Lec Dem By Vidhushi R Vedavalli

[RAMAKRISHNAN]

Madhuradhwani -Vidhushi Dr. R Vedavalli will be talking on Muthuswamy Dikshitar's Devi Sthuthi w r t Durga Lakshmi and Saraswath

*A Peep into his life as a Sri Vidya Upasaka; a Sadhaka, an intense devotee of Devi, the Divine Mother
Today, 12th Oct at 6.15pm,at Arkay Convention Center, Mylapore, Chennai-4

[gardabha_gana]

Any reports on this please?

[harimau]

Any reports on this please?

A very scholarly presentation on Sri Deekshithar's Devi Stuthis was given by Senior Vidushi Smt R Vedavalli, assisted by Sumitra Vasudev and Sumathi Krishnan in singing. Despite a jana-ranjaka kutcheri in a nearby auditorium, the hall was more that three-quarters full.

Smt Vedavalli said that the vilamba kalam in which most of Deekshithar's krithis are set may not appeal to audience but it is necessary to bring out the full impact of gamakas in Carnatic music. She said that when you go to mel kalam, you will necessarily be forced to use plain notes. She demonstrated that by singing just the first line of the Saveri varnam in 3 speeds and, juxtaposed like that, one could see how true that is and how we miss that aspect. She said music is being sacrificed for the sake of jana ranjakathvam, whoever those jana may be.

The first krithi presented was Bhajare Re Chittha Balambika in Kalyani. Smt Vedavalli took pains to explain the location of Sri Nagara where Ambal is supposed to reside and the 25 praakaras of Sri Nagara. The explanation came straight out of Devi Bhagavatham.

Gauri Giriraja Kumari in raga Gauri was the next song on Ambal.

After explaining the various meanings of the name Durga, Sri Dum Durge was sung.

Mahalakshmi karunarasa lahari in Madhava Manohari was the krithi chosen to represent Lakshmi. A rarely-heard krithi, Varalakshmi in raga Sowrashtram, was sung next.

On Saraswathi, the song Saraswathi Vidhi Yuvathi in raga Chhayatarangini was presented.

Finally, Veena pustaka dharini in raga Vegavahini was sung after explaining the difference between Chakravakam and Vegavahini..

There were probably one or two songs more but what was important was the amount of information, gathered from different holy texts, that was presented.

A fantastic evening and the audience were truly grateful to the team on stage for providing this highly educational lec-dem.

I could write more but this is what I could recollect off the top of my head.

[arasi]

Thanks, Harimau.
What you have written about this lec-dem is more than enough to mull over.

Wish I could hear the madhava manohari kriti and the never-heard before varalakshmi.

[harimau]

M S Subbulakshmi has sung that Madhava Manohari krithi but there is a slight difference in patantharam between that and Smt Vedavalli's. It is available on a CD, probably part of the 5-CD set released by RPG, but I could be wrong about that. You could check that at a local store and see if it is on that pack.

[gardabha_gana]

Thanks much harimau. Hopefully someone has recorded this and will post to sangeethapriya

[cienu]

M S Subbulakshmi has sung that Madhava Manohari krithi but there is a slight difference in patantharam between that and Smt Vedavalli's. .

Thanks much harimau. Hopefully someone has recorded this and will post to sangeethapriya

Kindly find below the link to the MS version in youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2va-uQu4JI

[Sreeni Rajarao]

Thanks for the report!

I have a tape of Semmangudi's 1974 Bombay concert with "Mahalakshmi karunarasa lahari in Madhava Manohari"
Everything in that concert is beautiful. Unfortunately, I have only the first half of that concert!

[thanjavooran]

Thanks, Shri Harimau for the excellent report. Smt RV is very knowledgeable and her Lec Dems are always interesting. Her scholarly approach and presentations are commendable.
Thanjavooran
14 10 2013

[pattu]

harimau wrote:

Finally, Veena pustaka dharini in raga Vegavahini was sung after explaining the difference between Chakravakam and Vegavahini..

Can you please explain what Vedavalli said about the differences between Chakravaham and Vegavauhini?

[pattu]

Here is 'Varalakshmeem Bhajare sung by Dr.S.Ramanathan

http://tinypic.com/r/6xzoxs/5]View My Video

[knrh05]

The singer is Vijay Siva and this is from one of the Guruguhanjali concerts that was conducted by Dr VV Srivatsa.