AN OVERVIEW OF THE SWATHI SANGEETHOLSAVAM AT KUTHIRAMALIKA, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

[CRama]

It was totally an enchanting experience for me attending the Swathi Sangeethotsavam on the lawns of Kuthiramalika Palace in Thiruvananthapuram during 5 Jan to 13 Jan (the festival actually started on 4 Jan) which is an annual festival organised by Prince Rama Varma as a tribute to the genius of the Royal composer Swathi Thirunal. It was here in this Palace, built by Maharaja Swathi Thirunal himself, that the composer is believed to have composed many of his famous kritis and spent his last days as the ruler of erstwhile Travancore. The concerts are free for all.

The musicians are seated in a foyer attached to the palace which is largely lit by tall traditional oil lamps and the audience will be sitting in the lawn on the chairs facing the foyer- sometimes open to the sky and this year, there was a large pandal for fear of threat from the rain Gods who sometimes descend to the earth to hear the heavenly music that is created there. The lighting is minimum. The fare will be exclusive Swati Tirunal kritis as is performed in the Navarathri Mandapam except that there are no restrictions as to the dress code or timings which is prevalent in the adjacent Navarathri Mandapam and have music lovers attending from all parts of the globe irrespective of caste, creed, religion or nationality. The opening of Navarathri Mandapam to younger musicians and the annual Kuthiramalika festival has helped to bring more Swathi Thirunal kritis in the concert circuit. In this entire festival, there were very few repetitions. The timings are maintained strictly. The concerts start at 6 PM and conclude at 9 PM. About 15 minutes at the beginning is used for the introduction of the artistes by Prince Rama Varma which is much enjoyed by most of the audience. On any day the crowd ranges from 500-1000 who sit through the whole concert patiently and there are only very few walkouts during the thani- may be 10-12 people. The rest remain hooked to the music and unlike Chennai, people don’t sit buried to the mobile phones while the heavenly music is unfolding. There are reviews of some of the concerts already in the forum and this will supplement those reviews.

5/1/19
Prince Rama Varma- Vocal
Avaneeswaram S.R.Vinu- Violin
B.Harikumar- Mridangam
S. Karthik- Ghatam
Payyanur Govinda Prasad- Morsing.
List of songs.
• Sarasijanabha- Varnam- Kambodi
• Paramapurusham- Lalithapanchamam- (S)
• Anandavalli- Neelambari
• Paripahimam nruhare- Mohanam- (S)
• Bhavaye Sarasanabham- Keeravani (R,S)
• Reenamadanutha- Behag (R)
• Western note based song

The concert was in the characteristic style of the prince with lot of interluding speeches and anecdotes. Maharaja Swati Tirunal created the ragam Lalithapanchamam by adding panchamam to the already existing ragam Lalitha making the avarohanam sndmpmgrs. The kalpana swaras for this ragam showed the brimming manodharmam of Rama Varma. In the entire concert, there was only one major ragam Keeravani and there was no neraval at all. I came to know that neraval will be very rare in the concerts of Prince. Whether there is neraval or ragam alapana, he has got his own brigade of admirers. Rama Varma informed that the song Anandavalli is on the Goddess of Padmanabhapuram as against our belief that this is on the Goddess of Ananadavalleeswram temple in Kollam. While singing swarams for Mohanam, he showed sruti bhedam to Sudhadhanyasi, Sudhasaveri, Madhyamavathy and Hindolam. While the vocalist’s raga alapana of Keeravani had shades of Hindustani music and Western music too, the violinist presented a chaste Keeravani in the Carnatic idiom. This song in Keeravani was a staple fare of D.K. Jayaraman who used to present it with the cascade of sangathis. Avaneeswaram S.R.Vinu, disciple of Mysore Nagaraj played very good alapanas and returns. The percussion was a tad loud during the thani.

6/1/19
Amritha Venkatesh and her students

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What was really appreciable in this concert was the synchronisation of all the singers- coming from various cities of India and USA. The Bhavayami song was sung in a very leisurely tempo and giving punches at various places to give a more meaningful interpretation of the song following the MDR bani of rendition of this song. The song took 25 minutes.

7/1/19
Mysore Nagaraj and Mysore Manjunath- Violin duet
B.Harikumar- Mridangam
Guruprasanna- Ganjira
Payyanur Govinda Prasad- Morsing.
Song list
• Mamava sada- Kanada
• Pahi Sreepathe- Hamsadhwani (R,S)
• Kripaya palaya sowre- Charukesi (R,N,S)
• Pankajalochana- Kalyani (R,N,S)
• RTP- Bagesree- Adi talam
Pallavi on Swati Tirunal.
• Thani

I was rather skeptical about the decibel levels and speed you can see in some of their concerts. But it was within limits and offered good listening experience. Three raga alapanas – very elaborate showing distinct pidis of the ragams and showcased with aesthetics in mind- shared by both the brothers. While playing Kalyani alapana, they showed sruti bhedam to Mohanam. Bagesree ragam, tanam and pallavi all were outstanding. IN the ragamalika swarams, Anandabhairavi, Varali, Ahiri, Hamsanandi and Hameerkalyani were presented. A very enjoyable concert. The accompanists provided commendable support.

8/1/19
Bangalore S.Sankar
Mysore Nagaraj- Violin
H.S.Sudheendra- Mridangam
Udupi Sreedhar- Ghatam
List of songs.
• Sarasijanabha- Varnam- Kambodi
• Mamavasada- Kanada (R,S)
• Rama rama gunaseema- Simhendramadhyamam (R,N,S)
• Narasimhamamava- Arabhi (S)
• Sarojanabha- Chakravakam
• Pahi sada Padmanabha- Mukhari (R,N,S)
• Samodam Chinthayami- Sudhadhanyasi
• Devi Jagajanani- Sankarabharanam (R,N,S)
• Thani
• Bhavayami Raghuramam- Ragamalika

This was a great concert that was vidwat laden and along with visranthi as you can always expect from Sankar. A highly under rated musician. We the rasikas community have hosted him on two earlier occasions, but seldom seen in Chennai sabhas. All his alapanas were very good. The Kanada alapana was elaborate and had some rare pidis. The other alapanas were also on traditional lines with the characteristic pidis and aesthetics running high. The kriti in Mukhari is a very rare one. I am hearing for the first time. Samodam Chinthayami brought memoirs of TRS who popularised this song. Devi Jagajanani brought the ambience of the Navarathri mandapam sans the tanam. Neraval at the usual place Devamakutamani and the following swaras were treat. He concluded the concert with Bhavayami Raghuramam- the normal version we are used to listen. On a side note, I had the fortune of learning with him albeit for a short time of two months in Bangalore before I was transferred to Mumbai.

While introducing the musicians, Prince Rama Varma told that Mysore Nagaraj agrees to accompany only a handful of musicians and Sankar is one among them. Nagaraj played with great fervour and sensitivity and embellished the concert a lot. H.S. Sudheendra, a disciple of Sreemushnam Raja Rao played with right volume and variety of strokes .All the accompanying artistes played with understanding and great level of comradery. One of the best concerts in the series. (To be continued)

[CRama]

9/1/19
Vishnudev Namboodiri

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Vishnudev Namboodiri never disappoints me.
• I was very pleased with his selection of songs. The Malayamarutham song Padmanabha Palithebha was commonly heard in TVM in the olden days, But never in Chennai music circuit.
• Bhavati viswasome in MUkhari and Adrisuthavara in Kalyani are not heard after the days of Semmangudi and Vishnudev sang them very well with his manodharmam elements.
• Vande sada Padmanabham was ornamented with imaginative kalpana swaras.
• An excellent concert.

10/1/19
Nisha Rajagopal

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Very good concert. She sang the rarely heard Thodi varnam Danisamajendra and Rasa vilasa- Kambodi as the main song.

11/1/19
Amit Nadig- Flute
S.R.Mahadeva Sarma- Violin
Nanjil Arul- Mridangam
Vazhapally Krishnakumar- Ghatam
Somasekhara jois- KOnnakkol
List of songs.
• Sarasijanabha- Kambodi varnam
• Paramapurusha- Vasantha (S)
• Pankajalochana- Kalyani (R.N,S)
• Sarojanabha- Chakravakam
• Mamavasritha- Bhavapriya (R,S)
• Thani
• Ramachandra prabhu- Sindubhairavi

Amit Nadig is a popular flute vidwan from Bangalore, not heard much in Chennai. I was hearing him for the first time. I was told that he has played in the same venue a couple of times earlier. While introducing him, Rama Varma said “Those who have heard two flautists in Chennai season will argue who is best among them. But I will say, they argue like that because they have not heard Amit Nadig”. Sheer exaggeration.

It was a good concert. My appreciation for taking up a difficult raga Bhavapriya for the main song and he played that well. Konnakkol for the entire concert did not go well. While Mahadeva Sarma was playing violin, he was accompanied by Konnakkol. For any violinist, this would have been an interruption. Konnakkol should be restricted to thani only. Nanjil Arul who normally do not bang, kept the volume high and he was joined by the Ghatam vidwan which made people run for cotton buds.

12/1/19
Thamarakad Govindan Namboodiri

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3254

I had heard enough about this vidwan, but never got an opportunity to hear his concert. When he sang in Ragasudha hall during this season also, I could not attend. I found his concert very unhurried and sublime and some times becoming unconventional, but within the tenets of Carnatic concert padhathi. The concert commended with a leisurely alapana of Kanada for the kriti Mamavasada Janani. He started with Sada Janani Amba and then moved on Mamava sada. He does mini neraval in many places- singing some phrases repeatedly showing various colours of the ragam and sahithya bhavam and ensure correct splitting of words to highlight the meaning of the words. Neraval was done on the lines Niravadhi bhava kheda nivarana nirathe and lengthy swara prastarams followed. The elaborate alapanas of Huseni and Sama which are not commonly heard were real treats. Smarahari padaravindam in Sama- nobdy will choose to take up this kriti for the main and Namboodiri did full justice to the song. He should be featured more often in Chennai sabhas.

13/1/19
Sanjay Subramaniam

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3254

That varnam in Mayamalavagowla was popularised by KVN and I have never heard that from any other vidwan. Sanjay made a good presentation. That kriti in Sree ragam was new to me. Sanjay decorated with adequate kalpana swarams. It was welcome surprise when he took up Gowrimanohari for the main ragam and he did full justice to the song. But in the beginning of the raga alapana, there were shades of Prati madhyamam which should not have happend. The song Sarasasamamridu is rarely heard in concert platform and performed well with sangathis and imaginative kalpana swaras in the pallavi.
This festival gave me opportunities to meet some very old friends and also came to know Makham, forumite and of course, Bhasi- we developed good friendship and enjoyed the concert together on many days.

[rajeshnat]

Thank you crama for your rolled up review. One of the days for atleast 20 years I am thinking that I have to go to Trivandrum to be with muse and only with the Traditional oil lamps . I am just curious is there mosquitoes problem there sitting in the lawns . Kudos to Rama varma for holding year on year, great curation gives so much of classicism, the beauty is he gives one artist a day and has not yet fallen in the trap of giving 2 slots per evening. More and More laurels to the organizers and the artists who sing there.

[Sachi_R]

Rajesh,
Very few mosquitoes. In fact rasikas like C Rama occupy the space in such large numbers that mosquitoes fly away. Or perhaps they are intoxicated with the music and fail to bite.

Not just oil lamps. Even electric ones. But nothing unseemly.

It is a very beautiful space to enjoy music in. I went last year and even wrote about the concerts here. Witha couple of video clips too.

Did you notice the large number of artistes who travelled from Mysore and Bangalore to perform there? Augurs well for Carnatic music!

[makham]

Grand summary by CRama - blessed because he could attend almost all days without being affected by hartals.

A small correction in the links provided under Tamarakkad and Sanjay. The last # should be. 32543 instead of 3254.

Mosquitoes are almost absent - repellents are used well before the start to avoid strong odour.

[bhasi]

An excellent recounting of the concert series in total, filled with astute observations. A pleasure to read.