Four-day Maniram Sangeet festival begins

Hyderabad,Nov 28 (INN):Pandit Motiram Pandit Maniram Sangeet Samaroh, an annual classical music festival, organised byPandit Jasraj began at Chowmahalla Palace in collaboration with the Andhra Pradesh Government's Department of Culture on Friday night with traditional lighting of lamps by Pandit Jasraj.The four-day musical event will be attended by some of the finest exponents of Indian Classical music including Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, Hindustani vocalist Tripti Mukherjee, flutist Shashank and qawwali singer Munnawar Masoom. There is no entry fee for the event.The festival is normally held at Nizam College, Hyderabad every year, but this year the venue has been shifted to Chowmahalla Palace.

 It was started in 1972 by Pandit Jasraj in the city because of his bond with Hyderabad, as he spent his childhood here and his father, Pandit Motiram's Samadhi is also in the city.The festival will commence at 7.30 p.m. on Saturday and Tripti Mukherjee, a Hindustani vocalist, will regale the audiences. Qawwali singer Munnawar Masoom will be the major attraction of Sunday’s programmes. Pandit Jasraj and Flutist Shasank will hold the concert on Monday (Nov 30).The two-day concerts in 2008 were attended among others by Sabir Khan (Sarangi), Vidushi Sudha Raghunathan (Carnatic vocal), Niladri Kumar (Sitar), Sanjeev Abhyankar (vocal), Pandit Kumar Bose (tabla solo) and Pandit Jasraj.