Sri. kalyAnapuram AravamudhAchAriar

Carnatic Musicians
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semmu86
Posts: 960
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 09:39

Sri. kalyAnapuram AravamudhAchAriar

Post by semmu86 »

.I dont think a thread exists for this great multifaceted artiste . Sri. kalyAnapuram AravamudhAchAriar is one of the most outstanding exponents in the decling field of harikathA today . A stellar disciple of the great Sri.embAr vijayaraghvAchAriAr , he had held his flag aloft in the field of harikathA for over 35 years now .In my opinion he is the only artiste today who performs harikathA the way it ought to be performed . His harikathA programmes are characterised by soul stirring music , sound knowledge of the epics and the sAstrAs , outstanding command over languages ( He is a scholar in many languages like tamizh , sanskrit , telegu , malayalam , hindi etc... ) , unfailing command over the thAla ( because in harikathA , there is something called "avathArikai" , where the harikathA artiste will tell the meaning of the song while keeping thAla with the chiplA kattai , with the mrudangam artiste playing mildly in the background , and after finishing telling the meaning of the pallavi , he has to take off the anupallavi in tune with the thAlam . This is one of the most difficult parts , but he makes it look so easy ) , amazing memory power quoting at will from the works of swAmi dEsikan , the AzhwArs , the works of poorvAchAryAs , vAlmiki , kamban etc.. , wonderful spontaenity , great sense of humour , at times regaling us with lovely anectodes from the past , apt selection of ragas in line with the situation of the story in progress , which creates the sense of the occasion , thereby keeping the audience in raptures .

Like his gurunAthar , the amount and the variety of ragas he handles in his programs is awesome . It seems , in olden days , only ragas like khamas , brindhAvana sarangA , sAramathi were handled and they used to get repeated many times. But it was embAr who introduced ragas like kalyAna vasantham , vasantha bhairavi etc.. to harikatha , a tradition which kalyAnapuram AravamudhAchAriar follows . Sri.K'puram A'chAriAr was an employee in a multinational bank , but quit his job and took up to performing and popularising harikathA . His master class in performing "aindharuvi rAmAyanam" ( combining vAlmiki , kamban , swAmi tyAgaraja , arunAchala kavi's rAma nAtaka krithis and the AzhwArs ) , "AndAl thiruppAvais" , "AzhwArgal charithram" etc.. remain unmatched ..

He is an "A-TOP" graded artiste by the AIR and is the "AsthAna vidvhAn" of "Srirangam Srimad Andavan Ashram" . His elder brother "Sri.K'puram Veerraghavan" is also an harikathA artiste whom yours truely had the oppurtunity to accompany quite a few times . Sri.kalyAnapuram AravamudhAchAriar is involved in the task of teaching this divine art to meritorious students in "Srimad Andavan arts college" @ Srirangam ..For those who didnt have the fortune of listening to the likes of embAr and HMB , he serves as the link to the golden past . May he continue to live in the best of health and enthrall us for many more years to come.

ksrimech
Posts: 1050
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 04:25

Re: Sri. kalyAnapuram AravamudhAchAriar

Post by ksrimech »

Semmu, Nice that you have started this thread. I would just like to add that kalyANapuram SrI AravAmudAchAriar being a SiSyar of Srimad tirukkuDanDai ANDavan svAmi a.k.a. SrImad vEdAnta rAmanuja mahAdESikan svAmi, it is not surprising he is a higly learned scholar. He is a recipient of numerous awards including sangItakalASikhmaNi, sangIta upanyAsatilakam, madhurakalA pravINa,kalaimAmaNi, etc. The following is the official website of kalyANapuram SrI AravAmudAchariar: http://amudanharikatha.com/

Also, you and I may know, but for sake of others, avatArikai means prologue/introduction. It is not the meaning to the pAsuram/pADal. The meanings are generally called artham or vyAkyAnam (commentary).

semmu86
Posts: 960
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 09:39

Re: Sri. kalyAnapuram AravamudhAchAriar

Post by semmu86 »

The meaning of avathArikai i had presumed till now is only the meaning / artham / vAkhyAnam , for eg , after singing a pallavi / first few lines of a song( need not necessarily be a krithi , but any multiline pAsuram) with mrudangam accompaniment , the sAramsam of it will be explained , keeping thAlam and the mrudangam going , before taking off the anupallavi/ or the next line :) .. Yeah thanks for pointing out about thirukkudanthai Andavan. How did i miss him ?? :o

Thanks for the link . Didnt knew about this before . Wonderful website with some lovely pics .

varadharajan
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Joined: 29 Apr 2010, 20:13

Re: Sri. kalyAnapuram AravamudhAchAriar

Post by varadharajan »

Dear semmu86, great to see a thread on this legendary artiste. I have hosted him a couple of times in Delhi when he has come there to get the blessings of srimad thirukkudanthai Andavan swamigal who was doing one of his chAturmAsya sankalpams there. I still remember that there was an harikatha performance of Sri.embAr and Sri. kalyAnapuram AravamudhAchAriar on "SrinivAsa kalyAnam and AndAl kalyAnam" respectively. They still haunt me. You are absolutely right in telling that Sri. kalyAnapuram AravamudhAchAriar is the only artiste today who performs harikatha in the correct way after embAr and Muthiah Bhagavathar. I have no comments about the rest of the performers. In fact his father "Raju vAdhyAr" was a great scholar in thanjAvur and he formed a trio with embAr and srimad thirukkudanthai Andavan swamigal, and this trio played an inspiring part in Sri. kalyAnapuram AravamudhAchAriar's rise to eminence as the one and only star in the field of harikatha.

semmu86
Posts: 960
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 09:39

Re: Sri. kalyAnapuram AravamudhAchAriar

Post by semmu86 »

"simple enough as a thought, but defined, explicated, illustrated and generally plumbed in style only a person of incredible depth of scholarship, research and cerebration can do. Such was Kalyanapuram Aravamudachariar's Harikatha exposition of the episode of Bhakta Prahlada."

http://www.hindu.com/fr/2011/01/07/stor ... 320700.htm

A nice write up.......

venkatakailasam
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Joined: 07 Feb 2010, 19:16

Re: Sri. kalyAnapuram AravamudhAchAriar

Post by venkatakailasam »

Probably he has not heard his exposition of 'Sundarakandam'-by him. What a learned man is he!
Every Saturday , in the morning , we hear the same in our house to evoke the blessings of Sri Anjineya and through him the bessings of Sani Bhahavan !!

venkatakaiasam

semmu86
Posts: 960
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 09:39

Re: Sri. kalyAnapuram AravamudhAchAriar

Post by semmu86 »

Each and every rendition of his is a masterclass unparalled. The "RAmAyaNam" esp as you said is his child play... Around middle of 2009, he gave a "Ayindharuvi RAmAyaNam" - harikathA for 7 days combining the works of "VAlmiki, Kamban, arunAchala kavi, AzhwArs, tyAgabrahmam" at Mandaiveli.... A real one of its kind for ages to come...

semmu86
Posts: 960
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 09:39

Re: Sri. kalyAnapuram AravamudhAchAriar

Post by semmu86 »

KARTIK FINE ARTS, Chennai will confer the coveted title
" Lifetime Achievement Award for Harikatha, "
on Kalaimamani U.Ve.Kalyanapuram Aravamudachariar,
in appreciation of his unparalleled service & scholarship in this field. This grand function will be held at 6 PM on 15th April,2013 at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mylapore, Chennai. All are Welcome.

rshankar
Posts: 13754
Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:26

Re: Sri. kalyAnapuram AravamudhAchAriar

Post by rshankar »

Congratulations to the vidvAn!

thanjavooran
Posts: 2972
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 04:44

Re: Sri. kalyAnapuram AravamudhAchAriar

Post by thanjavooran »

Congratulations to Srman U Ve Aravamudhaachariar Avl on getting the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Thanjavooran
31 03 2013

Purist
Posts: 430
Joined: 13 May 2008, 16:55

Re: Sri. kalyAnapuram AravamudhAchAriar

Post by Purist »

I had the fortune of listening to his discourse on' Sri Krishna Leela' in person and as also a couple of CD's on Thyaga Ramayana, NarayanaTheertha Tharangini etc. Highly knowledgeable and eloquent, his musical exposition appeals
to all. Hearty Congratulations for the very deserving award. :clap: Pray God to bless him many many more years of
'Bhagavad Kainkaryam'

venkatakailasam
Posts: 4170
Joined: 07 Feb 2010, 19:16

Re: Sri. kalyAnapuram AravamudhAchAriar

Post by venkatakailasam »

Sundarakandam Musical Discourse Kalyanapuram Shri.Aravamudan

Recorded from radio program...

Those who are having Sade Sani and Sani in the Ashtama rasi in their horescope may listen to this discourse daily..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnZIhQUgL3c

narayan
Posts: 383
Joined: 05 Oct 2008, 07:43

Re: Sri. kalyAnapuram AravamudhAchAriar

Post by narayan »

Engrossing performance by him on 13 May, 2017 at Shanmukhananda Hall, Mumbai. Tyagaraja ramayanam was the theme and he sang a number of kritis in a free flowing and spontaneous manner, interspersed with comments, translations, observations from other works and personal opinion, all entwined in an appealing manner. Picked up tyagaraja kritis at various points, including not-commonly-sung caranams to make his points. All in all, an evening very well spent.

rajeshnat
Posts: 9906
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Re: Sri. kalyAnapuram AravamudhAchAriar

Post by rajeshnat »

Lovely writeup of kalyanapuram Aravamudhan in The Hindu dated July 26th,2018
https://www.thehindu.com/society/histor ... 519795.ece

In the last phrase of the article, the author mentions "Is it not time, Chennai’s premier institution remembers the genre of Harikatha and rare gems such as Kalyanapuram Aravamudachariar?" . I am thinking the premier institution that the author implying is Music Academy. i guess there is just one slot , visakha hari has taken that slot for harikatha/sangeetha upanyAsam.

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