Karaikurchi Arunachalam - KalpanAteetha Music

Carnatic Musicians
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srkris
Site Admin
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Post by srkris »

At Ernakulam/Tripunithura??

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meena
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Post by meena »

Deleted changed my mind
Last edited by meena on 06 May 2008, 04:41, edited 1 time in total.

drshrikaanth
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Post by drshrikaanth »

singAravElanE is in rAga karNATaka dEvagAndhAri/abhEri- not malkauns.

meena
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Joined: 21 May 2005, 13:57

Post by meena »

Thanks DRS, shall correct my post .

thanjavur

Post by thanjavur »

Sangeethapriya (Karukurichi) links

contribution - TVG
The team : Karukurichi P Arunachalam - Nadaswaram
Needamangalam TM Shanmugavadivelu - Thavil

01 Sabapathikku - Aboghi
02 Sivakameswari - Kalyani
03 Nagumomu - Abheri

contribution - KL
01 Saadinchane
02 Mariyaadakaadayya
03 Sogasugaa
04 Naane Unai
05 Raama Ninne Namminaanu
06 Ninnuvinaa Naamadentu
07A Kaddanuvaariki
07B Kaddanuvaariki
07C Kaddanuvaariki
08A RTP - Shanmukhapriya
08B RTP - Shanmukhapriya
08C RTP - Shanmukhapriya
09 Singaaravelane deva
10 Tiruppugazh
______________________________
Last edited by thanjavur on 14 May 2007, 00:28, edited 1 time in total.

vinayo
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Joined: 16 Feb 2007, 01:21

Post by vinayo »

One of the most memorable concerts of KPA was in the 1957 December season at the TIS (presided that year by Smt Saraswathi Bhai). The concert included: Gambiranatai, Andholika, Karaharapriya and a superlative Thodi RTP for a little over 2 hours. The concluding pieces were an extraordinary magudi, English note (made famous by MMI), the then popular vellaithamari and Sindhubhairavi thirupugazh. The concert which started precisely at 2130 ended at 0240 the next day! The most notable thing was that AIR Madras (short wave station) relayed the entire concert live and hence was available over the entire country. (Short wave reception used to be quite good those days). Also AIR programmes used to be broadcast in public places through special speakers and there were lots of people on the Marina to listen to that concert.
It was a vailkunda ekadasi day and many people I know kept awake the whole night and enjoyed the concert. To this day that concert remains the best I have heard in my life.

rajeshnat
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Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Post by rajeshnat »

vinayo,
I never knew that there were speakers in marina.How wonderful was madras then? I am assuming the first gambheeranAttai must have been a mallAri.tOdi whether it is performed by arunAachalam or his guru Shri TNR is beyond words, IIRC I heard mandOlin srinivas mentioning he has honed his skill by repeatedly listening to just nAdaswaram tOdi of TNR.

Keep those black and white anecdotes coming in.

vinayo
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Joined: 16 Feb 2007, 01:21

Post by vinayo »

rajeshnat,
Gnana vinayakane charanam was the Gambiranattai piece.
A review in the Anandha vikaten the week following the concert said “those who were sitting on the sands of the marina rushed to occupy benches when KPA played magudiâ€

rajeshnat
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Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Post by rajeshnat »

vinayO,
Very interesting tara sthayi deivatham anecdote. I see that point , looking at how karaikkurichi searches different gamakams in the Kaddanuvaariki close to 80 minutes (refer the link that thanjavur has provided). You are lucky to hear a superlative thodi rtp for another 50 minutes more than what I heard that too in the beach.:(

It took a long time for me to really appreciate nAdaswaram, all that started with one lecdem by a musicologist BM Sundaram's lecdem of nAdaswaram few years back. That day he gave an interesting perspective of how nAdaswaram is played as 2 bAnis. One is singing with the nAdaswaram as though as a vocalist(bAni #1) , and the other is just playing but not really singing(bAni #2). Interestingly both kAraikkurichi and TNR fits in the bAni #1.

On a personal observation,the nAdham of KAraikkurichi is to me somewhere at the crossroads of nAdaswaram and saxophone , it is so wonderful and non piercing to our ears(Any opinions/counter opinions on this observation is welcome). And certainly the continuity of the music, I vaguely recollect shri semmangudi used to say that he had learnt a lot listening to kAraikkurichi in temple PraghAram, once when you listen to kAraikkurichi's nAdaswaram in a rAgam and hear immediately any rAgam by SSI you can get the connection. I am sure even other vidwans like mmi and gnb were also like that, but someone I am connecting ssi more to nAdaswaram,simply because of sustained continuity in music is more evident.

On a different take, when you hear the husEni(refer the link Raama Ninne Namminaanu by thanjAvur) that is performed by karaikurichi,the speed that he is demonstrating husEni is simply stunning , yet to hear from any vocalists till today either in past or present. That way the vocalist have got to catch up a lot with nAdaswara vidwans in musical proficiency.;)

Can you and others throw some light on different nAdaswara vidwans styles, comparison and contrasts,since you are from that era.
Last edited by rajeshnat on 23 May 2007, 21:20, edited 1 time in total.

coolkarni

Post by coolkarni »

By a Coincidence , I just got to be introduced to the Son In Law of Karaikurchi Arunachalam a few weeks ago and spent a wonderful evening two weeks ago, with the gentleman ,at his residence near North Usman Road, Tnagar.

Mrs Karaikurchi was there , too .Moving around ,noiselessly,in pure white.Seemed to belong to a totally different time and age .The two daughters were quite charming conversationalists though, and felt immensely pleased that I had taken the initiative to drop in.
I must have projected the Kid in me quite successfully.
Since they stuffed my pocket with a rare tape-a broadcast of a tribute by Srilanka Broadcasting Corporation and promised me more gems-possibly a vocal concert too.

Here is that tape converted to mp3.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/pxypoi

a beautiful program which all Karaikurchi Lovers must possess.
Someday we should add this gentleman to the list of people to meet and discuss.A Trained singer himself (Learnt from VS Babu) , he sang several passages which were unique hallmarks of Karaikurchis and Somu's style of singing swaras.

I humbly request evetyone who wants to share this further,
not to use my name or attribute courtesies to me , and rather stick their own neck out.I have a very strong passion to see that such rare material is not locked up in dusty racks and upload it as a mode of service to the artist.While I take all due precautions from the sources , I must admit that this commitment of mine is being tested unnecessarily.

Enjoy !

coolkarni

Post by coolkarni »

Image

coolkarni

Post by coolkarni »

Image

coolkarni

Post by coolkarni »

Image

arasi
Posts: 16774
Joined: 22 Jun 2006, 09:30

Post by arasi »

Cool,
Is it Gemini Ganesh in the first pic?
Kamaraj with a badge in the 2nd means the picture was taken in a Congress conference. Avadi?

arasi
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Joined: 22 Jun 2006, 09:30

Post by arasi »

vinayo,
You brought back childhood memories of the pristine marina of yore.

Rajesh,
Besides the beauty of the beach and evening breeze, folks loved to go the marina in the evening because not all households had a radio. Munching on peanuts and 'mAngAi thEngAi paTTANI SuNDAl (green mango, coconut, dried peas, snack--the order of ingredients is shifted simply to suit the vendor's musical announcement of his ware!), they listened to music in the subdued light of the city lamps and in the light of the moon. And, there was the ice cream van--mobile icecream, it was called then--a magical sight for us.
As for the speakers, several parks had them and drew many music lovers. SVV, the humorist supreme of those days has written several stories around the marina and park radios...
Last edited by arasi on 24 May 2007, 09:46, edited 1 time in total.

meena
Posts: 3326
Joined: 21 May 2005, 13:57

Post by meena »

Kji
thanks for lovely pics.
Is it Gemini Ganesh in the first pic?
yes, and Shivaji Ganeshan is sitting beside Sree Karukurichi Arunachalam.

mahakavi

Post by mahakavi »

Yes, it is the Gemini Ganesan and Sivaji Ganesan duo.
The connection is "Konjum Salangai" and "tillAnA mOhanAmbAL" movies wherein for the two actors, respectively, Karukuricci played the nAdaswaram in the background while the actors mimed on the screen.

raju54
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Joined: 07 Jul 2006, 03:28

Post by raju54 »

mahakavi
For Konjum Salangai- yes, it was Karukurichi played the nadhaswaram
Thillana Mohanambal- background music was played by Madurai Sethuraman & Ponnuswamy Bros.

arasi
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Post by arasi »

And I missed out on the one and only SivAji!

rajeshnat
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Post by rajeshnat »

arasi wrote:SVV, the humorist supreme of those days has written several stories around the marina and park radios...
arasi,
I am unable to connect SVV, throw some more light on stories around marina and park radio.???
Last edited by rajeshnat on 24 May 2007, 20:45, edited 1 time in total.

arasi
Posts: 16774
Joined: 22 Jun 2006, 09:30

Post by arasi »

SVV was a lawyer and a writer (both in thamizh and english). His fiction appeared (novels were serialized) in Ananda Vikatan. He wrote in a light vein it seemed, but his works were serious commentaries on society and were delightful to read. The reprints of his works are available at Alliance Book Publishers (opposite Kapali temple?) and elsewhere too, I would think.
He is the father of vidwAn S.V. Parthasarathy. A music lover himself, S.V.V wove music into his works...
Last edited by arasi on 25 May 2007, 07:19, edited 1 time in total.

vinayo
Posts: 55
Joined: 16 Feb 2007, 01:21

Post by vinayo »

I was lucky to have lived when several great Nadaswara vidwans were still at their best in the CM world. During the December season TIS reserved the 2130 – (god knows when) slot exclusively to nadaswara vidwans. Just to reel off a few names then:
1. Injikkudi bros,
2. Kakkayee Natarajasundaram (a distinguished nephew of TNR)
3. KPA,
4. Kuzhikkarrai Pichaippa (another front ranking disciple of TNR),
5. Namagiripettai Krishnan,
6. Natarajan AKC (Clarionet, I have included his name because he plays the instument like the Nadaswaram)
7. PS Veeruswami pillai
8. Sembenaarkoil brothers,
9. Thiruvengadu Subramanyam Pillai (with violin accompaniment),
10. Thiruvizhimali Subramanya pillai
11. Vedaranayam Vedamurthi
The last mentioned was very special. He played with a low sruthi (a la MDR) which lent great nadham to his play. (Nadhamurthy, we used to call him). VV and Kakkayee unfortunately died very very young. Each of the above had their own style and I hope knowledgeable persons will be able to describe various aspects of their colourful music.
We could listen to concerts by these great artistes (thanks to AIR, Madras. As I had mentioned earlier the broadcasts were live and full). The (happy) problem often was that Madras A would relay a concert from MA and Madras B would relay the TIS concert. Which one will choose when you have SSI on “Aâ€

thanjavur

Post by thanjavur »

Namagirippettai (do not know how this name got attached to him as he is from Sendhamangalam in Namakkal
district) Krishnan was famous for his all night concerts from the back of a open (with the flexible side and rear
walls unhooked and folded down) jalli (gravel) lorry. My mama and grand parents lived in Thiruvaiyaru from
1975 to 1980. Remember my mama walking long distances to attend these all night concerts by the roadside.
We used to plead to be taken along. The usual excuses for not taking us along were, "You are too young to walk
the long distance", "even if I take you, you will nod off, so what's the point ?" My mama will sneak off for the concert
when we were not noticing.

vinayo
Posts: 55
Joined: 16 Feb 2007, 01:21

Post by vinayo »

rajeshnat,
“someone I am connecting ssi more to nAdaswaram, simply because of sustained continuity in music is more evidentâ€

coolkarni

Post by coolkarni »

http://www.sendspace.com/file/p2h888
First Half of a fine Academy Concert
http://www.sendspace.com/file/23by5w
and an amazing radio recital.

chalanata
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Post by chalanata »

once TN Rajarathnam pillai happened to visit a place where he heard a distant and melodious nadhaswaram recital. he was inquiring whether someone was playing his gramaphone plate and he was surprised to be informed that it was actually a live recital by the son of the temple 'pandaram'. that is how karukurichi started accompanying TNR and came to lime light. he was actually an 'ekalavya' worshipping the 'drona' TNR.

chalanata
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Post by chalanata »

i've heard a story about veerusamy pillai. once a nadaswaram genius was sleeping after a booze. when reminded about his concert he it seems said in an irritated voice 'why mahalinga swami will not wait for a genius like me?' it was veerysami pillai who had control over the genius managed to prevail and made him ready for the concert.

kns
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Post by kns »

I remember reading in an old vikatan something like Karukurichi and the great thavil vidwan Ragava Pillai died unexpectedly with in days of each other. This is right after performing together for "Theppam" of the famous Thiagaraja swamy temple in Tiruvarur. that was the last performance for both of them.

Can someone comment if this is so?

Narayanan

Sam Swaminathan
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Post by Sam Swaminathan »

kns....you are correct.........immediately after the death of Sri Raghava Pillai, there was a cartoon in Vikatan....there the cartoonist had depicted, Karukurichi standing at the heaven's gate and receiving Sri Raghava Pillai with a huge smile on his face and saying " vanduuteegala" !!! What a place to finish one's career and what a Samarpanam !!!

coolkarni

Post by coolkarni »

http://www.sendspace.com/file/b5o59j

features an amazing Sabhapathikku-Abhogi and also a breathtaking Kalyani (Sivakameswarim) from a Concert.
I keep pinching myself to make sure this is not some kind of hallucination.
can someone confirm that he indeed passed away at the age of 43 , as someone told me ?
Last edited by coolkarni on 30 May 2007, 22:11, edited 1 time in total.

vinayo
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Joined: 16 Feb 2007, 01:21

Post by vinayo »

coolkarni,
Yes KPA passed away when he was at his peak and at an young age of 43 (He was born in 1920). I distinctly remember Radio Ceylon break the (heart breaking news) during its evening popular tramsmission.

emyesbee
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Joined: 30 Oct 2005, 18:50

Post by emyesbee »

Coolkarni sir....can u plzz reupload sabapathikku and the kalyani piece :)

ajit
Posts: 149
Joined: 06 Jul 2005, 02:42

Post by ajit »

I am sorry but I have missed all the audio clips that have been uploaded. Can someone please tell me how I could get them? I am a big fan of Nadhaswaram and I would not like to miss these clips.

thanks,
ajit.
Last edited by ajit on 28 Jun 2007, 23:42, edited 1 time in total.

mahakavi

Post by mahakavi »

>>I would not like to listen to these clips. <<

Yes, you would! I am sure you meant to say "I would like to listen to these clips"

rajeshnat
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Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Post by rajeshnat »

ajit
Look at Post #5 in this thread, thanjavur has already provided the url links for you to download...

ajit
Posts: 149
Joined: 06 Jul 2005, 02:42

Post by ajit »

Thanks. I will check the links. Yes, I meant I would like to listen and not miss these clips.

ajit.

emyesbee
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Joined: 30 Oct 2005, 18:50

Post by emyesbee »

rajeshnat.....thanks for pointing to the fifth post.....:)


That was an interesting read Vinayo and Rajeshnat :)

A.Pitchiah
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Joined: 24 Dec 2007, 16:36

Post by A.Pitchiah »

Hi,

I have posted a message on KPA under TNR. May please read the same.

I happen to be the son - in - law of KPA Mr.Coolkarni is referring to in his posting.

Regards,

A.Pitchiah

A.Pitchiah

A.Pitchiah
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Joined: 24 Dec 2007, 16:36

Post by A.Pitchiah »

I have met KPA's co - artist, KNA, a few times. KNA usually would attend our family functions ( I am one of KPA's sons - in - law). He was there at my marriage too. He confessed to me that he had not touched the instrument after KPA's death. He took to agriculture.

I also understood from him that Nachiarkoil Raghav Pillai too fell sick, perhaps as a strange coincidence and hardly played tavil afterwards; he passed away within a short sapn of time after KPA's death.

varsha
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Karaikurchi Arunachalam - KalpanAteetha Music

Post by varsha »

Did not find a thread for this Vidwan . Though I remember posting a track or two recently .
In case one exists , I request Mods to merge it with that. Hope to share some delightful recordings here .

http://www.mediafire.com/listen/wkl5m2z ... PA_(9).mp3

rajeshnat
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Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Re: Karaikurchi Arunachalam - KalpanAteetha Music

Post by rajeshnat »

Mods,
Merge this with karukurichi arunachalam . The link is below http://rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php? ... runachalam .

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

Re: Karaikurchi Arunachalam - KalpanAteetha Music

Post by CRama »

varsha, that sathinchane is simply out of the world. Thanks for sharing.

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

Re: Karaikurchi Arunachalam - KalpanAteetha Music

Post by rajeshnat »

yeshprabhu from another post in kutcheri review wrote: At fast speed, it is not possible to sing with either bhakthi or bhaava. Speed and bhaava, or speed and bhakthi, are incompatible.
....
It was at one such concert in the junior slot that I heard Sri Srivatsan singing the unforgettable Nattakurinji alapana.
Nattaikurinji is a raga that has very limited krithis , infact most of the krithis that are sung in usually slower tempo very notably BuddhamasrayAMi (Dikshitar) and manasu vishaya /kuvalaya dhala (both of Thyagaraja) are perhaps my top picks. Certainly I immensely like the slow /medium paced gait of the majestic nattaikurinji

But does that mean krithis donot have bhaava or bhakthi when sung or played fast. As stated by Yesh PRabhu ,Speed and Bhaava OR Speed and Bhakthi being incompatible is a fallacy . It is incompatible if you have say a little slow paced mrudangist who cannot run . As of now when you have say Neyveli Venkatesh, Anantha R Krishnan, Trivandrum Balaji,Arjun Ganesh etal and ofcourse the brilliant mahavidwan Trichy Sankaran you can go speed unlimited with bhaava and bhakthi intact. THere are few who have speed but they also bang 1 out of 2 times atleast and I will keep those names with myself .There are many many mrudangist who donot make it well with speed. The dearth of high quality mrudangist who demonstrate controlled speed with fast fingers and right volume in proportion to vocalist is the problem.

Here is one of the finest nattaikurinji , karaikkurichi Arunachalam is perfect in both speed and slow numbers . Check this swati tirunal rendition in nattaikurinji by Karaikurichi. Roughly a year back in one of the concerts where I asked AKC Natarajan some krithi/raga if that can be played fast, he just called me and said Unakku mandolin srinivas teriyumA , avar eppadi kaiandirukkar , antha kuzhandai vasikkum bOthu antha vegathoda bhAvatha pAthu naangallam bayandirukkOm.(He said DO you know mandolin srinivas, how he has handled , when he was a kid we were all amazed with his speed and got bit frightened with bhavam)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz5JVFD ... u.be&t=635

ram1999
Posts: 534
Joined: 26 Nov 2015, 17:20

Re: Karaikurchi Arunachalam - KalpanAteetha Music

Post by ram1999 »

rajeshnat wrote: 20 Feb 2019, 10:14
yeshprabhu from another post in kutcheri review wrote: At fast speed, it is not possible to sing with either bhakthi or bhaava. Speed and bhaava, or speed and bhakthi, are incompatible.
....
It was at one such concert in the junior slot that I heard Sri Srivatsan singing the unforgettable Nattakurinji alapana.
Nattaikurinji is a raga that has very limited krithis , infact most of the krithis that are sung in usually slower tempo very notably BuddhamasrayAMi (Dikshitar) and manasu vishaya /kuvalaya dhala (both of Thyagaraja) are perhaps my top picks. Certainly I immensely like the slow /medium paced gait of the majestic nattaikurinji

But does that mean krithis donot have bhaava or bhakthi when sung or played fast. As stated by Yesh PRabhu ,Speed and Bhaava OR Speed and Bhakthi being incompatible is a fallacy . It is incompatible if you have say a little slow paced mrudangist who cannot run . As of now when you have say Neyveli Venkatesh, Anantha R Krishnan, Trivandrum Balaji,Arjun Ganesh etal and ofcourse the brilliant mahavidwan Trichy Sankaran you can go speed unlimited with bhaava and bhakthi intact. THere are few who have speed but they also bang 1 out of 2 times atleast and I will keep those names with myself .There are many many mrudangist who donot make it well with speed. The dearth of high quality mrudangist who demonstrate controlled speed with fast fingers and right volume in proportion to vocalist is the problem.

Here is one of the finest nattaikurinji , karaikkurichi Arunachalam is perfect in both speed and slow numbers . Check this swati tirunal rendition in nattaikurinji by Karaikurichi. Roughly a year back in one of the concerts where I asked AKC Natarajan some krithi/raga if that can be played fast, he just called me and said Unakku mandolin srinivas teriyumA , avar eppadi kaiandirukkar , antha kuzhandai vasikkum bOthu antha vegathoda bhAvatha pAthu naangallam bayandirukkOm.(He said DO you know mandolin srinivas, how he has handled , when he was a kid we were all amazed with his speed and got bit frightened with bhavam)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz5JVFD ... u.be&t=635
There is no doubt that speed distorts the bhava. Whilst the speedy music perhaps sounds good for the ears, it definitely is not as beautiful as sung or played in vilambakalam or madhyamakalam. U Srinivas would have played at high speeds in his early days which definitely showed his virtuosity and control over the instrument, however, the music matured with his age. It was mellowed down and more beautiful with reduction in speed.
Of course, artists such as Karikurichi, Mandolin Srinivas etc were all of great calibre who could make anything look beautiful :D

yeshprabhu
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Joined: 04 Apr 2017, 04:26

Re: Karaikurchi Arunachalam - KalpanAteetha Music

Post by yeshprabhu »

ram1999 wrote, " There is no doubt that speed distorts the bhava. Whilst the speedy music perhaps sounds good for the ears, it definitely is not as beautiful as sung or played in vilambakalam or madhyamakalam. U Srinivas would have played at high speeds in his early days which definitely showed his virtuosity and control over the instrument, however, the music matured with his age. It was mellowed down and more beautiful with reduction in speed."

I am writing this response after such a long time, because I saw ram1999's comment only today. I had not been accessing this website or reading reviews here in over a year. However, after reading ram1999's comment, I felt I must respond. I agree entirely with what you have written. Speed not only distorts the bhaava, but it destroys bhaava and bhakti. Dr T S Satyavathi, in one of her videos on appreciation of Sri Deekshitar's compositions, said that singing Chetashree Balakrishnam, in Dwijavanti raga, very fast, bestroys bhaava completely. It should be sung in chowka kaala only. At higher speeds the beauty of the composition is lost. Same with Deekshitar's Balagopala in Bhairavi raga. Infact Sri Deekshitar wrote specifically that he composed those kritis to be sung in chowka kaala. I remember asking a rasika who admired fast singing, and also a vocalist who was addicted to singing at excessive speed, "Is there such a thing as saying a fast prayer with bhakti? A fast prayer is no prayer. One must take time while saying a prayer with bhakti."

Yesh Prabhu, Mylapur, Chennai

arasi
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Joined: 22 Jun 2006, 09:30

Re: Karaikurchi Arunachalam - KalpanAteetha Music

Post by arasi »

In the tamizh literary section of Rasiks.org, in the thread Musical Morsels, Dr. Pasupathy brings us this article penned by one of the illustrious tamizh writers, ku. azhagirisami in Navasakthi, on 8 April 1964. This was published a week after vidvan Karukuruchi Arunachalam left our midst. It was reprinted in Dinamani Kadir in the issue dated December 10th, 2000. I request Dr. Pasupathy to add the original article's link here for those of us who can read tamizh...

Ranganayaki
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Joined: 02 Jan 2011, 06:23

Re: Karaikurchi Arunachalam - KalpanAteetha Music

Post by Ranganayaki »

Thank you for this mention today. I had never heard of this vidwan. I’m discovering this on S-Priya.

arasi
Posts: 16774
Joined: 22 Jun 2006, 09:30

Re: Karaikurchi Arunachalam - KalpanAteetha Music

Post by arasi »

Yes, you can read it in the original, Ranganayaki.
My translation follows, for those who cannot read tamizh….

arasi
Posts: 16774
Joined: 22 Jun 2006, 09:30

Re: Karaikurchi Arunachalam - KalpanAteetha Music

Post by arasi »

This is what Ku. Azhagirisamy, the noteworthy author wrote:

After Sangeetha Chakravarthi Tiruvaduthurai Rajarathinam's demise, his vacated throne was occupied by his disciple Karukurichi Arunachalam. Yes, carnatic music had lost its emperor of nadaswaram, but soon it was evident that his tradition stayed on in the form of his student. It's hard for cinema fans to ever forget Arunachalam's beautiful playing of 'singAra vElanE vA, vA' in the movie 'konjum salangai. As for lovers of carnatic music, every one of his piDis with their cajoling appeal and mellowness are memorable.
In the past ten years, Arunachalam had garnered a lot of accolades in the world of music. He deserved them even in the earlier decade. It took a long while for his greatness to travel north of Madurai until then. More than ten years ago, I read a review written by E.Krishna Iyer, perhaps in Ananda vigadan about his playing. He praised Arunachalam sky high, and deservedly so. Our Arunachalam's concerts are going to happen more and more in Chennai from now on, I thought. Veterans like E. Krishna Iyer are praising his playing, and my happiness was boundless. Soon, his fame would spread all over tamizh nadu, I reveled.
I had known Arunachalam from the time he was eighteen. Karukurichi, in Tirunelveli district is in Ambasamudram taluka. It is a big village and even has a railway station. Relatives from his village live in my village Edasevel near the town Koilpatti and in Kurumalai. He married Edasevel Muthiah Pulavar's youngest daughter Ramalakshmi. That was when Arunachalam was doing gurukulavasam with Rajarathinam in Tiruvaduthurai. After the wedding, the couple stayed in my village for a month.
Since his brother-in-law was my friend and classmate, I had the chance to pay him a visit every day.
A group of us would also go for a walk in the evening with him. I remember his relating in detail a court case which was then going on between Ramalinga Navalar and Ramalinga Adigalar.
Arunachalam had a tuft then. He had such long hair and looked like a young lad. He was very friendly towards all.
He was born in the caste of pulavars who were also called paNDArams. Humble folk of that caste were flower sellers and also performed pujas in Kali temples and those of grama devatas. As the name pulavar denotes, they were well-versed in tamizh. Many were proficient in playing the nadaswaram as well. His wife's older sister too was married to a nadaswaram vidvan from Kurumalai.
Arunachalam's father himself was a nadaswara vidvan.
Several years after his marriage, Arunachalam got a house built in Karukurichi and named it Rajarathina Vilas. His guru graced the gruhapravesam (house warming) by his presence and by playing for the occasion.
Arunachalam and his wife did not have any children for many years. With the accord and help of his wife and her family, he married again. Kurumalai Kandasamy Pillai's daughter it was. It's interesting that soon after getting married, they were feasted at his first wife's parent's house. The whole village welcomed them.

arasi
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Re: Karaikurchi Arunachalam - KalpanAteetha Music

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Last edited by arasi on 12 Apr 2020, 06:34, edited 1 time in total.

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