For tabla players, a singular festival honouring a singular maestro has become a pilgrimage site

For some years now Neelu Sharma, the professor of tabla at the Dayalbagh Educational Institute in Agra, has been undertaking a musical pilgrimage to Nashik with the PhD scholars she is guiding. For them, the annual Nashik Tabla Chilla holds more knowledge and expertise than what any library can offer.

Dedicated to the memory of the tabla titan Ahmed Jaan Thirakwa, the festival held at the Kusumagraj Smarak hall draws the keenest percussive talent from across the country, from initiates to stalwarts. For three days, in session after session of solo virtuosity, around 15 tabla players offer the best of their artistry as an homage to the man who is said to have revolutionised the instrument. The hall is packed to the rafters.

Among tabla players, the ustad, who died in 1976 aged 85, holds a cult status for the lyricism that marked his art. The playful suffix Thirakwa was given to him by his guru’s father for the grace with which his fingers flew over the drums – thirakna in Hindi means ‘to sway’. Even today, musicians use nothing less than superlatives to describe the legend.

Aneesh Pradhan describes him as one of the “greatest tabla players of all time”. Ojas Adhiya uses the most common...

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