Sudha Ragunathan at Chettinad Vidyashram, Jaya TV

[shankarabharanam]

Sudha Ragunathan - Vocal
Patri Satishkumar - Mridangam
Embar S Kannan - Violin
R Raman - Morsing

Theme: Nava Vida Bhakti

The concert would probably one of the best thematic concert that I have attended. The entire presentation was planned well. She initially rendered a sholkam rendered by Prahalada who explains the meaning of Nine Types of Bhakti towards lord Narayana to his father. Then she moved on to explain what are the different types of bhakti and said that our music is all about bhakti. Each song that she rendered depicted one form of bhakti and she had meticulously chosen krithis composed by different composers and chose different instances from the mythology.

Shravanam: Listening to the stories of the lord
Krithis Rendered

Sudha Madhurya Bhasana - Sindhuramakriya -Adi- Tyagaraja (Swaram)
Here Saint Tyagaraja says have been drinking deeply of the nectar of the story of your life and feel immensely happy and satisfied.

Rama Katha Sudha - Madhyamavati - Adi - Tyagaraja
She started singing from the Anu Pallavi
In this krithi he has explained how hearing of Rama katha is itself a cure to all the Karma bandha and related ills. In
this kruti Tyagaraja extols the greatness in enjoying the story of Lord Rama which he says is equal to possessing a kingdom. He adds that, that ecstasy will enable us to cross the ocean of entanglements in this Kaliyugam.

Keerthanam: Singing the glory of god
She said that all saints and composers have precisely done this and we are just following their footsteps. Krithis rendered were

Here she quotes the example of Andal and sang Ongi Ulagalandha from Tirupavai.

Smaranam: Always in deep thought

For this she quoted the example of Purandaradasa and sang a beautiful Malayamarutham Raga followed by the krithi Smara Ondhe Chaladhe. Neraval and kalpana swaram were rendered in the charanam followed by a crisp thani by. Patri and Raman. Raga eloboration was almost for ten mins and Kannan gave a beautiful response.

Before singing Malayamarutham she also sang Enneramum in Devagandhari, a composition of Gopalakrishna Bharati. I can vouch that it was one of the best rendition in this concert. A rendition that was rendered with full bhakti.

Pada Sevanam: Service at the Feet of the Lord

Sri Rama Paadama – Amruthavaahini – Adi
Meaning: In this kruti Tyagaraja personifies the sacred feet of Rama and describes the story of pious
Ahalya who was redeemed of her curse by the touch of Rama's sacred feet. An apt krithi chosen

Archanam: Bhakti in the form of offering of flowers.

Sompaina Manasu – Ahiri
I haven't heard Sudha sing Ahiri before and she did full justice. FYI after every krithi she did explain the meaning of the song and why she chose it for the same.

Vandanam - Namaskaram

By now she was clearly running short of time and she did say she would just sing first few lines of krithis as an example. But I guess that she was so immersed in the song that she ended up singing the entire one.

No prize for guesses and many mamis near me knew she was going to sing Vandhanamu in Sahana. After Sahana she sang Dandamu Bettenu Ra in Raga Balahamsa.

Dasyam: Servant/Slave

She said she could only think of Meera as the best example for this form of Bhakti and she rendered Hari Tumaharo

Aatma Nivedanam
Vadavarai -Ragamalika - Adi

At the end of the concert, Sudha immersed me in her music. I personally felt she had done her research and did full justice to all the krithis she chose. I might have missed something that she told during her concert. Pardon me for that. I am writing all this from my memory and considering it has been more than 24 hrs, I might have missed something. But to be honest her Ahiri, Devagandhari and Malayamarutham will be etched in my memory for years.

Patri Satishkumar and Raman gave a wonderful support. Just felt the whole team rose to the occassion. Embar is a seasoned violinist and everytime I hear me he seems to just get better. Kudos to the team and Smt Sudha Ragunathan. A satisfying day. Looking forward to more season concerts .

[revanthv552]

that was a wonderful report!
And most of the songs I dont think Sudha rendered before! Eagerly waiting for the telecast!

[Sundara Rajan]

I am not sure if "sri rAma pAdamA" in amrithavahini was the correct choice for "pAda sEvanam". Afterall, Ahalya was cursed into an inanimate stone, incapable of doing anythig, let alone do pAda sEvanam !. Her rescue by the touch of the feet of sri rAmA as also prescribed by the saint who cursed her. There may be many other krithis to exemplify pAda sEvanam. Any way, the amritha vahini krithi is a good composition to enjoy.

[MaheshS]

Sundara Rajan - I think you mean Amritavahini [Sri Rama Padama ] rather than Amrithavarshini!

[Sundara Rajan]

Thanks Mahesh for the correction. I have edited my post.

[kssr]

There may be many other krithis to exemplify pAda sEvanam.

The ultimate in Paada sevanam is the devotion and worship of Sabari. I think there are several kritis highlighting this episode.

[sridhar]

hello
can someone post the broadcast timings for the concerts which is supposed to begin on December 15th. I checked JAYA TV website and didn't find it. We get JAYA through DISH Network.
thanks

[Sundara Rajan]

I am not sure if "sri rAma pAdamA" in amrithavahini was the correct choice for "pAda sEvanam". Afterall, Ahalya was cursed into an inanimate stone, incapable of doing anythig, let alone do pAda sEvanam !. Her rescue by the touch of the feet of sri rAmA was also prescribed by the saint who cursed her. There may be many other krithis to exemplify pAda sEvanam. Any way, the amritha vahini krithi is a good composition to enjoy.

[shankarabharanam]

Don't know if Sri Rama Padhama was the apt choice or not but she did talk about Bharata's devotion to Lord Rama before singing the krithis for Pada Sevanam. Of course the krithi was rendered well... The other thing that I noticed was she was really confident on stage, considering this is the first time she is singing almost all the above mentioned krithis

[jaysriks]

@Shankarabharanam, thank you so much for an excellent write up of this concert ..

I was in a total bliss that day ..she put up a fantabulous concert ..Hats off to this great vidushi ..In addition to her singing ..She also handled The Question Answer session very well answering very humourouly and smartly displaying her Vidwat and presence of mind ..

@Shankarabharanam ..i wud just like to include the kritis which u have left out in your posting ..

1. Shravanam
1. Madhurya Bashana Sudha - Sindunamakriya - Thyagarajar
2. Rama Katha - Madhyamavathi -

2.Keerthanam
1. Ongi Ulagalandha - Aandal
2. Vayyathu Vaazhveergal - Aandal
3. Kaathar Kuzhayaada - Manikavasagar - Tiruvembavai -- This was left out

3. Smaranam
1. Smarane Ondhe Saladhe - Malayamarutham (R, N, S, T)
2. Enneramum - Devagandhari - Gopalakrishna Bharathi

4. Paadha Sevanam
1. Sri Rama Paadama - Amirthavahini
2. Brahma Kadigina Paadamu - Mukhari - Annamacharya -- This was left out

5. Archanam
1. Sompaina - Aahiri

6.Vandhanam
1. Vandanamu - Sahana
2. Dandamu Bettenura - Balahamsa

7. Dasyam
1. Dasana Maadiko - Purandaradasar - This was left out in ur posting
2. Hari Tum Haro - Darbari Kaanada - Meera Bhajan

8. Sakhyam -- You missed out this bhakti
1. Ponnar Meniyane - Sundarar Devaram

She did mention about Sundarar's friendship with Sivan as Sundarar sends shiva as a messenger to see bride for his marriage ..

9. Atma Nivedanam
1. Vadavarayai - From Silappathikaram ..

Thanks @Shankarabharanam and hope u agree with me on d missed ones. ..

[shankarabharanam]

Thanks Jaysrikris for filling in the missing ones.. I didn't write it on paper which I usually do in any concert..

[rshankar]

2. Brahma Kadigina Paadamu - Mukhari - Annamacharya -- This was left out

Now that is the one with reference to ahalya - 'kAmini pApamu kaDigina pAdamu'....

[sureshvv]

What I liked about this concert:

1. The Malayamarutham main with neraval and swaras

2. The musical part of the concert went on for almost 2.5 hours, longer than most other performances at the venue.

Things that I was dissatisfied with:

1. The commentary was pretty much read out from notes. Much of it was in chaste Tamil (probably excerpted from a book) which the artiste found difficult to enunciate clearly. This was in stark contrast with the English passages where the diction was flawless.

2. The word "Sudha" in the lyrics was emphasized somewhat narcissistically during the opening 2 songs.

[Aravind Govindan]

I really loved her confidence... I guess she rendered so many new krithis (Majority - never attempted in her life) in one platform......Coming away completely from ones bhani is not that easy! She pulled it off so well... Smartness and gyanam!

Reading is far better than talking by herself.. Handling such huge topics like Nava Vidha Bhakthi carries a lot of responsibility .. one inappropriate usage of word will end up in confusion n issue....Let me reiterate this point she is a musician n that musical vidwat has to be appreciated... We can’t expect her to talk like Hari Katha exponent... Everything has to be sourced ...Nothing can be said by herself..These are epics not Tamil serials!

As Subhasree mentioned.. Sudha has prepared the entire work in ten days which is commendable .. in those ten days she had performed four concerts..inspite of hectic schedule she rocked.. I would say NAVA VIDHA BHAKTHI by Sudha Ragunathan was LEGENDARY!!!!

[sureshvv]

I guess she rendered so many new krithis (Majority - never attempted in her life)

Find that hard to believe. Which ones do you mean? Most of these songs make the concert circuit quite often.

Let me reiterate this point she is a musician n that musical vidwat has to be appreciated... We can’t expect her to talk like Hari Katha exponent... Everything has to be sourced ...Nothing can be said by herself..These are epics not Tamil serials!

Agreed to a point. But she was primarily translating the lyrics from Telugu. Paraphrasing the content in her own words would have sounded so much better. I hope you are not implying that she could do that much better with Tamil serials

Just back from a concert where Gayathri Venkatraghavan took a minute to explain the import of the charanam line for Sasivadhana in Chandrajyothi and then proceeded to sing it. It made a world of difference in how the filler kriti was recieved (for me and the audience in general).

I would say NAVA VIDHA BHAKTHI by Sudha Ragunathan was LEGENDARY!!!!

Glad you enjoyed it.

[sreecons]

It seems a great topic was musically delivered really well by Smt Sudha. I hope to catch parts of this on TV / youtube uploads. . . can only hope(!)

Thanks for all the reviews.