Geet Varsha, by Kumar Gandharva, is a presentation of monsoon songs selected from both the folk and the classical repertoires. A theme concert, one of its kind, the presentation is so artistically seamless that the lay listener may fail to realise where the stylistic lines are drawn. Recorded in Delhi in 1978, this twin album of two hour duration has Kumar Gandharva’s wife Vasundhara Komkali accompanying him. Kumar Gandharva may have stood many a traditional norm on its head but none in his time could match his aural aesthetic. And his orchestration of voices here is absolutely enchanting. These recordings are very rare and not easily available.
The album opens with a song, Ghaam Pare Re, lamenting the heat of the summer in the afternoon Raga Marwa. Marwa is a raga which employs an imperfect consonance and Kumar Gandharva has used it to convey the oppressive heat and restlessness of the time just before the monsoons break. Then slowly he draws the listener into a layered landscape of gathering clouds, the first torrent of rain, the flashes of lightening, the yearning of the Nayika (heroine), the birth of Krishna on a dark rainy night. Apart from traditional rainy-season Ragas like the Miyan ki Mallar, Gaur Malhar, Sawani and Des, he also makes effective use of folk melodies from Malwa. The concluding piece, Heera Moti Neebaje in Raga Jaladhar Basant, evokes the silent moment after days of heavy rain, when one contemplates the fields around and realizes that they have turned green with vegetation, the earth giving forth its bounty after its thirst has been satisfied.
Ghaam Pare Re, Nayo Nayo Meha, Ghan Garje, Megha Ko Ritu : 
Kare Megha, Jaiyo Re Badarwa, Lago Sawan Mas, Bole Mora Re :
Le Ja Sandeso, O Sahiba, Sawan Jhar Aayo, Main Kaise Aaun :
O Dildara Aaja Re, Yasoda Ke Mandir, Amaraiyan Ke, Heera Moti :
.. more songs of the Monsoon »
indianraga
Indian Raga 
joydeep ghosh said,
August 2, 2010 at 4:08 pm
hi
admin
I saw you have a image of Gauhar Jaan, with your copyright.
Can you upload it on Wikipedia: Gauhar Jaan
or allow me to do the same
indianraga said,
August 2, 2010 at 8:17 pm
Please go ahead and use the image. It will be helpful to this blog if you give credit with the image.
abhagwat said,
August 17, 2010 at 12:46 am
Geet Varsha is a treasure! I attended a performance of this and other seasonal “Geet”s by Kumarji as a young person, but do not have the recordings. They do not seem to be available. Please correct the problem with the first piece- “Gham pare Re”. I can neither play it nor download it. Thanks again.
abhagwat said,
September 8, 2010 at 1:44 am
I have now listened to the Geet Varsha recordings several times and find them to be amazing. The whole concert is a long “concept album” that was designed to be listened to in one sitting. Quite a novel concept for Indian classical music which is used to thinking of individual Ragas. One disappointing thing for me was that in the second and the third piece there were several segments where the speed of the recording was clearly off. This typically happens with old reel-to-reel tapes or cassette tapes. I wonder whether this is the problem with the original recording or happened during transfer to the digital format. If it is the latter, could it be corrected by doing a new transfer? Thanks again.
indianraga said,
September 8, 2010 at 9:34 am
Yes, you have guessed it right. These songs were digitised from old cassette tapes. In fact the tapes were unplayable in the beginning. I somehow disaasemled the tapes, straightened out the twisted parts and managed to record them on the hard disc. It took me 8 hours to manage this much.
rahul said,
January 31, 2011 at 10:21 pm
hi. am unable to listen anymore– can anything be done?
indianraga said,
January 31, 2011 at 10:27 pm
The links are working fine. Clear your browser’s cache and try again.
rahul said,
February 2, 2011 at 11:05 pm
yes they are — thanks. but i’m still having trouble downloading it. but thanks so much again for uploading this.
mandar dilip phatak said,
February 19, 2011 at 1:15 pm
can u please reupload part 3 again. the one available here has variable speeds.
Pramod kumar KG said,
June 7, 2011 at 8:00 am
you have no idea how long i have searched for Oh Dildaara and other songs, i have the cassette but no instrument to play it. This is fantastic and God bless you!!
Raja Pundalik said,
July 5, 2011 at 3:34 pm
Wonderful post – loved immensely! Reminded me of the occasion in Kolhapur just about a month & half before he passed away, Kumarji had sung ‘Heera Moti…’ in Jaldhar-Basant to a select few sitting in the small hall of Deval Club. A couple of other ‘bujurgs’ also present were Sangameshwar-buwa Gurav & Anand-buwa Limaye and I was just lucky enough to be admitted to the small circle. Have been looking for the bandish from the original master ever since – thanx a ton! But can we do something part 3 where there is a lot of speed variation…? Thanx a ton again…
Rajiv G. Prabhu Ajgaonkar said,
December 18, 2011 at 7:14 pm
listening to geet varsha is swargiya ananda…………….
Shrikant said,
September 5, 2012 at 1:29 pm
Please let me know if anybody have geet Varsha (first programme) recording….in which Pandit Vasantrao Achrekar acompanied for tabla….Please call 09869003869 – Shrikant Powle….. if anybody wish to give above mentioned recording to me…
Geeta Singh said,
March 21, 2013 at 2:59 pm
This is divine music. I am unable to download the music – is it still available for download?
ramuanchu said,
April 14, 2013 at 8:14 pm
Dont know how to thank you. Been wanting to listen to this album, the search got me here. It must have taken so much effort to digitise this. Inspite of the speed difference in the 3rd part, its worth every single minute I listen to it. I had an undamaged tape of this album, if I can find it will send it across. Very few albums can get to the level of this one. Once again, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
irfanarif said,
July 24, 2013 at 9:20 am
v.vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvery nice songs