DEEKSHITAR AKHANDAM BY BHARATIYA SANGEETHA VAIBHAVAM- 8.3.2020

[CRama]

Bharatiya Sangeetha Vaibhavam is organising Deekshitar Akhandam every year with dedication and perfect planning. Forumite Suresh Bopparaju is the man behind this function. This year Akhandam was held on 8 March 2020 in P.S.High School from 9 AM to 9 PM. I could not attend all the programmes. I am giving a brief note on some of the programmes I attended.

The programme commenced at 9.15 AM inaugurated by Cleveland V V Sundaram.

1. Dr.S.Sowmya- Embar Kannan-Neyveli Narayanan
List of songs.
• Guruguhaya bhaktanugrahaya- Sama
• Sadachaleswaram- Bhoopalam
• Gajambanayago- Chenjuruti
• Neerajakshi Kamakshi- Hindolam (R,S)
• Sree Guruna palitosmi- Padi
• Sree Kamalambike sive pahimam- Sree.

Dr. Sowmya presented authentic rendition of the kritis in a very absorbing manner adhering to the distinct kalapramanam and she shared many valuable insights about the kritis and the ragams. The accompanists supported very well.

2. Seetha Rajan and her students- Embar Kannan- Arjun Ganesh

Seetha Rajan along with about ten of her students presented an absorbing rendering of the Panchalinga kritis of Deekshitar in Tiruvarur and the Panchabhootha sthala kritis.
List of songs.
• Panchamatangamukha- Malahari.
• Sree Valmikalingam Chintaye-- Kambodi- Ata talam
• Anandeswarena samrakshitoham- Anandabhairavi
• Hatakeswara samrakshamam- Bilahari
• Sadachaleswaram Bhavaye- Bhoopalam
• Siddheeswaraya Namaste- Neelambari
• Chintayamakandamula kandam- Bhairavi
• Arunachalanatham smarami- Saranga
• Anandanatana prakasam- Kedaram
• Sree kalahasteesa- Huseni
• Jambhoopathe- Yamunakalyani

Seetha Rajan along with her team of students presented Deekshitar kritis on the five lingams inside the Tiruvarur temple. They are Valmikanathar, Aandeswarar, Hatakeswarar, Achaleswarar, and Siddheeswarar. Another set of kritis were on the Panchabhootha temples namely Prithvi- Kanchipuram, Jalam-Tiruvanaikkaval, Akasam-Chidambaram, Wind- Kalahasti, Agni- Tiruvannamalai.

The striking thing that always stand out in all such programmes of Guru Seetha Rajan is the perfect synchronisation of all the singers irrespective of the numbers of musicians on the sage. All her disciples sing the rare kritis without referring to any bit of paper and they did not skip any sangati as well. That is the rigorous training they are put through in the Gurukulam. Seetha Rajan deserves accolades for her focussed training. This being the Deekshitar akhandam, the aim is to project the greatness of the compositions and not of the singers. This fact they have clearly understood and they sang the compositions with utmost dedication and devotion. Many kritis presented are not heard in the concert platforms. This akhandam year after year gives us an opportunity to listen to such rare gems.

Seetha Rajan introduced her team and expressed her thanks to Embar Kannan and Arjun Ganesh who have participated in the rehearsals and become part of the Balabrundam. They provided commendable follow up with no intrusion.

After this slot, N.V.Subramaniam gave rich accolades to Guru Seetha Rajan and her team. Most deserving. My only crib- it could have been brief. Took away a lot of time.

3. Malladi Brothers- B.U.Ganesh Prasad- Manoj Siva

List of songs.
• Ragamalika slokams composed by Hanumantha Sreenivasa Garu on Deekshitar- in ragams Hamsadhwani, Mayamalavagowla, Anandabhairavi, Kharaharapriya and Kalyani.
• Tyagaraja palayasumam- Gowla
• Brihadambikayai- Vasantha (R)
• Ekamranadhaaya Namaste- Mukhari.
• Kalavati Kamalasanayuvati- Kalavati
• Paradevatam Brihatgujaambam- Dhanyasi (R)
• Girijaya ajaya- Sankarabharanam-(R)
• Shadaanane sakalam arpayami- Khamas.

Malladi Brothers are synonymous with the authentic patantharam of Thyagaraja kritis and Annamacharya kritis. But this one concert proved that they are equally at home with Deekshitar kritis. Sreeramprasad shared his thoughts about the greatness of Deekshitar compositions- a great takeaway for music aspirants. Mere training in music is not enough to handle Deekshitar kritis. As performing musicians, the minimum you should do is to sing the kritis with correct pronounciation. The kritis contain much serious stuff like agamam, sastram, advaitam, jyotisham, vyakaranam, chandas etc. Without adequate knowledge in these areas, one cannot comprehend the meaning embedded in Deekshitar kritis.

They took the example of the very popular kriti Vathapi Ganapathim bhajeham. He said this song contains 34 names of Ganesa which can be chanted as Archana- like Om Vatapi Ganapathaye Namah etc. He sang the namavalis in Hamsadhwani- an unheard attempt.

All the kritis were rendered with utmost attention to the sahithyam and sangeetham. Manodharmam was minimal. He pointed to the complexities in the sahithyam of Girijaya ajaya and the mastering of such kritis definitely require great devotion and dedication. This kriti is from the set of Abhayamba vibhakthi kritis. Vijaya Siva used to sing this kriti in his concerts.

4. Rama Kausalya Manohar- Harita Narayanan- Govindarajan
List of songs
• Anandamritakarshini- Amritavarshini
• Akshayalingavibho- Sankarabharanam
• Ramachandram bhavayami- Vasantha (R,S)
• Sarasijanabhasodari- Nagagandhari

After hearing wonderful music so far, this turned out to be anti climax. Or drishti pariharam. Never heard about this musician. A powerful voice that has good range and throw are her assets. But she has to get trained under a good Guru and she should do adequate practice too.

5. Kota sisters- Harita Narayanan- Govindarajan
List of songs
• Thyagarajaya Namate- Begada
• Sree Madhurambike- Kalyani (R,S)
• Sankaram Abhirami manoharam- Manohari.

These sisters should do assiduous practice if they want to take their music further. The Kalyani kriti was a new one for me.

6. G. Ravikiran- Sandeep Ramachandran- K. Arun Prakash
List of songs.
• Sree Muladharachakra- Sree
• Varalakshmim bhajare- Sourashtram (R,S)
• Kamakshi Sree Varalakshmi- Bilahari(R,N)
• Sree Rama Saraswati sevitam- Nasamani.
• Mangalambaayai Namaste- Malavasree

G. Ravikiran- disciple of T.M.Krishna is known as a propagator of Deekshitar kritis and he conducts Deekshitar festival every year. He told that Deekshiar has composed four kritis in Sree ragam of which this kriti Sree Mooladhara chakra is unique in the sense that Deekshitar has not used Chatusruti Daivatam in this kriti whereas in his other three kritis, it is employed.

He presented a chaste alapana of ragam Sourashtram for the rarely heard kriti Varalakshmim bhajare. But Kamakshi Sree Varalakshmi was a disappointment for those who have got soaked in the heavenly presentation of this kriti by the venerable D.K.Pattammal and her brother D.K.Jayaraman. Obviously, Ravikiran presented this song as per the notation in the SSP which was much varying from the DKP version. Added to that he did neraval in the lines Kaamakale vimale kara kamale which could have been avoided as Malladi Ravikumar said, the ordinary rasikas cannot fathom the hidden meaning of the lines and they would be familiar with the mundane meaning of the words. And why a neraval is required for this kriti in this short concert.

Mangalambayai Namaste in Malavasree- not to be confused with the namesake raga in Thyagaraja school. This kriti has mostly tara sthayi sancharams.

The participation was good. Tea, coffee and good buffet lunch in the afternoon made available to all. Due to my health reasons, I could not stay further. Forumites SureshVV and Sivaramakrishnan were there with me. I hope they will supplement with their observations.

[thanjavooran]

Many thanks for the detailed writeup. I recollect my memories. Several years back I attended an Akandam at Thyagaraja Vidwat Samajam.
With wishes,
Thanjavooran
10 03 2020

[HarishankarK]

Kamakshi Sri Varalakshmi - DKP version best

[sureshvv]

Sunil Gargyan presented an energetic concert to end the day. He made the concert memorable by presenting an extended alapana of vamsavati as also a not so commonly heard kriti "Tarakeswara dayanidhe" for the main.

[kvchellappa]

deleted

[CRama]

suresh, please list out the songs

[CRama]

The Following is the list of songs rendered by Dr. Vijayalakshmi Subramaniam

• Abhayambikayai aswaroodayai- Yadukulakambodi- Abhayamba Vibhakthi kriti
• Kanakambari Karunyamritalahari- Kanakambari- (R,S)
• Ekamresanayakim Easwarim- Shanmugapriya- (N,S)
• Sree Meenakshi- Gowri
• Asidvipravaraha kaschit- Ragamalika covering Deekshitar charitram composed by Mysore Vasudevachariar in ragams Gamanashrama, Arabhi, Saranga, Nagaswarali, Kedaragowla and Madhyamavati with chittaswarams for each ragam.

I got the list from my friend. Dr.VS gave valuable insights into each kriti- the vibhakti contained in the first kriti, the advaita philosophy contained in the kritis, swaraksharas found in the kritis etc.

Of the above, three kritis are new to me. The Ragamalika is a monumental one- never heard from any musician. Would like to hear these rare compositions in some concerts.

[rshankar]

Wow! Really rare ones. The only one I have heard is the one in shaNmukhapriya.

Aabhhayambikayai aswaroodayai- Yadukulakambodi- Abhayamba Vibhakthi kriti

aSvarUDhAyai (अश्वरूढायै), right?

[CRama]

I am not competent to write the spelling you have given. But I know that people will be able to identify the song correctly- as you have done.

[CRama]

One more correction from my side. I came to know that Cleveland Sundaram Sir was indisposed and hence Mr. Ramawamy of BVB had inaugurated.

[Sivaramakrishnan]

As I could not stay back for the evening slots I requested Sri Sunil Gargyan himself to inform the list of kritis he rendered at the concluding slot of the day.

(Those who heard him said it was a brilliant presentation of rare kritis of Dikshitar.)

Thanks to Sunil for forwarding the details.

1. Renukaadevi Samrakshitoham -Kannadabangaala (conjoined twin of Malahari) (Kriti on Padavedu temple.)
2. SriRaamam Ravikulaabdhisomam - Naarayanagoula
3. Bhaarati maddhishana- Devamanohari
4. Bhaktavalsalam abhishekavalliyutam- Vamsavati (equivqlent of mela 54 Vishwambari) - On Tirukkannamangai kshetra . (The kriti is marked by lengthy charana sahitya)
5. Taarakeswara dayaanidhey - Sankarabharanam- On Mayuram kshetram (The kriti rendition was preceded by raga alapana)

6. Maamavapattaabhirama- Manirangu

Anayampatti Venkatatasubramanian and B Sivaraman provided good support on Violin and Mridangam respectively.

*****
I request the organisers of the event to make available the video / audio recordings which may be of immense help to students and rasikas.