It is well over a century since Maharashtra first saw the public celebration of the Ganesh festival or what is more commonly called Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav. The use of these public festivities as a political weapon by Lokmanya Tilak during the colonial period is a well-known fact. But it would be relevant to remember at this point that these celebrations always featured music performances and other events of a high intellectual order.
Eminent vocalist Bhaskarbuwa Bakhale performed every year during the Brahman Sabha Ganpati celebrations, and his disciple Krishnarao Phulambrikar, more popularly known as Master Krishnarao, was also invited to sing at the celebrations held at the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya. Other vocalists like Vinayakrao Patwardhan and Narayanrao Vyas also performed at Sarvajanik Ganeshotsavs. Importantly, these Ganeshotsavs also gave an opportunity to amateur performers.
Evidently, the association of the deity Ganesh with Indian performing arts has been a long one. He is propitiated before undertaking a new project or performance, and qualities that the god is said to embody are featured in performance repertoire like Ganesh vandana (invocation) or Ganesh paran (a special composition for pakhawaj/tabla solo repertoire).
Why then is it that we only seem to hear perfunctory aartis today that soon give way to the Top Ten Bollywood numbers? While record labels compete with each other to release the latest Ganpati bhajans just before Ganesh Chaturthi, they seem to be blissfully unaware of traditional repertoire that lies unexplored and that faces near extinction.
Is this not yet another sign of the times we live in, where diversity in music and other walks of life is facing a serious threat? Amidst all the celebrations, do we not need to give adequate attention to this aspect? In a culture that has had different kinds of music associated with various stages of human life, do we now stand as mute witnesses and allow Bollywood music and dance to take over every aspect of our lives?
To the mind of a rationalist, it may matter little whether the Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav celebrations feature a classical performance or DJ nite, but if truly concerned about preserving the diversity of Indian culture, even the rationalist will need to take a stand on issues such as these.
