From classical to Bollywood, pahats continue to hold charm

NAGPUR:Adding charm to the festive season, Diwali pahats are all set to begin from Sunday. “Pahat or prahar means time of the day and presenting songs based on ragas of that particular prahar makes for good hearing,” says classical singer Sadhana Shiledar. She will be presenting ‘Pratah Swar’ on Sunday, based on classical ragas at Bhausahab Shewalkar Sabhagruha, Rashtrabhasha Sankul.
“As musical events are usually held in the evenings we get to hear more of evening and late night ragas.The pahat gives an opportunity to sing morning ragas,” says Shiledar who along with Milind Malshe will be presenting six ragas.
Explaining the significance of these early morning events the vocalist adds, “This is the time for riyaaz when the night is ending and its dawn of a new day. Music sung at this time has an almost divine quality. This is the only event in the city which is purely classical,” she adds.
In an effort to keep this touch of divinity, another event ‘Mangaldeep Prabhat’ will be organized at Tekdi Ganesh temple on November 12.
“Since my firm is named Siddhivinayak Publicity, I have been dedicating this pahat to the lord and hold it inside the temple,” says event manager Samir Pandit. With the deity as the main audience, the singers at this event sit facing the idol. “We hold it in the same way as our other commercial events though we do not seek any sponsorships for this one,” he says. Singers here would be presenting abhangs and songs on Ganpati and devotional songs based on classical music from Hindi films.
Rolling out a spectrum of events to select from, Swarvedh which organizes pahats every year at Scientific Society Hall, has lined up four back to back events this time. “We have planned events from November 10 to 13. They will have themes like devotional, old Hindi-Marathi classics, natya sangeet and latest hits,” says Sheela Kulkarni the organizer. “This way the audience can select whichever programme they wish to attend.” All the events will be held at 6am.
“Tarunache Rang which is based on the latest hits has been organized keeping youth in mind. This is one way of introducing the concept of pahat to them and also tempt them to get up early,” she adds. Many new voices will be heard at these events, adds Kulkarni.
Though there are many who feel film music does not gel with a pahat, college lecturer Sangeeta Pande says, “The combination of good music and festivities gives it a happy feel. The songs are mostly based on classical music and old golden hits are presented. So the audience does not mind.”