Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan
Encyclopedia
Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan is the oldest festival of Indian Classical Music in the world, which is celebrated every year at the sacred seat of music, the samadhi of Baba Harballabh – a saint and an exponent of Hindustani Classical Music. The first Sammelan was held in 1875 at the Sidh Peeth-Shri Devi Talab, in Jalandhar
Jalandhar
Jalandhar is a city in Jalandhar District in the state of Punjab, India. It is located 144 km northwest of the state capital, Chandigarh...

. Since then it has been held every year.

The Sangeet Sammelan which has grown from strength to strength in the last 131 years has been attracting audiences and artists from all across the country and abroad. This festival was declared as one of the National Festivals by the Department of Tourism, Govt. of India. All prominent artists of Hindustani Classical Music from India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 and Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

 have come and performed at the Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan at one time or the other during the last 130 years. Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...

 accompanied by Vishnu Digambar Paluskar
Vishnu Digambar Paluskar
Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar was a Hindustani musician. He sung the original version of the bhajan Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram.-Early life and background:...

 visited Baba Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan in the year 1919. Union Ministers, Governors, State Chief Ministers, State Ministers and other VIPs have been visiting to pay their reverence at this festival of music. The festival attracts thousands of music lovers from all over the India and abroad every year. This number is increasing year after year.

Swami Harballabh was born in an affluent family at village of Bajwara and afterwards he became a saint and renounced the world. He held a very high place in the field of Classical Music and Swami Tulja Gir, who taught him, also encouraged him to practice art and music. He was the composer of many new and innovative forms of classical music.

There were a large number of disciples of Swami Harballabh and he tried to impart love for music among his followers. The place where Swami Hariballabh used to sing became a Mecca for the best Musicians and players of Classical Music.

In 1956 a Sangeet Academy was constructed under the banner of Swami Hariballabh. While we hear Swami Hariballabh it seems clear that “The key to the mystery of a great artist is that for reasons unknown, he will give away his energies and his life just to make sure that one note follows another... and leaves us with the feeling that something is right in the world.”

The main aim of the concert was to attract and encourage more and more people for the development of classical Music. There is also a proper syllabus for the pursuers of Music and there is a shrine at the banks of the river with the name Devi Talab. There is a Shiva lingam in the temple nearby and one adores the exquisite phallic image of Lord Shiva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...

. On the day of the fair there is also free lodging and accommodation.
It is held near the Samadhi of Saint Harballabh, from the 27th to 30th of December. During this time reputed musicians from all over India gather in Jalandhar to celebrate Indian Classical Music.
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