The two-day Acharya Devo Bhava festival (January 11–12) marked the birth centenary of Pandit Bimalendu Mukherjee, doyen of the Imdadkhani gharana, honouring his life and work.
Conceptualised and organised by sitarist Vidushi Anupama Bhagwat in collaboration with Kailas Sangeet Trust, the festival held at Bangalore brought together an array of vocalists and instrumentalists in a fitting tribute to a guru she describes as “a highly principled, saintly musician.” Every detail, from the thoughtfully curated performances to the stage design, reflected her deep reverence and devotion, making the festival an offering of love and humility.
The highlight of the two-day event was a powerful performance by Pandit Budhaditya Mukherjee, son and disciple of the late maestro. A torchbearer of his father’s musical and ethical ideals, Pandit Budhaditya was a natural choice for the grand finale. Accompanied by tabla virtuoso Soumen Nandy, he presented a masterful recital that encapsulated the depth, intricacies, and exquisite nuances of the Imdadkhani gharana.
The liberal teacher Bimalendu was known for his openness and generosity in imparting knowledge with no forbidding tendencies. Anupama describes his teaching as ‘compassionate’, a quality that his son Budhaditya also endorses, simultaneously admiring his foresight, belief in himself, and ‘belief in me’, then a five-year old child.
Mastering multiple strings
As a complete musician- performer, teacher and organiser, Pandit Bimalendu Mukherjee became a renaissance figure who converted the industrial town Bhilai, now part of Chhattisgarh, into an oasis of Hindustani music, where legendary musicians converged for performance and creative interaction. Stalwarts like Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Ustad Amir Khan, Ustad Vilayat Khan, Pandit Ravishankar and many more visited Bimalendu’s home, which became a centre for intellectual dialogue and debate. Disciples came to Bhilai from Italy, France, Japan and the rest of India.
Bimalendu’s engagement with multiple string instruments- surbahar, sarangi, sarod, surshringar, and Bobbili veena is reminiscent of the saintly musician of the Maihar-Senia gharana, the multi-instrumentalist Baba Allauddin Khan. Bimalendu always had a sitar and sarod by his side. His constant engagement with the hardware of music and his experiential research resulted in Aditya Veena and Bijoya Veena, lovingly named after his son and grandson respectively. His informed experimentation across these instruments focussing on their tonal variety surely added to his aesthetic exploration on the sitar, his primary delight.
Anupama once recalled that he would sometimes employ the sarangi or surshringar while teaching sitar. Being a fine vocalist, often he also sang to evoke the gayaki elements. While translating a vocal music composition on to an instrument, Bimalendu paid careful attention to the sahitya in order to transport the bhava of the lyric, also employing the necessary stroke patterns. He had an amazing flair for articulating the technical aspects of sitar-baaj, particularly the gayaki-ang.
The ‘Tappa’ identity
Backed by such a training, exploring the gayaki-ang through tappa, the challenging folk form of the Punjab-Sindh region, has become a distinct mark of identity for the Imdadkhani- Bimalendu stream. Pandit Budhaditya’s mastery of this semi-classical form marked by rolling movements at a fast pace, showcasing individual notes all through, needs special mention.
Bimalendu Mukherjee’s amazing personality combined multiple assets and faculties. A brilliant geologist, he served the Nehruvian dream of democratic industrial development. He prospected the mines and gave the projection for the Bhilai Steel Plant, which was okayed by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. That he administered 19000 people as the General Manager of the BSP, and brought mammoth profits by his commitment and acumen is a well-known fact.
Bimalendu’s understanding of music and humility towards the art form and life in general, were woven into his personality. Post-retirement, he served two terms as the Vice-Chancellor of Indira Kala Sangit Vishwavidyalaya at Khairagarh. He trained about 400 students. They could walk into his home and stay with the rest of the family, with no cost whatsoever. At Khairagarh University, he took up a comparative study of music-education in Western and Indian universities. That he travelled to Canada and USA at his own cost to pursue the project, speaks of his remarkable honesty and integrity.
