death anniversary of Ustad Ayet Ali Khan was observed by Ustad Ayet Ali Khan Sangeet Niketan at Goethe Institut. The programme began with a homage to music exponent Subal Das, who passed away recently.

Professor Jahanara Begum, the primary and mass education advisor to the Prime Minister, was the chief guest of a discussion session on the musical greats. Presided over by Mobarak Hossain Khan, the president of the organisation, Professor Chowdhury Rafiqul Abrar led the discussion.

Chowdhury said, "Alauddin attained excellence in the sarod and brought about a radical change in the mode of playing sitar by applying the mode of sarod playing. He introduced a new gharana in the realm of Hindustani classical music, known as the Alauddin Sangeet Gharana or Maihar Sangeet Gharana. Alaudddin Khan created countless ragas. Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Pundit Ravi Shankar are among his disciples who received international recognition."

"Younger brother Ayet Ali Khan, also a legendary sarod player and musician, developed two new musical instruments -- manohara and mandranad. He also improved surbahar and sarod", added Chowdhury.

Professor Jahanara Begum said,"The biography of Ustad Alauddin Khan and Ustad Ayet Ali Khan should be included in text books to update the future generation with our musical history."

Mubarak Hossain Khan said, "Classical is the most neglected music genre in Bangladesh. We should take steps to promote this genre."

Great musician and sarod exponent Alauddin Khan (1862-1972) received the Sangeet Natak Academy Award in 1952, the Padma-bhushan in 1958 and the Padmabibhushan in 1971.

Ustad Ayet Ali Khan (1884-1967) was the recipient of the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz in 1961 and the Pride of Performance Award in 1966 by the Pakistan Government. He was honoured with the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Award and the Independence Day Award posthumously in 1976 and 1984 respectively.

After the discussion, the award winner of "Shadhinata Padak" sitar player Ustad Khurshid Khan played raga Kafi, an evening raga. His magical strokes on the sitar had a wonderful impact on the audience.

Later, the grandson of Ustad Ayet Ali Khan, sarod player Shahadat Hossain Khan and his troupe presented a fusion of classical, jazz and folk music. The orchestra started with a dhun on the flute. Instruments like sarod, sitar, violin, tanpura and tabla created a rich symphony. Anil Kumar Saha's vocal presentation of Desh raga heightened the quality of the orchestra of 20 instrumentalists.