‘Devdhun’ by over 2,200 bajantris enters records book

Our Correspondent

KULLU, OCTOBER 13

Around 2,200 bajantris accompanying 278 deities visiting Kullu Dasehra festival this year played ‘Devdhun’ at Rath ground here today.

‘Devdhun’ is the sound that resonates after playing instruments when deities move out of their temples to join local festivals. The event was organised to promote deity culture in the district and a prayer was held for peace.

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur attended the event and was presented a medal and certificate by representatives of the India Book of Records as ‘Devdhun’ has entered the book with a record 2,200 bajantris playing the musical instruments simultaneously.

The CM said it was a great honour for the people that ‘Devdhun’ had entered the India Book of Records. The efforts of the musicians were laudable. He announced Rs 5 lakh from his discretionary fund for the bajantris.

The second last day of Kullu Dasehra is called ‘Mohalla’ where the participating deities register their presence and support to the chief deity Lord Rama (Raghunath) for killing Ravana on the last day of the festival.

The Kullu Dasehra begins after the festival celebrations are over in the rest of the country because functions related to Lord Raghunath are according to the moon calendar and the final preparations of the Dasehra are done on the ‘Sharad Purnima’ night.

Spectacular performance by artistes from Malaysia presented a glimpse of their culture and traditions. The performance by the cultural troupe from Madhya Pradesh was lauded by the audience. The spectators were entertained by folk songs and dance by cultural troupe from Lahaul and Spiti.

The audience was entertained by jovial presentation of Siraj Khan. Folk artiste Hitender Sahasi also enthralled the audience. Many local artistes and musical groups also entertained the audience.

Manthan musical group from Jogindernagar, Sonu musical group from Solan, Jagdish Sharma of Sachani, Poonam from Nahan and Mamta from Rajgarh performed Himachali songs at the Lal Chand Prarthi Kala Kendra. Indu musical group from Kotkhai, BS Bhardwaj of Bali Chowki, Raman Kumar of Bilaspur, Kulbhushan of Mandi, Sanjeev Dhiman from Hamirpur, Mahender Sharma of Sirmaur, DD Kashyap from Shimla and Bhuvnesh Kumar from Chamba also entertained the audience by their peppy numbers.

CM announces Rs 5L for Musicians

• The CM announced Rs 5 lakh from his discretionary fund for bajantris.
• Spectacular performance by artistes from Malaysia presented a glimpse of their culture and traditions
• The performance by the cultural troupe from Madhya Pradesh was lauded by the audience
• The spectators were also entertained by folk songs and dance by cultural troupe from Lahaul and Spiti