

Traditional music is taking a place in our festivals from few years. Every festive occasion is accompanied by song, music and dance in Maharashtra the culture of traditional music is back today. Talking about the music of Maharashtra won't complete without the mention of Natya Sangeet, numerous folk songs and its great saint poets.

Traditional music reflects many issues from our society. It also helps our new generation to get connected with their culture. Balkrishna Mitra Mandal of Ghatkopar has been following this culture of traditional music from last 5 years.   The decision of playing traditional music with low sound and ambiance was taken because of many complaints and issues. Though it started with a negative argument but later on people understood the seriousness’ of the issues and supported the people.

People gather in pandal for few hours, we preach spiritual, devotional, social and national message with the help of music. There are many forms of devotional music such as Gawlan, Wirani, Bharud, Owi, Panchapadi etc widespread in Maharashtra. The devotion music of Maharashtra covers a wide range of genres from folk music to art music. The devotional music of Maharashtra should be passed to other generation is the main aim of every mandal.