Festival of Balamurali

It was a cocktail of magnificence and melody at it’s best. This is about the festival of Balamurali,organized on the eve of A.P formation day-1st November at Chowmahalla palace, just a stone’s throw from the historic Charminar. The palace was beautifully illuminated and the music festival was conducted on the sprawling lawns.
The grandeur of the palace and splendor of dance and music excelled each other and one is soaked in stream of celestial joy. It was a pure bliss to watch Indian classical music jugalbandhi by the legend-DrBalamuralikrishna and his distinguished disciple Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty.whether the recital was Hansadhwani or Kalyani-it was sheer melody all the way. even a lay man like me got thoroughly immersed and enjoyed each moment with glee and gratitude. I do not know the nuances of ragas but my eyes were filled with tears of sublime joy .The audience was glued to their seats nodding their heads vigorously and moving their hands in tune with the tune, unmindful of everything else.
The total setting transported you to another era of Royalty and Music-the kind of music that doesn’t scintillate your senses but soothes your soul.
The exquisite musical performance was preceded by a brilliant Indian classical dance jugalbandhi by Yamini Muthanna(Bharata Natyam),Sharmila Mukherji(Odissi),Priya Jaya Raman(Kuchipudi)and Chetana(Kathak).The fusion and cohesion were perfect and it provided an excellent Take Off for the musical extravaganza that followed.
Indeed ,it was an enchanting evening, a great feast to the esthetic senses of Hyderabad people who rarely get a chance to witness events like this, unlike their counterparts in Chennai.