Remeber Durgotsav

Beautiful animation be Rajesh Chakraborty

Sindur Khela

photo by Sanchita Mukherjee from http://photopia.shutterchance.com/

"Sindur Khela" is a major event of Navratri Dashami. Married women apply vermilion to each other and greet each other with sweets. It is in the evening when Goddess Durga is immersed. Bengalis greet each other with bijoya greetings and men follow the customary 'Kolakuli' (embrace each other).

9 colours - Red

The Goddess of tenth day during Saran Navratri is dressed in Red coloured saree. Tenth Day of Durga Navaratri, 2009 – Vijaya Dashami – september 28, monday.

9 colours - Parrot Green

The Goddess of eighth day during Saran Navratri is dressed in Parrot Green coloured saree. Eighth Day of Durga Sharan Navaratri, 2009 – Goddess Saraswati Mata Puja – september 26, saturday.

9 colours - Peacock Green

The Goddess of seventh day during Saran Navratri is dressed in Peacock Green coloured saree. Seventh Day of Durga Saran Navaratri, 2009 – Maha Saptami – september 25, friday.

Chhau dance

Chhau is a masked dance, the motif of which has been drawn from the mythological picturesque. In the opinion of some people "Chhau" is a dialect which meams six faces, Viz. fore head, eyes, nose, cheeks, lips and chin and a mask bears the six parts of the face. The word 'Chhau' is derived from the Sanskrit word 'Chhaya' meaning 'shade image mask' which is an essential features of this art.
The beginning of Chhau dances is lost in hoary past and the rulers have been intimately associated with religious festivals known as "Chaitra Parva" celebrated every year for several centuries.

The Chhau dance is of the people

By the people and for the people

Dance of mother of arts

Music and poetry exists in time...

9 colours - White

The Goddess of third day during Saran Navratri is dressed in white coloured saree. Third day of Durga Saran Navaratri, 2009 – Sthana Vriddhi Gauri Vrata – september 21, monday.

Barong

Barong is probably the most well known balinese dance. Its is also another story telling dance, narrating the fight between good and evil. This dance is the classic example of Balinese way of acting out mythology, resulting in myth and history being blended into one reality.

9 colours of Navratri - Orange

The Goddess of second day during Saran Navratri is dressed in Orange coloured saree.


Bibi Russell is a fashion designer and former international model from Bangladesh. The Asiaweek magazine highlighted her as "one of the 20 people to watch in the millennium".

9 colours of Navratri

Goddess Shakti is worshipped during 9 days of Navratri. Durga Navratri 2009 begins on September 19 and ends on September 28.The tradition of 9 colours is very common in Gujarat, Maharashtra and some other North Indian states during Durga Navaratri puja.

The Goddess of first day during Saran Navratri is dressed in Dark Green coloured saree.

Sabri Brothers

The Sabri Brothers originally consisted of Ghulam Farid Sabri (1930 -1994; lead vocals, harmonium), Maqbool Ahmed Sabri (b.1941 ; lead vocals, harmonium), Kamal Sabri (d. 2001; vocals, swarmandal), Mehmood Ghaznavi Sabri (b. 1949; vocals, bongo drums, tambourine), Fazal Islam (chorus), Azmat Farid Sabri (chorus), Sarwat Farid Sabri (chorus), Javed Kamal Sabri (chorus), Umer Daraz (chorus), Abdul Aziz (chorus), Masihuddin (chorus, tanpura), Abdul Karim (dholak), and Mohammed Anwar (nal, tabla).

Gnawa

Gnawa music is a mixture of sub-Saharan African, Berber, and Arabic religious songs and rhythms. It combines music and acrobatic dancing. The music is both a prayer and a celebration of life. Though many of the influences that formed this music can be traced to sub-Saharan Africa, and specifically, the Western Sahel, its practice is concentrated in north Africa, mainly Morocco and Algeria.
Live video recording from the Essaouira 2008 Gnaoua and World Music Festival featuring Maalem Omar Hayat with Franck Vaillant (Drums), Jon Balcke Norway (Piano / keyboards), Mohamed Derouich (Guitar) France / Morocco, Ibrahim Maalouf (Trumpet / Lebanon).

Bhavai

Bhavai is Rajasthan's famous folk dance comprising of a spectacular performance. This Dance form consists of veiled women dancers balancing upto seven or nine brass pitchers as they dance nimbly, pirouetting and then swaying with the soles of their feet perched on the top of a glass or on the edge of the sword. There is a sense of cutting edge suspense and nail biting acts in the dance.

Sang Hyang Dedari

The Sang Hyang Dedari dance usually involves teenage or young dancers because of their purity: a virgin girl is considered holy. When it is performed, the dancers are in a state of trance, allowing them to make wonderful movements.
A holy priest, known locally as 'pemangku', then brings them out of the trance by saying a prayer and blessing them with the holy water. When they emerge from the trance, they are weak and exhausted and unaware of having danced on stage.The dance is performed when divine spirits temporarily descend on villages, revealing themselves through the entranced dancers. Sang Hyang is the name of the divine spirit, meaning holiness, while Dedari (meaning 'angels') describes the trance ceremony.
Performed by Ubud Panca Artha Group:



Foto from myudistira's photostream in flickr.com

Kathak/Flamenco

Karsh Kale

Karsh Kale's realize crew have created an important recording in the world of asian music. This might be the first real melding of classical traditional hindustani music and DnB--so much so that the combination aspect of it disssappears. There is a new synthesis brewing here, and it's an updated form of classical music. Kale weaves both traditional Indian instrumentations, indian vocals, and varying breakbeats.

Kiran Ahluwalia

Ahluwalia sings Ghazals and Punjabi folk songs, mainly in a traditional style. (According to her website, she studied the art of Ghazal for several years in Hyderabad with a teacher named Vithal Rao, "one of the last living court musicians of the Nizam (King) of Hyderabad.") She has a remarkable, strong voice. Her band, which includes western guitar and bass, and has a bit of a jazz sensibility.

Uday Bhawalkar

Highly praised by music critics, the singer Uday Bhawalkar counts in present-day India as one of the younger generation´s leading exponents of dhrupad, one of the oldest forms of classical song still current in the north of India.
Raag: Bhinna Shadja

Jugalbandi

A jugalbandhi is a performance, in Indian classical music, featuring two solo musicians. The word jugalbandhi means, literally, "entwined twins." The duet could be either vocal or instrumental. In jugalbandhi, both musicians act as lead players, and a playful competition often ensues between the two performers.

An South & North traditions jugalbandi with 2 masters of classical music: U.Srinivas on mandoline & D.Bhattacharya on guitar. On tabla Subashish Bhattacharya (Debashish's brother) and on mridangam B. Harikumar.
Raag: keervani

Bebo Valdes and El Cigala

That's pianist Bebo Valdes, one of Cuba's great jam session players of the 1950s (and still a potent force on the music scene) and flamenco vocalist Diego "El Cigala," whose half-croaked, Arabic-tinged inflections offer a fine counterpoint to Valdes's trademark sleek, supple piano runs.