Tansen Music Festival

BenV

Tansen Music Festival 2006 Program and Dates
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Me and my wife will be going to India at the end of this year. We both are interesting in absorbing some culture and are looking for music festivals in particular. As we will be in the vicinity of Gwalior early december, we are eager to go to the Tansen Music Festival, if anything is held then..

Now I have been browsing for a program of the Tansen Music Festival 2006 for ages and have yet to encounter a site with more information than a proxy "November/December" and a generic story about mr. Tansen himself.
I am in particular looking for something containing dates and the people actually performing there..

Can someone here help us out? Your help will be very much appreciated!

Thanks a lot in advance!


P.S. This message was posted previously as a reply on another message. This however resided in the "Hotels" forum, which is not the appropriate place..

greenchutney

i doubt you are going to get a listing atleast online and this soon. you might have to dig into some of the hindustani musicians personal pages and check their schedule to see if they perform there though most of them dont mention it..atleast i didnt see any at Jasraj, Chaurasia, Amjad Ali Khan or Buddhaditya Mukherjee..some of the other names i try to dig around, they dont have any personal online presence...kishori amonkar, ajoy chakraborthy


here's a couple of sources for information on Mian Tansen

Wiki - Tansen
Online Book on Tansen

if you are interested in another hindustani music festival, the sawai gandharva festival in pune is a big draw with big names as well..and is held in december..here's a link to that..
Sawai Gandharva

please do come back and write about your experience. if i come up with anything else, i will post it here.

aadil

I just checked the MP Tourism website and they have not yet declared the dates or programme for the festival so I guess you will have to wait and watch!!!

Cheers,
Aadil.

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BenV

Thank you both..

I will monitor various sites (as long as we persist in going into that direction, obviously) and post a follow-up as soon as I discover something interesting..

aadil

If you are going to Gwalior then do not miss going to Orchha, Khajuraho, Mandu, Kanha and Bandhavgarh (for the tigers).

Cheers,
Aadil.

vir

Yeah...not much info on net.

I found this link which lists many music festivals in India:

http://www.webindia123.com/music/cale1.htm

Satyagraha

I had an amazing book called "the music of india" or something similar which was extremely elucidating - it had a short foreward by ravi shankar and contained lots of history aswell as more technical aspects associated with Indian Classical Music. And you know what - I LOST THE BOOK!

I doubt i will ever see it in a bookshop again, it has a blue cover which is a painting of indian musicians from several centuries ago. If anyone knows the exact title of this book maybe i can look online for it - much appreciated.

Had some wonderful words on Tansen i remember, such as certain ragas of his were said to be so beautiful that flowers would grow when he played them!

BenV

This also is a nice site, with quite detailed information on events although I am not sure yet to what extent it will provide what I am looking for.. (The term 'rock' might be misleading..?)

http://www.ragatorock.com/events.asp

Regretfully the "forthcoming" URL gives me something like a 404.

BenV

We fancy going to Khajuraho. We are not sure about Bandhavgarh as it is quite off the beaten track and our time is somewhat limited.. We are seriously considering going to Keoladeo (birdviewing) and Ranthambore (tigers) though..

aadil

Well, from what I have seen and heard, the Bandhavgarh Park is the best place to see the tigers in the wild in India. Largest population too. The last time the Prime Minister of India went to Ranthambore to see the tigers he could not see any!!! Khajuraho is beautiful but Orchha is wonderful so do not miss it if you are going all the way to Khajuraho as it is very close to it. Keoladeo (Bharatpur) is fantastic too.

Cheers,
Aadil.

BenV

We have heard and read many good things about Bandavgarh as well (but also about Kanha, which is 'nearby'). It however requires quite some traveling so we are still in doubt.

If we are heading for Khajuraho, it certainly is not unlikely we will have a pitstop at Orchha. It really is a matter of time.

Traveling in India is having to scratch than to scrape traveling options. Anyway, the reasons to include that particular loop south start to add up!

P.S. I have sent an email to the MP Tourist board on dates & programs of the Tansen Festival 2006. They have not yet replied.

aadil

Yes, Kanha is also almost as good as Bandhavgarh as it is closeby but the chances of seeing a tiger there are a bit less you have to find the tigers there whereas in Bandhavgarh you have them lying around all over the place!!! HAHAHA!!! No, not really true but then they do have the morning circus show where they have a elephant ride to see the tigers if they are in the area for a five minute ride and that is sometimes pretty interesting to get some good pictures besides the normal sightings from the jeep.

I am sure the MP Tourism board will not reply before the festival starts!!!

Cheers,
Aadil.

BenV

We will bear that in mind! Thanks for your good tip.
I wonder, is the accommodation in the park worth staying (quality and price/quality), or can we better try to find something in Tala or (more likely) Umaria?

Is it really _that_ bad? Why is that? Are there any other ways to get hold of this program?

Thanks Aadil!

aadil

>>>> We will bear that in mind! Thanks for your good tip.
I wonder, is the accommodation in the park worth staying (quality and price/quality), or can we better try to find something in Tala or (more likely) Umaria?

Well, it is Tala where you will be staying in as there is no accomodation inside the park which is actually located in Tala and is the best place you can get from very cheap to pretty expensive too. Umaria is not worth staying in as it is pretty far from the park and you will not get any transport to get there for the morning rides which begin at 6am. Kum Kum Lodge is a nice place and it has individual cottages for about Rs250 or so and it is pretty basic but worth the price. There are many other expensive places too if you are looking for comfortable airconditioned places too.


>>>> Is it really _that_ bad? Why is that? Are there any other ways to get hold of this program?

Well, like most government organisations this is no different so if you get a reply you should be surprised. Keep checking on the internet and you will hopefully find it mentioned before the dates it is to be held!!!

Cheers,
Aadil.

BenV

I have just dragged my wife over and she said she already read about the Kum Kum Lodge. I have actually tried to persuade her yesterday evening to take the branch south we have been discussing in the thread. She will now write a second itinerary containing Bandhavgarh!

I will keep browsing for some more information as I am definitely eager to spend some days in Gwalior to get a hint of music. We have quite a collection at home and I would certainly like to see live performances of the artists I love, especially in their natural setting!

Thanks Aadil. I will keep you informed!