Mahesh Kale at the Mumbai edition of Abhangawari on July 13 | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
On the evening of July 13, Mumbai’s sprawling Shanmukhanand Hall was filled with fans braving the incessant rain, making the atmosphere electric. The Abhangawari concert, conceptualised and performed by singer Mahesh Kale, left the entire crowd spellbound, with the tunes of Marathi abhangas like ‘Kanaada Raja Pandharicha’, ‘Avaghe Garje Pandharpur’ and ‘Sakha Panduranga’ reverberating. In the end, everyone chanted ‘Vitthal Vitthal’ along with the singer as he walked down the aisle.
Mahesh, who grew up in Pune and settled in the San Francisco Bay Area, started the Abhangawari series eight years ago. The idea was to present the abhanga genre dedicated to Lord Vitthal, and to musically represent the annual visit of thousands of pilgrims to Pandharpur in Maharashtra on the day of Ashadhi Ekadashi. “Apart from the songs, I wanted to create an experience for the audience. So, vaccine is placed on the forehead of those entering the hall, and Topis We also show visuals of the scenes that take place on the way to Pandharpur.”
Mahesh explains that though the basic theme remains the same, they write a new script every year. This year, Prajakt Deshmukh worked on the script and Subodh Bhave was the narrator at the Mumbai show. Mahesh’s endeavour is to popularise Abhang outside Maharashtra and this year’s schedule includes Hyderabad on July 19, Chennai on July 20 and Bengaluru on July 21. For this tour, he has written a special song called ‘Abhangwari’, which will be used as the title track.
Mahesh Kale’s ‘Abhangwari’ is dedicated to the songs of Vitthal. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Mahesh, now 48, began learning music from his mother Meenal Kale and gave his first performance of a devotional song at the age of three. He later learnt from Purushottam Gangurde, after which he was made a disciple by the renowned Pandit Jitendra Abhisheki.
His focus now is on abhangas, and spreading the reach of classical music in the Bay Area, where he and his wife Poorva Gujar-Kale run the non-profit organisation Indian Classical Music and Arts Foundation. “This is my way of preserving the tradition,” says Mahesh, who won a National Award for his song ‘Arun Kirani’ in a 2015 Marathi film. Katiyar Kaljat Ghusli,
Prior to this tour, Mahesh performed at the Stanford Jazz Festival with saxophonist George Brooks, kanjira expert V. Selvaganesh, bassist Kai Eckhardt, pianist Frank Martin and drummer Scott Amendola. He also performed a devotional music recital at the Bruhan Maharashtra Mandal in San Jose.
“The jazz show was called Indian Jazz Journey and George and I perform it every year with a different line-up. He is familiar with Indian music. He has some jazz pieces and I have some Indian classical pieces. We try to have conversations over music.”
Mahesh Kale runs the Indian Classical Music and Arts Foundation in the San Francisco Bay Area | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The singer says things have changed nowadays because of social media and unlimited television programming. “When I was growing up, I used to listen to great musicians on the radio. When I first met Pandit Jitendra Abhisheki, I was completely amazed. I remained the same while I trained under him. When I joined his gurukul, music became a way of life for me.”
After Pandit Jitendra Abhisheki passed away in 1998, his son Shaunak became Mahesh’s guru. “I travelled a lot with him and honed my performance skills in the process.”
Talking about receiving the National Award, Mahesh says that not only was it the first time he sang in a film but it also marked the revival of theatre music. “It was a wonderful experience as most of the songs in the film were compositions of my guru (Pandit Jitendra Abhisheki). There were a few original songs as well, including the one for which I won the award.”
The singer also spends a lot of time composing new songs, especially on saint literature. At the Mumbai concert, Mahesh sang an Urdu poem on Vitthal. “The audience’s response shows how much they enjoy it when you push the boundaries and adopt new ways to approach art,” says Mahesh.
