DEEKSHITAR AKHANDAM- BHARATHIYA SANGEETHA VAIBHAVAM

[CRama]

The above unique event was organised at the Music Academy Mini Hall on 11 Mar. I reached the venue at about 11.30 AM. Then I came to know that the starting was slightly delayed which turned out to be my advantage. The first slot was Kamalamba Navavarana Kitis by Seetha Rajan and disciples. I have earlier also been fortunate to listen to the above programme when it was held in Krishna Gana Sabha. But each time I hear, I am awestruck by the structural grandeur of the compostions and the rich bhakthi conveyed in the sahithyam. When I reached, the sixth Aavarana Kriti- Punnagavarali was going on. What should I describe about it. It was ultimate bliss. Before each song, Mami described about name of the respective chakram, yogini, athidevatas, importance of the sahithyam, message conveyed in the sahithyam, details and relevance of the talam adopted etc. Only yesterday I could understand that the Ahiri kriti contains all the eight vibhakthis in the charanam. The perfect unison in which Mami and her disciples- (7or8) sang the kritis was simply amazing. Even her disciples have internalised the very difficult krities and nobody had any piece of paper with them to sing this monumentally creations. That shows the rigorous training and efforts that have gone behind the assimilation of these songs. They were very ably supported by RK Sreeramkumar on the violin and Neyveli Narayanan on the Mridangam who played with great level understanding- and enhanced the listenng pleasure of the songs.

This was followed by concerts of Deekshitar Kritis. Each concert was for about 1 hour. The artistes have taken care to present many unheard songs. This entire concerts gave me the opportunity to savour many songs which I have not heard so far. The artistes were consciously taking efforts to project the grandeur of the kritis and the greatness of the composer- and their individual manodharmam was left in the rear. In the process, more number of kritis were presented. I am giving a brief report of the concerts.


I. Shri Sankaranarayanan
Nagai Sriram on the violin
Mannarkoil Balaji on the Mridangam. The list of songs;
Anandanatanaprakasam=-Kedaram
Kodandaramam-Kokilaravam
Soundararajam-Brindavanasaranga
Bhajare REchitha-Kalyani
Annapoorne-Same.

Sankaranarayanan has a good voice, good breath control, good imagination. Anandanatanaprakasam was rendered neatly. He sang a brief alapana of Kokilaravam and an elaborate Kalyani. The alapana was very good bringing the inherent beauty of the ragam very well and. Neraval was done at Devi Sakthi beejodhbhava and the swaras had very enjoyable combinations. He rounded off the concert with Annapoorne. Nagai Sriram violin also very sweet and with good imagination. Mridangam also was very sypportive.


II.Lakshmi Sreeram
Akkarai Swarnalatha
Ramakrishnan.
The list of songs.
Panchamukha Kiranavali-Kiranavali.
Somasundareswaram- Sudhavasantha
Puraharanandana-- Hameerakalyani
Kailasanathena-Kambodi
Navarathnavilasavibhavapradena-Navarathnavilasam.

Lakshmi Sreeranm must have been trained in Hindusthani Music also as was evident in her style of singing. I think she has written about HM in Sruti Magazine. She sang an elaborate alapana of Kambodi and the not often heard kriti was rendered very well. Neraval was done at Kailasagiriviharena. No swarams were song. The first and last songs I was hearing for the first time. Her rendering were neat , with clear diction and in a emotive style. The accompanists also played well.

III Padma Sugavanam
Raghul-Violin
Arjun Ganesh- Mraidangam
List of songs
Sankaramabhirami- Manohari.
Kumaraswaminam-Asaveri
Sree Mathrubhootham-Kannada
Kalavathi Kamalsasana yuvathi-Kalavathi
Balagopala- Bhairavi
Prathyankarabhagavathi-Nadanamakriya.

Padma Sugavanam is a disciple of Seetha Rajan and she presented an excellent concert. Rasika Members, whenever you come to know of her concert, do go. You will enjoy. She has imbibed the pristine classic style of her guru and presented the songs very nicely. Her short alapana of Kannada and elaborate Bhairavi showed that she is rich in manodharam as well. Neraval was done at Neeela neeradasareera and swarams rendered for that song. Kumaraswaminam is unheard in the concert circuit and the last song was new for me.

IV Jayasree Jayaramakrishnan
Kovai Chandran - violin
Ramakrishnan-Mridangam
Maanasaguruguha- Anandabhairavi
Ekamresanayike-Karnatakasudhasaveri
Kayarohanesam-Karnatakadevagandhari
Sundareswaraya namasthe-Sankarabharanam
Lalithambikayam-Sudhasaveri
Hiranmayeem- Lalitha.

She rendered only the songs, and her rendering style was not attractive.

V.Vidya Subramaniam
Suresh-Violin
Ramkumar-Mridangam
The list of songs.
Sree Saraswathihithe-Manji
Palayamam Parvatheesa- Kannada
Agastheeswaram- Lalitha
Palayamam Brihadeeswara-Nayaki
Parimalaranganatham-Hamirkalyani
Kaumaari gaurivelavali-Gowrivelavali
Paradevatham-Dhanyasi
Dharmasamvardhini-Madhyamavathi.
Sree Venugopala-Kurinji

I heard that she is a disciple of Lalgudi, which was very much evident in her presentation. She rendered songs without any raga alapana or swarams. Before each song, she explained the special features of the songs, temple in which it was composed and the particular prayogams in that ragam. It was a very scholarly and enjoyable presentation.

VI. Trichur Brothers Ramkumar Mohan and SreeKrishna Mohan
Mullaivasal Chandramouli
Trichur Mohan
Nerkunnam Sankar.
Gajananayutham-Chakravakam
Jambupathe-Yamunakalyani
Santhanaramaswaminam-Hindolavasantham
Shankhachakra-Poornachandrika
Narasaimha Agaascha-Mohanam
Sree Kalahastheesa-Huseni
Gajamba nayako-Chenjuruti.
Their concert reflected aesthetics of a high order. For the first song, they rendered brief swarams. THey did neraval in the madhyama kalam of Narasimha aagasha which was a very difficult place to do neraval. The sahithyam is like tongue twister and neraval in madhyam kalam. They did that excellently. NO swarams. Their padantharam was very authentic which was well revealed in their rendering of the songs.

VII. Vijayalakshmi Subramaniam
VVS Murari
J Vaidyanathan
List of songs.
Sree Paravthi Parameswaram-Bhowli
Saraswathi vidhiyuvathim- Hindolam
Sringaaradi Navarasaangi Dhavalaangi-Dhavalaangi (Dhavalaambari)
Chidambareswaram Chinthayeham-Dhunibhinnashadjam (Denuka)
Ardhanaareeswaram-Kumudakriya
Thyagarajaya namasthe-Begada
Neelaangam Harim Nithyam Smaraami-Neelambari
SomaaskandamSwaanandakandam-Note
As always expected of her, her music was of a high standard.She rendered the alapana of Dhavalambari and Dhunibhinnashadjam and swarams for the latter. The alapanas were highly aesthetic and full of raga bhavam. THe swaras for latter also had very nice combinations. These songs as well as the Neelambari song and the note were all new for me. The Neelambari song also has got a lilting melody in that. I cannot write more. I am sure sudarnrao will write more about this concert in his /her euphoric style using the best of the superlatives.

VIII.Madurai T.N.Seshagopalan
SD.Sreedhar
B.Sivaraman
List of songs
Swethaganapathim-Ragachoodamani (Ragavardhini)
Kanchadalayadakshi-Manohari
Thyagarajo virajithe-Athana
Namasthe Paradevathe-Devaranji
Sringara Rasamanjari-Rasamanjari(Rasikapriya)
Chethasree Balakrishnam- Dwijavanthi
Kodandaramam-Kokilaravam
Sree Madhurapurinivasini-Bilahari
Sree Rajagopala-Saveri
Sree Guruguhatarayamsumam-Sudhasaveri
Santhanamanjari-Santhanamanjari
Sree Sathyanarayanam-Subhapanthuvarali
Anandamrithakarshini-Amrithavarshini
Meenakshimemudam-Gamakakriya
Sree Abhyamba-Sree (Manipravalam)
Sree Kamalambike-Sree

The concert of TNS was a fitting finale for the programme.TNS concert lasted for two hours ten minutes. Raga alapanas were done for Ragachoodamani, Athana, Devaranji, Rasamanjari, Dwijavanthi.The alapana of Devaranji and swaras rendered fior that song were exquisite. He sang neraval and swaras for Meenakshi memudam at Madhurapuri nilaye. As per the Deekshitar sampradayam,Sree Ragam was chosen for the mangalam.

The organisers deserve our appreciation and gratitude for organising the event which they are doing every year. They have video recorded the entire event. The entire music community will be thankful to them if they can release at least excerpts of this programme as commercial CD. This event brought to light many hidden treasures of Deekshitar which the artistes took pains and care to present. I only wish that the artistes who have presented these new songs make them a part of their reportoire so that it will reach the public at large and not to be confined to Deekshitar Akhandams. Coffee, Tea, biscuits, lunch were arranged for all the people. The hall is good and accoustics excellent. The mini hall was almost full throughout the day. The curtain came down at 9.45 PM.

[PUNARVASU]

Thanks for the detailed report. My desire is to attend one such programme in future.

[rshankar]

CRama - thank you for your lovely report!
I must say that I am very envious that you were able to listen to such an interesting and unique program with so many lovely kRtis of Sri MD.
Do you know if anyone recorded the proceedings? Especially, Sri TNS' and the Trichur Bros'?

And you are spot on about Smt. Lakshmi Sriram's training in hindustAni music. In fact, she and Smt. Gayatri Girish have given a few jugalbandhi concerts, with Smt. Gayatri singing CM and Smt. Lakshmi singing HM. Smt. Lakshmi and Smt. Shakuntala Narasimhan (whom Kji introduced to the forum) are among those rare breed of artists who are well versed in both CM and HM, and more importantly, in the unique aesthetics of both systems.

PS: Nice to note that you used the rAga names that Sri MD used - e.g., manOhari, instead of kamalAmanOhari as it is now called.
By the way, was it our Ram (of ramsabode fame) who played for Ms. Vidya Subramaniam?

[satyabalu]

""They did neraval in the madhyama kalam of Narasimha aagasha which was a very difficult place to do neraval. The sahithyam is like tongue twister and neraval in madhyam kalam. They did that excellently. NO swarams."" "Murahara nagathara sarasijakara paramapurusha pavanaja shubakara" words so difficult to repeat rendered in madhyamakalam nonchalantly.Kudos to Trichur Bros.They also rendered Veerahanumathe-kanada.
* Dr.V.S had upheld her professional dignity by restricting her time as SKN TNS was waiting for the finale &it was almost 7.30 PM.
*Dhavalangam (Dhavalambari) kriti had a breezy Chittai swaram.
*Ardhanareeswaram followed by HM type of (Akara) swara singing- Not able to express -Hightime Sunder Rao pitched in to explain.
TNS.
*Devarajji(15) raga elaborated &swaras were briefly rendererd.He also explained how this raga be derived by modifying two swaras (forget those two)of kundalavarali .
*Shringara rasamanjari-(MD version of rasikapriya.) He explained this raga being most complex &the last &ultimate of Vivadi - Kamakshi to eliminate possible Dosha (as it is believed all Vivadi ragas are afflicted with).Better explained in another thread by Neeraja Veni " "explain that Rasikapriya , according to Dikshithar had the effect of nullifying the angaraka dosha and Dikshithar had composed the kriti in such a ragam(the last seventy second vivadi mela) which had Vivadi dosham in arohana as well as avarohana and ``that too with a prathi madhyamam to top it all’’ "
*I endorse the suggestion that these recordings are made available as CD ofcourse for a price.
*organisers were very friendly &unassuming directing the visitors to get seated. The modernised interior of minihall is it less movemet friendly?

[rajeshnat]

Crama
Thank you for this report. Few ragas and krithis are new to me. Few years back I attended their akandam in BGS , but could not attend this one.

[malavi]

CRama the most enjoyable thing of this programme was the inaugural speech by Prof.Devi Prasad, Principal,sanskrit collage.He gave a wonderful speech regarding MD kritis and said he was the only composer who composed his kritis with BHIJAKSHARA MANTRA.He took the kriti in anandabhairavi Tyagarajayoga vaibhavam and explained in detail the meaning and how dikshitar composed the kriti in the Tiruvarur temple.
The nine kamalamba navavarana kritis by Smt.Seeta Rajan and her students was excellent.i stayed upto Padma sugavanam s concert and hers was the best of the three i heard.
Sri.DeviPrasad said his speech was a condensed one for want of time.it will be nice if we could hear an elaborate speech of him about Dikshitar.

[vasanthakokilam]

Sounds very interesting. I echo Ravi's question about recordings. Hope high quality recordings were made and are made available for purchase.

[CRama]

Thanks to Satyabalu and Malavi for the supplementary details. Somehow I forgot to include what Satyabalu has mentioned.
Malavi, I missed DEvi Prasad's speech. I will wait for another opportunity.

[thanjavooran]

Many Thanx CRama, Satyabalu and Malavi for the wonderful write up. Really I missed this great function. BTW Was there any Thani in any of the slots?
with wishes,
Thanjavooran 13 03 2012

[satyabalu]

* Thanks CRama!In fact folks like me wait for someone to initiate &elaborate- for us to join later.your coverage was excellent''.Before each song, Mami described about name of the respective chakram, yogini, athidevatas, importance of the sahithyam, message conveyed in the sahithyam, details and relevance of the talam adopted" Can you please elaborate?

[Ramasubramanian M.K]

CRama/Satyabalu/malavi: Thanks a million for a comprehensive recap It goes to show that it is not sufficient to conduct such commemmorative festivals but equally important that they be given the publicity they deserve in forums like ours--the mainstream media does a very poor job. You guys have done an outstanding job on this score with your painstaking efforts.

Boy,do I love this forum or not!!

[Ramasubramanian M.K]

Oops I forgot-- Seetha Rajan and her disciples had released an audio cassete--eons ago on the Navavarna krithis(ofcourse without any explanations)--I do not know if it is available on CD's. While DKJ et al have given recordings of the NV Krithis I have found Seetha Rajan's the best.--especially for aspiring vidyarthis and dilettantes like myself!!

[CRama]

MKR Sir, I fully endorse your views about the Navavarana Kritis as rendered by Seetha Rajan. I had already told this in an earlier thread.
But I have one doubt. In my entire collection of SSI concerts, I do not have any song rendered by him. When he has taught his disciples these songs,. why he did not song . Have you heard him singing Navavarana Kritis?

[kalyani_ragam]

MKR Sir, I fully endorse your views about the Navavarana Kritis as rendered by Seetha Rajan. I had already told this in an earlier thread.
But I have one doubt. In my entire collection of SSI concerts, I do not have any song rendered by him. When he has taught his disciples these songs,. why he did not song . Have you heard him singing Navavarana Kritis?

SSI recording of thodi is available but the recording quality is rather poor.

[Sundarnrao]

Interesting thread. Great theme, noble concept, profound hospitality (free food and beverages) -- 12 hours of rare + non-repetitive (during all-day; and also every year) music filled with great insights and back-drops. Functions and initiatives of these types should occur more to promote awareness and increased-popularity for all the notable composers that made a deep impact to evolution of CM. Being naive, I'm not sure how many organizations put up these type of wonderful events -- but was deeply touched with the organizational leadership & event management by BSV. May these type of efforts are encouraged and promoted with due merits.

Had an opportunity to witness 3 concerts that day and all three were superb. Vidya subramanian was at her intellectual ease and had a nice array of presentation list delivered in a very soothing voice. Trichur brothers followed up in style and increased the intensity with emotional richness and commanding delivery. Albeit crunched time, they insured a methodoical exposition of ragas in all their presentations. Was deeply impressed with the vocal-duo's understanding, timing, complementary-supplementary strength building, demonstrations of harmony-like colors as part of their ornamentations and their voice-culture.

Dr. VS then took over the baton and augmented the evening into increased heights through a rare-breed of presentation structures. Albeit being a short concert, Dr.VS duly emphasized focus on emotional-excellence, raga rarity and classical purity to increase the momentum. It requires intense sadhana, critical mind-power and strong command to effortlessly switch tough stream of ragas (notably, the switch flow was Sringaaradi Navarasaangi Dhavalaangi-Dhavalaangi (Dhavalaambari) --> Chidambareswaram Chinthayeham-Dhunibhinnashadjam (Denuka) -->Ardhanaareeswaram-Kumudakriya) and being a professional-par-excellence, Dr.VS cruised phenomenally across all ragas and highlighted every 'mandated' and 'ornamented' flavors of raga frameworks. Due to a compelling prior commitment, i had to excuse myself from the finale-concert.Looking at the concert-list and virtuostic presentations by the doyen Shri. TNS, could distinctly visualize showmanship of the legendary class that must have been demonstrated by this virtuostically eminent stalwart of CM. Hoping to attend his full-length concert real soon.

Dear Satyabalu sir -- As I recall, Dr.VS modeled agra-gharana like approach to demonstrate kumudapriya based composition. Her alaapchari and vistaars not only signatured organized "chalan", but also had traces of meend-maands, sancharis, shabdhalankars, Kans, sparshs, alankarnik emphasis on surs.. It was indeed a delight to see her weave thorough lot of HM nuanaces within the discipline of CM to give increased aesthetics.

[CRama]

Dear Sudarnrao. I am so happy that you have reviewed two other good concerts apart from VS held in the Akhandam. Pl continue to enjoy the good music and share your enjoyment with us.

[satyabalu]

*Thanks SunderRao on your updation! Like what CRama has stated, I also observe you having started to include others in your review apart from your star "Ishta kalakar"!

[SabashBale]

I totally agree, but if you read carefully, it looks like the verbal diarrhea is reserved for Dr. VS while the others are treated with more controlled bowel – oops – vowel movements!

[satyabalu]

* I feel the the way We express to be moderated even when you do not approve of ! Watch your language Sabhash Bale!
* I was wondering why there was no representation from DKP/DKJ school ?last year as well? Just curious- not to stir a controversy.

[classicallover]

All those of you who attended the Akhandam are really a priveleged lot. I was not at all aware of this programme though I was scanning the net for it. But the name of the programme is a misnomer. It should have been Dikshitar Ekaham since it was limited to the daytime & a part of the evening. Akhandam is for a full 24 hours. Who is the organiser of this programme ? We can contact them for a recording for purchase ?

[CRama]

The event was organised by Bharatiya Sangeetha Vaibhavam Trust. The event is organised every year by them.

[classicallover]

What was the address of the Trust ?

[Pratyaksham Bala]

Bharatiya Sangeetha Vaibhavam Trust, K-402, The Atrium, 22 Kalakshetra Road, Tiruvanmiyur, Chennai - 600 041 / Mobile: + 91 - 98400 79206.
http://yellowpages.sulekha.com/chennai/ ... bhavam.htm

[satyabalu]

* Do they organise any other events during the year?

[HR]

@satyabalu ,

BSV also organizes an annual music series in Sep / Oct . Below are threads linking to a few details .

http://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic. ... am#p173898

http://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic. ... am#p207025

[satyabalu]

* HR is also a part of the organising team -the Trust person acknowledged this fact soon after Dr.V.S concert.

[sbopparaju]

Folks!
This is Suresh Kumar Bopparaju - Managing Trustee, BSV.
I'm pleased to note the rather elaborate discussion that our recent Akhandam (I agree it's a misnomer - this was also pointed out by Dr. Devi Prasad in his inaugural speech - we'll need to think up a new name for future editions of this event - suggestions most welcome!) has attracted. I thank you all for the same!
I regret not having been able to give this event more advance publicity than we did - will certainly strive to do so next time on. In any case, please note that our intent is to host this event on the Sunday closest to Dikshitar's birthday (month of "Phanguni", "Krithika" star) - I've also been thinking if we should simplify this a bit and nail it to say, the last Sunday of Feb of each year. Will post an update when we have a decision.
A related point is that related to attendance at events like this - I'm quite pleased with the attendance in terms of numbers - I think we had very occupancy in the auditorium throughout the day! However, I'd like to see more of the relatively younger generations showing up! After all, Carnatic music is no longer "uncool" and is most certainly a shining beacon of our culture / heritage - given how comprehensive it is, given the sophistication and the complexities that blend so very beautifully into all the sublime aesthetics!
I'd request each and every one of you to do your bit in bringing more of youngsters into the fold of Carnatic music! We at BSV would like to be associated with (in whatever way we can afford to) in any initiatives towards this!

One more issue that's come up in this discussion thread is the one related to recordings. We did record the entire day's proceedings on our little Sony Handycam - but this was done solely for archival purposes. To publish such content, we'll need to go thru' a fairly elaborate exercise of seeking the concurrence from each of the artists involved, aside from dealing with the logistics of the same. We will attempt to do this - at least on a limited scale. Given that all my colleagues in BSV and I have our day-jobs, this is bound to take some time!

Thanks once again to all you - and to all the participant artists!

[satyabalu]

"Bharatiya Sangeetha Vaibhavam (BSV) had celebrated it's 5th Annual day last weekend. As part of this, Prof S.R.Janakiraman presented a brilliant lecture-demonstration on the topic Ekaika Raga Krithis of Muthuswamy Dikshitar-" Could you please make this available to start with Suresh ?