VEENAVAADHINI

VEENAVAADHINI CHAMBER CONCERTS

2012-01-29T21:39:00.000-08:00

In the past few months, Veenavaadhini hosted several Chamber Concerts.

Smt SIKKIL MALA CHANDRASEKHAR presented a grand 4-hour flute concert. It was billed to be a 2-1/2 hour kutcheri, but that day the music just flowed. Neither Smt Mala, nor the rasikas (including several young children) realized until 3-1/2 hours had gone that so much time had elapsed. Starting with the lilting Daru Varnam Mathe in Kamas, the eminent flautist went on to play Ganapathe Mahamathe in Kalyani with very impressive kalpanaswaram patterns. Then came a very classical Neelayatakshi in Paras. Madhayamavathi exposition for the kriti Nadupai brought out the raga swaroopa brilliantly with the choicest pidis. Theliyaleru Rama never fails to tug the heart strings. The Dikshitar magnum opus Sree Subramanyaya Namaste was presented in true Gayaki style, prefaced with an expansive Khamboji Raga alapana where the rasikas were completely immersed particularly in the mandra sthayi phrases. RTP in Shanmukhapriya came next. Both the ragam and thanam were very well etched; some classic veena phrases in the thanam were executed by both Mala and Akkarai Sornalatha, the violinist. Geetha Vadhya Natana Natakarpriye, Rasike was the pallavi line. The poorvangam was structured in such a way as to represent all the three speeds of Vilambakala, Madhayamakala and Drutakala. The trikalam and tisram segments were bang on target. The ragamalika kalpanawaram suffix featured ragams with a “priya” ending, like Kharaharapriya, Natakapriya, Ratipatipriya, Rasikapriya, Rishabhapriya and so forth. Of the lighter items presented in the concert, Saramaina was notable for a wonderfully spontaneous Behag alapana, and a beautiful reply by the violinist.

Special mention must be made of the accompanying artists of the evening. They responded with willingness and vibrancy to the flow of the concert. Sornalata’s musical sense and aesthetics were noteworthy. Kalladaikurichi Sivakumar followed sampradaya by playing two thanis, one for the main Kambhoji song and another for the pallavi. His mridangam play had classical depth. The accompanists contributed to the success of the concert in good measure.

In the end, all rasikas left with the satisfaction of having heard an excellent classical sampradya-based concert.

GUHAN VENKATARAMAN of the USA presented a very sweet veena concert. Tutored by his mother Smt Lakshmi Venkataraman, a disciple of the very revered vainika Smt Ranganayaki Rajagopalan, Guhan has imbibed many of the hallmarks of that style, particularly with reference to Thanam playing. He exhibited good technique and sound manodharma aspects, and a very professional approach. Keeravani ragam, thanam and Kaligiyunte was the highlight. Veenavaadhini wishes the youngster all the best.

Sri KV RAMANUJAM, an excellent flautist, enthralled the audience with his nimble finger movements across the bamboo. His bilahari alapana and the treatment of the kriti Paritanamicchite was one of the best expositions that yours truly has heard in recent times. Thodi is a difficult ragam to play on both the flute and the veena. Sri Ramanujam brought out a scholarly image of the raga prefix to the Kriti Sri Krishnam Bhaja Manasa. Smt Meera Sivaramakrishnan was the supporting artiste on the violin and her vidhwath came to the fore in her solo versions.

The inimitable Umayalpuram Mali was the accomparying mridangam artiste for both the above concerts and gave brilliant support.

VEENAVAADHINI STUDENTS PERFOMANCES

2011-11-27T23:28:00.000-08:00

The students of Veenavaadhini have been delivering concerts from time to time and the whole fraternity can take pride in their achievements. Veena Venkataramani gave two veena concerts in Delhi last year, the first being at the IILM campus, as a part of the ‘Festival of Young Talent’, organised by Sanatan Sangeet Sanskriti. The other was organised by the Delhi Tamil Sangam and a part of ‘Delhi 2010’, with former president and eminent scientist Dr APJ Abdul Kalam as the chief guest. On New Year’s
Day 2011, she performed at Rani Seethai Hall, organised by Kalarasa. She was accompanied on the mridangam by Manohar Balatchandirane for all three concerts.

Kamakshi and Meenakshi Ramamurthy gave vocal concerts at Virugambakkam Putra School in January 2010, Sai Baba Temple, Nagthammal temple in February 2011, Alwarpet Hanuman Temple in April 2011, Mylapore in January 2011 and Mantralayam in March 2011. They also performed twice in March 2011 for the Dasara Sahitya celebrations and Sahasra Deepalankarana Seva at Astana Mandapam, and the concerts were aired live on television.

Jayash and Manash Ramanathan had their arangetram in July 2011 at Tattvaloka Auditorium in T Nagar. They rendered all-time favourites such as Vatapi Ganapatim, Maanasa Guruguha and Annapoorne Visalakshi. This was followed by an excellent speech by chief guest and respected musician Sri Neyveli Santanagopalan. They were accompanied on the mridangam by Sri Neyveli Narayanan and on the Ghatam by Sri Trichy Krishnan.

One hopes these young stars will go far in their musical careers and enthral many listeners with their scintillating music.

REPORT BY APARNA SHANKAR

WORKSHOP ON DIKSHITAR'S NOTTUSWARAMS

2011-08-01T10:54:00.000-07:00

Veenavaadhini conducted its annual summer workshop from May 27-29, 2011 in Chennai. The topic covered was Nottuswara Sahityams of Muthuswamy Dikshitar. All the 37 nottuswarams hitherto known were taught to about 15 enthusiastic participants. Smt Jaysri Jeyaraaj Krishnan conducted the course. Local newspapers Mylapore Times and The Hindu covered the event.

YATRA TO SRI PARTHASARATHY TEMPLE

2011-04-26T17:36:00.000-07:00

Last month, on March 27th, a warm early-summer day, the students of Veenavadhini and their families, led by Sri Jeyaraaj and Smt Jaysri, gathered at 7am in the temple of Sri Parthasarathi Swamy, in Tiruvallikeni(which has become Triplicane in the British rule) , Chennai. Our intent was to sing the Kriti on this lord composed by Sri Muthuswamy Dikshitar, at the shrine, continuing the Dikshitar Yatra.

Sri Parthasarathi Swamy, also known as Sri VenkataKrishnan, is unique in many ways. He is surrounded by a huge family and not only the goddess Sri Rukmini but his son Pradyumna, his grandson Aniruddha and brothers Balarama and Satyaki share the Sanctum with him. In effect, the shrine is rather packed. He is unique in two other ways too – sporting a moustache in keeping with his role in the Mahabharata war as charioteer(Sarathy) to Arjuna(Partha). For the same reason, he holds only a conch and no Chakram – he had vowed to not use any weapon during the war. Near the
main shrine are the ones of Sri Rama and Sri Ranganatha.

This lord has been glorified in the Suddha Dhanyasi kriti of Dikshitar “Sri Paarthasaarathinaa paalitosmyaham” and this is the piece we had the privilege of singing in the main Sannidhi . Since this temple is an important one on the tourist circuit, it is generally very crowded. Despite reaching there early in the morning, there was a waiting time for the Darshan and we had only standing room during our musical offering. Yet, it was a gratifying experience.

The name of the goddess (Thayar) is Sri Vedavalli and she was born in lily flower in the lily pond (alli-keni) near the temple. At her Sannidhi we sat down and sang “Hariyuvati” in Hemavathi. Upon the request of the Bhattar, who was evidently enjoying the music, we also sang “Hiranmayim” in Lalita. After this, we visited all the shrines in the temple – Varadaraja, Narasimha, Andal and concluded our Yatra. Like all other previous times that we have been on Veenavaadhini‘s Pilgrimage with Dikshitar, this too felt like a blessing, and it was a privilege to sing in the sanctum sanctorum of Lord Parthasarathy.

Report by Rajani Arjun Shankar.

A SATISFYING EXPERIENCE

2011-03-26T07:03:00.000-07:00

Veenavaadhini recently hosted a fabulous chamber concert by Veena Vidwan Sri P Vasanth Kumar, accompanied by Sri Umayalpuram Mali on the mridangam. The first word that came to mind after listening to that concert was “soukhyam”, for lack of an appropriate word in the English language that could perhaps convey the same meaning. A spellbound audience was treated with two-and-a-half hours of very high quality carnatic classical music.

Beginning with a varnam in raga Hindolam composed by the great GNB, Vasanth Kumar went on to present Gajavadana Paliso of Vittala Dasa, preceded by a brief but chaste Begada raga alapana. This was followed by a Sourashtram ragam assay which gave proof of the sincerity with which the vidwan approaches his music. Suryamurthe created an atmosphere of serenity. Umayalpuram Mali’s accompaniment here was particularly noteworthy for his soft beats. Atana alapana came next with all its classical phrases as a prelude to Sakalagraha Balanine of Purandaradasa.

The detailed exposition of Kharaharapriya was madi sangeetham at its best, eschewing the Salakabhairavi pidis. The popular Samanam Evaru was played with both expertise and gnanam, where the sangatis flowed perfectly, neraval was executed with adherence to sahitya, and the swara appendages were played with enough mathematical calculations.

The main item of the concert was a very enjoyable Ragam Thanam Pallavi in the raga Hamsadhwani. The ragam delineation was elaborate, step by step grafting of a classically structured alapana, presenting an expansive picture of the raga. The thanam was methodically played. The way in which the Pallavi was executed and the ragamalika swaras in ragas Hamsanadam and Hamsanandi (carrying the prefix “Hamsa”) was demonstrative of the artist’s musical intelligence.

Umayalpuram Mali’s thani not only exhibited his laya vidwath, it carried all the ingredients of the traditional structure of a thani avarthanam.

Even the post main items were steeped in classical fervor, and included Dikshitar kritis like Sri Varalakshmi (Sri ragam) . All in all, the concert reiterated the fact that vidwath and depth of understanding of classicism per se, which comes with years of learning and listening experience is an essential prerequisite to make it a satisfying musical experience for both the connoisseur and the layman.

PILGRIMAGE TO CHENNAI NAVAGRAHA TEMPLES

2010-12-17T00:27:00.000-08:00

Continuing Veenavaadhini's intent of visiting temples and singing Dikshitar's Kritis in the shrines where he composed them, we were pondering where we could sing the Navagraha Kritis. These were composed by the great composer to help people like his disciple Thambiappan overcome the malevolent influences of the planets, and were not composed in particular Kshetras. In fact, the only exception is the Angaraka Kriti, where Vaidyanatha Kshetram is mentioned.

So when we heard of the tours conducted by Sowbhagya Travels, which covers the Navagraha Sthalams around Chennai, it seemed a good thing to take up this trip and also sing the Kritis in those Sthalams. The day picked for this was Sunday, November 28, 2010.

We started very early in the morning, at 5.45am. Here is a brief account of each place visited, in the order of visiting. Naturally, this had to be as per geographical convenience and not in the order of the Grahas.

Given that, as a rule, temples of Vishnu do not have shrines for Navagrahas, it is only natural that every single temple we visited for the Yatra was a temple of Shiva. In every temple,we visited the shrines of Swamy(Shiva) and Ambal(Parvati) and then proceeded to the shrine of the particular Graha to sing. In four places( Budha, Guru, Shukra and Rahu) there weren't separate shrines for the Graha and we sang the Kriti in the main shrine itself.

1. Agasteeshwarar Koil, Pozhichalur ( Shanaishchara)
A beautiful , serene temple, with a Gaja-prishta Vimana ( the wall around the main shrine is not rectangular, but rounded like the backside of an elephant - we saw this structure in many places that day), this temple had a separate idol of Shanaishchara, next to the Navagrahas. We sat facing him and sang "Divaakara tanujam".

2. Somanatheshwarar Koil, Somangalam ( Chandra)

This place was apparently earlier "Chola-mangalam" and the entire temple is idyllic and lovely. The icon of Chandra is one of breathtaking beauty - tall and handsome with a gentle smile. Here is sat in the open, ouside Chandra's shrine and sang "Chandram Bhaja Maanasa".

3. Nageshwarar temple, Kunrathur ( Rahu)

Built by the saint Sekkizhar, this grand old temple is modelled on the Thiru-Nageshwaram temple near Kumbakonam, the deity of which is Sekkizhar's "Ishta Devata". This town being his birthplace, Sekkizhar's has a separate shrine etc. We sat in the main shrine and sang "Smaraamyaham Sadaa Raahum" here.

4. Sundareshwara temple , Kovur (Budha)

Graced by the visit of Saint Thyagaraja, this small and gracious temple, we were told, has a Maha-vilva tree ( where each stalk has nine, not three leaflets). The saint has composed Kovur Pancharatnam here and his arrival in a palanquin is depicted on the main Gopuram. We sat in the main shrine and sang "Budham Ashrayaami" here.

5. Vaidyeswarar temple, Poonamallee (Angaaraka)

A busy temple on the Chennai templegoers' circuit, this temple has a small shrine for Angaaraka just outside the Swamy Sannidhi. In fact it is only the feet of Angaaraka, under a small stone Palmyra tree ( his shrine is under a real Palmyra in Vaideeswaran Koil). So we sat right opposite that to sing "Angaarakam Ashrayaamyaham".

6. Velleeshwarar temple, Mangadu ( Shukra)

Close to the famous Kamakshi temple, this temple is quiet with a lot of greenery. Here too we saw a Mahavilva tree. We sat in the main shrine to sing "Shri Shukra Bhagavantam".

7. Agasteeshwarar temple, Kolapakkam (Surya)

This small village, now part of Chennai, houses a beautiful temple that is very neat and has a impressive little Nandavanam. That day being "Kalabhairava Ashtami", there was a Laksharchana going on and many people were present. There is a nice shrine for Surya, topped by a grand sudhai (limestone& mortar) idol of the Sun God in his chariot with its seven horses. Just the right setting to sing "Suryamurte Namostute"!

8. Neelakanteshwarar temple, Gerumbakkam( Ketu)

This small non-descript temple has a shrine for Ketu , and also a bas relief carving of a snake in the ceiling of the main shrine. We sat near the shrine and sang "Mahaasuram".

9. Ramanatheshwarar temple, Porur (Guru)

The last stop of the day turned out to be a very memorable and unique one. This newly, brightly renovated temple was teeming with devotees and here too, the "Kalabhairava Laksharchanai" was going on. On hearing our request to be allowed to sing, the members of the Bhakta Jana Sabha happily gave us the stage with mikes etc and asked us to sing for at least 15 minutes and more if possible! So this became an impromptu mini-concert, and we sang "Shri Mahaaganapati-ravatu maam", "Ekaamranaatham" and of course "Brhaspate Taaraapate", concluding with "Valli-Devasena-pate" ( composed by Brahmasri Ananthakrishna Iyer). We were overwhelmed by the affection and plaudits we received after this and left the temple after having cups of hot sweet Paayasam, our hearts full with joy and gratitude.

PS: The tour also included three more temples which are en route - The Kamakshiamman temple in Mangadu and the Murugan and Mookambikai temples in Kunrathur.

Report by Rajani Arjun Shankar.

EVENTS OVER THE PAST FEW MONTHS

2010-11-10T16:58:00.000-08:00

A hectic quarter of the year began with Guru Purnima Celebrations featuring two veena chamber concerts, one a duet by students Jayash and Manash Ramanathan of Tampa, Florida. They impressed the audience with their brisk rendition of Bilahari varnam in two speeds, an adroitly played Pantuvarali (Sarasaksha), and a moving Desh tillana of the legend Shri Lalgudi Jayaraman. The second concert was that of Santosh Jayaraman, a student of Sri Guruguha Gana Vidyalaya, Kolkata, now also training at Veenavaadhini. His playing displayed ample musical maturity, the highlight being his ragam assay of Karaharapriya and the ragamalika ragam preface to Teerada Vilayattu Pillai.

On September 5th, we had Sri Adoor Sudarshan from Kerala give a wonderful chamber concert. He was accompanied by Sri VV Ravi on the violin and Sri Ramkumar on the mridangam. To quote rasika Venkitesh, who also co-sponsored the programme, "This is easily the best live concert of the recent past which I heard. The singing soaked with vidwat, bhava and kanakku. Detailed Kharahapriya and neraval and swarams with kanakku was the best. Followed by Kalyani raga vistaram with sruthi bedam. Varnam in mohanam, and Sobillu was there in the beginning and was nice. Ravi's kalyani alapana was nice too. Kharaharapriya and Kalyani sruthibedam touched my heart. Tanam , followed by pallavi in kalyani was the next item. Four krithis with detailed raga and neraval and swaras, remarkable concert." Ramkumar was outstanding on the mridangam.

Veenavaadhini also organised Navarathri Special Programme wherein all the students rendered mini vocal and veena recitals. It being the 2nd Day of Navarathri, Kamalambam Bhajare was vocally rendered by Smt Jaysri with Sri Jeyaraaj accompanying her on the Veena. Students also gave concerts in local events conducted elsewhere in the city. Kum Meenakshi gave vocal concerts at the Navarathri Utsavams at TVS Sriperumbudur Balaganapathy Temple, Siddhi Buddhi Temple in RA Puram, and Saibaba Temple, Mylapore. Kum Veena Venkatramani played veena at RA Puram Siddhi Buddhi Vinayakar Temple. Kum Aishwarya gave a 2-hour vocal concert at the Navarathri Celebrations at Vallishwarar Temple in Mylapore.

The month of November began with Meenakshi's Pradosham Veena Concert at the famous Kapaleeshwarar Temple in Mylapore on November 3rd. On Deepavali Day, a Musical Tribute to Nadajyoti Muthuswamy Dikshitar was paid by group singing of his Aradhana Kritis, led by Smt Jaysri and Sri Jeyaraaj. Our thanks to Smt Latha Parameshwaran and Sri Raj Prameshwaran for the excellent arrangements at their place for the Deepavali Sangitanjali.

WORKSHOP ON NAVAGRAHA KRITIS

2010-09-05T23:01:00.000-07:00

Veenavaadhini recently conducted a workshop on Navagraha Kritis of Muthuswamy Dikshitar. It was a nine-day workshop wherein the following kritis were taught.

1. Surya Murte - Saurashtra - Chatusra Jati Dhruva
2. Chandram Bhaja - Asaveri - Chatusra Matya
3. Angarakam - Surati - Rupakam
4. Budham Ashrayami - Natakuranji - Misra Jampa
5. Brihaspathe - Atana - Tisra Triputa
6. Sri Sukra Bhagavantham - Paraju- Khanda Jati Ata
7. Divakara Thanujam - Yadukula Kambhoji - Chatusra Eka
8. Smaramyaham - Ramamanohari - Rupakam
9. Mahasuram - Chamaram - Rupakam

All the students received booklets containing the notation for all the kritis as well as word-by-word meanings (translation provided by Smt Rajani Arjun Shankar)

Local newspaper Mylapore Times carried a report. Click Here for the link.

SRI VARALAKSHMI NAMASTUBHYAM

2010-08-16T08:08:00.000-07:00

A nice article by Sri Balaveenai Balakrishnan.

TRIBUTE TO TRINITY

2010-07-23T23:27:00.000-07:00

Veenavaadhini recently presented two veena chamber concerts as part of Tribute To Trinity series.

Concert #1: Kum HR Meenakshi - Veena (Student of Veenavaadhini), Sri Sajeev - Mridangam. Click here to listen to this concert.

Concert #2: Sri L Ramakrishnan - Veena, Sri Ramkumar - Mridangam

It was Meenakshi's maiden veena performance and she was blessed to have Kalpakam Mami witness it. Our pranams to Mami and it was wonderful to have her grace the event. Thanks to Ramakrishnan for bringing her, and for playing a wonderful concert. Sajeev and Ramkumar gave excellent support.

Meenakshi played with sensitivity and presented all the songs and the manodharma aspects neatly, with emphasis on bhava. Her songlist is as follows:

1. vanajAksha - Mandari Varnam
2. brovavamma - Neelambari - Syama Sastri
3. saileshwaram - Sumadyuti – Muthuswamy Dikshitar
4. thavadAsoham - Punnagavarali - Tyagarajaswamy

L. Ramakrishnan, disciple of Smt Kalpakam Swaminathan, presented a very classical concert.

Given below is a review of L Ramakrishnan's concert penned by rasika S. Sivaramakrishnan.

List of kriti-s
1) sarasUDa (varnam) – sAvEri – Adi – kothavAsal venkaTrAma iyer
2) shvEta gaNapatim – rAgacUDAmaNi – tisra tripuTa – muthusvAmi dIkSitar
3) sarasvati namOstutE – sarasvati – rUpakam – g.n. bAlasubramaNiam
4) bhavanuta – mOhanam – Adi – tyAgarAja
5) hiraNmayIm – lalitA – rUpakam – muthusvAmi dIkSitar
6) sarOja daLa nEtrI – shankarAbharaNam – Adi – shyAma sAstri
7) sarasamu – kApi – Adi – rAmanAthapuram srInivAsa iyengAr
8 ) patiki hArati rE – suraTi – Adi – tyAgarAja

It is but a fact that only those with a high degree of commitment to classical music would retain their passion for Veena. L Ramakrishnan (presently a disciple of Smt Kalpagam Swaminathan who graced the occasion) fitted the bill perfect when he gave a quality chamber concert at Veenavaadhini. Trinity's compositions was the main theme.

As a person who has been at the 'playing side' as well as the 'receiving side' in Veena recitals, I can very well appreciate the 'travails' of a Vainika. Perfect Sruti alignment of the instrument and ensuring an aesthetic acoustics are indeed obvious challenges the artist has to tackle before he begins the concert.

Another hidden challenge (known only to the player) is 'calibrating himself' to the 'melam status' of the Veena wherein subtle adjustments need to be made throughout the playing to overcome any micro-tone differences in the swarasthaana-s. Perhaps this is one important reason why many vainika-s try the electronic veena-s. Ramakrishnan used the traditional Veena and tackled the challenges quite well.

But by the time he settled down, the varnam was over (The varnam is a casualty even in vocal concerts and is invariably a mike-test item!).

Svetaganapatim in Ragachudamani was perhaps being heard for the first time by most in the audience including me. (But whether the scale is a choodamani of a raga seems to be debatable). LR rendered this samashticharana piece commendably well. Saraswati served the twin purpose of addressing the Veena goddess as well as remembering the composer whose centenary is being observed this year.

Bhavanuta came as refreshing piece in a contrasting scale. Lalita was thoughtfully placed before Sankarabharanam. Aalaapana with taana in Ghanaraaga panchakam was presented briefly. A few additional taana avartanams in the main raga could have been attempted by LR.

The outstanding thing about LR's rendering of saraojadalanetri was the Niraval segment. In Veena kutcheri-s listeners may not be often able to distinguish between Niraval and swaraprastaara. Ramakrishnan's grasp of the underlying features and fingering techniques stood out. Swaraprastaara with a neat korvai completed the kriti.

The concluding items in Kaapi and Surati were sober and communicative.

Ramakrishnan's Kaalapramaana was very good. A collar-mike could perhaps help the vainika to take the vocal rendering to the audience better.

Ramkumar, the young mridangist played enthusiastically.

MUSICAL EVENING BY VEENAVAADHINI STUDENTS

2010-06-06T06:19:00.000-07:00

Mr Raj Parameswaran and Dr Latha Parameswaran hosted a programme by Veenavaadhini Students recently. The main programmes of the evening were two Vocal recitals, one by 12-year-old Kumari Harini and the second by Kumari Kamakshi and Kumari Meenakshi. Harish Kalidas from Sri Guruguha Gana Vidyalaya of Kolkata accompanied the artists on the violin and Master Gomathishankar played the mridangam.

For Harini, a 7th grade student, it was the first stage performance. She began her recital confidently with Jalajaksha varnam in Hamsadhwani in two speeds, followed by Marugelara in Jayanthasri and Sriman Narayana in Bowli. She then sang a bright Amritavarshini raga alapana for the song Ananda Amritakarshini, followed by competent kalpana swarams. She wound up her recital with a soulful Vande Mataram.

Kamakshi and Meenakshi began their recital with Sri Ganesha Charanam in Tilang. They also sang Sri Guruguha in Devakriya and E Vasudha in sahana and drew admiration from the audience. The main item of the evening was Ekamranatham Bhajeham in Gamakakriya. The raga alapana sung by Meenakshi and the swarakalpanas suffixed to the song were bhava dominant. A Tillana of Dr Balamuralikrishna in raga Brindavani sung at the end won the hearts of the audience present. Harish's alapanas of Amritavarshini and Gamakakriya were very expressive and were wholeheartedly appreciated. Gomathishankar played mridangam displaying a lot of maturity for someone his age. Apart from these concerts there were also group singing programmes by students through the evening.

Veenavaadhini thanks Dr Lata and Sri Parameswaran for having taken the initiative to organize this programme and giving opportunity to these young students to display their talent. Excellent dinner was provided after the programme.

MUSICIANS NEED FOOD TOO!

2010-05-15T21:56:00.000-07:00

This wonderful article was forwarded by Uma Venkataramani. One must read this to learn about the significance of our "Sappadu"

Pl enjoy this good collection of explanations by Paramacharya of Kanchi...Many have samskrit base....------------ --------- --------- --------- ---------
To the awe and amazement of his devotees, Paramacharya often discussed about down-to-earth laukika matters with keen interest, deep understanding and knowledge. In this lecture, he explains the origin and meaning of the names of common Indian dishes and their connection to spirituality. In these explanations, I have mostly used the translated words of what Paramacharya actually spoke, extracted from the Tamil publication titled Sollin Selvar (The Expert of Words), Sri Kanchi Munivar by Sri Ra. Ganapathy.

A South Indian Meal
A typical South Indian meal is served in three main courses: sambar sAdam, rasam sAdam and more (buttermilk) sAdam. Sambar is also known as kuzhambu in Tamil, a term that literally translates to 'get confused'. Paramacharya explains how these three courses are related to the three gunas of spirituality: the confusion of sambar is tamo guna, the clarified and rarified flow of rasam is rajo guna and the all-white buttermilk is satva guna. Our meal reminds us of our spiritual path from confused inaction to a clear flow of action and finally to the realized bliss of unity.

sAdam
Cooked rice, the main dish of a South Indian meal is called sAdam. That which has sat is sAdam, in the same way we call those who are full of sat, sadhus. We can give another explanation for the term: that which is born out of prasannam is prasAdam. What we offer to Swami (God) as nivedanam is given back to us as parasAdam. Since we should not add the root 'pra' to the rice we cook for ourselves, we call it sAdam.

rasam
Rasam means juice, which is also the name of filtered ruchi. We say 'it was full of rasa' when a speech or song was tasteful. Vaishnavas, because of their Tamil abhimAnam, refer to rasam as saatthamudhu. It does not mean the amudhu (amrita) mixed with sAdam. It was actually saatramudhu (saaru or rasam + amudhu), which became saatthamudhu.

Vaishnavas also have a term thirukkann amudhu that refers to our pAyasam. What is that thirukkann? If rudrAksham means Rudra's eye, does 'thirukkann' mean Lakshmi's eye? Or does the term refer to some vastu (article) added to pAyasam? No such things. Thiru kannal amudhu has become thirukkann amudhu. Kannal means sugercane, the base crop of suger and jaggery used in pAyasam.
I was talking about rasam. If something is an extraction of juice, then would it not be clear, diluted and free of sediments? Such is the nature of our rasam, which is clear and dilute. The other one, served earlier to rasam in a meal, is the kuzhambu. Kuzhambu contains dissolved tamarind and cut vegetable pieces, so it looks unclear, its ingredients not easily seen.

buttermilk as our dessert
A western meal normally ends with a dessert. In a South Indian meal, desserts such as pAyasam are served after the rasam sAdam. Any sweets that were served at the beginning are also taken at this time. After that we take buttermilk rice as our final course. Paramacharya explains that since sweets are harmful to teeth, our sour and salty buttermilk actually strengthens our teeth, and this has been observed and praised by an American dietician. We gargle warm salt water when we get toothache. The buttermilk is the reason for our having strong teeth until the end of our life, unlike the westerners who resort to dentures quite early in their life.

vegetable curry
Although cut vegetable pieces are used in sambar, kootoo and pacchadi, in curry they are fried to such an extent that they become dark in color (the term curry also means blackness or darkness in Tamil). May be this is the origin of the name curry.

uppuma (kitchadi)
If the term uppuma is derived from the fact that we add uppu or salt, then we also add salt to iddly, dosa and pongal! Actually, it is not uppuma but ubbuma! The rava used for this dish expands in size to the full vessel where heated up with water and salt. The action of rava getting expanded is the reason for the term ubbuma.

iddly
The term iduthal (in Tamil) refers to keeping something set and untouched. We call the cremation ground idukaadu (in Tamil). There we keep the mrita sarira (mortal body) set on the burning pyre and then come away. The term iduthal also refers to refining gold with fire. The (Tamil) term idu marunthu has a similar connotation: a drug given once without any repetition of dosage. In the same way, we keep the iddly wet flour on the oven and do nothing to it until it is cooked by steam.

idiyaappam
(This is rice noodles cooked in steam). Brahmins call it seva while others call it idiyaappam. But unlike an appam which is a cake, this dish is in strands. The term appam is derived from the Sanskrit ApUpam meaning cake. The flour of that cake is called ApUpayam. This word is the origin of the Tamil word appam.

appalaam (papad)
The grammatical Tamil term is appalam. This dish is also made by kneading (urad dhal) flour, making globules out of it and then flattening them. So it is also a kind of appam. Because of its taste a 'la' is added as a particle of endearment!

laddu
ladanam (in Sanskrit) means to play, to throw. ladakam is the sports goods used to play with. Since the ball games are the most popular, ladakam came to mean a ball. The dish laddu is like a ball, and this term is a shortened form of laddukam, which derived from ladakam.

Laddu is also known as kunjaa laadu. This should actually be gunjaa laadu, because the Sanskrit term gunjA refers to the gunjA-berry, used as a measure of weight, specially for gold. Since a laddu is a packed ball of gunjA like berries cooked out of flour and sugar, it got this name.

The singer of mUka panca sati on Ambal Kamakshi describes her as Matangi and in that description praises her as 'gunjA bhUsha', that is, wearing chains and bangles made of gunjA-berries of gold.

pori vilangaa laddu
Made of jaggery, rice flour and dried ginger without any ghee added to it, this laddu is as hard as a wood apple, though very tasty, and hence got its name from that fruit and the original pori (puffed rice) flour used to make it.

Indian Dishes of Turkish Origin
Our halwa is a dish that came from the Turkish invasion. bahU kalam (long ago) before that we had a dish called paishtikam, made of flour, ghee and sugar. But then the Arabian term halwa has stuck in usage for such preparation.

sojji
sUji is another name from the Turkish. It has become sojji now. It is mostly referred to these days as kesari. In Sanskrit, kesaram means mane, so kesari is a lion with kesaram. It was a practice to add the title 'kesari' to people who are on the top in any field. Thus we have Veera Kesari, Hari Kesari as titles of kings in Tamilnadu. The German Keisar, Roman Caesar and the Russian Czar -- all these titles came from only from this term kesari.
What is the color the lion? A sort of brownish red, right? A shade that is not orange nor red. That is the kesar varnam. The powder of that stone is called kesari powder, which became the name of the dish to which it is added for color.

vada
A Tamil pundit told me that the name vada(i) could have originated from the Sanskrit mAshApUpam, which is an appam made of mAsham or the urad dhal. He also said that in ancient Tamilnadu, vada and appam were prepared like chapati, baking the flour cake using dry heat.

dadhya araadhana
Someone asked me about the meaning of this term. He was under the impression that dadhi was curd, so dadhiyaaradhana( i) was the curd rice offered to Perumal. Actually, the correct term is tadeeya AradhanA, meaning the samaaradhana( i) (grand dinner) hosted to the bhagavatas of Perumal. It got shortened in the habitual Vaishnava way.

Vaishnavas offer the nivedanam of pongal with other things to Perumal in their dhanur mAsa ushad kala puja (early morning puja of the Dhanur month). They call it tiruppakshi. The original term was actually tiruppalli ezhuchi, the term used to wake of Perumal. It became 'tiruppazhuchi' , then 'tiruppazhachi' and finally 'tiruppakshi' today, using the Sanskrit kshakara akshram, in the habitual Vaishnava way. It is only vegetarian offering, nothing to do with pakshi (bird)!
The term dhanur mAsam automatically brings up thoughts of Andaal and her paavai (friends). In the 27th song (of Tiruppaavai) , she describes her wake up puja and nivedanam with milk and sweet pongal to Bhagavan, which culminates in her having a joint dinner with her friends. Vaishnavas celebrate that day as the festival koodaara valli, following the same sampradhAyam (tradition). The name of this festival is from the phrase koodaarai vellum seer Govinda, (Govinda who conquers those who don't reach Him) which begins the 27th song. It was this 'koodaarai vellum' that took on the vichitra vEsham (strange form) of 'koodaara valli'.

pAyasam
payas (in Sanskrit) means milk. So pAyasam literally means 'a delicacy made of milk'. This term does not refer to the rice and jaggery used to make pAyasam. They go with the term without saying. Actually pAyasam is to be made by boiling rice in milk (not water) and adding jaggery. These days we have dhal pAyasam, ravA pAyasam, sEmia pAyasam and so on, using other things in the place of rice.
Vaishanavas have a beautiful Tamil term akkaara adisil for pAyasam. The 'akkaar' in this term is a corruption of the Sanskrit sharkara. The English term 'sugar' is from the Arabian 'sukkar', which in turn is from this Sanskrit term. The same term also took the forms 'saccharine' and 'jaggery'. And the name of the dish jangiri is from the term jaggery.

kanji (porridge)
Before we become satiated with madhuram (sweetness), let us turn our attention to a food that is sour. As an alternative to sweetness, our Acharyal (Adi Sankara) has spoken about sourness in his Soundarya Lahiri.
Poets describe a bird called cakora pakshi that feeds on moon-beams. Sankara says in Soundarya Lahiri that the cakora pakshi were originally feeding on the kArunya lAvaNyAmruta (the nectar of compassion and beauty) flowing from Ambal's mukha chanran (moon like face). They got satiated with that nectar and were looking for somthing sour, and spotted the full moon, which being only a reflection, issued only sour beams!

Acharyal has used the term kAnjika diya, which gives an evidence of his origin in the Malayala Desam. He said that since the cakora pakshis were convinced that the nectar from the moon was only sour kanji, they chose to feed on it as an alternative.
The term kAnjika means relating to kanji, but the word kanji is not found in Sanskrit. It is a word current only in the Dakshinam (south). There too, kanji is special in Malayala Desam where even the rich lords used to drink kanji in the morning. This was the variety came to be known as the 'Mayalayam Kanji'.
Kanji is good for deham as well as chittam. And less expensive. You just add a handful of cooked rice rava (broken rice), add buttermilk, salt and dry ginger, which would be enough for four people.
The buttermilk added must be a bit more sour. The salt too must be a bit more in quantity. With the slight burning taste of dry ginger, the combination would be tasty and healthy.

tAmbUlam
It is customary to have tAmbUlam at the end of a South Indian dinner. In the North, tAambUlam is popularly known as paan, which is usually a wrap of betel nut and other allied items in a calcium-laced pair of betel leaves. In the South, tAmbUlam is usually an elaborate and leisurely after-dinner activity. People sit around a plate of tAmbUlam items, drop a few cut or sliced betel nut pieces in their month, take the betel leaves one by one leisurely, draw a daub of pasty calcium on their back and then stuff them in their month, chatting happily all the while.
The betel leaf is known by the name vetrilai in Tamil, literally an empty leaf. Paramacharya once asked the people sitting around him the reason for calling it an empty leaf. When none could give the answer, he said that the usually edible plants don't just stop with leaf; they proceed to blossom, and bear fruits or vegetables. Even in the case of spinach or lettuce, we have to cook them before we can take them. Only in the case of the betel leaf, we take it raw, and this plant just stops with its leaves, hence the name vetrilai or empty leaf.

Healing by Music Therapy - Ragas

2010-02-14T18:24:00.000-08:00

Who does not like the melody of music? Whose emotions do not vibrate and flow with the sonorous tunes and rhythm of music? Indeed, we all experience the enchanting effects of good music in some form or the other. The classical compositions (ragas) of music create deep impact on our mind and emotions. The melody of vocal and instrumental music soothes our mind and heart. Not only that, the sonic vibrations of its specific compositions also heal psychological disorders. Moreover, depending upon its nature, music can awaken or intensify specific kinds of emotional streams and mental tendencies and thus influence the habits and nature of the engrossed singers/players and audiences.

The immense potential of the power of Shabda (cosmic flow of sound) hidden in music was well recognised by the ancient Indian sages and they had devised several musical patterns emanating from the "Omkara" for chanting of the Vedic hymns and for distinct spiritual effects. The Shastric schools of music discovered musical octave (sa, re, ga, ma, pa, dha, ni, sa) indwelling in the subtle sounds of Nature and invented the basic classical ragas for activating specific streams of natural powers and effects; a wide variety of musical compositions were generated consequently. Ever since then music has been an integral part of human culture with varied applications and forms. Despite its degeneration into the noisy and destructive kinds of so-called ’modern music’, the creative and soothing role of music has not lost its prominence. The last few decades have seen revival of classical Indian and western music in a big way through increasing interest of researchers in music therapy.

Rhetorically commenting on the ecstatic impact of soothing music, Carlyle had once said "God walks behind good music". So, how could there be any disease or suffering where God is? There will only be an unflinching flow of bliss all over. His feelings seem to be true if we look at the marvellous effects of sonorous, calming musical compositions on the soft cores of emotions and subtle layers of the mind and also on physiological processes, as observed by some music therapists in the modern laboratories. In this respect, the effects of music can be likened to that of yoga. According to the Vedic Philosophy, yoga and music both are part of Nada Vidya. Yoga deals with realisation of anahata nada the sublime sound (extrasensory vibrations) of the eternal force of cosmic consciousness. Music pertains to the perception and expression of the infinite spectrum of the rhythmic flow of the ahata nada (perceivable sonic currents) pervading in Nature. Both have direct impact on the shat chakras hidden along the endocrine column and hence affect our physical as well as subtle bodies.

The seven basic swaras (musical notes) of the musical octave have a one-to-one correspondence with these chakras (nuclei of subtle energy). The lower most (in the kava equina region along the erect endocrine column), viz., the Muladhara Chakra is associated with the swara "sa"; that means, the practice of chanting this particular musical note will have impact on awakening or activation of this particular chakra. Similarly, the chakras successively upwards in this direction namely, the Swadhisthana, Manipura, Anahata, Vishuddha, Agya and the top-most Sahastrara Chakra… have correspondence respectively with the swaras "re", "ga" "ma", "pa", "dha" and "ni". Significantly, the order of the compositions of these swaras in the "aroha" (ascending) and "avaroha" (descending) patterns of the Shastric musical tunes also match with the top-down (from Sahastrara to Muladhara) and bottom-up (from Muladhara to Sahastrara) directions of the flow of energy.

Some of the sounds naturally produced inside the human body are easily perceivable if one sits quietly at a calm place. Usually these are felt in the heart (beat), throat and head (cerebral region). In the state of deep meditation, while concentrating on the internal sounds of the body, one can distinctly feel these and several otherwise non-audible sounds; their rhythmic compositions are also said to be in tune with the musical octave. The subtler sounds of the heart are said to be musical expressions of the emotions. Also, it is said that humans feel, recognise, create and express music only because of the emotional sensitivity of the human heart. Moreover, music also happens to be the best means for expressing the inner feelings. This is why good music is often described as the voice of the heart.

The original ragas of the Indian classical music (Shastric Music) are created according to the deep knowledge of harmonious consonance between the seven swaras and chakras. This is why shastric musical compositions are found to have significant positive effect on the mind-body system and also have the potential to awaken the otherwise dormant faculties. There are several historical examples of the immense remedial power of the shastric ragas. For instance, in 1933, when the Italian dictator Mussolini was terribly suffering from insomnia, no medicine or therapeutic mode could help him get sleep. Pt. Omkarnath Thakur, a great shastric musician was visiting Europe around that time. When he heard of Mussolini’s affliction, he agreed to perform remedial musical programme to allay the latter’s sufferings. His performance of the raga puriya indeed worked magically and Mussolini went into deep sleep within half-an-hour. This and similar incidents attracted the attention of many contemporary musicians, scientists and physicians and triggered research in music therapy.

A group of London based physicians has scientifically experimented on different aspects of music therapy. In their views, the shastric ragas could induce healing of all kinds of ailments. They argue that the immediate benefits these ragas offer is mental peace by alleviating tensions and providing an enchanting and creative diversion to the mind. Interpretation of the Vedic scriptures on Nada Vidya implies that Shastric Music helps synergetic augmentation of the panch pranas (the five major streams of vital energy in a human being). In concordance, research in energy medicine (pranic healing) and classical music shows that specific shastric ragas enhance the level of vital energy. It is the deficiencies and disorders in the vital energy distribution in the mind body system, which is the root cause of its ailing state. The smooth and increased flow of vital energy rejuvenates the mind and empowers the immune system as well as the auto-regulatory healing mechanism of the body. This is how classical music generates new hope, joy and enthusiasm in the otherwise dull or depressed mind and removes the disorders and relieves one of the untoward pressures and excitements of inferiority, despair, fear, anger, etc. Because of its fast remedial effects, which lead to eventual cure of the psychosomatic disorders, music therapy based on classical ragas is being used or advised these days for the treatment of insomnia, migraine, hypertension, chronic headache, anxiety, etc. and empowers the immune system as well as the auto-regulatory healing mechanism of the body. This is how classical music generates new hope, joy and enthusiasm in the otherwise dull or depressed mind and removes the disorders and relieves one of the untoward pressures and excitements of inferiority, despair, fear, anger, etc. Because of its fast remedial effects, which lead to eventual cure of the psychosomatic disorders, music therapy based on classical ragas is being used or advised these days for the treatment of insomnia, migraine, hypertension, chronic headache, anxiety, etc.

Because of its impact on the chakras (and hence on the pranas), shastric music not only vibrates and soothes the mental strings, but also energises and balances the organs of the body. According to Dr. W. H. J. Wales, the Indian classical music can cure the problems of the digestive system, liver including the diseases like jaundice. Dr. Jane remarks that this music rhythmically vibrates the tissue-membranes of the ear and, relaxes the nerves and muscles beneath the temple and in the brain; as a result of which the sensory and motor systems are energised and activated.

The empirical studies on therapeutic evaluation of the classical ragas have shown interesting results. Singing or engrossed listening of Raga Bhairavi has been found to uproot the diseases of kapha dosha e.g. asthma, chronic cold, cough, tuberculosis, some of the sinus and chest related problems etc. Raga Asavari is effective in eliminating the impurities of blood and related diseases. Raga Malhar pacifies anger, excessive mental excitements and mental instability. Raga Saurat and raga Jaijaivanti have also been found effective in curing mental disorders and calming the mind. Raga Hindola helps sharpening the memory and focussing mental concentration. It has been proved effective in curing liver ailments.

Apart from the classical ragas played on musical instruments, the rhythmic sounds of temple bells and shankha (conch shell or bugle) produced during devotional practices have also been found to have therapeutic applications. A research study in Berlin University showed that the vibrations of the bugle sound could destroy bacteria and germs in the surroundings. More specifically, it was found that if the shankha is played by infusing (through the mouth) twenty-seven cubic feet of air per second, within a few minutes it will kill the bacteria in the surrounding area of twenty-two hundred square feet and inactivate those in about four-hundred square feet area further beyond.

Dr. D. Brine of Chicago had treated hundreds of cases of hearing impairments/ deficiencies by making the patients play or listen to the sounds of shankha played rhythmically at appropriate (as per the case) pitch and intensity. Several research experiments on music therapy in general and on the sounds of temple-bells and bugles are going on in the Moscow Sanatorium and some research centres in Germany, Holland and Australia. The results are very positive and encouraging towards developing suitable courses on music therapy that could be an integral part of medical practices. The need and importance is especially felt and emphasized for healing of psychosomatic disorders. According to Dr. Hacken, although western classical music is also being used in some studies, its applications are limited to certain kinds of diseases/disorders and are also of much lesser significance in terms of the intensity and impact of positive effects as compared to the Indian classical music.

Rock, pop, jaz, rap and disco types of western music have become quite popular in the modern times especially among the teenagers and youth. But these and other varieties of fast and high-beat music are found to have detrimental effects on health in general. Dr. Balaji, who has been a part of music therapy research teams in Sweden and Germany, has shown that although, listening to such a music for five-ten minutes removes lethargy and instantly generates new alacrity, listening to it for longer periods and frequently has damaging effects on the ear drums and the spinal column. The smooth and balanced flow of several important physiological fluids also gets disturbed and leads to different kinds of physical ailments. Further, as this kind of music induces sexual and other kinds of negative and unnatural excitements, its harms on mental health are far more serious; apart from its debauching effects on spiritual well being.

As mentioned earlier, the scope and utility of music therapy should be viewed, considering its intimate and delicate connection with the inner emotions. These and the core of consciousness force in the inner mind are most sensitive to the musical currents and corresponding vibrations in the sublime expansion of cosmic sound. The next is the nervous system and brain functions. The corresponding effects on the organs and the physiological system of the body as a whole are obvious consequences. From its very origin, the Indian classical music is most suitable and beneficial in this respect and also for spiritual elevation because of the soothing and harmonising impact of the shastric ragas on the sat chakras and the pranas. The findings of research laboratories on immense potential of the shastric ragas in music therapy scientifically support these theories. The results and well-tested applications should be propagated by the researchers for the benefit of large number of patients suffering from varieties of psychosomatic disorders these days.

Deeper research on the spiritual aspects of the Indian classical music and compositions of the shastric ragas might also give some clues about the lost links of the knowledge of the Vedic Science of mantras. This might also open new avenues of reviving the applications of mantra-therapy, as elaborated in the Scriptures.

THIS WAS AN ARTICLE FROM http://www.akhandjyoti.org/ . Hope you enjoyed it!

VEENAVAADHINI STUDENTS IN LOCAL EVENTS

2010-01-23T07:35:00.000-08:00

Young students of Veenavaadhini participated in local events in India and abroad recently.

Radha Madhuri played veena at Thyagaraja Music Festival organized by Hampton Road's Association of Virginia, USA.

Master K. Vignesh participated in Thyagaraja Utsavam organized by Udayam, Kolkata. He was accompanied on the mridangam by Sri R Srinivasan. All of these were mini-programs of about 10 minutes each.

One must wholeheartedly applaud the efforts of organizations like these which conduct such programs year after year, providing opportunities to so many children pursuing our classical arts. In fact, for all established musicians giving full fledged concerts, these programs would have been their valuable first few steps in the career climb. It is also most appropriate to have one's first stage performance to be a tribute to the Trinity of Carnatic Music (Thyagarajaswamy, Muthuswamy Dikshitar and Syama Sastri), since it is only their compositions that form the basis of any carnatic recital.

HR Kamakshi and HR Meenakshi presented a vocal recital under the auspices of Kalaranjani on January 1, 2010. They were accompanied on the violin by Kumbakkonam Selvaprasad and on the mridangam by Gomathishankar. Samskruthi.info reviewed their concert. Click Here To View.

Jayash and Manash participated in Thyagaraja Utsavam organised in Tampa, Florida. You can watch a video recording of their recital in the space above.

Yatra To Kanchipuram

2010-01-04T22:03:00.000-08:00

Sunday, November 22 dawned very early for the eighteen of us. Students of Smt Jaysri and Sri Jeyaraaj, and their families, along with the Vainika couple, all assembled at their Mandaveli home by 5.30 and we set off with a prayer and a smile.

The journey was quite exciting –seeing the break of dawn, enjoying the cool breeze as well as going on the empty roads which we have always seen busy . We stopped in Tambaram to pick up some more members of our group. Soon we were experiencing the soothing sights of greenery after we left the city limits. We noticed many birds like parakeets, mynahs, bee-eaters, warblers, drongos and many, many kingfishers. The children especially enjoyed seeing these.

We reached the imposing temple of Goddess Kamakshi at 7.30am. After a brief stop at the office , we were led to the platform right in front of the sanctum sanctorum. Here we settled down, while some of us stood to be able to have a good darshan. We then sang "Kamakshi Kamakoti pitha vasini", "Kanjadalayatakshi" and "Kamakshim Kalyanim" there. After these, the Gurukkal requested us to sing more, and “Devi Brova Samayamide”, which we had to decline politely due to lack of time etc. We were then taken to the shrine, where the Gurukkal explained the significance of Arupa-lakshmi and Vishnu shrines flanking Goddess Kamakshi’s shrine. We offered Kamakshi’s kunkuma prasadam on Lakshmi as instructed by him. We then had the great fortune of seeing Deeparadhanai at close quarters and receiving Kunkuma prasadam and flowers. During this time we sang “Samaganapriye Kamakotinilaye”, a short but lovely Nottuswaram, and Smt Jaysri sang “Shringara Rasamanjari”. Being in the presence of the Goddess was an overwhelming experience even to us, so we could only imagine what state a Srividya Upasaka like Dikshitar would have been in. We then wound back to the entrance. Latha and later Arjun took videos of us near the entrance.

Since it was close to 9am, and we had many children with us, our next stop had to be breakfast. We went to Neo Rama Café, which proved true to its reputation. We were provided delicious idlis, pongal and coffee, along with attentive, quick service. Soon we were on our way to Kailasanatha temple, with renewed vigour.

In the beautiful Kailasanatha temple, unique in both its colour as well as architechtural style, we were introduced to many important aspects of the temple by the elderly, articulate priest. He explained the significance of the Praakara which is narrow, and only allows one person to go in at a time, and requires bending, crawling etc to come through. It represents the cycle of death and birth. Most of us went around it and we all received the prasadam and settled down to sing before the lord. We sang Kailasanatham Bhajeham in Vegavahini. Here too the Gurukkal asked us to sing many more songs, like “Siva Siva Siva ena raada” and we had to explain that we were on a time-bound schedule.

From Kailasanatha to Ekamreshwara : the maginificent and huge, ancient temple of Shiva, sung by the Thevaram trio and many other saints, welcomed us with its expansive corridor with its gigantic granite pillars. We went to the mandapam just opposite the sanctum sanctorum. Seeing the Lord in his form of the unusually shaped Lingam, as well in the Somaskanda form just behind that, we sang “Ekamranathaya” in Viravasanta, followed by “Ekamranatham” in Gamakakriya. We felt fortunate while receiving the Prasadams of Ekamranatha as well as Nila-tunda Perumal who is enshrined in the Praakaram.

Our final destination was the abode of Lord Varadaraja in Vishnu-Kanchi. This temple, famous for the shrines of Goddess Perundevi Thayar and Lord Varadaraja Perumal, is also known for the Thanga Palli (Golden Lizard), which people touch for good luck. Here we settled at the base of the flight of steps that lead to Perumal’s Sannidhi, and sang "Varadarajam Upasmahe"(Saranga) and "Varadaraja pahi vibho"(nottuswaram). Then we went up to see Lord Varadaraja, who was resplendent in all his finery. The receiving of Tirtham, Tulasi etc were made all the more heart-warming by the gracious welcome given by the Bhattar, saying that the lord was happy to see musicians, just as we were happy to see him. He also enquired more about the Vainika couple’s musical lineage etc.

The mission of the day accomplished, we had a nice lunch at Sangeetha’s and left. We were back in Chennai by 4.30 pm.

Report by Rajani Arjun Shankar

PERSONALITY

2010-01-04T09:24:00.000-08:00

Srividya Anantharaman, Srividya Akka, or just Akka to the many, many students that she has, is the face of Carnatic Music in Kolkata. In charge of Sri Guruguha Gana Vidyalaya, the music school founded by her grandfather Brahmasri Ananthakrishna Iyer in the year 1943, she took over the reins from her father and aunt, Late A Anantharama Iyer (Sir) and Late A champakavalli (Teacher) respectively, and has been carrying forward their noble mission of upholding the tradition of Carnatic Music and particularly disseminating Dikshitar kritis to students in this part of the country.

We caught up with Srividya for a brief chat on her recent Chennai visit.

Q. It must have been quite a responsibility to take over a school which had a reputation to live up to. You have had to take a lot of care to continue the work of Sir and Teacher in much the same manner as they did. How did you cope up with this ominous task?

A. My full fledged career as a teacher started more with destiny bringing me into the profession as opposed to myself taking the initiative to plunge into it. I went into computer training as a profession for a good part of my life, but I had been teaching on and off, lending my father and aunt a helping hand, probably it was in my system. However, now I am fully engaged only in teaching carnatic music.

Q. Do take us through some of the activities of Guruguha Sangeeth Sammelan, the students wing of the Vidyalaya.

A. An important feature of our year-round programs is that they are mostly theme based; built on songs on a particular God, say Krishna, Muruga, Shiva, etc, covering all composers. For our annual Dikshitar Aradhana program also we maintain a theme. This actually started way back around the late 80s, taking up Navagraha as a theme, for example.

Q. The modern-day carnatic music Guru is very different from what people like Sir and Teacher were. What do you think has changed and what according to you has remained the same? As a corollary, how different are the students of these times from what we were?

A. Method of teaching needs to be altered a little bit keeping in mind the psyche of the students. Drawing appropriate comparisons with current events etc, goes a long way in making the student identify with what he/she is learning. They need to know the reasons for everything and if you do explain logically they are ready to take. Guru-sishya bhava has not changed but they have to be approached more as a friend. The loyalty and dedication is always there, the intent not to let the guru down; they read facial expressions, and if my smile is a pasted one and not genuine, they can guess they have not been upto the mark.

Q. Fascination and leaning towards carnatic music is not as much an automatic response for either the student or the rasika, in comparison to, say, popular music or even other forms of classical music. Do you think it is in the interest of carnatic music that we leave it as it is, to be enjoyed by a niche audience, or modify it to lend it more instantaneous appeal?

A. Modify, definitely. But within the limits of tradition.

Q. How would you define the roles and responsibilities of the student (in the context of carnatic music)?

A. Sishya's role is not only about performance, it should been seen in totality, cultural values, vinayam, devotion, hard work, consistency, all matter. It is also the responsibility of the teacher to tell the student if she or he is not ready yet. Quality should not be compromised. Parental role is important. They must take them to various programs and concerts and try to always keep the interest alive. Music should be compulsorily taught to all children. Initially it may feel like a lot of pressure but they then eventually listen to music as a relaxation even during board exams - it has that quality - at any age or stage one can listen and enjoy. Don't we sort out problems better if we listen to music.....

We wish Srividya Anantharaman health, wealth and happiness and may she continue the magnificient work she is doing for the cause of Carnatic Music for a long, long time.

Veena Recitals of Jayash and Manash

2009-10-01T01:14:00.000-07:00

Veenavaadhini students Jayash and Manash learn veena and vocal over the Internet. They were in Chennai this summer for one-to-one classes. They, along with their brother Ashwin Ramanathan (a violin student of Shri HN Bhaskar), performed in various places in and around Chennai, notable among them being the one under the auspices of Fifty-Fifty Club on August 7, 2009. They also presented a musical ensemble in Mysore on August 14th at the Veena Seshanna Bhavan.

Their programmes were very well received by the live audience as well as the press. Vadapalani Times, Sakshi (Telugu Newspaper, called it "Vadyatraya Sunaadam Sumadhuram") and Star of Mysore carried favourable reports on these young performers. Given below are links to some of the press reports.

Click here for review in Vadapalani Times

Click here for review in Sakshi, Telugu Daily

Veenavaadhini Vadya Diwas

2009-09-28T19:00:00.001-07:00

Young students of Veenavaadhini got together on August 9th to present an evening of instrumental music. Platform was made available for them to render the music taught to them on the veena, under public gaze. Contact mike was provided to the participants which definitely enhanced the sound brought out. All the participants did their best and captivated the audience with the variety presented. The programme started with three children, Harini, Dwaraknath and Aparna, whose hands could hardly cover the entire length of the veena dandi! Yet they impressed, rendering amongst them Gajananya Namaste (Varnam - Muthuswamy Dikshitar), Ninnukkori (Mohana Varnam), Mahaganapathe (Natanarayani-Dikshitar), Gurumurthe(Shankarabharanam-Dikhitar). This was followed by Banu Gopal's recital, a student senior in age, who played Thulasidala (Mayamalavagoulai-Thyagarajaswamy). She was full of enthusiasm and energy while pulling the strings.

It was then left to the students learning veena over skype, namely Radha Madhuri, and twin sisters Jayash and Manash Ramanathan, all from USA. Radha presented Brochevarevare (Sriranjani-Thyagarajaswamy) and Srichakraraja was played adroitly by the sisters. Music coming the Veena of these students was quite absorbing and we could see the confidence and maturity they have acquired.

Kum. Meenakshi, senior student of Veenavaadhini, was the last in the series to play veena. She took up Saveri varnam in two speeds and then Bhairavi raga deliniation. Dikshitar's Balagopala was played in true sampradaya style.

Violin players came in next, and those who participated were Kum Akshaya student of Smt Syamala Rajan and Sri Ashwin Ramanthan, a student of Sri HN Bhaskar. Kum Akshaya played Hamsadhwani varnam. Ashwin, elder brother of sisters Jayash and Manash, essayed a very pleasant Madhyamavathi raga alapana and followed it up with Ramakathasudha (Thyagarajaswamy).

The instrumental recitals were followed by an interesting and educative lecture-demonstration by Sri Jeyaraaj Krishnan and Smt Jaysri Jeyaraaj Krishnan, who also took the help of Sri S Sundar, a mridangam exponent to introduce the subject of "Listening to music" to enhance one's knowledge (kelvi gnanam). They elaborated on how listening is essential in the development of music knowledge both for the practitioner and the listening public. Laptop was used to bring out the taped music of the great vocalist Tanjavur Kalyanaraman, to drive the point home as to how the three moderators have benefited by such exposure. They recommended to the parents of the students present to arrange for a friendly music environment so that music occupies an important place for the wholesome development of an individual. The discussion brought out many questions of interest from the active audience and appropriate answers were made available to them. The programme was well attended and all in all it was a very fulfilling evening for all those present.

Reported by J Thyagarajan

Thai Pushyam Day

2009-08-02T01:44:00.000-07:00

February 8, 2009 was Thai Pushyam and we at Veenavaadhini celebrated the event with a musical offering to Lord Muruga. The programme commenced with a group rendering of some of Muthuswamy Dikshitar's krithis, namely Sri Mahaganapathi (Gowlai), Srinathadi (Mayamalavagoulai), Balasubramanyam Bhajeham (Suruti), Manasaguruguha (Anandabhairavi). Since it was a Sunday, Suryamurthe Namosthuthe (Saurashtram) was also sung. The group rendering concluded with Brahmasri Ananthakrishna Iyer's composition "Valli Devasenapathe" in Kamas and the Mangala Krithi of Dikshitar "Sri Abhayamba". This was followed by Sangitanjali by Veenavaadhini students who enthralled the audience with various songs ranging from Sri Guruguha to Varasikhi Vahana to Darisittalavil Muktiperalam, etc.

This musical presentation by students was followed by a grand Lecdem by Shri B Karthikeyan of Kolkata who had the audience at the edge of their seats with a spellbinding and educative lecture on the sthala Tiruvarur. He gave an elaborate account of the association of Tiruvarur with Muthuswamy Dikshitar and how so many of his compositions are extolling the deities enshrined in Tiruvarur. In fact some of his major group kritis like the Kamalamba Navavarana Krithis, Nilotpalamba Vibhakti Krithis and Thyagaraja vibhakti Kritis are all about the respective deities in Tiruvarur.

After this pleasant and enlightening musical evening, sakkarapongal and sundal prasadam was distributed.

DR KARL PAULNACK'S SPEECH

2009-07-27T07:58:00.000-07:00

A friend, Rajani Arjun Shankar, forwarded the text of this speech to us a while back. It is a must read for every individual associated with Classical music in whatever capacity, be it student, teacher, performer, rasika, or all rolled into one. We wrote to Dr. Karl Paulnack to seek his permission for publishing the text of his speech on this blog, and he readily agreed. Thank you, Dr. Paulnack, since for some like us this is a reinforcement of their musical beliefs, and for the others it is an eye-opener of sorts. So, read on!

Dr. Paulnack's email to us:
Hello friends,

Many thanks for your kind words regarding the welcome speech of mine you've seen circulating. I am happy to have you reprint, post or forward the speech to anyone for whom it may be useful. Please use the text below, as many of the versions floating around the Internet have various inaccuracies. This is the cleanest, most accurate version below. Thanks again.

Warm regards,

Karl

This is an excerpt from a welcome address given to parents of incoming students at The Boston Conservatory on September 1, 2004, by Dr. Karl Paulnack, Director of the Music Division.

***********************************************************************************************

One of my parents' deepest fears, I suspect, is that society would not properly value me as a musician, that I wouldn't be appreciated. I had very good grades in high school, I was good in science and math, and they imagined that as a doctor or a research chemist or an engineer, I might be more appreciated than I would be as a musician. I still remember my mother's remark when I announced my decision to apply to music school-she said, "you're wasting your SAT scores!" On some level, I think, my parents were not sure themselves what the value of music was, what its purpose was. And they loved music: they listened to classical music all the time. They just weren't really clear about its function. So let me talk about that a little bit, because we live in a society that puts music in the "arts and entertainment" section of the newspaper, and serious music, the kind your kids are about to engage in, has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with entertainment, in fact it's the opposite of entertainment. Let me talk a little bit about music, and how it works.

One of the first cultures to articulate how music really works were the ancient Greeks. And this is going to fascinate you: the Greeks said that music and astronomy were two sides of the same coin. Astronomy was seen as the study of relationships between observable, permanent, external objects, and music was seen as the study of relationships between invisible, internal, hidden objects. Music has a way of finding the big, invisible moving pieces inside our hearts and souls and helping us figure out the position of things inside us. Let me give you some examples of how this works.

One of the most profound musical compositions of all time is the Quartet for the End of Time written by French composer Olivier Messiaen in 1940. Messiaen was 31 years old when France entered the war against Nazi Germany. He was captured by the Germans in June of 1940 and imprisoned in a prisoner-of-war camp.

He was fortunate to find a sympathetic prison guard who gave him paper and a place to compose, and fortunate to have musician colleagues in the camp, a cellist, a violinist, and a clarinetist. Messiaen wrote his quartet with these specific players in mind. It was performed in January 1941 for the prisoners and guards of the prison camp. Today it is one of the most famous masterworks in the repertoire.

Given what we have since learned about life in the Nazi camps, why would anyone in his right mind waste time and energy writing or playing music? There was barely enough energy on a good day to find food and water, to avoid a beating, to stay warm, to escape torture-why would anyone bother with music? And yet-even from the concentration camps, we have poetry, we have music, we have visual art; it wasn't just this one fanatic Messiaen; many, many people created art. Why? Well, in a place where people are only focused on survival, on the bare necessities, the obvious conclusion is that art must be, somehow, essential for life. The camps were without money, without hope, without commerce, without recreation, without basic respect, but they were not without art. Art is part of survival; art is part of the human spirit, an unquenchable expression of who we are. Art is one of the ways in which we say, "I am alive, and my life has meaning."

In September of 2001 I was a resident of Manhattan. On the morning of September 12, 2001 I reached a new understanding of my art and its relationship to the world. I sat down at the piano that morning at 10 AM to practice as was my daily routine; I did it by force of habit, without thinking about it. I lifted the cover on the keyboard, and opened my music, and put my hands on the keys and took my hands off the keys. And I sat there and thought, does this even matter? Isn't this completely irrelevant? Playing the piano right now, given what happened in this city yesterday, seems silly, absurd, irreverent, pointless. Why am I here? What place has a musician in this moment in time? Who needs a piano player right now? I was completely lost.

And then I, along with the rest of New York, went through the journey of getting through that week. I did not play the piano that day, and in fact I contemplated briefly whether I would ever want to play the piano again. And then I observed how we got through the day.

At least in my neighborhood, we didn't shoot hoops or play Scrabble. We didn't play cards to pass the time, we didn't watch TV, we didn't shop, we most certainly did not go to the mall. The first organized activity that I saw in New York, on the very evening of September 11th, was singing. People sang. People sang around fire houses, people sang "We Shall Overcome". Lots of people sang America the Beautiful. The first organized public event that I remember was the Brahms Requiem, later that week, at Lincoln Center, with the New York Philharmonic. The first organized public expression of grief, our first communal response to that historic event, was a concert. That was the beginning of a sense that life might go on. The US Military secured the airspace, but recovery was led by the arts, and by music in particular, that very night.

From these two experiences, I have come to understand that music is not part of "arts and entertainment" as the newspaper section would have us believe. It's not a luxury, a lavish thing that we fund from leftovers of our budgets, not a plaything or an amusement or a pass time. Music is a basic need of human survival. Music is one of the ways we make sense of our lives, one of the ways in which we express feelings when we have no words, a way for us to understand things with our hearts when we can't with our minds.

Some of you may know Samuel Barber's heart wrenchingly beautiful piece Adagio for Strings. If you don't know it by that name, then some of you may know it as the background music which accompanied the Oliver Stone movie Platoon, a film about the Vietnam War. If you know that piece of music either way, you know it has the ability to crack your heart open like a walnut; it can make you cry over sadness you didn't know you had. Music can slip beneath our conscious reality to get at what's really going on inside us the way a good therapist does.

Very few of you have ever been to a wedding where there was absolutely no music. There might have been only a little music, there might have been some really bad music, but with few exceptions there is some music. And something very predictable happens at weddings-people get all pent up with all kinds of emotions, and then there's some musical moment where the action of the wedding stops and someone sings or plays the flute or something. And even if the music is lame, even if the quality isn't good, predictably 30 or 40 percent of the people who are going to cry at a wedding cry a couple of moments after the music starts. Why? The Greeks. Music allows us to move around those big invisible pieces of ourselves and rearrange our insides so that we can express what we feel even when we can't talk about it. Can you imagine watching Indiana Jones or Superman or Star Wars with the dialogue but no music? What is it about the music swelling up at just the right moment in ET so that all the softies in the audience start crying at exactly the same moment? I guarantee you if you showed the movie with the music stripped out, it wouldn't happen that way. The Greeks. Music is the understanding of the relationship between invisible internal objects.

I'll give you one more example, the story of the most important concert of my life. I must tell you I have played a little less than a thousand concerts in my life so far. I have played in places that I thought were important. I like playing in Carnegie Hall; I enjoyed playing in Paris; it made me very happy to please the critics in St. Petersburg. I have played for people I thought were important; music critics of major newspapers, foreign heads of state. The most important concert of my entire life took place in a nursing home in a small Midwestern town a few years ago.

I was playing with a very dear friend of mine who is a violinist. We began, as we often do, with Aaron Copland's Sonata, which was written during World War II and dedicated to a young friend of Copland's, a young pilot who was shot down during the war. Now we often talk to our audiences about the pieces we are going to play rather than providing them with written program notes. But in this case, because we began the concert with this piece, we decided to talk about the piece later in the program and to just come out and play the music without explanation.

Midway through the piece, an elderly man seated in a wheelchair near the front of the concert hall began to weep. This man, whom I later met, was clearly a soldier-even in his 70's, it was clear from his buzz-cut hair, square jaw and general demeanor that he had spent a good deal of his life in the military. I thought it a little bit odd that someone would be moved to tears by that particular movement of that particular piece, but it wasn't the first time I've heard crying in a concert and we went on with the concert and finished the piece.

When we came out to play the next piece on the program, we decided to talk about both the first and second pieces, and we described the circumstances in which the Copland was written and mentioned its dedication to a downed pilot. The man in the front of the audience became so disturbed that he had to leave the auditorium. I honestly figured that we would not see him again, but he did come backstage afterwards, tears and all, to explain himself.

What he told us was this: "During World War II, I was a pilot, and I was in an aerial combat situation where one of my team's planes was hit. I watched my friend bail out, and watched his parachute open, but the Japanese planes which had engaged us returned and machine gunned across the parachute cords so as to separate the parachute from the pilot, and I watched my friend drop away into the ocean, realizing that he was lost. I have not thought about this for many years, but during that first piece of music you played, this memory returned to me so vividly that it was as though I was reliving it. I didn't understand why this was happening, why now, but then when you came out to explain that this piece of music was written to commemorate a lost pilot, it was a little more than I could handle. How does the music do that? How did it find those feelings and those memories in me?"

Remember the Greeks: music is the study of invisible relationships between internal objects. The concert in the nursing home was the most important work I have ever done. For me to play for this old soldier and help him connect, somehow, with Aaron Copland, and to connect their memories of their lost friends, to help him remember and mourn his friend, this is my work. This is why music matters.

What follows is part of the talk I will give to this year's freshman class when I welcome them a few days from now. The responsibility I will charge your sons and daughters with is this:

"If we were a medical school, and you were here as a med student practicing appendectomies, you'd take your work very seriously because you would imagine that some night at two AM someone is going to waltz into your emergency room and you're going to have to save their life. Well, my friends, someday at 8 PM someone is going to walk into your concert hall and bring you a mind that is confused, a heart that is overwhelmed, a soul that is weary. Whether they go out whole again will depend partly on how well you do your craft.

You're not here to become an entertainer, and you don't have to sell yourself. The truth is you don't have anything to sell; being a musician isn't about dispensing a product, like selling used cars. I'm not an entertainer; I'm a lot closer to a paramedic, a firefighter, a rescue worker. You're here to become a sort of therapist for the human soul, a spiritual version of a chiropractor, physical therapist, someone who works with our insides to see if they get things to line up, to see if we can come into harmony with ourselves and be healthy and happy and well.

Frankly, ladies and gentlemen, I expect you not only to master music; I expect you to save the planet. If there is a future wave of wellness on this planet, of harmony, of peace, of an end to war, of mutual understanding, of equality, of fairness, I don't expect it will come from a government, a military force or a corporation. I no longer even expect it to come from the religions of the world, which together seem to have brought us as much war as they have peace. If there is a future of peace for humankind, if there is to be an understanding of how these invisible, internal things should fit together, I expect it will come from the artists, because that's what we do. As in the Nazi camps and the evening of 9/11, the artists are the ones who might be able to help us with our internal, invisible lives."

RELEVANCE OF RAGAM-THANAM-PALLAVI IN CONCERTS

2009-05-18T00:27:00.000-07:00

RELEVANCE OF RAGAM TANAM PALLAVI IN TODAY’S CONCERTS

Ragam Tanam Pallavi is an important part of a concert in the realm of Carnatic Music.

It is regarded as the “piece-de- resistance” as it provides the ideal platform for a performer to exhibit his/her “vidwat” in terms of improvisation.
To draw a parallel it can be compared to writing an essay in English where the writer needs proficiency in Grammar and Language, besides being Imaginative in his approach. Essay writing also tests the ability of a person to weave a synchronous thread of continuity. In other words, the “story telling” capability of a person comes to the fore. Similarly, when singing a RTP the performer needs to have a strong grasp of “Raga Lakshana”, “Laya” and vivid imagination – strictly within the realms of the accepted grammar. This restriction makes performing a RTP challenging as well as exciting.

It is interesting to see the evolution of this aspect of performance in today’s context. To do proper justice to a RTP it may not be out of place to allot at least one hour for the same in a concert. In the days gone by it was quite regular for a performer to allocate even 2 hours to RTP if not more.
The accepted practice has been to:
• Sing / Play the Ragam in three stages;
• Sing / Play an elaborate Taanam;
• Engage oneself in a detailed neraval exercise; and
• Do a “Thri-kalam” of the Pallavi Passage;
o Many established performers like the inimitable Alathur Brothers would only chose a 4-kalai Pallavi or an 8-kalai Pallavi which would mean that “Anulomam and Prathilomam” would inevitably follow.
• This would then be followed by “kalpanaswarams” in Raga maligai.

In this context it would be most appropriate to mention Sangeetha Acharya Vidwan Shri Chengelput Ranganthan Sir. His neraval singing is a benchmark in itself! 4-kalai and 8 kalai pallavis are like child’s play for him! We only wonder how his Guru Maha Vidwan Shri Alathur Venakatesa Iyer would have performed!

Today – the “accepted practice” is under scrutiny. We find RTPs rendered in 15-20 min. 4-kalai and 8-kalai pallavis have become a rarity. The reasons perhaps are not far to seek:
• How do you do justice to a Pallavi when the concert duration is only for 2 hrs or less?
• Is there a danger of losing Rasika Interest if the performer indulges in a detailed RTP exercise?
• Does it also point to a rather embarrassing question, namely the ability to perform, for instance, an 1/4 eduppu 2-kalai or 1/8 eduppu “4-kalai” or “8-kalai” Pallavi?
• Should a detailed Pallavi be performed only if the concert is touted as a “4 hr” concert or a “Pallavi concert”?
This is a topic that does not have straightforward answers. This is open to discussion.

In this context, we are going to reproduce an excerpt of what the great vidwan late Shri S.Balachander had to say in this regard. Vidwan Shri S. Balachander never minced words. He was very forthright in his opinions and he had the mastery (read Vidwat) to back his words. So, here it goes – Ladies and Gentlemen - please tighten your seat belts:

Excerpts from the foreword written by the late Veena S. Balachander (in 1971) to "Icai-ulakil Maka Vaittiyanata Civan' by V.S. Gomathisankara Iyer

“How sad is the level of Pallavi-singing these days! For this deplorable condition prevailing today, I totally and unreservedly blame only most of those prominent musicians of "YESTERDAY". Except for 'Mudikondan' Venkatrama Iyer, G.N.B., and Alathur Brothers and a very few more, the majority of the others took no care, interest or efforts in learning, striving and maintaining the proper 'Laya-personified' and Thaala-interwoven' intelligent ...intricate...involving, intellectual...inspiring and inimitable PALLAVI-singing. They thought it wise not to take any risk! They were just satisfied traversing the "safe-sure-successful" path. "Success' mainly depended in not achieving the 'impossible', but only in as much maintaining all that was 'possible'. That is why we had (and suffered from) a surfeit of "Aadhi-thaalam Mukkal-eduppu PARIMALA RANGAPATHAY"... & "Aadhi-thaalam Sundu Viral Sama-eduppu THILLAI EESANAI" PALLAVIS! How so pathetically easy! How so shamefully simple and elementary! WHO CARES!? One just made "mountains out of mole-hills" with no substance but with lots of Pretence! Effortless Success was assured! And the fame won was Safeguarded! Just imagine as to what would have tragically happened if the same, very same (course of utter safety) was also adopted by those of the still previous eras...like 'Mahaa" Vaidhyanatha Iyer himself for instance, or 'Poochi' Srinivasa Iyengar or "Namakkal' Narasimha Iyengar, or...(the list seems endless).

Most of those of 'YESTERDAY' who, day in and day out..year in and year out, spoke volumes about the musical-glories of the past, of their Masters, of their Paramparas, of their ancient styles and hereditary assets, never exerted even their little-finger in the aspect of "PALLAVI singing". I can excuse their incompetence in this regard if need be. But, i have never tolerated and never forgive them for their wanton (and highly motivated) insolence in heartlessly discouraging even those few other (not yet prominent and not so successful) musicians, who, fervently wishing to preserve the 'sathya'-laya-oriented style of singing PALLAVIS as done in the good old days, were genuinely spending hours and hours in fruitful - truthful study, research, practice and pursuit. These sincere but not so popular musicians were told and advised that such 'intricate' & 'involved' Pallavi singing was out-moded and out-dated and out of style and out of the reach of listeners!THOSE VERY SAME VIDWANS who time and again insisted that THEY WERE PRESERVING ALL THE ANCIENT, TRADITIONAL, HEREDITARY AND SAMPRADAYA-BOUND "MUSICAL HERITAGE".If only they had the open goodness to admit that certain of these ancient Pallavis were only out of _ THEIR - reach and far - from - THEIR - grasp and if only they had had the graciousness to faithfully encourage those others who were attempting laya-oriented truly 'Sampradaya - PALLAVIS', then, today this sorry state of affairs could have been totally avoided. Even maintaining a rhythmic-tempo of "Sarvalaghu-suddham" had to be considered as a great formidable (and at times 'unsurmountable'!) task by certain Vidwans of yesterday.And thanks to them, as already quoted, the present 'upto-date' Pallavi-singing brought into popular vogue by them is nothing different from a most-simple and most-elementary and most-bland "Arai-eduppu' Pallavi as in the first line of the song "Brovabharama" .. or, even that of a "sama-eduppu" Pallavi as in the first line of the song "Daarini Telusukonti"!!! One should truly be ashamed to call them (under the grossly misused title of) PALLAVI singing.

(stuff deleted)

Before being conferred the Title of "Mahaa", Sri Vaidhyanatha Sivan, on that occasion, chose to sing the raagam, "CHAKRAVAAKAM". The mere rendering of the raaga-aalaapana itself made the entire Sadas start wondering as to "What" Ragam it was!!! They had never heard it before! They could not 'identify' it! ........ (stuff deleted) This incident happened more than one hundred years ago. And...even TODAY... inspite of the passing of years, ragas like even Vakulaabharanam, Kokilapriya, Hemavathi, Bhavapriya, Gamanasrama, Dharmavathi, Natabhairavi, Shadvidamaargini, Sarasangi etc, etc. are YET TO BE MADE POPULAR AND EASILY IDENTIFIABLE BY WE MUSICIANS, TO THE AUDIENCE AT LARGE!!! (Leave alone ragas like Naaganandini, Navaneetam, Maanavathi, Dhaatuvardhini, Roopavathi, Jankaaradhwani, Raghupriya, Kosalam, Soolini, Chitraambhari, Kantaamani, Saalagam, Naasika Bhooshani, etc etc etc) Again, who is to be blamed for this sorry state of affairs? I personally can and shall blame only those who, all these years kept on singing REPEATEDLY (as per their self-imposed SAFE MEASURE) ragas like Kalyaani, Kaambhoji, Sankarabharanam, Bhairavi, Thodi, Keeravani, Karaharapriya, Shanmughapriya ... and I am afraid the list ends here...full-stop!”

We have taken this excerpt from what was reproduced by “Ramana”. Ramana - thank you very much for bringing this piece to light.

Disclaimer: This is not intended to be a finger pointing exercise. If it can bring people together for a meaningful discussion, it is something that would be followed with a lot of interest.

Veenavaadhini Students Performances

2009-04-18T07:03:00.000-07:00

On the 27th and 28th of December, 2008, the Gayatri Fine Arts, Rohini, New Delhi, organized a Talent Promotion Concert Series. On the 28th was a solo Veenai recital by Veena Venkatramani. The songs played were Kedaragowlai varnam, Vathapi Ganapathim, Shobillu Saptaswara, Ananda Amritavarshini, Mamavatu Shree Saraswati, Devi Neeye Tunai, Desh Thillana, English Note and Vaishanava Janato.

ON January 1, 2009, Kamakshi and Meenakshi sang a vocal concert at the Kalikamba Temple in Parrys, Chennai. The songlist comprised mostly of those in praise of Devi, including a rare composition of Muthaiah Bhagavathar, "Kalarathri Swarupini" in the raga Urmika.

PILGRIMAGE TO TIRUVANNAMALAI AND VIRINCHIPURAM

2008-12-17T21:19:00.000-08:00

On December 5th we embarked on a trip to Thiruvannamalai and Virinchipuram as part of our Pilgrimage with Dikshitar. It was a truly unforgettable experience! We are immensely grateful to Sri Chandrasekara Sastrigal, who arranged the darshan, the group singing sitting in front of the shrine of Arunachaleshwarar, and took wonderful care of us, despite it being very crowded, the time coinciding with the Brahmotsavam period of Karthigai Deepam. We sang Arunachalanatham Smarami, Dishitar's composition in Saranga, sitting just a couple of feet away from the shrine. The temple authorities then requested us to sing a song in front of Amman as well. Since Dikshitar has not composed any kriti on Abheetakuchambal, we sang Kamalambam Bhajare in Kalyani in the Amman sannidhi. Thereafter we proceeded to listen to Veda Parayanam, and Vastradanam was made to the priests (shawls were presented). We would like to acknowledge the contributions of Smt and Sri K. Balasubramanian, Smt and Sri H.P Ramamurthy and Smt and Sri Arjun Shankar for their contributions towards the Vastradanam made by the Veenavaadhini group in Thiruvannamalai.

After lunch we proceeded to the Margabandheeshwarar temple in Virinchipuram, which is about 13 km from Vellore on the Gudiyatham route. What a magnificient temple! We were completely overwhelmed by the architecture and the serene peaceful surroundings. We soaked in the atmosphere to our heart's content. When we entered the Margabandhu shrine, there was no electricity. It was about 5:30 PM and we witnessed the beautiful sight of the abhishekam being performed on the lingam in the light of the lamps lit there. Oh! What a sight! We sang Margasahayeshwaram Bhajeham in the raga Kasiramakriya as well as Parvathikumaram Bhavaye in Nattakurinji while the abhishekam was being performed. After partaking the abhisheka theertham, we proceeded to the Maragathavalli Amman Sannidhi. The idol was beautiful. It is interesting to note that from this Sannadhi there is a tunnel (surangapadhai) which goes right up to the Vellore Fort. This, we gathered, was for the royal family to use in case of an emergency. We sang Maragathavalli Manasa Smarami in the raga Kambhoji in the Amman Sannadhi. There was a feeling of contentment, which is difficult to describe in words.

We did take some pictures which are uploaded here. Also is a slide show on Virinchipuram which we found on the web, in an album created by Mr. Achyutha RN. Unfortunately he has not indicated his email id, whereby we would have acknowledged to him in writing. We hope he chances upon this post and writes to us, and we can profusely thank him for his beautiful pictures.

Virinchipuram Temple of Lord Shiva.

PILGRIMAGE TO ADIPURISHWARAR TEMPLE

2008-11-29T07:24:00.000-08:00

As part of our "Pilgrimage With Dikshitar" endeavour, a group of us went to the Vadivudaiamman Temple in Tiruvottriyur, Chennai. The Moolavar here is Adipurishwarar on whom Dikshitar has composed "Adipurishwaram Sada Bhajeham" in the Raga Arabhi. We sang the songs Adipurishwaram and Tripurasundari (Raga Sama) sitting in front of the Sannadhi of Adipurishwarar. The lingam is described in the song as "Naga Kavacha Dhara Saikata Lingam." It was a wonderful experience to see the golden nagakavacham on the Lingam, and correlate the same with the words in the song as we sung. The rendition is uploaded in Veenavaadhini's podcast (the pink box on the right in this site). For more on the temple please visit the temple website www.vadivudaiamman.org

OH CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!

2008-11-24T19:58:00.000-08:00

OH CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN! (An Article on Our Guru)

Have you met a person who lived all his life by the rules he wrote?

We have!

Yes - we are referring to – “SIR” - the great Veenai Vidwan and a fantastic teacher – Late Shri Anantharama Iyer whose contribution to the world of music is by all counts truly immeasurable.

His pedigree was indeed impeccable. But that was not his claim to fame. He was a colossus in his own right! For Countless people like us he was a source of inspiration. Yet he was down to earth, humble, and affectionate. He could be incredibly humorous and his sense of timing was amazing! He taught us what it is to be passionate and what it means to live for one’s belief.

To write about SIR is an honor and at the same time a real challenge! How does one do justice to such a multi-faceted personality? Having taken up this mammoth challenge we sure are going to try!

Having learnt from SIR for more than three decades, we have had great moments of inspiration. Memories of our gurukulavasam-like learning days are fresh in our minds and will continue to be.

The first thing that set SIR apart was his ability to induce people – young and old – to love music! He convinced each of us that Music is a way of life. Each Class would be unique - a different experience. He would expose us to the subtleties of various facets in the way which was distinctly his own! He was a great enabler. He would lead us to the desired destination with minimum fuss and no coercion.

We do not remember toiling hard to grasp the nuances of a Bhairavi or a Todi or a Yadukula Khamboji - however we toiled extremely hard to reproduce the same in our own chosen field. The ethos of a ragam would be seamlessly imparted by SIR but he would ensure we got it right by rigorous practice. He was a stickler for hard work. No compromises from him in that department. His golden words - “ to get something right – a vocalist has to practice at least 10 times ; a Violinist has to play it 100 times and if you were a Veena player you have to practice the same a 1000 times”.

He had a unique way of imparting knowledge. The key feature that differentiated his style from others was his instinctive approach to music. He could gauge the talent of each of his students and would work tirelessly to bring the unique talent in each individual to the fore without comprising on basics. This way he ensured his students moved away from the “herd” mentality, had a distinctive style of their own and at the same time adhered to the core tenets of classical music. He believed in his disciples. We have never seen him give up on ANYBODY. We have seen miracles which only he was capable of producing.

He was a purist yet extremely innovative. A Shankarabharanam would always be of the classical style – but would never be repetitive. Ragas like Begada, Darbar and Saveri would be steeped in the traditions of Carnatic Music – yet his Miya ki Malhar or Gurjari Todi would make one go in a trance. He was extremely capable of singing Mecha Kalyani and Yaman or Madhyamavati and Megh or Jujavanti and Jayjaywanti in the same breath. He could switch from Nayaki to Darbar in quick succession to elaborate the subtle yet poignant differences! It was a treat for us! All of us who have attended those classes would be speechless and would be in a world of own! Yes! We have tasted Nirvana! Surprised? It is true! Did we not say that we were fortunate?
His style of rendering Tanam, Neraval and Kalpana Swaram was truly magnificent. Without being biased we can proudly say that his style of rendering tanam (especially in Veena) remains unsurpassed. He would sing Nereval steeped in “sarva laghu” - yet would be pregnant with innumerable mathematical variations. He could move effortlessly between chathushram, thisram and kantam. It would never be hard on the ears! A layman could sit back and enjoy and a student could be delighted in figuring out the laya intricacies. None of this would be imposed on the students – the students would however find it extremely easy to imbibe his technique – it only needed focus and attention!

His Gamakas! Ah! One more of his sweet spots! He had his own style. Perfection! Thou were a slave in SIR’s hands! Each Gamaka was measured and to the point! He was a king in the art of alternating between “Vellinam” and “Mellinam”!

Unknown to many - he had a great fascination for RTP! In one of his visits to Chennai – after dinner – he happened to hear a recorded Pallavi concert of the great Alathur Brothers (our personal favorites!). Sir then proceeded to give us some insights as to how to sing Pallavis and the various facets that would need special attention. At once we were amazed and very sad! Amazed at how simple things can be and sad as to how the world has missed knowing this “gentle giant”.

Another interesting aspect of SIR was his ability to be agnostic to musical forms. Once when we were in a class – a ghazal sung by Begum Akhtar wafted in through the open window. Sir stopped teaching, beckoned all of us to be quiet, closed his eye and listened to the entire ghazal in a meditative mode. At the end of the ghazal he quietly closed shop for the day as he wanted to dwell upon what he had heard! He would appreciate good music from any quarter.

He was Childlike. On a lighter note - at times when we would be less than prepared with the previous day’s lessons – we would try our tricks to get out of an embarrassing situation. We would play a ragam even though SIR would not have specifically asked us to play! We would play specific phrases that were SIR’s favorites! Objective was to take “his eye off the ball”! Sure enough – simple that he was – he would get into the mood and the class would take a different hue! Yet – we would still be nervous! Wonder why? Here in comes SIR’s sister - our beloved TEACHER! At the end of the session - teacher would quietly come in and ask us to follow her into the other room and then start with the “KRITI” taught the previous day! No guesses for what would be our state of affairs at the end of the class! Perfect team work – the best BROTHER – SISTER combination that one can think of!

Punctuality was his buzz word. He would be extremely nervous if people around him did not meet his exacting standards. Here - “yours truly” was hardly successful in coming close to his expectations! I managed to constantly “irk” him despite best efforts! We had to be ready and on stage for a concert at least 15 minutes before time! I have always been a “just in time” person! I would never meet his eye till the concert commenced. This could be resolved only by commencing the concert strongly with a couple of his favorite phrases and I would be back in favor! Well! Jaysri has had no such issues! But true to SIR’s wishes – though we play as a duet team we don’t believe in the “herd” mentality – we have our individual styles that has had its impact on our definition of what is punctual!

We could go on and on about SIR! But some thoughts are too personal and may be a little difficult to share! They can only be experienced!

Whenever we think of SIR (and one cannot separate SIR and TEACHER!) we are reminded of the great Poem – “OH CAPTAIN MY CAPTAIN” - by Walt Whitman.

Some excerpts from the Poem that that are close to our hearts:

"O Captain my Captain! Our fearful trip is done;
The ship has weathered every rack; the prize we sought is won;
The Port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting”

O Captain! My Captain! Rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up – for you the flag is flung for you the bugle trills;
For you the bouquets and ribbon wreaths for you the shores a-crowding;
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning……"

SIR was a phenomenon! He lives in all of us!
SIR -we owe you for what we are! You continue to be the guiding light that guides our Ship through difficult waters! We know we will reach the shore – because you are with us!
HARI OM TATSAT!

JT JEYARAAJ KRISHNAN & JAYSRI JEYARAAJ KRISHNAN

This is an extract from an article published in the souvenir of Guruguha Sangeeth Sammelan dedicated to the memory of SIR on his 80th Birth Anniversary.

VEENA NAVARATHRI

2008-09-27T19:10:00.000-07:00

The Veena Foundation and Indira Gandhi National Council for the Arts came together once again this year to celebrate the Veena Navarathri in Chennai with a series of Veena concerts for nine consecutive days. Shri Raghurama Ayyar is the person behind this veena movement so to speak, and his enthusiasm is driven by his passion for the instrument. Karthik Fine Arts, Narada Gana Sabha and Parthasarathy Swami Sabha supported this endeavour. The theme of the festival was Guru-Shishya Parampara and gave us the opportunity to showcase our disciples.

Veena Venkatramani, student of Veenavaadhini, performed at the Veena Navarathri. This picture of hers that appeared in The Hindu Friday Review edition of Chennai and copy of the report is given below:

"The finale to the series came with young Veena Venkataramani playing to the percussion of Ramkumar another youngster. “Ekathandam” in Bilahari, “Kanja dalaya dakshi” in Kamalamanohari and “Saraswathi vidhiyuvathi” in Hindolam were her selections."

TEACHING CAMP IN TAMPA, FLORIDA

2008-08-10T05:43:00.000-07:00

Teaching keen students who are prepared to put in the requisite time and effort is always a pleasure. It is difficult to understand why people talk of veena being on the wane, when you have people with such tremendous interest that they buy the instrument from India and get it transported all the way to the USA even before deciding when, where, how and from whom they are going to learn it. May their tribe increase.

WORKSHOP IN CALIFORNIA

2008-07-03T05:59:00.000-07:00

A five-day vocal and veena workshop was conducted on Dikshitar kritis in Fremont, California from June 23rd to June 27th. The syllabus included the following Samashti Charanam Kritis, one taught on each day:

1. Svethaganapathim Bhajeham
2. Sourasenesham
3. Saraswathi Vidhiyuvathi
4. Tiruvateeswaram Namami
5. Gopikamanoharam

The profile of the participants included carnatic music teachers, senior students and serious music enthusiasts. The response was overwhelming and it was a fulfilling exercise for one and all. Veenavaadhini thanks Sharmila and Venkat for hosting the workshop and making it a gratifying experience.

VEENAVAADHINI Pilgrimage with Dikshitar

2008-05-17T01:05:00.001-07:00

Tiruvateeswarar Temple is a beautiful serene place in the heart of Chennai, right in the midst of busy Jambazaar (Tiruvetiswaran Pettai). Muthuswamy Dikshitar has composed the beautiful "Tiruvateeswaram Namami" in praise of the Lord here, and his consort Champakavalli. As part of our Pilgrimage with Dikshitar, a small group of us sang this song sitting in front of the shrine just after the abhishekam was performed. It was a wonderful experience. We started off with Mahaganapathim in Nattai, and then Sri Guruguha in Devakriya was rendered. We concluded with Somaskandam, a Nottuswara Sahityam, and Sri Abhayamba as mangalam.

Those who participated in the group singing along with us were Kamakshi, Meenakshi, Vidya, Rajani, Archana, Bhuvana, Syamala Thyagarajan, Selvaprasad (violin) and Venkataraman (Mridangam). Smt and Sri HP Ramamurthy, and the temple authorities organized the prasadam.

The audio recording of the song is available on Veenavaadhini's podcast.

VEENAVAADHINI Chamber Concerts

2008-05-13T23:15:00.000-07:00

TRINITY UTSAVAM

Sri Ramdas Menon, alumnus of Sri Guru Guha Gana Vidyalaya, Kolkata, presented a very neat concert based on the theme of Trinity Compositions on 4th May, 2008. Right from the kalpanaswarams for the charanam line of the Saranga Varnam Inthamodi, his grip over laya and his intuitive strength to explore this aspect of manodharma was very evident. The highlights of the programme were an elaborate Madhyamavathi before the exquisite Syama Sastri kriti Palinchu Kamakshi, and swara patterns for the line Nirgunarasapoorna shariram in the Dikshitar kriti Margasahayeshwaram in Kasiramakriya. The rarely sung Bhuvinidasudane in Sriranjani was the Thyagaraja composition presented. Balagopala was chosen to be the main kriti. Ramdas concluded the concert with Sri Venugopala in Kurinji raga.

Sri VL Kumar, a seasoned violinist, who accompanies all popular musicians of today, provided the absolute essence of all the ragas he essayed, be it Madhyamavathi, Bhairavi, Sriranjani or Ragachudamani. Sajeev Namboodiri on the mridangam was subtle and appropriate.

Svetaganapathim, Sringararasamanjari, Margasahayeshwaram etc filled us with a sense of deja vu, belonging to the same school of music as we did. Added to this was the presence of Sri B. Karthickeyan (Secretary of Guruguha Sangeeth Sammelan, Kolkata), Kartic-da to us, who happened to be in Chennai on that day, and we happily relived some moments from our days in Kolkata.

VEENAVAADHINI Music and Festivals

2008-05-02T23:34:00.000-07:00

On 20th April we celebrated Rama Navami through music. There were four mini-concerts, the details of which are as follows:

1. Kum Kamakshi and Kum Meenakshi - Veena Duet
Starting with the Nagaswarali Varnam Sakethanagara Rama, the sisters went on to play a brief alapana of Hamsadhwani, followed by the Thyagaraja kriti Raghunayaka, suffixed with a few swarams. Thavadasoham was neatly played thereafter. They concluded the concert with Rama Janardhana, a nottuswara sahityam of Muthuswami Dikshitar.

2. Kum Bhuvana - Vocal
Ramachandrasya Dasoham in Dhamavathi gave a good beginning to Bhuvana's recital. Raga Alapana of Mohanam was competently sung as a prefix to Rararajeevalochana, a beautiful krithi of Mysore Vasudevachar. She concluded her recital with Maasil Ayodhiyil, a ragamalika composition of Neela Ramamurthy. Bhuvana was ably accompanied on the violin by Kum Priyamvada.

3. Kum Priyamvada - Violin Solo
Priyamvada gave an impressive violin recital, showing a lot of maturity for her age. Amongst the items presented included the Thyagaraja Kriti in Jhankaradhwani, Phanipati Sayee, and Brovabarama (Bahudari).

4. Sri J Thyagarajan - Vocal
An old timer who has acquired his musical knowledge primarily by listening to live concerts of masters from the days of yore, took the audience back to the golden age by presenting some gems like Ramachandraya Namasthe, Mamavapattabhirama, and Pavanatmajaagaccha. His Thodi alapana was testimony to his understanding of music, proving how "Kelvi Gnanam" plays a very important role in musical growth. He was accompanied on the violin by Smt Syamala Thyagarajan.

Sri Venkataraman, grandson of Chittoor Subramanya Pillai played mridangam beautifully for all the above concerts.

Veenavaadhini Sadhanalaya

2008-04-17T21:26:00.000-07:00

Students of Veenavaadhini, Kum. Kamakshi and Kum. Meenakshi performed a vocal concert for Rama Seva Mandali in Bangalore recently. Featured is a report that appeared in Kannadaprabha, a Kannada Newspaper.

Veenavaadhini Sadhanalaya

2008-04-08T03:35:00.000-07:00

On Veenavaadhini's podcast "Listen and Learn", this month we feature "Rama Janardhana". This is a Nottuswara composition of Sri Muthuswamy Dikshitar where he has set Sanskrit lyrics to a western tune. This piece is in praise of Lord Rama. The notes have been sung first, followed by the lyrics, and then played on the Veena.

The song is in raga Shankarabharanam and Tisra Eka thalam.

VEENAVAADHINI Chamber Concert

2008-03-01T18:38:00.000-08:00

Celebrating the festivals of Thai Pushyam and Shivarathri, we were treated with a delightful concert by veteran vocalist Shri K. Rama Rao. He was accompanied on the violin by Smt Thiruvarur Balam and Sri Thanjavur Subramanian on the mridangam. The concert was held on 24th February, 2008 and focused on select compositions on Lord Subramanya and Lord Shiva. The link to the review of the concert that appeared The Hindu is given below:

http://www.hindu.com/fr/2008/02/29/stories/2008022951130200.htm

VEENAVAADHINI Chamber Concerts

2008-03-01T18:34:00.000-08:00

November 3, 2007 we hosted a veena concert by senior Vidushi Smt Kalpakam Swaminathan. It was a special occasion for us as Kalpakam Mami is a disciple of our Parama Guru Brahmasri A Ananthakrishna Iyer. The focus of the concert was on Dikshitar Krithis.

We thank the internet forum rasikas.org for organizing and coordinating the event and having us as hosts for the same. For all rasikas who happened to be present, it was definitely a concert that they would cherish in their minds and hearts for a long time to come.Mami's accompanists for the evening were Shri L Ramakrishnan for Veena Support and Shri Tanjavur Kumar on the Mridangam.

Given below is the link to the concert on the rasikas.org forum.

http://www.rasikas.org/viewtopic.php?id=3860

VEENAVAADHINI Chamber Concerts

2008-03-01T18:10:00.000-08:00

Monday, September 10, 2007

Celebrating the festivals of Varalakshmi Vrata and Gokulashtami, we hosted two chamber concerts on 26th August, 2007, with the following themes:

1. Varalakshmi Namosthuthe

Artists:
Kamakshi and Meenakshi - Vocal
Kolkata K. Harish - Violin
Manikantan - Mridangam

2. Om Namo Narayana

Artists:
Bharathi Ramasubban - Vocal
K.P. Nandhini - Violin
B. Srivatsan - Mridangam

The first concert comprised of a comprehensive list of compositions on Goddess Varalakshmi, including Sri Varalakshmi (Sriragam), Varalakshmi Neeye (Salakabhairavi), Kamakshi Varalakshmi (Bilahari), Varalakshmi Namosthuthe (Gowrimanohari), Varalakshmim Bhajare (Sourashtram). All the compositions were rendered to perfection by Kum Meenakshi and Kum Kamakshi. The Gowrimanohari Krithi was preceded by a short alapana by Meenakshi and ended with a round of swarams. Kolkata K. Harish excelled in his raga alapana of Gowrimanohari and gave fitting replies when his turn for kalpanaswaras arrived. Manikantan on the mridangam played his role with enthusiasm.

Kum Bharathi Ramasubban was given the theme of Krishna/Narayana. Starting with a brilliant rendition in two speeds of the Saveri Varnam Sarasuda Ninne, she went on to present a chaste version of Venugana Loluni, a Thyagaraja Krithi in Kedaragowlai. Her main piece of the evening was Balagopala in Bhairavi and Pankaja Lochana in Kalyani was the submain. Her biggest asset is her pliable voice combined with a full throated rendition, with an ability to traverse the higher octave with ease. Her raga alapanas of Kedaragowlai, Kalyani and Bhairavi were characterized with Sampradaya sudhham, and furthermore, bore the stamp of her own originality. It was heartening to see the artist implore her imagination to coax out lightning phrases with a lot of ease, and her singing also had a lot of punches, reminiscent of some of the golden greats of carnatic music. K. P. Nandini on the violin was very professional in her approach. B. Srivatsan on the mridangam presented an enjoyable thani avarthanam. After the programme, Prasadam, and Manjal Kumkum for all the ladies present was distributed. We would also like to acknowledge here the assistance provided by Sri Krishna Sweets for printing the invitation cards for the programme.

VEENAVAADHINI Chamber Concert

2008-03-01T18:04:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

We invited Shri Poorna Pragna Rao to present a chamber concert on May 14, 2007 with emphasis on Syama Sastri Compositions. His accompanying artists were, Shri Madurai Balasubramanian (Violin), Shri Manikantan (Mridangam), and Shri Papanasam Sethuraman (Ganjira).
The Song List:

1. Sree Ganapathini - Sourashtram - Thyagarajaswamy
2. Shankari Neeve - Begada - Subbaraya Sastri
3. Shankari Shankuru - Saveri - Syama Sastri
4. Marivere - Anandabhairavi - Syama Sastri
5. Kamakshi - Yadukulakambhoji - Syama Sastri
6. MeenaLochana - Dhanyasi - Syama Sastri
7. Sarojadala Netri - Shankarabharanam - Syama Sastri
8. Kanakasaila - Punnagavarali - Syama Sastri
9. Mayamma - Ahiri - Syama Sastri

What made the concert very special was that each and every song,save the opening piece, was prefixed with expansive and pristineraga alapanas (including those of Punnagavarali and Ahiri),demonstrating the artist's vidhwath in ample measure. The violinistwas equally sophisticated in his replies. Shri Manikantan, standing infor his guru Kumbakonam Saravanan, who could not participate as he wasnot well, acquitted himself very creditably. He accompaniedbeautifully for all the songs and played a commendable thani for themain piece Sarojadala netri, with competent support from Shri Sethuraman.