Hema Malini, Anup Jalota among 100 artistes to offer ‘Rag Seva’ to Lord Ram during 45-day festival

Ayodhya, Jan 26 (PTI) Hema Malini, Malini Awasthi, Anup Jalota, Anuradha Paudwal and Sonal Mansingh are among artistes who will perform at the newly-constructed Ram temple in Ayodhya to offer “Shree Ram Rag Seva”.

The 45-day devotional music festival dedicated to Lord Ram that begins on Friday will conclude on March 10.

“In line with classical tradition, ‘Rag Seva’ will be organised at the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple from January 26. This event will be organised in the ‘gudi mandap’ before the Lord in which more than 100 well-known artistes from different provinces and art traditions from across the country will offer their ‘Rag Seva’ at the feet of Lord Ram for the next 45 days,” a member of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra said.

The ‘gudi mandap’ is located in front of the ‘garbha griha (sanctum sanctorum)’ where the new idol of Lord Ram was consecrated in a grand ceremony led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday.

“The architect and coordinator of this programme on behalf of the trust is Yatindra Mishra and the curation has been supported by the Sangeet Natak Akademi in Delhi,” the trust member said.

“‘Rag Seva’ is a classical tradition. First in the series is Malini Awasthi from Uttar Pradesh whose rendition will include ‘sohar’, ‘badhawa’ and ‘mangal gan’,” the member said.

Among the artistes who will perform ‘Rag Seva’ are Vyjayanthimala, Sikkil Gurcharan , Pandit Sajan Mishra, Jasbir Jassi, Aruna Sairam, Swapna Sundari, Rahul Deshpande, Suresh Wadkar, Darshana Jhaveri, Uday Bhawalkar, Jayanth Kumaresh, Purna Das Baul, Rajani and Gayatri and Devaki Pandit.

Basanti Bisht, Prerana Shrimali, Sunanda Sharma, Meeta Pandit, Padma Subrahmanyam will also perform during the 45-day festival.

Yatindra Mishra also orchestrated the ‘Mangal Dhwani’ that reverberated during the consecration ceremony. Fifty traditional musical instruments from across the country were part of the grand musical rendition.

These included pakhawaj, flute and dholak from Uttar Pradesh; veena from Karnataka; algoja from Punjab; sundari from Maharashtra; mardala from Odisha; santoor from Madhya Pradesh; pung from Manipur; nagada and kali from Assam; and tambura from Chhattisgarh.

There was also shehnai from Delhi; ravanahatha from Rajasthan; shrikhol and sarod from West Bengal; ghatam from Andhra Pradesh; sitar from Jharkhand; santar from Gujarat; pakhawaj from Bihar; hudka from Uttarakhand; and nagaswaram, tavil and mridangam from Tamil Nadu.

Ahead of the ‘Mangal Dhwani’, there were musical performances by Sonu Nigam, Anuradha Paudwal and Shankar Mahadevan, who sang songs dedicated to Lord Ram.

Lakhs of people watched the ‘pran pratishtha (consecration)’ ceremony on Monday on television in their homes and neighbourhood temples, becoming part of the historic event held just months before the Lok Sabha elections.

Music has found another significant place in the heart of the temple town as a roundabout named after legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar has of late turned into a major hotspot for residents and tourists seeking the perfect selfie. A giant ornate sculpture of a veena that weighs 14 tons has been placed at the centre of the roundabout.

The Lata Mangeshkar Chowk marks the intersection of Ram Path and Dharm Path, both bedecked with ornamental lamp posts.