Banyan Tree’s Barkha Ritu brings the pitter-patter of the season back to Bengaluru
The Banyan Tree’s 'Barkha Ritu' monsoon concert series is celebrating its 25th anniversary with performances in multiple Indian cities. The festival aims to preserve and promote rare seasonal Hindustani ragas that are traditionally performed only during the monsoon.
Why it matters
This highlights the preservation of niche classical music traditions and the expansion of cultural events into Tier-II cities.
The upcoming edition of Barkha not only falls on Independence Day, but also marks the 25 th anniversary since Banyan Tree began this monsoon-themed concert. This year’s event will see performances by flautist S Shashank, and vocalists Sanjeev Abhyankar and Ashwini Bhide.
India is perhaps the only land where we have specific melodies for different seasons. According to Nandini Mahesh, who co-founded Banyan Tree Events with her husband Mahesh Babu, the idea behind the festival was to present monsoon ragas, both instrumentally and vocally. Since they are not performed during the rest of the year, most people are unaware of them.
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