What Is Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan

The Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan is the world's oldest Hindustani Classical Music Festival. Held at the Devi Talab Mandir in Jalandhar, Punjab, it has been the place many of the world-renowned classical musicians of today performed their first concerts as students. But what is the festival about, and what is its origin story?

Image: Musicians performing at the Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan, 2012. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

The Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan is the world's oldest Hindustani Classical Music Festival, held each year in the holy seat of music, Baba Harballabh's samadhi — a saint and proponent of Hindustani Classical Music. The inaugural Sammelan was conducted in Jalandhar in 1875 at the Sidh Peeth-Shri Devi Talab. It has been held every year since then.

Swami Harballabh was born into a wealthy family in the village of Bajwara before becoming a saint and renouncing the world. He rose to prominence in the world of classical music, and Swami Tula Gir, his teacher, pushed him to pursue other interests like art and music. Many novel and innovative types of classical music were composed by him.

Swami Harballabh had a great number of disciples, and he attempted to instil a love of music in them. The spot where Swami Hariballabh used to sing became a Mecca for the best classical musicians and players.

Baba Harballabh founded the Sangeet Sammelan in remembrance of his mentor Swami Tula Giriji.

Although Baba Harballabh came from a long line of saints who sang devotional songs, he went on to formal training under Pandit Duni Chand of Ujahan (now in Sialkot district) and maintained the guru-shishya parampara at Devi Talab, where scores of disciples learned the art from him and other masters. Baba Harballabh also translated Raag Darpan and wrote a book - Sangeet Darpan.

Despite such a wealth of knowledge, the event began as a gathering of holy men — sadhus and fakirs who would perform devotional compositions like bhajans, shabads, bhaint, qawwali, and dhad during the havan-yagna. The mainly religious gathering evolved into a Sangeet Mela over time. Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar's visit to the Sangeet Mela in 1896 demonstrated to the organisers the festival's potential for development and progress in terms of attracting national-level performers. As more classical musicians began to perform at the festival, it was dubbed the Raag Mela, and then the Shri Baba Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan, as it is presently known.

For the first time in 1929, instrumentalists were welcomed to perform, ending a 50-year monopoly of vocal recitals. If the Mahantji of the Baba Harballabh Mahasabha invited a performer to the festival, stalwarts of classical music regarded it as a reward for their talent and dedication. Performing in the Sammelan was seen as a stamp of approval for an artist's skill and training.

Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, who ran away from home at the age of 11 and discovered his teacher in Bhagat Mangat Ram in Jalandhar, was told for years by Mahant Dwarka Dass to do more riyaz every time he approached the Mahant to perform at the Sammelan, according to Rakesh Dada's book - Harivallabh: A Rich Tradition of Musical Geniuses. There was no turning back for him once he was determined to be mature enough to perform.

The list of great artists who have graced the Sammelan's sage is long. Balakrishna Buwa Ichalkaranjikar, Ustad Maula Baksh, Ustad Kale Khan, Ustad Chand Khan, Pandit Krishna Rao, Pandit Narayan Rao Vyas, Pandit Vinayak Rao Patvardhan, Gangu Bai Hangal, Pt D V Paluskar, Pt Mallikarjun Mansoor, Ustad Faiyyaz Khan, and Pandit Onkar Nath Thaku are just a few of musicians who have played at the esteemed Sammelan.