Bhojpuri
music’s poster girl Kalpana Patowary is one of the few singers to have earned
mass acceptance after Papon Angarag Manta & Zubeen Garg in Assam.
The Assam-born, Bhojpuri singer returns with her best yet - her Magnum Opus musical documented album “The Sacred Scriptures of Monikut” – Brajavali Hymns (Times Music) in the 3rd edition of the Sankaradeva
Movement in NCPA Mumbai this May 2014 organized
by Trend MMS amidst the presence of music maestros Ashwini
Bhide Deshpande, Pritam, Lalit Pandit, Anup
Jalota, Gulzar Saab, Imtiaz Ali, Hariharan, Shantanu Moitra, Resul Pookutty Zubeen Garg, Kalpana
Lazmi,Victor Banerjee, Adil Hussain.
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“The Sacred Scriptures of Monikut” is about the reformer, wandering
philosopher, saint and poet Mahapurush Srimanta Shankardeva and his disciple
Mahapurush Srimanta Madhavdeva from Assam.
This
album is in collaboration for the first time to make some original sounds with
Trilok Gurtu (Germany) - master of Indian percussion and Western drumming who
plays a unique hybrid East-West drum set up @Guru Rewben Mashangva - Father of
Naga folk blues @PAPON Angarag Mahanta and Zubeen Garg.
Says Kalpana, "The Sacred
Scriptures of Monikut” is a genre that is melancholic in nature and the notes
and progressions let me express myself dramatically. I am really happy we could
showcase the works (Naam Ghosha and Kirtan Ghosha) of Mahapurush Srimanta Shankardeva
and his disciple Mahapurush Srimanta Madhavdeva from Assam. I think it is a big deal. I don’t
think (Naam Ghosha and Kirtan Ghosha) has
been presented in this way to the world before. I believe it means a lot to
hold on to your roots and present this beauty to the world. It is a matter of
pride and satisfaction. This album would encourage young people who love their
land and culture.
The Sacred Scriptures of Monikut is one of my best
and the most notable musical collaboration not only with various respectable artists
but also with a variety of primitive instruments being used in this album.
From the
traditional - ancient and extinct instrument Kalia to Sarinda to the Sundari to
Doba to Djembe to Kahon to the Tabla, Shehnai, percussion,
electronic hand sonic, drums, beads, electric piano, Acoustic Guitar,
Nakara to Nagara to Bortal to Flute, this album is a cocktail mix of different sounds,” she
shared.
I kept the folk vibe of traditional
Ghosha original and added a more somber touch and I tried to keep the original
and earnest vocal performance of the Barpeta style from my Mother.
The idea behind “The Sacred Scriptures of Monikut” is as Kalpana
refers…from where do I belong geographically, my mother tongue, my motherland….ASSAM
owes me and as an artiste I have to pay back HER labour pain dues. SHE brought
me up, infused traditional values, matures me up to face the outside world with
dignity….the journey from Sorbhog, Barpeta to mayanagri Mumbai and then as the
BHOJPURI QUEEN to rule the hearts of the heartland of India-Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.“The Sacred Scriptures of Monikut” is an Anjali (offering)
from Kalpana to Assam.
Now I had to choose
from where to start…there were so much of elements. Various dimensions in my
singing genre, from rural folk to raunchy commercial category, from Indian
classical to western jazzy blues, I explored every kind in 26 different
languages. In one word I would describe my music as free, with no restriction
to any cultural boundaries or genres.
My father Bipin
Patowary as my Guru, taught me our folk traditions and my mother Joymati
Patowary infused into me our rich spiritual singing legacies. I opted my mother
as the origin of everything I believe is the mother. My mother used and still
sings THE SACRED HYMNS - THE KIRTANA GHOSHA AND THE NAAM GHOSHA…in Brajavali
language-the scriptural language of Assam.In fifteenth century India,when
the entire country was in a midst of a great social quandary, when Tantricism
in its naked form accompanied by animal sacrifices and other vices got the
upper hand,when casteism was dominant and a bulk of the population was treated
as outcast and untouchables, when the all-pervading God was locked inside the
temple,at that critical moment of
religious crisis, many Saints arose in different parts of the
country.
Ramananda, Ravidas, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Vallabhacharya, Surdas, Meera
Bai, Kabir, Tulsidas, Namdev, Dnyaneshwar, Tukaram, Annamacharya,Bhadrachala
Ramadas, Tyagaraja were some of them who
started a reforming movement. The Bhakti movement, a Hindu religious movement
of the medieval period that promoted the belief that salvation was attainable
by everyone.
In the easternmost
part of the country this reforming movement was initiated by an Assamese
polymath: a saint-scholar, poet, playwright, social-religious reformer and a
colossal figure in the cultural and religious history of Assam, Srimanta
Sankardeva . His Bhakti derived inspiration from Bhagavata-purana and the
practice of its teaching blossomed in the north eastern region of India through
his literary works.The media of both music and drama were powerfully employed
to win over the people to the teachings of the Bhagavata and, through its
numerous narratives, love and devotion for the One Supreme God were instilled
in the hearts of the people. His magnum opus is The Kirtana-Ghosha, a bhakti
kavya per excellence, a work so popular that even today it is found in nearly
every household in Assam. It contains narrative verses glorifying Krishna , not
considered to be an incarnation of God but as the primary cause of all
incarnations. If Sri Sankardeva’s the Kirtana-Ghosa is held in high esteem and respect as the
main scripture by the Vaisnavites of Assam then The Naam Ghosa, composed by his
principal disciple Srimanta Madhavdeva also
holds a very unique place in the devotional literature of Assam.
Madhavdeva , a genius poet, an erudite scholar, a musician of excellence, a
litterateur of highly creative faculty and one of the initiators of Bhakti
movement was asked by Sankaradeva to write a work that would be sweet as the
plum but hard as the seed within it. This is the most perfect description of
the Nāam Ghosā which is such excellent poetry and at the same time such nice
exposition of the philosophy of Vaisnavism as preached by Sankaradeva. It is
the magnanimous achievement of Mahapurush Madhavdeva’s life where he dealt with
the most prudential philosophy of Vedas and Vedanta’s.
The Sacred Scriptures of Monikut is an album that everyone with a love for gentle Assam should
listen to. There’s an appealing timelessness to these songs that demonstrates
Kalpana’s willingness to stay true to her musical approach regardless of
current musical fads. Kalpana surely feels
honoured to produce and be a part of such a humongous & prestigious project,
surely giving it back to where she came from!
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