Sankatmochan Music fest starts in virtual mode

Varanasi: Like last year, the famous traditional annual musical festival of the city, Sankatmochan Music Festival of Indian classical music and dance commenced on virtual platform from May 1 this year too.
The six-day festival was organised on digital platform last year for the first time due to Covid spread. “Even in such a difficult time, the tradition is being maintained on digital platform,” said the Mahant of Sankat Mochan Temple Prof Vishwambhar Nath Mishra. To pay homage to noted vocalist late Pt Jasraj who died due to Covid-19 on August 17, 2020, the second night of the fest started with a clipping of his past performance.
The first night of the festival witnessed the performance of Lokesh Anand (shehnai), Ram Prapann Bhattacharya (sitar), Atul Shankar (flute), Ganesh Prasad Mishra (vocal), and Pt Sukhdev Prasad Mishra (violin), while the musicians including Ankur Mishra (sitar), Vasundhara Sharma (kathak), Pt Devashish Dey (vocal), Majisha Patil (vocal), and Paromita Deshmukh (bhajan) presented their performance.
Every year, the fest is held on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti in April. The charm of the festival entices visitors in a manner that they enjoy the nigh-long performances of the fest in the temple premises.
This music festival is open to all and artists perform here for free. They consider to be honoured and blessed to perform in this fest and show their respect and devotion to Lord Hanuman through their performance. The stage is formed on the veranda facing the Lord Hanuman’s idol in the sanctum sanctorum. The courtyard is packed with the audience.
Started in 1923, the festival has witnessed the performance of celebrated musicians like Pandit Jasraj, Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Anup Jalota, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Pandit Birju Maharaj, Pandit Kelucharan Mahapatra and many others.
However, the Covid-19 pandemic has disappointed the music lovers. The pandemic also caused a great loss to the Indian music as many renowned musicians including Pt Jasraj, Pt Rajan Mishra and Debu Chowdhary died due to Covid-19, said the mahant.