Pune: Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, the legendary bansuri player and Padma Vibhushan awardee, was conferred the Lifetime Achievement Award and Gurukul Samman at the Bansuri Utsav in Mumbai on the eve of the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of Shri Ram Lalla in Ayodhya.
The awards were presented by Gurukul Pratishthan, which organizes the annual Bansuri Utsav. Chaurasia was honored for his contributions to the art of bansuri playing. On the occasion, 90 bansuri players performed devotional songs dedicated to Lord Rama.
The Bansuri Utsav is organized annually by Gurukul Pratishthan, led by bansuri player Vivek Sonar. The 15th edition of the festival was held on January 20 and 21 at the Dr. Kashinath Ghanekar Auditorium in Thane. The festival was attended by Sandeep Malvi, Deputy Municipal Commissioner of Thane Municipal Corporation, tabla player Yogesh Samasy, Vivek Sonar, and Anuradha Hariprasad Chaurasia.
The festival was organized to mark the inauguration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. On the first day of the festival, Pranab Bania and Ravi Joshi performed a jugalbandi on the bansuri. This was followed by a classical singing performance by Manjusha Patil. Chaurasia's performance concluded the first day of the festival.
On the second day of the festival, 90 bansuri players from the age of 8 to 80 performed a flute symphony. This was followed by the presentation of the Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia Lifetime Achievement Award to Pandit Swapan Chowdhury. Chowdhury's tabla solo was followed by a Carnatic bansuri performance by Shashank Subramaniam.
The Bansuri Utsav is held every year with the aim of promoting and popularizing Indian classical music, especially bansuri and other music genres. It also helps to preserve India's rich musical heritage. The festival features a variety of classical bansuri performances under the leadership of Vivek Sonar.