Venue echoed with chants of ‘Jai Bajrang Bali’
Prayagraj: The pandal was packed, every face was staring towards the stage and everyone was waiting for the voice that has made a place in millions of hearts with its hymns. As soon as the visually impaired Bundeli folk singer Sunil Lodhi reached the stage, the entire premises echoed with the chants of ‘Jai Bajrang Bali’. Then began such a series of devotion and melodies that the audience could not stop themselves from clapping and humming along with the hymns. The echo of the famous hymn ‘Maine tere hi bharose Hanuman, sagar mein naiya daar dai’ from the film ‘Hanuman Ansh’ made the evening of the Diwali Crafts Fair memorable. The Diwali Crafts Fair, organised by the North Central Zone Cultural Centre, Ministry of Culture, Government of India, was inaugurated by lighting the lamp by senior social worker and thinker Manoj, Atul Mishra, Indian Railway Personnel Service (IRPS), Deputy General Manager (DGM), North Central Railway, Deputy Director Dr Mukesh Upadhyay and Advisor Kalpana Sahay.
Reaching the stage, Sunil Lodhi bowed to Bade Hanuman Ji and after accepting the greetings of the audience, started singing bhajans. He created a devotional atmosphere with bhajans like ‘Give me darshan Raghunandan, I have come to your court’, ‘My innocent one, please take a look’, ‘O Hanuman, please cut my troubles’ and ‘Prabhu, please remove my troubles’. After this, he sang his popular bhajan ‘Maine tere hi bharose Hanuman, sagar mein naiya dar daai’ and the entire pandal reverberated with applause. The enthusiasm of the audience increased with each bhajan.
There was a competition to take a selfie with Sunil Lodhi: Sunil Lodhi’s popularity can be gauged by the fact that after his performance, the audience was in a frenzy to take selfies with him. Fans were excited to take pictures with him and capture this memorable moment.
The victory story of Shri Ram echoed in Birha: The cultural programme started with Birha singing by Achhe Lal and his group. The artists presented the episode of Lord Shri Ram’s return to Ayodhya after the victory of Lanka through Birha and received a lot of applause. After this, Urvashi Jaitley gave a captivating performance of Bharatnatyam. Her expressions and rhythmic dance mesmerized the audience. The accompanying artists were Ravi Shankar Vishwakarma on harmonium, Suresh Vishwakarma on majira, Horilal Vishwakarma on dholak, Vikas Chandra Vishwakarma on manjira and Krishna Avtaar Vishwakarma on chorus.
The audience danced to the tune of Haryanvi Been. Among the performances by local artists, Harpal Nath, who came from Panipat, Haryana, made a splash with his flute playing. The traditional tunes of the flute captivated the audience. People danced to the music until late into the night. The program was hosted by Dr. Abha Madhur.
