The 35th Annual Navaratri Festival, which has been underway since Wednesday, continues this weekend with performances, ceremonies, and food provided by Haveli India Restaurant. Since 1976, the University has dedicated nearly one week each autumn to exploring India’s arts and Hindu traditions.
This year’s Navaratri brings exciting performances to campus, each celebrating India’s rich musical tradition. If you haven’t already checked out a colloquium, seen a concert, or eaten some chaat in Olin, be sure to stop by one, or all, of the remaining performances over the weekend.
The weekend’s celebration kicks off tonight at 8 p.m. at Crowell Concert Hall with a concert featuring Wesleyan’s own Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music B. “Balu” Balasubrahmaniyan on vocals and Artist-in-Residence David Nelson on mrdangam, a classical Indian percussion instrument. K.V. S. Vinay joins the two on violin. The concert will open with two performances by their students: one vocal piece and another featuring traditional instruments in an ensemble.
Balasubrahmaniyan and Nelson contribute much more to the festival than their performances in the concert—they are both members of a committee that organizes the event each year.
“Our goal is always to present the best Indian music and dance we can find,” said Nelson.
However, Nelson said that they rarely encounter trouble booking excellent musicians and dancers.
“It’s a very famous festival and has a tremendous reputation world wide,” Nelson said. “We manage to get world-class talent. It’s a wonderful opportunity for Wesleyan students to experience something they couldn’t get anywhere else.”
Aside from its place on the global scale, the Navaratri Festival also concentrates on bringing together local interests.
“We work together with the local Indian community,” Balasubrahmaniyan said. “We integrate both the Indian public and the non-Indian peoples in this festival.”
Earlier this week, the unique event opened with a talk by Niko Higgins ’97, now an ethnomusicology PhD candidate at Columbia, on fusing (and not fusing) classical Indian Carnatic music with contemporary music styles.
While the Navaratri Festival as we know it is unique to Wesleyan, the festival is celebrated by Hindus throughout the world. It lasts for ten days and nine nights (in fact, Navaratri literally means “nine nights” in Sanskrit) and is held in honor of the the mother goddess’ victory over a demon.
The story goes that the goddess took nine nights to kill the demon, and the people celebrate all the nine nights of her triumph. This festival corresponds to the lunar calendar, so its specific dates change every year, but it always takes place near the middle of October. It’s celebrated differently all over India, multiple times a year, but always includes religious processions, temples rituals, parties, food, dancing, and nightly music.
Students, as well as pedigreed musicians and dancers, are leaving their mark on the festival. Prior to tonight’s concert is the “Diwali Nights” Formal, hosted by Shakti, Wesleyan’s South Asian student association, and the MINDS Foundation at 6 p.m. in the Daniel Family Commons. Proceeds will benefit the MINDS Foundation, which is aimed at providing mental health resources in India. Earlier this week, Shakti gave out chaat (what Shakti representative Anika Amin ’14 described as “the Indian version of trail mix”) and offered henna designs to students in the lobby of Olin.
“[Shakti is for] anyone interested in South Asian culture, which comprises the countries of India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka…all countries lumped into the sub-Indian continent,” Amin said.
Private Lessons Teacher, Stan Scott will be performing with his band, the Rangila Ensemble Saturday at 1 p.m. in the World Music Hall. The band recently released an album of North Indian devotional music, and the concert will feature songs from the new CD.
Carnatic musician T.M. Krishna will perform at 5 p.m. in the World Music Hall; this performance is the centerpiece of the festival.
“The Saturday night concert is pretty special,” Nelson said. “T.M. Krishna is a real rising star on the scene right now.”
Krishna, a leading vocalist in the Carnatic tradition of southern India, will be joined by Tricy Sankaran on percussion and H.K. Venkatram on violin.
“The drum accompanist [Tricy Sankaran] is a very high caliber musician. This year he’s getting an award called Sangeetha Kalanidhi, considered the highest award in Carnatic South Indian music,” Balasubrahmaniyan said. “[Krishna] is a violinist, and he’s a computer engineer…he plays extraordinarily.”
However, T.M. Krishna and equally well-known accompanists are not the only appeal of Saturday night’s concert. Haveli is catering a pre-performance dinner, which costs $13 for Wesleyan students.
The next day at 11 a.m., the festival continues with a religious service called Saraswati Puja at the World Music Hall to commemorate the eponymous holiday, which is known as the most auspicious day for taking on new endeavors. Attendees are encouraged to bring items from projects they are starting such as instruments, manuscripts, and thesis papers (just a suggestion), to be blessed.
At 2 p.m. eminent Bharatanatyam dancer Rama Vaidyanathan will perform in Crowell Concert Hall. Bharatanatyam is a South Indian classical dance form, which combines elements of pure dance technique with theatrical hand gesture to create a unique storytelling experience.
Nelson said he thinks the weekend’s events provide a valuable glimpse into Indian culture.
“India is an increasingly important partner in the world in all kinds of respects,” he said. “It’s more important now than ever to know about the culture, to know what the cultural values are. And besides, the music is absolutely beautiful.”