OOTHUKADU VENKATA KAVI DAY- KGS-5/9

[CRama]

As a part of the on going Gokulashtami celebrations, KGS, celebrated the Gokulashtami day as Oothukadu Venkatakavi day. Various accomplished musicians sang Oothukadu Kritis from 9.30 AM and the finale was the Harikatha by Sangeethakalanidhi Madurai T.N.Seshagopalan on Oothukadu Venkatakavi. The following artistes presented many unheard compositions of the saint kavi in their one hour slots.

VASUDHA RAVI
BHARGAVI BALASUBRAMANIAM
V.SANKARANARAYANAN
R.SURYAPRAKSH
ANAHITA AND APOORVA
GAYATHRI GIRISH
EASWARAN BHATTATHIRI


The programme was so designed that each of the singers presented one each of the Saptharatna Krits of OVK.His Saptaratnas (seven gems) are similar in structure to Thyagaraja’s pancharatna kritis, consisting of the pallavi, anupallavi, and a series of charanams in madhyama kalam that can be rendered as swaram and sahityam. The saptaratnas are:

1. Bhajanamrta – Nattai
2. Aganita mahima – Gowla
3. Madhava hrdi khelini' – Kalyani
4. Balasarasa murali – Keeravani
5. Jatadara – Todi
6. Alavadennalo – Paras
7. Sundara nandakumara – Madhyamavathi

I attended the programme from 2 PM onwards. I give a very brief review of the programmes I heard.
1. ANAHITA AND APOORVA accompanied by Ananthakrishnan (Violin) and Madipakam Murali (Mridangam). List of songs
• Jatadhara Sankara-Thodi (S)
• Tejomaya Radhika-Dharmavathy-Khanda Triputa (R,S)
• Vallareesamana-Malavi (S)
• Ethanai kettalum-Bhairavi-Misra chapu (R,S)
• Naan enna thavam seytheno-Khamas.

Heard these upcoming vidushis for the first time live. Declared winners of the Mudhra Cutchery Competition. Have a very pleasant voice. Disciples of Ravikiran. That itself requires great level of sadhakam and perfection. OVK kritis are heavy in sahithyam with jathi and chittaswaram and it requires lot of practice to sing them without any reference to i pad or note book. They had good coordination on stage. Their singing was flawless and their alapanas and swaras were proof of their manodharmam. The saptaratnam Jatadhara is on Lord Siva and is a fairly long piece like the Thyagaraja pancharatnam with swara and sahithyam. With more experience, they will definitely make it big in the concert circuit.

2. GAYATHRI GIRISH accompanied by Ananthakrishnan (Violin) and Madipakam Murali (Mridangam). List of songs.

• Thyagaraja Paramesa- Chakravakam (S)
• Kannai tirandu paar-Bilahari
• Nadamurali-Hamirkalyani
• Aalaavathennaalo-Paras
• Nandagopala-Abheri
• Padmavathy Ramanam-Poorvikalyani (S)
• Thillana-Sindubhairavi
• Slokam-Suruti

This was another instance of Gayathri’s dedication and sincerity in performing thematic concerts. The Chakravakam song was a rare song on Thyagesar of Tiruvarur. The saptharatnam in Paras is unique in the music history of the world- it includes the names of 63 Nayanmargal and has got many charanams in swaram-sahithyam format. A real tongue twister which was rendered with elan. Padmavathy Ramanam is synonymous with her Guru TNS and she rendered true to its patantharam and the swaras adequately reflected her manodharmam. The thillana was also popularised by TNS. The slokam in Suruti was on the Aghora Veerabhadrar.

3. N.RAVIKIRAN AND STUDENTS
OVK has composed a Samkshipta Ramayanam kriti starting as Sree Rama Jayame Jayam in the five ragas of the Thyagraja Pancharatnam, but in a slightly more contrasting order- Nata, Varali, Arabhi, Gowla and Manirang. Ravikiran along with a few of his students (including Anahita and Apoorva) presented this song with lucid explanation on many important points highlighting OVK’s competence as a poet and composer par excellence. Special appreciation to all the students including the little Ananya- daughter of our own Uday, who rendered the song without any reference.

4. HARIKATHA by SANGEETHA KALANIDHI T.N.SESHAGOPALAN
The fitting finale was the Harikatha on OVK. TNS presented the brief story of OVK and rendered many of his compositions in his inimitable style. There were no alapanas or neravals or swaras. Only kritis. Highly enjoyable. His harikatha style laced with appropriate humour is a pleasure to hear and the songs add colour to his harikatha. There were many heard and unheard songs.

Felt blessed to have spent half of the Gokulashtami day hearing the compositions of a great Krishna devotee Uthucaud Venkata kavi. Thanks for KGS for organising such a magnificent event.

[priyaram78]

Thanks a lot for the detailed review Sri CRama. Sad to have missed this wonderful program. Hope it has been recorded and will be uploaded for rasikas. Thanks to Krishna Gana Sabha for organising this event. Hope to attend more Ovk programs in future. Happy Sri Jayanthi to all and l feel fortunate to have visited Sri Kalinga Narthana Temple in Oottukkadu last month. Also Mannargudi Rajagopalan temple and Srirangam Ranganathar temple. Sri Venkatakavi is indeed a composer par excellence composing kritis on many deities in many kshetrams.

[priyaram78]

Here is the flyer which I posted in OOttukkadu Venkatakavi group in Facebook.

SRI KRISHNA GANA SABHA
CELEBRATES
OOTHUKKADU VENKATA KAVI’S DAY
ON GOKULASHTAMI
ON 05.09.15


OOTHUKKADU VENKATAKAVI’SKRITIS and one Ratnam from Saptaratna will be sung by :
GAYATHRI VENKATARAGHAVAN, BHARGAVI BALASUBRAMANIAN,V.SANKARANARAYANAN,R.SURYAPRAKASH,
ANAHITA & APOORVA, GAYATHRI GIRISH & THAMARASSERI ESWARAN BHATTATHRI

9.30 A.M: ‘Oothukkadu’s 1st Ratnam -BHAJANAMRTA- NATTAI
and other Oothukkadu kritis – GAYATHRI VENKATARAGHAVAN



10.30 A.M : ‘Oothukkadu’s 2nd Ratnam - AGANITA MAHIMA – GOWLA
and other Oothukkadu kritis –BHARGAVI BALASUBRAMANIAN




11.30 A.M : ‘Oothukkadu’s 3rd Ratnam - MADHAVA HRDI –KALYANI
and other Oothukkadu Kritis – V.SANKARANARAYANAN



12.30 P.M: ‘Oothukkadu’s 4th Ratnam -BALASARASA MURALI –KEERAVANI
and other Oothukkadu Kritis - R.SURYAPRAKASH




2.00 P.M: ‘Oothukkadu’s 5th Ratnam -JATADHARA SHANKARA – TODI
and other Oothukkadu Kritis – ANAHITA & APOORVA


3.00 P.M : ‘Oothukkadu’s 6th Ratnam - ALAVADENNALO- PARAS
and other Oothukkadu Kritis - GAYATHRI GIRISH


4.00 P.M : ‘Oothukkadu’s 7th Ratnam - SUNDARA NANDAKUMARA – MADHYAMAVATHI
and other Oothukkadu kritis - THAMARASSERI ESWARAN BHATTATHRI


5.15 P.M: ‘Ramayanam Kritis of Oothukkadu Venkata kavi will be sung by Students of ‘Sangeetha Choodamani’ Chitravina N.Ravikiran
led by Ravikiran

6.00 P.M: Harikatha on Oothukkadu Venkata Kavi by ‘Sangeetha Choodamani’ ‘Harikatha Choodamani’ Madurai Sri T.N.Seshagopalan
accompanied by: V.V.Ravi on Violin & B.Ganapathiraman on Mrudangam

[HarishankarK]

Very nice initiative. Oothukaddu is a very great poet and an epitome of Atma-Nivedanam bhakti. More of his songs must be popularised.
One of the songs of his I like very much is Pazhamo Pazham -which highlights the importance and beauty of Srimad Bhagawatham. The analogies and metaphors used in the song are truly poetic. He was a true devotee of Krishna.
Hope this will be uploaded in Youtube for the benefit of those unable to attend.

[CRama]

Priyaram, Instead of Gayathri Venkatraghavan, Vasudha Ravi had sung the concert.

[CRama]

One more thing happened before Ravikiran's prog. Our MKR's family has instituted a scholarship in the name of their father to music students. The scholarship was handed over to one young vidushi, Sahana Samraj and a young vidwan whose name I forgot, by Ravikiran. MKR's brother Sekar spoke on the occasion. Very good gesture from MKR family.

[arasi]

CRama,
Thank you for the detailed reviews about all the concerts and of the MKR family's awards in memory of their father Sri. Mahadevan.

Venkatakavi's songs remind us of natural springs, bubbling brooks. Each song rising from his eternal love for Krishna.
No wonder, with Ravikiran's love for the Kavi's compositions and his efforts in popularizing them, his talented disciples gave an impressive concert. Did Bhargavi sing or play the chitravina? Did you miss Sankaranarayanan's concert?

Gayathri Girish shines in any performance which demands dedication to a research project. You appreciate it as much as I do, and go one step further and write about it knowledgeably!

Suryaprakash can handle songs with lots of lyrics with ease and can sing the words with clarity.

TNS's finale would have been the crowning glory.

Once again, thanks for bringing the event to us.

Kudos to Anahita and Apoorva, our hope for the future, and also to Sahana Samraj and the young man who were awarded the prizes.

[Sivaramakrishnan]

Well, I was also lucky to have attended the AN sessions of the Day with CRama. A really rewarding experience.

But I wonder why such special progs are not attended by 'peer vidwans/vidushis' and rasikas in large numbers!

[CRama]

Arasi Madam, Bhargavi sang. Not chitraveena. I could not attend programmes before 2PM. It was a well enjoyed Gokulashtami day for me.

[priyaram78]

But I wonder why such special progs are not attended by 'peer vidwans/vidushis' and rasikas in large numbers!

Because all were busy making sweets, savories since morning to worship Sri Krishna in the evening being GokulAshtami day.

[Ponbhairavi]

By unearthing so many oothukadu compositions all earlier than those of the trinity Shri Ravikiran has considerably enriched the Tamil repertoire of CM. He has made the music world recognize that oothukadu is not simply for the post Thani thukkadas.He deserves to be properly honoured by the Tamil Isai. movement first

[maheshram]

Our MKR's family has instituted a scholarship in the name of their father to music students. The scholarship was handed over to one young vidushi, Sahana Samraj and a young vidwan whose name I forgot, by Ravikiran. MKR's brother Sekar spoke on the occasion. Very good gesture from MKR family.

This is Mahesh, Sri MKR's son and grandson of Sri KSM. Thank you so much for including this mention. By coincidence, my grandmother (Mrs. KSM, who passed away last year) would have been 96 on Sept. 7th. No one would have been happier to have bestowed her blessings on young talent than my grandmother (except perhaps my grandfather . I'm sure they are showering their blessings on the awardees from above. Congrats to the awardees! (only disappointed that my father, mother and the rest of our US based clan could not be present in India to see the scholarships handed over).

P.S. I still remember my grandmother insisting I listen to a tape of a very young boy (11?)'s singing (a tape given to her by close family friend Sri PSN only for her listening), and remarking that I should listen well because this 'boy is the future of CM" many years ago...that young man was Abhishek Raghuram, which only accounts for my grandmother's prescience! (I still have that tape and it is still remarkable to hear)..so hope these young awardees rise to similar success!

[arasi]

Mahesh,
Good to hear from you. Your grandmother would have said: indap piLLai paDugiRadaik kELu! And how many hear Abhishek sing now!

Sahana Samraj is going to make it too, many of us feel, and wish her well. We still don't know the young man's name (the other awardee).

[Suryasriram]

Could you please post an audio of the program if possible? (Especially Tejomaya Radhika and Vallari Samane).