Music lovers bear all for Sawai Gandharva fest

Like every year, music lovers in the city queued up in large numbers before a shop opposite Kamala Nehru Park to buy tickets for the Sawai Gandharva music festival. Many even slept outside the shop overnight to secure tickets to the festival of classical Indian music.

Music lovers visit the city from far off places to attend the festival.
Shirish Bodhani of Shirish Traders said he has witnessed people’s enthusiasm to buy tickets ever since he started selling tickets for the festival 10 years ago.

He said people arrive on the previous night to get the tickets first. “This year, there were 50-odd people sleeping outside my shop. Enthusiasts came from places such as Hyderabad and Kochi.” 

Enthusiasts organise for the queue tokens and even arrange for tea and snacks in the morning before the ticket counter opens.

The 57th edition of the four-day festival will start on December 9.
This year, the festival is special as it is the 125th birth anniversary of late Rambhau Kundgolkar, who was referred to as Sawai Gandharva, and is the guru of Bharat Ratna Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, who started the music festival in the memory of his guru.
Season ticket for a chair is Rs1,800. It is Rs350 for Bharatiya Baithak (sitting on ground).

Bodhani said almost 250 season tickets for chair and 200 tickets for Bharatiya Baithak were sold on the first day itself.