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Last week, the Center for the Arts hosted four different events to celebrate its 45th annual Navratri festival. Two of the events centered around music. 

Navratri is one of the most important annual festivals in Hinduism, as it symbolizes the triumph of good over evil. Navratri means nine (nav) nights (ratri) and this year, the festival is held from Oct. 7 to Oct. 15. During this time, Hindus all over the world will celebrate the goddess Durga and her victory over the demon Mahishasura. Every day of the festival is represented by a different color and each color symbolizes a different incarnation of the goddess.

According to Hindu tradition, Mahishasura was blessed with the gift of immortality by Lord Brahma with the exception that only a woman could defeat him. Mahishasura soon grew arrogant, believing that no woman would ever come to face him, much less destroy him. He attacked Trilok (earth, heaven, and hell) and although the gods waged war on him, their efforts to defeat him were to no avail. To end his evil rampage, Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu, and Lord Shiva combined their powers and created the goddess Durga, who went on to kill Mahishasura. 

The celebration kicked off on Sept. 30 with a virtual screening and discussion from the film department of the film “Kattumaram (Catamaran).” The 2019 movie tells the story of a conservative uncle who comes to terms with his niece’s queerness. Another event, sponsored by the dance department, featured the Post Natyam Collective, who hosted a creative dance workshop and subsequent discussion.

This year’s first musical event was held on Oct. 1, with Adjunct Associate Professor of Music B. Balasubrahmaniyan and Adjunct Associate Professor of Music David Nelson sharing the Vocal Music of South India with an evening of Karnatak (Carnatic) music. Karnatak music is a famous South Indian style of music that focuses on a vocalist and an instrument keeping the rhythm. Professor Balasubrahmaniyan was featured as a vocalist, and Professor Nelson played the mridangam, a percussion instrument similar to a drum.

The two-hour event featured seven different Karnatak pieces. Each piece was based on a specific Rāgam and Tāḷam, as indicated on the concert program. A Rāgam is a musical framework, given by a list of notes, within which an artist is free to improvise. The Tāḷam, on the other hand, is the rhythm or beat of the piece, similar to a time signature.

In addition to these two structural aspects, Karnatak music comprises several types of musical compositions, each with its own form, which can alter the length, style, and format of each piece. These can also contribute to the overall feel of the performance. This event featured four different compositions: Varnam, Kriti, Jāvali, and Tillāna. A Varnam typically opens the concert, with shorter segments of notes that serve as a warm-up for the performer. A Kriti is a much longer composition, so these pieces make up the bulk of the concert. Additionally, Kritis are usually very devotional, as explained on the program, which gives this composition a calming feel. Jālvalis is performed towards the end of the piece, preceding the Tillāna, the closing composition. Both are quite short but faster-paced and upbeat.

The majority of the pieces were in Telugu, a widely spoken language in South India. Some compositions were also in Tamil, another South Indian language, and Sanskrit, one of the oldest languages in the world. I don’t speak any of these languages and therefore couldn’t understand what was being said, but I was able to tell that a story was being told through the musical composition of the pieces.

While I loved the whole performance, the fifth piece, in particular, stuck with me. It was anchored by three separate forms of improvisation: alapana preceded it, and niraval and svara kalpana followed after. The alapana in particular was grounding, with minimal vocal variation, instead sustaining single notes. This introduction was restrained but gradually built up intensity with Balasubrahmaniyan singing more complex melodies as the piece progressed, moving quickly from note to note. Once the improv sections were complete, the mridangam joined in and the story began to unfold. The pitch and tone appeared to dictate different parts of the story. At certain times, the mridangam would speed up while the voice slowed down or stayed steady, and at other times, they would switch. This was followed by a mridangam solo, called tani āvartanam. This was the only piece that featured the mridangam, and it was a treat to hear the tonal nuances of this instrument.

The last event, held by the CFA on Oct. 3, featured world-renowned sitar player Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan’s Raag Bhimpalasi. Ustadji, a seventh-generation musician, is known for pushing the boundaries of what classical Hindustani (North Indian) music sounds like by experimenting within individual Rāgams. The pre-recorded performance was roughly 30 minutes with Ustadji on sitar, a plucked string instrument, accompanied by Sri Subhajyoti Guha on tabla, another percussion instrument similar to a drum. 

Ustadji’s rendition of Raag Bhimpalasi was absolutely breathtaking. In the beginning, he strummed several strings to play multiple notes together while somehow making one stand out. Several times, he quickened a melody and then slowed it back down. He would ascend three or four notes and hold out the last one. When the tabla came in, it complemented the sitar and the two musicians worked together to bring the piece alive. You could tell how deeply the music affected them just by the intensity of their performance.

Afterward, there was a Q&A session with Ustadji and Suhail Yusuf, a Wesleyan graduate student, sarangi (bowed string instrument) player and vocalist. Ustadji spoke about his exploratory experiences with music.

“Music is not limited, the grammar of music is limited,” Ustadji said during the Q&A session.

As a student of music myself, this statement stuck with me in particular.

He continued, explaining that once one has understood the “grammar” or techniques of Hindustani music, one can start to explore. With an open mind, what one can create is limitless. He also explained how he doesn’t have any particular goals, but rather wants to continue this exploratory journey. As a college student with several goals for my life, it was inspiring to hear a master of his art say that he wants to keep finding new meaning in music. 

Overall, the Navratri events at the University were beautiful to watch and listen to, as well as incredibly insightful, giving the community a glimpse into not just the festival, but Indian culture overall. 

Sabrina Ladiwala can be reached at sladiwala@wesleyan.edu