05 December,2012 08:09 AM IST | | A Correspondent
To mark the 75th death anniversary of Ustad Abdul Karim Khan, founder of Kirana Gharana, a special exhibition of some of his rare photographs compiled by ace lensman Sateesh Paknikar would be organised at the Ramanbaug School in Shanivar Peth between December 11 and December 16.
Apart from the rare photos, the exhibition will also have some letters written by Khan sahab in an enlarged format. Organisers feel that followers of classical music would be able to understand Khan sahab's feelings about music after reading the letters.
With love: A letter written by Ustad Abdul Karim Khan
Paknikar said, "Classical music lovers coming for this exhibition will be able to read four letters written by Khan sahab in a language that is no longer used in today. Ustad sahab must have dictated the letters to some one. One letter of has mention of members of the Kirana Gharana. The letters are not hand written, they were taken from a book - Visharbadha Sharada."
Shriniwas Joshi, youngest son of late Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, said getting the letters was not a difficult task as they were already been published. He said the audience would enjoy reading the letters written by Pt Bhimsen Joshi's guru's guru, wherein he has written about Arya Sangeeet Shala and his affection for it, among several topics.
It's different
For the first time in the history of the event, five giant-sized LED walls would be installed for an enhanced viewing experience at various locations at the venue. In addition, the event infrastructure would be a bit different and the venue will have more space and a better décor.
The internal decoration of the pandal will be done under Shyam Bhutkar's supervision. To mark six decades of the mahotsav, some of the veteran artists who accompanied Bharat Ratna Pt Bhimsen Joshi for a long time would be felicitated. This includes Purushottam Walawalkar, Nana Mule, Tulshidas Borkar and Mauli Takalkar. Families of certain artists, who passed away in the last few years, would also be felicitated at the event.
This year the Vatsalabai Joshi award would be given to Pandit Ajay Pohankar. The award is given every year during mahotsav to an individual for his or her outstanding contribution to the field of Indian classical music and comprises a citation and cash prize of Rs 3.5 lakh.u00a0
