8.30AM - 9.30 AM - Lecdem - Varnams in Pratimadhyama Ragas
Dr Pramila Gurumurthy and 7 students
T? Suryanarayanan - Mridangam
Dr Pramila Gurumurthy mentioned that she had done research on varnams and had identified 54 varnams in Pratimadhyama ragas. She presented a few of those rare compositions:
Sri Kumara Sodaram - Lathangi - Adi - Unknown
Pankajakshi ninne - Purvikalyani - Adi - Attingal Sankaranarayana Sarma
Padapanke jatamula - Simmhendramadhyama - Adi -Veena Bhairavayaa
Sami neepai - Amrutavarshini - Veena Varadayya (pallavi & charanam only)
Vanajaksha - Mandhari - Mysore Vasudevachar
Sami niveyani - pada varnam - Kalyani - Vadivelu
Omkara pranava - padavarnam - Shanmughapriya - BMK
Amboruha padame - Ranjani - GNB
Vanajaksha nive - Varali - Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar (pallavi only)
Vanajaksha - Behag - TRS
The first two varnams were sung in a nice slow pace and made them immensely enjoyable. Kalyani varnam had a number of swaraksharams built in - true masterpiece. Ultimately, with just an hour to showcase these pieces, some varnams were sung only in part and others at a faster pace...
A gripe at a sideshow that was building up.. There were hardly 20-25 rasikas in the audience when the program began and it was full by 930AM... Reason... Vishakha Hari's Gajendra Moksham. Problem is the rasikas coming in for the next programme did not give a damn about the artists performing on stage and were very busy trying to find 'best' spots and reserving seats with kerchiefs, water bottles etc.... Dr Pramila and her students gamely went on while this mela was unfolding right in front of them... Shame!!