Sri Neyveli Santhanagopalan, Cleveland Aradhana 2015

[maduraimini]

Let me begin this with congratulating Acharya Ratna Sri Neyveli Santhanagopalan. He started his concert with the Sri Raga varnam. Then he sang Thyagaraja's ' Vara narada' in Vijayasri.? It was very pleasing. Another Thyagaraja kriti Vinata suda followed. The raga Jayanthsena was handled very beautifully by the artist. After this, he sang a beautiful Kalyani and the Thiruppugazsh ' Ambarame Tanneerae'. He did niraval swaram at 'Chempor kazshaladi'. Kalyani was at her Best. Alapana for ragam Anandabhairavi brought Shyama Sastry's 'Marivere ,. Niraval swaram was very nice. The next song was Thyagaraja's Chandrajothi kriti 'Bagaya Nayya'. Kedaragowla and the kriti 'Saraguna palimpa' glimmered like a jewel. After the niraval, swaram the percussionists took over. Mridangist Trichy Sankaran and Kanjira KVG did wonders with the rythm. Ofcourse, Nagai Muralidharan's violin was exceptional. The last song was Tanjore Sankara Iyer's Sindhubhairavi song 'Manathirkkugandadu murugan roopam, I don't think he could finish it- even sing the Mangalam, as the stage had to be ready for the next program. The artist's voice co-operated very well and I wish he had more time to sing, so we can listen to is divine music. Wonderful concert!

[harimau]

After this, he sang a beautiful Kalyani and the Thiruppugazsh 'Ambarame Tanneerae'.

That would be a Tiruppavai by Andal. 17th, in fact.

Full verse available in http://sriandalsthiruppavai.blogspot.in ... neere.html

Entire Tiruppavai is available at that website.

Grandma, how can you pass on the correct Vaishnavite tradition if you switch the naamam for the vibhuthi?

[arasi]

Harimau,
Well, if you watched the lovely kuchipudi presentation last night (this morning if you are in India), I had a similar response when I saw Padmabhushan Reddy wearing a mega nAmam (somewhat short) when he and his patni did the Siva thANDavam

Maduraimini has been watching Cleveland for long hours, and what's more she has been sharing her impressions with us. I thank her for that

ariyum Sivanum onRE enRaRi manamE...

[Rsachi]

My thought is that it's high time we forgot the medieval bigotry of namam and vibhuti etc. when it comes to one's singing prayers. Even a rudimentary understanding of scriptures shows all paths lead to the same goal.
Krishna says he is "Shankara among Rudras" in BG. And Shiva stuti says Shiva is "Mukundapriya".

[arasi]

Sachi,
You do know that I'm kidding around. He was wearing the nAmam all along. He gave a grand intro and got on the mini stage and started the siva nrutyam, and somehow I thought of a Krishna dancing with vibhUthi across his forehead--just a matter of what we are used to seeing, in identifying entities, I guess...

[harimau]

Harimau,
Well, if you watched the lovely kuchipudi presentation last night (this morning if you are in India), I had a similar response when I saw Padmabhushan Reddy wearing a mega nAmam (somewhat short) when he and his patni did the Siva thANDavam

I think he could have done the Kalinga Narthana Thillana instead. The naamam then would have been appropriate.

After Kalingan is subdued, he could then have danced with Rugmini and Sathyabama, or with Bhudevi and Sridevi, or any number of other names that Vishnu's two wives go under, if you know what I mean!

[VK RAMAN]

What does "Ari" Stand for?

[Pratyaksham Bala]

What does "Ari" Stand for?

The Tamil word 'ari' means 'Enemy'.
Hari is also written as 'ari' in Tamil.

'ariyum Sivanum onRE' may mean differently, depending on who writes, or who reads !

[arasi]

aRi, enbAr santhanagopAlan--
aRivUTTuvadE avar tozil

('Learn!', says NSG--
That's what he lives for!)

Kudos to maduraimini, she has been writing tirelessly, and at her age!That Ari is an omission in editing.
Wish the younger set join us and give more reviews...

Bala and the rest of us deal with ari and ara all the time in the Poetry Section and never tire of it. Now, Harimau jumps in!

[maduraimini]

Sorry folks! I thought I wrote Sri, but wrote Ari. I am having problems with my eyesight and think I wrote Sri while I write something else. Please excuse me, one of the older rasikas here. Harimau, I am Vaishnavite by birth, but am ecumenical in my practice. I think thefre is one God for all and we call him/her by many names and pray in different ways. I am not a zealous bhakthai and read only Thiruppavai- I read Thiruppugazh also! Thanks for letting me know the mistake. I used to recite all the Thiruppavais once, but those days are gone now and am lucky to participate in this lively Rasikas group. As you know well, - Thanks again for pointing out my error. As an older person, I think I am allowed to make mistakes- having gone through many decades of proper living, I can relax and make mistakes, and you, the younger generation can correct the mistakes.
I want to apologize for writing Thiruppugazh instead of Tiruppavai.

[rshankar]

Maduraimini - there are many who should be apologizing for what they write - that list certainly doesn't include you! Please continue to write your reviews and interact with us here.

[vasanthakokilam]

Maduraimini, what a wonderful attitude you have. (I have fixed the title, no problem.)

I am Vaishnavite by birth, but am ecumenical in my practice.

Awesome. Nothing else need to be said after that.

[maduraimini]

Thank you rshankar and Vasanthakokilam for your encouraging words. You made my day! Thanks.

[arasi]

About NSG's concert:

The sri rAga varNam had the 'jigu jigu' naDai from syllable one and ended with a cascade of soothing svarams.

nEnendu vedukudurA's svarams were just as pleasing.

As Maduraimini said, that semboRkazalaDi was kuzaivu itself (KVN came to mind).

In his 'sata druti pUjita' his parama guru Sankara Sivam--I could hear him...

Mahavishnu,
I wish I could say something more detailed about SK Tiruchy Sankaran's playing. To an ignoramus, his command over the instrument looks uncanny...all that gift, with not any gestures. An intent expression on his face, and that's it! He's a wizard, which your kind knows better

Nagai is Nagai (don't see much of his nephew. Is he away giving concerts until they play the duet? Waiting for that!).

Maduraimini,
Our posts crossed. VK will add 'At Cleveland' to the title of the thread, please?

[Sundara Rajan]

At our age minor mistakes are not unusual, especially if you are not familiar with touch typing. I am a smartha Iyer, who memorized Thiruppavai and Vishnu sahasranAmam when I was 12 years and used to sing along with my father daily, but am out of practice now. Yes, most educated individuals do not see any difference among names of deities and see the same ONE in different costumes, as it were. However, as M.D.R. composed, still there are a few அரியும் சிவனும் ஒன்று என அறியாத ஒரு சிலர் உளரே !

[rshankar]

However, as M.D.R. composed, still there are a few அரியும் சிவனும் ஒன்று என அறியாத ஒரு சிலர் உளரே !

And 'accilar solvadellAm uLaralE', right?

[arasi]

Ravi,

uLaralE uLLavarE ivvulagilE--(me included)
uLLavaraikkum uLLamadiluNDE!
teLLat teLivAi, tigaTTA amudAi
vILangumuvan unDE, avan ariyO aranO!


உளரலே உள்ளவரே இவ்வுலகிலே--
உள்ள வரைக்கும் உள்ளமதிலுண்டே!
தெள்ளத்தெளிவாய், திகட்டா அமுதாய்
விளங்குமவன் உண்டே--அரியோ, அரனோ!

[Pratyaksham Bala]

At our age minor mistakes are not unusual, especially if you are not familiar with touch typing. I am a smartha Iyer, who memorized Thiruppavai and Vishnu sahasranAmam when I was 12 years and used to sing along with my father daily, but am out of practice now. Yes, most educated individuals do not see any difference among names of deities and see the same ONE in different costumes, as it were. However, as M.D.R. composed, still there are a few அரியும் சிவனும் ஒன்று என அறியாத ஒரு சிலர் உளரே !

Barring Vaishnavaites (who pray only Vishnu), and Shivacharyas (who pray only Shiva), all other Brahmins are Smarthas who pray all five deities!

In our village, barring one Vaishnavaite family and one Shivacharya family, all others were Smarthas who used to do Panchayatana Pooja daily, i.e. Pooja to five deities - Surya, Ganesha, Vishnu, Shiva and Devi - represented by five stones, collected from different rivers:-

Crystal from Kaveri River - representing Surya;
Red Stone from Sonebhadra River - representing Ganesha;
Shaligrama fossil from Gandaki River - representing Vishnu;
Banalinga stone from Narmada River - representing Shiva;
Swaranamukhi Stone from Swarnamukhi river - representing Devi

Whereas we Smarthas used to go to all Temples, the Vaishnavite family will go only to the Vishnu Temple in the village, and the Shivacharya family will visit only the Shiva Temple.

Though Smarthas believe in the philosophy that all deities represent the Ultimate God - the Parabrahma, they respect the philosophical sentiments of Vaishnavaites and the Shivacharyas.

In my experience, I have noted that most of the Vaishnavaites somehow have the wrong notion that Smarthas are Shaivaites !

[rshankar]

PB - thank you so much for this explanation for the use of the five stones and the panca Ayatana pUja - my grandfather had them in his pUja, but after his death no one else has continued with that practice.

[rshankar]

uLaralE uLLavarE ivvulagilE--(me included)
uLLavaraikkum uLLamadiluNDE!
teLLat teLivAi, tigaTTA amudAi
vILangumuvan unDE, avan ariyO aranO!


உளரலே உள்ளவரே இவ்வுலகிலே--
உள்ள வரைக்கும் உள்ளமதிலுண்டே!
தெள்ளத்தெளிவாய், திகட்டா அமுதாய்
விளங்குமவன் உண்டே--அரியோ, அரனோ!

Arasi - glad that all of the 'uLaral' (here and elsewhere) has had at least one useful outcome - inspiring your kavitvam!
Isn't there a concept of SankaranArayanan - an amalgam of the two - the one whom the viruttam (made famous by Cienu's grandmother and mother) 'tAzh SaDaiyum...' is addressed to?

[sridhar_ranga]

We seem to have a very interesting discussion here, though tangential to Sri NSG's concert. May be its worth a separate thread.

I am hardly knowledgeable in these matters and may be forgiven for the thoughts / questions that arose as I went through Sri P Bala's post.

Barring Vaishnavaites (who pray only Vishnu), and Shivacharyas (who pray only Shiva), all other Brahmins are Smarthas who pray all five deities!

Wheee does that leave the Madhwas / Dwaitins? Are they Smarthas?

In our village, barring one Vaishnavaite family and one Shivacharya family, all others were Smarthas who used to do Panchayatana Pooja daily, i.e. Pooja to five deities - Surya, Ganesha, Vishnu, Shiva and Devi - represented by five stones, collected from different rivers:-

I assume the Smarthas referred here are Iyers / followers of Shankaracharya. If so why is there not a ShaThaayatana Pooja that includes Kumara / Kaumaram as Adishankara established Shanmatha that included Kumara? Does this practice pre-date Adishankara? Also, isn't one allowed to have one of these six as ishTa devata and worship that one deity exclusively? Would that make him any less Smartha?

Also, my memory is hazy here but I have come across writings by Srivaishnavaite scholars to the effect that a Srivaishnava (as opposed to a 'vaishnavaite'), being an ubhaya-vedantin, is very much a Smartha. The Visishtadvaita school cites Vedic basis for all that it propounds. There are nitya agnihotris among Srivaishnavas too, and it would be incorrect to brand them as non-Smarthas.

In my experience, I have noted that most of the Vaishnavaites somehow have the wrong notion that Smarthas are Shaivaites !

In my experience, a majority of my Iyer/ Smartha friends somehow had the wrong notion that they were Shaivaites - and such a statement would be made by a Ramakrishnan or Gopalakrishnan

[arasi]

Sridhar,
If we know NSG, he would gladly join us and educate us more on these! However, you are right. We better take this to our Literature wing. You and I know how much we have been chewing the cud there on this topic

[harimau]

Harimau, I am Vaishnavite by birth, but am ecumenical in my practice.

I recall reading ages ago on this website in a post by Arasi that you are her cousin so I figured you would be a Vaishnavite too. After all, there weren't any [ i]misrams[/i] in the good old days!

However, I think you have fallen into the trap of multiculturalism when you say you are ecumenical in your practices.

People in India had a very strong sense of what is the only right way and practiced that diligently. For instance, the German missionary Bartholomeus Ziegenbalg has recorded that the good people of the Coromandel coast threw stones at his party as they went about their business of trying to collect sheep for The Good Shepherd. This was just 300+ years ago.

It is the fault of the Brahmins that our society has strayed so much from its original Puritan ways. Ziegenbalg acknowledges that it was the Brahmins who taught him Tamil while the rest of Tamil society totally ostracised the missionaries.

It is also another Brahmin, Govinda Deekshithar, Dewan to the Maharaja of Tanjore, who granted land and permission to build on it a mosque for worship by local Muslims. How is that repaid? In Navapaashaanam, the local Muslim population prevented the Hindus from going to the sea for performing puja to the navagrahas who are personified by nine stone pillars in the sea. The mouthpiece of secularism in Tamil Nadu, The Hindu -- run, incidentally, by Vaishnavites Brahmins -- reported it as a dispute between Hindu factions and the Progressive Democratic Party who were protesting against superstitions, completely hiding the fact that that the PDP is a Muslim group. Does the PDP demonstrate against Muharram processions? Hell, no!

So, nothing good comes out of multiculturalism. To each, his own. As my friend's grandmother vehemently said, "Even if chased down the road by a mad elephant, I won't enter a Siva temple to save myself."

Now that is the spirit of True Vaishnavism and I hope in your old age you will turn more conservative and give up ecumenical practices.

I, as a Smartha, do not discriminate between Siva and Vishnu and that is my tradition. The fact that Perumal temples offer good prasadam such as ven Pongal, sakkarai Pongal, ellodharai, dadhiyonnam, puliyodharai etc., is an added bonus for me to visit Perumal temples. You will get only vibhuthi at Siva temples and you are expected to drop a coin in return as Sivan sotthu kula naasam.

So, my advice to you is read up on Tiruppavai and the 4000 Divya Prabhandam and the Pallandu. Join people in reciting them in authentic sing-song non-tunes at the local temple.

PS. This is not a rant against any religion but a screed for sticking to one's family traditions. While I don't advocate throwing stones at the procession on Palm Sunday, I do suggest giving them a wide berth instead of attending Mass at San Thome church.

[arasi]

Harimau,
You do know that above all these, there is this thing called clinging to your roots (not Tarzan fashion to aerial roots of the banyan tree)...We tinnEli folks also cling to our roots as folks like you from other parts of TN, but Bharathi believed in the opposite of what you are preaching

[Ponbhairavi]

Harimau wrote:
...as they went about their business of trying to collect sheep for the Good Shepherd ."
Your style of writing is remarkable. hats off

[mahavishnu]

Back on the topic of NSG and this concert...
Some good soul has uploaded portions of this concert on youtube. Catch it before some yahoo makes them take it down, esp the thiruppAvai piece here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0kaf2ZHEPg

[kvchellappa]

Following one's culture (virtue and value of tradition is recognised by Russell, the renowned agnostic) enriches one's life, but the ethos of Sanatana dharma is that the differences in culture and symbolism are at the level of nama and rupa only. To be ecumenical is not to abandon one's faith (esp. when it offers such delicious rewards like sakkarai pongal), but to avoid being puffed up and condescending, for which there is no basis at least in today's world.
Harimau sir, may I post part of your post in FB?

[arasi]

The Face Book is there for all to see--
Let's face it, it's faceless, in case
You don't post your face there--
But what you say--can it be erased?

"A mouthful of sweetened rice, ah,
Tamarind kind too of Vishnu temple
Face smiling, taste buds tickled, see--
They are heaven--preach not the rest!"

The big cat will have a smile on his face now...
How we wish we could catch it, let alone him

[arasi]

Mahavishnu,
Thanks for bringing the link to NSG's music of that day. Hope it stays a bit longer so that we can hear him again when the tents are taken down and we spirited (doddering) reporters with our withdrawal symptoms can take comfort in his music?

[kvjayan]

harimau wrote:

However, I think you have fallen into the trap of multiculturalism when you say you are ecumenical in your practices.

Amen! That's a clever multi-trap setup in Kasturi Buildings to attract educated and confused young Tambrams!!

[Sundara Rajan]

Harimu:
I think that you mistook Maduraimini's statement "I am ecumenical in practice" for multiculturalism. My interpretation of her statement, in the context it was made, is that she was not a staunch "SRI vaishnavite", who would not worship any God but nArAyaNa, but that she was a liberal vaishnavite whose Ishtadeivatha was nArAyaNa, but had nothing against other saivite deities as Siva , Durga, Subrahmanya etc. I have many Iyengar and other vaishnavite friends who go with me to saivite temples also.
In this context I should also explain that brahmin Iyengars are not the only vaishnavites. There are Naidus, telugu chettiars etc.who are also vaishnavites.

Also one should not confuse Advaita, Dvaita & Visishtadvaita philosophies with worship of Siva , Vishnu etc. Religious practices are not directly related to these philosophies. Adi Sankara who propounded the Advaita philosophy also composed hymns in praise of all deities, most famously Baja Govindam .