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Abhangwari - A spiritual, devotional evening

 


An impulsive decision to attend a concert taken 3 months back turned out to be one of the finest evenings of my life. My experience with Sri Mahesh Kale had been limited to repeated playing of Kaanaada Raja Pandaricha on YouTube and some bhajans thereafter. I am definitely someone who has followed his work for long or in detail. However, every single time I listened to his renditions, I could feel something stirring in my soul. When my colleague shared about his concert, I didn’t think twice and booked the tickets. 


Pandarapur is a place which is quite special in my life. One of the many tirtha kshetras I have been longing to visit, but haven’t done so thus far. With passing years and life experiences, this has become an eternal wait and has been one of my regrets for a long time. My experience with Vithoba has been limited to my visits to the temple in Ulsoor.

Ashada, a month of intense devotion brought together an opportunity to blend both of these into a confluence of Bhakti and spirituality. Sri Mahesh Kale literally transported us to the lanes of Alandi, embarking on a journey of lifetime, filled with experiences along the way culminating in the final darshana of Panduranga. What an evening it was !!!


 

Sri Mahesh Kale is an erudite speaker, guiding the samagam towards Pandarapur with insightful personal insights and deriving from various experiences. He bathed everyone with the bliss of Vittala through some soulful abhang / bhajans. It was an absolute treat to ears and soul coupled with some superb music from all accompanying artists. He enthralled the Bengaluru crowd with an absolutely magical rendition of “Jagadodarana” . During the course of the evening, he shared some very philosophically deep insights. One such is about experiencing rather than begging in front of the almighty. Why do we need to ask him something? Why do we need to bribe him something? Can’t we just go with an open heart? 
 

 

The evening was a perfect one.. well almost.. Some people had this urge to capture the entire show on their mobile. When Sri Mahesh Kale was building up towards a beautiful conclusion, everyone crowded in front, leaving some of us in the middle dumbstruck. 

 

Not being judgmental, question to be asked is: What’s the point of attending such a divine evening, if we are unable to imbibe what we are listening or singing to? Is our fragile ego that powerful to overcome the spiritual shower that we experienced? 


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Comments

Angel said…
I love jagodo dharana ..I am glad u enjoyed
I have always liked his songs ..
I just recall that it was an amazing evening and since I do know marathi..I can sing along to some
3:19 AM
Simple Man said…
Thank you. I also understand Marathi due to Konkani roots, but language wasn't even a barrier.. It was pure bliss.
8:50 PM
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