GAYATHRI GIRISH-SHIV-SHAKTHI-THEMATIC PRESENTATION

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CRama
Posts: 2939
Joined: 18 Nov 2009, 16:58

GAYATHRI GIRISH-SHIV-SHAKTHI-THEMATIC PRESENTATION

Post by CRama »

I did not attend the above programme, as I went to Nageswaran Sir's house for the Demonstration on Gamaka Box. A kind soul had posted the following review in fb about the above programme of Gayathri Girish. Sharing it here for the benefit of rasikas. His erudite post reflects how much he had enjoyed the programme. A big thanks to him on behalf of all the rasikas.


Few years back, a bio Engineer and a geneticist from Harvard’s Wyss Institute had successfully stored 700 TB of data in 1 gram of DNA. We can just imagine how much data a person can store. Today’s Lecdem was a similar effort. She has covered more than 30 compositions singing and citing references in a very lively scintillating 120 minutes time span. A long note on the Lecdem.

Auspex: Tatvaloka – 6PM – 16.4.17. under the auspices of Nandalala Gandharva Gana Sabha.
Km.Vishruthi Girish beautifully sang the invocation song before the start of the function. Topic being Shiva Shakti, its Most apt to have Yuga Purushan Mahakavi Bharatiyar’s “ GANAPATHY THAALAI KARUTHIDAI VAIPPOM “ set in Naatai , as the Prayer / Invocation song.
After the introductory speech by the Chief guest – Smt.Aparna Rajagopal, Smt.Gayathri Girish started her Lecdem.

1. She started her Lecdem with Vallabha Ganapathy Kriti of Deekshitar “ VALLABHA NAAYAKASYA “ in Begada. ( Shiva-Shakti being today’s concept, she has selected to sing on Vallabhai Ganapathy). Pics of the Vallabahi Ganapathy and the temple shrines and Kamalalayam welcomed us. Every kriti had its lyrics , the kshetram sung on / for, God name and picture, Composer’s name and picture, raga name in a cute format.
Now she dwells into the concept part of SHIVA SAKTHI. The cosmos, the structured discipline at every atomic level, from macros to micros. The ever pervading consciousness that gets materializes into universe. The ever pervading consciousness (Brahmam) is stable, the ultimate reality. The cause for creation has 2 parts – the Inteligent cause and Material cause. Maya comes into play when the creation starts and continues till sthithi continues and Maya (Prakruti) merges back to the Purusha (Brahmam) during Laya. Maya takes multiple mixtures of the 3 gunas to form various aspects of the universe. Based on the acharas we call the duo as Brahma Saraswati, Vishnu Lakshmi, Shiva Sakthi, for the 3 aspects.
The illustrious illustration of the pre srishti stage, srishti stage, sthithi stage were beautifully through Venn Diagram ( her natural inclination towards her Maths ). Maya and Purusha becoming super set of the overall scheme of things during srishti, sthithi times. ( The vikruthi (variance) in prakruthi she had beautifully shown in the Venn diagram 2). Core creativity. Hats off.
The concept of Prakruti – Purusha is difficult to comprehend by all and hence Sanatana Dharma has given the freedom of worshiping the tatvas as Saguna brahmam and then move up to worship as Nirguna brahmam as we evolve.

2. She compares Shivananda lahari and Soundaryalahari. The starting verses are mutually complimenting each other. Shivanandalahari starts off with the word Kala She sings KALAABHYAM CHOODALANKRUTA
3. Soundaryalahari is starting off with the word Shiva. She sings ‘SHIVA SAKTHYA YUKTO…’
4. Quotes from Kaivalya Upanishad – while dealing with Upasana, the verse starts off with ‘ UMA’ and sings ‘ UMAASAHAAYAM PARAMESHWARAM..’
5. Quotes from Kena Upanishad verse 3.15, – the legend of Sreekalahasti. Shiva appearing as Yakshan in front of Devas to teach them a lesson to Indra, Vayu, Agni. Shiva takes a form of Haimavati (devi) and appears before Indra in the end. Mahaperiyava’s endorsement about the Gnanaprasoonambika confirming to the above legend.
Now she starts giving examples of various Composers singing both Shiva and Sakthi together in the compositions, sung on various shrines. She sings the pallavi part alone / respective parts of the kritis where we see Shiva – Sakthi being sung

6. Thirukadaiyur = “ SANKARAM ABHIRAMI MANOHARAM “ ( Abirami)– Deekshitar kriti in Manohari.
7. Kumbakonam = “ KUMBHESHWARAAYA “ ( Mangalamba)– Deekshitar – Kalyanai
8. Thiruvarur = “ CHANDRASEKHARAM “ (Shambavi) – Deekshitar – Marga Hindolam
9. Arasur (Tanjore) = “ AGASTEESWARAM “ (Aaanadavalli) – Deekshitar – Lalitha
10. Trichy = “ SHRI MAATRUBHOOTAM “ (Kuntalamba) – Deekshitar – Kannada
11. Thiruvanamalai “ ARUNACHALA NATHAM “ ( Abita kuchamba) - Deekshitar – Saranga
12. Chitambaram = “AANANDA NATANA PRAKASAM “ (Sivakamavalli) – Deekshitar – Kedaram
13. “ CHANDRA CHOODA SHIVA “ – (Parvathy ) – Thyagbrahmam - Ragamalika
14. Thirunelveli = “ SHRI KANTHIMATHIM “ - Deekshitar – Deekshitar – Hemavati
15. Srivanchiyam = “ SHRI VAANCHANATHAM “ – Deekshitar – Surati.

Now she takes us through the different forms of Darshans / Anugraham the duo gave to their devotees.
16. Vedaranyam = In Kalyana kolam to Agastyar - the sthala puranam of Agastyar getting the Thirukalyana kolam of Shiva Parvathy at Kailash as he was deputed down south to prop the sinking north. “SRIPARVATI PARAMESHWARAU “ – Deekshitar – Bouli. She explains the beauty of the kriti – ‘ Aapadha mastaka alankarau ‘ the entire paadadikesa varnanai. And then her kaarunyam of guiding us step by step in our individual spiritual progress (sopaana marga), reference of Agastya not by his name, but by saying ‘ husband of Lopamudra’. All lines in dual case like Parameshwarau etc addressing both. Chit bhimbau.. both saguna and nirguna combo darshan of shiva parvathi. Raga mudra indirectly in the words ‘ chit bimbau- lilaa ‘.

17. SIRKAZHI – Sattanathar temple – Ambal giving darshan to a child saint. Where Ambal feeds the little toddler Gnanasambandan with the divine nectar which made him sing “ THODUDAYA SEVIYAN”. This was sung in Nattapadai (Gambheera Naatai). As usual this was so so moving rendition.

18. THIRUVARUR = In Thyagaraja leela ‘ its mentioned about 365 types of leela done by Shiva Parvathy – the various forms of darshans, moksha margam given to various living beings, from insects to birds to worms to animals to rishis to asuras to humans. In this kriti “ THYAGARAJA NAMSATE “ - Deekshitar kriti – in Begada, she dwells on the above aspect. She is refereed as ‘ Kaathyaayani’ and he – ThyagaRAJAN as SimhAsana pathe. She touches upon the Nirguna aspect of the lord and about the Vidangar form mentioned in the kriti. The legends behind the nava nadhi, muchukunta chakravarthy’s vidangar vigraham were also touched.

19. The next type of anugraha after the samashti anugraha at Thiruvarur is at Thirukadaiyur. Amrutakateswarar. Abirami. The Markandeya legend an example of dushta nigraha sishta paripalana style of anugraha. “ SANAKARAM ABHIRAMI “ – deekshitar kriti – Manohari (Kamala Manohari). Though Shiva was furious, Ambal only showed grace on Yama and did anugraham . ( She saves both Kaaman and Yaman).Importance of Shankabhishekam,
Apart from the duo showing care on us, there are some great souls who have shown extreme devotion.

20. Charanagathi style “ KARUNAAKARANE “ in Keeravaani. Those immense bakthi released tears and amruta dhaara (ethhanai vidhamo kathhinen kadharinen). She sung this part with utmost care and utmost improvisation to bring in that bhaavam. A different plane altogether hard to get grounded.
Now she gets into a phase where the Shiva and Sakthi are not together. Devi tries hard to get back to join Shiva. She does lots of tapas, austerities to reach back her beloved. Like a jeevathma trying back to merge with the paramatma.

21. Kanchi = The reason for devi coming back to Kanchi, Prithvi lingam, karma kshetram, temple design of Skanda (Kandhakottam) between Kamakshi temple and Ekambareswarar temple, giving a SomAskanthar form at a macro level. ( In Thiruvarur its guhya, as a micro level ). “ PAAYUMAAL VIDAI “ – Sambandar Thevaram. She explains Yamakam prayogam in the lyrics ( the last word of each couple of sentences having same word but different meanings.

22. Kanchi = “ KANAKA SHAILA VIHARINI “ in Punnaga varaali of Shyama Shastri was so moving again. “ Kamakoti BAALE “. No words to explain the beauty, bhaavam of her rendition.
23. THIRUVANAIKAA – In Kanchi Ambal worshiped Shiva using Karma yogam. Here, she worships Shiva by Gnana yogam. Spider, Elephant got moksham here . “ JAMBU PATHE “ of Deekshitar in Yamuna ragam. It was like slowly rowing in the deeper still waters of Yamuna. Many rivers find mention here ( her thoughtfulness on the current water crisis and insisting on all of us to sing this kriti to get good rains, needs special mention here). By gnana yogam, Devi makes Jala Lingam. Since she sees Shiva as Guru swaroopam, there is no thiru kalyana urchavam in this temple. The mid day puja is done by the Gurukkal by wearing saree.

Now the next stage, where in Prakruti meets Purusha again.
24. THIRUVANNAMALAI – After Karma Yogam and Gnana yogam, she was getting back to Shiva in Thiruvanaika. But shiva asks her to come to Thiruvannamalai for getting at par levels. ( I feel in the Kanchi kriti devi is worshhiped as BAALE and in Aaanaikaa, she is Vaarahi swaroopam (digging deep into the gnana margam like a boar). Both are anga devatas of Lalitha. Hence they are not kept in parlance with Para Shivan) . she showed pictures of Annamalai, girivalam, lingam shrines in the girivala paadhai. Then the 4 shrines of the other 4 bhoota shrines are installed in this agni linga shrine. “ UNNAAMALAI UMAYAALODUM “ – Appar Thevaram – Nattapaadai ( Gambheera naatai). Any Gambheera naatai rendition of Thirumurai gets us close to Shivahood. And more so when she sings.

25. Thiruvannamalai – “ OODHI MAA MALARHAL THOOVI “ - Thiru Nerisiai paa. Was sung, again an epitome of devotion. Ambal is united with Shiva here.
26. Thiruchengode – ITS believed that Ambal joined Shiva in this place and hence Ardha nareeswarar shrine. “ THADITHA ORE MAKANAI THANTHAI EENDU ADITHHAAL “ – Vallalaar Swaamikal’s Thiruvarutpaa.The above Thiruvarutpaa was sung on Ammaiyappar of Chengode. Soulful rendition again.
27. Thiruchengode – Deekshitar’s kriti “ ARDHANAREESWARAM “ in Kumudakriya. She touches upon on the specialties of the temple and sings the kriti. (almost all kritis has raga mudra)
28. She explains key points in “ ARDHANAAREESWARA ASHTAKAM’ set in Raga maalika, composed by Adi Shankara Bhagavat Paadaal. This was poetic beauty and equally splendid rendition. Shivaayai, shivaaya style. Every line is beautiful. I feel, all shud go thru the slokam to see the beauty of the duo, contrasting characters, but peacefully co-existing.

We are nearing the conclusion zone. The beautiful Venn diagram comes again. Maya becomes a sub set of Purusha.
She talks about the greatness of Kamalaambaa. She does tapas during the entire phase of Srishti, Sthithi phase. Only during Paralaya stage, she comes out of her penance. She touches upon Vyashti and Samashti concept. At our level its individual consciousness evolving to cosmic consciousness (welfare of the entire cosmos). ( we can further take the concept forward - For Kamalamba she is in Samashti as long as we are in Vyashti and the vice versa). The nimithham of Pralaya is when 1. Kamalaalaya temple tank goes dry ( the temple tank was shown with animated waves. Kann kollaa kaatchi) 2. When the aazhi thaer (temple chariot) moves on its own. ( I see a similar story line in Kanyakumari, where in Devi does tapas for the benefit of the world and doesn’t marry Suchindranaathan. When pralayam comes, water will run above coconut trees height, the chariot of Suchindram temple will be driven by flood water and merge in Kanyakumari sea).

29. Kamalaamba tapas is so loving kindness to us all. She explains the specialty of the 9th Kriti of
Deekshitar’s Kamalamba NavAvarna kriti. The beauty being all the 8 different vibaktis ( 1 case / kriti) are beautifully showcased as a master piece in 1 single kriti using all the 8 vibaktis. The illustration of the 8 cases , underlining the words. Aahiri ( ramaa harisha in the kriti forms aahiri raga mudra. A navarathri feel. “ SHRI KAMALAMBAA JAYATI “

Shri. Ganesh Sharma spoke about the beauty of her Lecdem, the grand style and the depth of the subject she covered, the amount of hard work she has put in, and made subject appreciation of shiva sakthi, role of Maya in our day to day life. Importance of music in delivering the core concepts to all of us at the bhaava anubhavam level...

30. She concluded the presentation with the quote from Thirumanthiram “ ANBUM SIVAMUM IRANDENBAR ARIVILAAR “. That correlation of anbu (grace) as Ambal is priceless. ANBE SHIVAM!

This was a BrahmAnda presentation. Dedicated instrumental support by Shri. Ananthakrishnan on Violin, Shri,SkandaSubramanain on Mrudangam and Smt. Latha on Thambura. Thanking Smt.Gayathri Girish for giving a lovely lecdem giving new insights on revisiting Vedantic concepts and retrofitting to Shiva Shakti concept, making it easy for listeners to get them imbibed by such a beautiful multi media, innovatively thought out presentation. DHANYOSMI !
SHRI MATRE NAMAH: !

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

Re: GAYATHRI GIRISH-SHIV-SHAKTHI-THEMATIC PRESENTATION

Post by rshankar »

Sri CRama - thank you for posting. Looks like it was a great lec-dem

And another request - can you post your experience with the lec-dem you attended?

MaheshS
Posts: 1186
Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:36

Re: GAYATHRI GIRISH-SHIV-SHAKTHI-THEMATIC PRESENTATION

Post by MaheshS »

Fantastic "review" CRama, many thanks!

Gayathri is a versataile artist, wish this was available on the net. Any ideas?

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