Vasanta Habba ( kn, ವಸಂತ ಹಬ್ಬ), which means ''spring festival'' in the
Kannada
Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...
language, is a cultural festival organised by the
Nrityagram foundation in the city of
Bangalore
Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan area, metropolitan population of a ...
, India. It is a very popular event and is considered the classical
Woodstock
Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aq ...
of
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
.
This festival, first held in the year 1990, was the brainchild of
Protima Bedi
Protima Gauri Bedi
(12 October 1948 – 18 August 1998) was an Indian model turned Odissi exponent. In 1990, she established Nrityagram, a dance school in hesarghatta Bangalore.
Early life
Protima was born in Delhi,''Time Pass: The Me ...
, the founder of
Nrityagram.
The festival is held in the premises of Nrityagram at
Hesaraghatta in the outskirts of Bangalore and attracts the best musicians, dancers and cultural artists from across India.
Starting from an audience of about 3000 in its inaugural year, the 2003 edition saw over 40,000 people attending the event.
Festival
The festival is one-night festival which starts in the late evening and goes on till the early morning of the next day. It is held in the amphitheatre located in the premises of Nrityagram at Hesaragahatta, which is a small village located 35 kilometres from the city of Bangalore. There is no entry fee and the seats are available on a first-come basis. Due to this fact, the seats start filling up from the afternoon itself.
The publicity for the festival is held in a unique manner by employing folk artists and other troupes who perform on the roads of Bangalore, which publicise the event and also act as a curtain-raiser for the festival. The event is organised with the help of volunteers who belong to the colleges in the city. Many like-minded people also contribute to the event by sponsoring food stalls at the venue, organising food for the artists and also providing cars and other automobiles for ferrying musicians and artists to the venue.
The amphitheatre can accommodate about 3,000 people and large screens are provided outside the venue for people who could not get a seat in time.
Chronology
2002
Held on 2 Feb 2002, the artists who performed included
Aruna Sairam
Sangita Kalanidhi Aruna Sairam is an Indian classical vocalist and carnatic music singer. She is a recipient of the Padma Shri award from the Government of India and has been elected as Vice Chairman of the Sangeet Natak Academy (India's premier ...
(Carnatic vocal), the Warsi brothers,
Ateeq Hussain Khan
Ustad Ateeq Hussain Khan Bandanawazi Al-Hashmi Qawwal () (born 1980) is a Hindustani Qawwal.
He was born in Hyderabad, India. He started his training in Indian classical music ( Hindustani shastria sangeeth) from his father from the early a ...
(
Qawwali
Qawwali (Punjabi language, Punjabi: (Shahmukhi), (Gurmukhi); Urdu: (Nastaʿlīq, Nasta'liq); Hindi: क़व्वाली (Devanagari); Bengali language, Bengali: কাওয়ালি (Bengali alphabet, Bengali)) is a form of Sufi Isl ...
) and Suma Sudhindra (who introduced the Tarangini veena). This event was beamed live on
Doordarshan and also received good coverage on other TV channels
2003
Performances in this edition of Vasanta Habba included a concert on the
Mohan Veena by
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...
winner, Pandit
Vishwa Mohan Bhatt
Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, professionally known as V. M. Bhatt (born 27 July 1950), is an Hindustani classical music instrumentalist who plays the Mohan veena ( slide guitar).
Personal life
Bhatt lives in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India, with his wife and ...
,
Hindustani classical
Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, sita ...
by
Shubha Mudgal,
fusion music
A music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions. It is to be distinguished from ''musical form'' and musical style, although in practice these terms are some ...
by Taufiq Querishi and
qawwali
Qawwali (Punjabi language, Punjabi: (Shahmukhi), (Gurmukhi); Urdu: (Nastaʿlīq, Nasta'liq); Hindi: क़व्वाली (Devanagari); Bengali language, Bengali: কাওয়ালি (Bengali alphabet, Bengali)) is a form of Sufi Isl ...
by the Ateeq Hussain Khan Warsi brothers. This event was attended by over 40,000 people.
2004
Held on 7 Feb 2004, the artists who performed included the renowned saxophonist
Kadri Gopalnath
Kadri Gopalnath (6 December 1949 – 11 October 2019) was an Indian alto saxophonist and one of the pioneers of Carnatic music for that instrument.
Early life
Born in Sajeepa Mooda village in Bantwal taluk of Dakshina Kannada to Taniyappa ...
and the
Carnatic music
Carnatic music, known as or in the South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and Sri Lanka. It is ...
exponent,
Bombay Jayashri
"Bombay" Jayashri Ramnath is an Indian Carnatic vocalist, singer, and musician. She has sung in multiple languages including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi movies. Born into a family of musicians, Jayashri represents the fourth ge ...
.
Current Scenario
The event was not held in the year 2005 because India was facing the after-effects of the
Indian Ocean tsunami
An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Suma ...
. Habba was never held again and Nrityagram blamed it on a financial crisis. Since Nrityagram has not commented on the fate of Habba, it is assumed that the festival has been scrapped for good. Meanwhile, their dance ensemble has consistently received rave reviews and now go on frequent annual performance tours to the US and other countries.
Notes
{{reflist
External links
Official website of Annual 'Vasanta Habba' Festival, NrityagramOfficial website of Nrityagram
Festivals in Karnataka
Music festivals in India
Cultural festivals in India