THECONCERTS RAAG AND RANG

Holi, the festival of colour, holds a special significance for Hindustani musicians. In mythology, Krishna lords over the celebrations. He and his consort, Radha, along with scores of beautiful women, engage in a playful act of spraying colours to welcome spring. The women fake anger and protest but in reality, enjoy his good-hearted pranks.

This outpouring of emotion is what fuels the compositions of the hori, a genre of semi-classical singing, popular in north India often fused with supposedly spiritual forms like the bhairavi and thumri. It is an integral part of the dhrupad Dhamar, and dadras that emerge from the folk culture of the Poorvanchal part of Uttar Pradesh, and is sung with a sense of abandon.

“They also depart from stereotypes,” says a santoor exponent and chairperson of the Indian Musicological Society. “In one of the thumris, it is not Krishna and Radha playing with colours but Lord Ram and Sita. It is in the raag Kafi and is performed by singers belonging to the Gwalior tradition.”

There are many fast-paced chhota khyal compositions as well as uncommon ragas that depict the holi mood. “Morning ragas like Hindol are slow paced and describe

Snehal Muzoomdar (right),

indulges,” says Ram Deshpande, who will perform in a morning programme organised by Kalabharati and Shashwat Soor at Karnataka Sangha