The Dhanammal Legacy - with Family Photos

[RaviSri]

I don't know how the smiley came in place of 8. I don't use such things.

The atmosphere at such concerts (as at MS's house or Brinda's house) was rather informal with a lot of banter, conversation between the vidvan and the audience etc. Mostly only invitees were allowed. Everyone knows that all and sundry couldn't enter MS's house (that was not her doing anyway). None was invited for Muktamma's singing at MS's house in 2002. Only Mukthamma, Sowmya, Mukthamma's daughter and members of the MS family were present. Since MS and Mukthamma were related, and since she liked their music, Mukthamma would be invited to sing whenever MS wanted to listen to her. I was invited to Viswa's concert at MS's house only because I was a disciple of Mukthamma.

The atmosphere at Brindamma's house would be more informal with cousins, Sankaran, Mukthamma and Viswa (from the stage) indulging in friendly banter. Viswa would often forget the sAhitya in a song. Mukthamma would correct him, sometimes saying, "You are 12 years younger to me and you are forgetting. It takes a toNDu kizhavi to remind you." When Brindamma was alive there would be more fun. Of course Viswa would play (sing) seriously. They never let you go away without having dinner after the concert. At Brindamma's house you could gatecrash with people thinking you might be a disciple or simply an ardent rasika. Whoever came, Brindamma would personally welcome him/her by getting up from her seat on the verandah. She insisted on people being present before the concert began, not barge in afterwards. And woe betide anyone who tried to sneak away after the concert without having dinner. And what delicious dinners she would host! Well, those times now belong to dreams!

[rshankar]

RaviSri - thank you for both the list of songs, and a glimpse of the ambience at these concerts!

I don't know how the smiley came in place of 8. I don't use such things.

It is not of your conscious doing! The numeral 8 followed by a ')' without a space are the keystrokes needed to create a smiley face! I have started to use numerals by themselves, or with a period after, to avoid this.

(mod note: Fixed by inserted a space between '8' and ')'. )

Well, those times now belong to dreams!

Which is why you have to put them down in print, for the likes of us to experience vicariously. (and that was intended)...

[vasanthakokilam]

As per the requests, The Viswa posts have been moved to the Viswa thread: http://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic. ... 14#p222414

[varsha]

What a Picture !!! The Gods must have descended to Earth that day , to watch this spectacle

[RaviSri]

This photo was taken in 1987 January on the sadas day of the Music Academy conference which was the 60th, diamond jubilee conference held for almost 18 days in December 1986. All Sangeeta Kalanidhis were present on that occasion, the others not in the picture being seated to KVN's right. On another day in December that year we had Balamurali (1978), K.S.Narayanaswami (1979), T.N.Krishnan (1980, TMT (1981), Doreswamy Iyengar (1984) and S.Ramanathan (1985) besides Semmangudi (1947), MS (1968), DKP (1970), T.Brinda (1976) and MLV (1977), the years in brackets being the years they got their SKs respectively. Starting from Semmangudi and ending with S.Ramanathan they all sat in a semi circle from left to right and were seated according to the year they were honoured. It was nice watching that spectacle. It was a function to honour all the SKs and to celebrate the golden jubilee of the Music Academy. There must be a picture of that with the Academy. It would be good if the Academy bureaucrats stopped snoring, lifted themselves out of their slumber and posted such rare pictures on their website, rather than slides of their mutual back slapping and furious dining in their AGM meets.

[Ramasubramanian M.K]

Ravi Sri: Your wish about the MA bureaucrats emerging from their slumbers--Fat Chance!!! they would put Rip Van Winkle to shame by topping his record!!!

[RaviSri]

Well MKR, at least they get up once a year to conduct what they call their annual conference, which for the last more than 20 years has been nothing more than a series of concerts from morning till night. There is nothing academic about the Academy now and I feel it is high time they changed their title from annual con-ference to annual con-certs.

[archa]

The Music Academy has been doing excellent work in the last more than 80 years. It is unfair to criticise them. Much of our knowledge stems from the great musical work that the MA did all these years. Even seniors in this forum must have derived a great part of their knowledge from attending MA concerts and lecdems. We should not ridicule a guru type of institution. Some people may be miffed at their favourite musicians not getting SK title. But there must be solid reasons for that. On that account ridiculing a great institution is uncalled for.

[ramanathan]

Mukthamma at MS's house: I don't know all the pieces that she rendered because I was not present. But I heard she sang vINA pustakadhAriNi (vEgavAhini of Dikshitar), shankarAchAryam (shankarAbharaNam of Subbarama Dikshitar), amba nIlAmbari (nIlAmbari of Ponniah), pArvati ninnu (kalgaDA of Shyama Sastri), rAma rAma (bhairavi padam, payyadA (nAdanAmakriya padam), sakhi prANa (senchuruTTi)

I had the good fortune of attending this private performance at MS Amma's house! And the song list is accurate to the best of my memory

[ramanathan]

...None was invited for Muktamma's singing at MS's house in 2002. Only Mukthamma, Sowmya, Mukthamma's daughter and members of the MS family were present...

True! I must thank Smt. Sowmya and her father for letting me tag along to this one, primarily as a driver. We picked up Mukthamma from her house in Gandhinagar and drove to Kotturpuram. One of my priceless memories... I wish I had the presence of mind that day to carry a camera!

[MV]

I generally read the Kutcheri Review only getting to other topics when I have time. But thanks to a snide reference by a forumite in the Review section about this thread (even that served its purpose )), I have spent a very entertaining afternoon reading this fantastic thread. Thank you all for your reminisces. There was even mention of my Guru Bombay S Ramachandran and brought to memory some sarcastic gems he's littered my years of learning with him. )

[RaviSri]

The photos in this thread are only partly visible. Why? Can anything be done about it?

[balakk]

[Shivadasan]

Balakk,

Where did you get this rare photograph?

Has any one any idea who the musicians in this photograph are ?
One possibility is that the the person with the violin can be Thirukkodikkaval Krishna Iyer.
The face of the person above him is familiar and I remember to have seen his photo in some music books.

The lady should of course be Dhanammal

Shivadasan

[balakk]

Shivadasan Sir,

picture 1:


picture 2:


From this book on Balasaraswati
http://books.google.co.in/books?id=Q3Es ... mal&f=true

[vasanthakokilam]

BTW, just as FYI, post #3 of this thread has a higher fidelity version of the group photo to above: http://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic. ... 84#p206384

Rsachi, you asked about why the photos are only partially visible. There is something with the forum software about displaying photos of bigger sizes. Until that is taken care of, do this. Right click, select Copy Image Location and then paste it to a new tab.

[Shivadasan]

Sri balakk,

Thank you very much for the information.
Shivadasan

[cienu]

An interview with Anirudh Knight - Grandson of Balamma, by Gowri Ramnarayan which appeared in "The Hindu" Aug 28th 2009.
http://www.thehindu.com/arts/dance/it-i ... e10660.ece

[arasi]

Cienu,
Thank you for the interview which gives a glimpse into the mind of an artiste who was born into an age old tradition and took it upon himself to keep it going.

In Aniruddh's own words: No, it's not entertainment.It's not a 'nice', 'likeable' style but an art which demands that you meet it half way. Then, it transforms you.

[Aditto]

Senior vidvans/vidhushis stopped attending the Tiruvaiyyaru Aradhana from the mid-1980s itself. They would attend the Aradhana at the Thyagaraja Vidvat Samajam in Mylapore, Madras. Balamuralikrishna was the President of the Samajam for a few years, upto 1990. He would personally call up vidvans and request them to participate. Very few could refuse. And he conducted the Aradhana in an exemplary way. In January 1989 the Aradhana was attended by Semmangudi, MS, Brinda, Muktha, PSN, KVN, Vellore Ramabhadran, UKS, Guruvayur Dorai etc. After the exquisite Pancharatna rendition by all, which was far removed from the cacophony we witness at Tiruvaiyyaru, Balamurali requested MS to sing. She sang a couple of songs. I think it was Vijaya Rajendran who accompanied her. Balamurali then requested Brinda to sing. Now, none ever dared to ask Brinda to sing, but the way in which Balamurali requested and the hallowed atmosphere persuaded her to sing. And she and Muktha started on ‘kArubAru’. After the first line, Muktha signalled to MS to sing along. MS looked at Sadasivan who nodded and she sang with them. Balamurali provided viola accompaniment, UKS, Vellore and Dorai played the mridangam. Oh, the rendition was…..I cannot describe it. Sublime is the only word. MS sang exactly like B-M with no deviation in any sangati and the three voices blended beautifully. That is why cienu, I was asking you about kArubAru,.

B-M then went on to sing sItAvara sangIta jnAnamu which MS indicated to Muktha that she did not know.

After the programme was over they all came down the platform. We were standing near B-M. Semmangudi asked one of us, “Tell me where is this Sampradaya?” I replied that it was on Oliver Road. “Oliver Road-nu cholladEy, musiri subramaniam salai-nnu chollu. nAn dan MGR-kiTTa anda pEra vekka chonnEn” at which Brinda retorted, “Oh, Iyerwal, what a great service! Have you heard about a poor old lady called Veena Dhanammal. There is no road or street named after her. Probably she did not deserve the recommendations of periya manuShAL like you”. Semmangudi could do nothing other than grin sheepishly.

http://sanjaysub.blogspot.in/2014/07/ty ... for-0.html

This is how the environment might have looked !! Though the picture might not relate the above narration !!

[thanjavooran]

Shri Aditto
Thanx for sharing. Is it TT Vasu in the Aradhana facing us?
Thanjavooran
12 07 2014

[cienu]

Yes it is TT Vasu.
To MSS's left is Smt. Sundaram (Sundha Mami , student of Brindamma.)

[MaheshS]

BUMP. Aplogies if this has been posted before.

Tribute to Brinda from SRJ

That Shankarabaranam and me thinking of their Akshayalinga Vibho. Aha.

[SrinathK]

From another post - after dredging and mining sangeethapriya and Youtube, the following are the list of padams and javali recordings I found of Brinda & Mukta :

1) rAma rAma prAna sakhi - bhairavi
2) paripOvalara - bilahari
3) mEragadu rAmmannave (A: moratOpu) - sahAnA
4) parulanna mATa - kApi
5) mOsamAye gadavE - Ahiri
6) kuvalayAkshirO yeppaDi - gauLipantu
7) ayyayyO marapAyana (A : neyyamuna) - ghAnTa
8) vaDharaka pOvE (A: Adiyoka) - kAmbhOji
9) sAmi rAra - ragamalika
10) kasiki poyEne (A: osOsi) - mukhAri
11) AdinOmu phalamu (A : yAla padareme) - bEgaDa
12) E matalAdina (A: tAmarasAksha) - yadukula kAmbhOji
13) Emi mAyamu - kAmbhOji
14) ittanai tulambaramAi - dhanyAsi
15) marubAri tALanEnurA - khamAs
16) meragAdu lEchi - aThANA
17) nArImaNI kainadirA - khamAs
18) nee mAtale - pUrvikalyAni
19) paTTakurA - Anandabhairavi
20) payyadA - nAdanAmakriyA
21) sakhi prAna - chechuruTTi
22) smarasundarAnguni - paras
23) vagalADi bodana laku - behAg
24) vElavarE umai tEDi - bhairavi
25) yAr pOi solluvAr - thODi
26) yArukahilum bhayama - bEgaDa
27) ninnu jUDa - punnAgavarALi
28) pusalaramu - thODi
29) telisenu rA - sAvErI
30) ennATi - thODi
31) mariyAda teliyakanE - suruTTi
32) entaTi kuluke - kalyANi
33) tiruvOTTriyur thyAgarAjan - aThANA
34) idaiviDa innum - sAvErI
35) etthaikanDu - kalyANi
36) Ela rADAyanE - bhairavi
37) valapudAcha - varALi
38) vaddaNTEnE - pantuvarALi
39) gaddari vagalama - kalyANi
40) samayamidE rArA - behAg
41) inta mOham EmirA (A : sunta sEpu dAni) - shankarAbharanam
42) iNTiki rAniccEnA (A : goNTukADu muvvagOpAla) - suruTTi
43) muTTa vaddurA - sAvErI
44) vAnipondu chAlu vaddanE - kAnaDA

[SrinathK]

If any rasikas have any other recordings of padams and javalis either by Brinda-Mukta or others in their style, please do share the details here.

[SrinathK]

Here's a rare video of T Brinda singing along with Kiranavali Vidyashankar (right?) - taken just about 8 months before her passing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5J4qXn8n7UY&t=234s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZnUHv_pwQU&t=2005s

[SrinathK]

Documentary on T Brinda excerpt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrIveygyItc

[rbharath]

Here's a rare video of T Brinda singing along with Kiranavali Vidyashankar (right?) - taken just about 8 months before her passing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5J4qXn8n7UY&t=234s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZnUHv_pwQU&t=2005s

This was a concert she sang at the Nanganallur Anjaneyar temple. It is indeed Kiranavali who is singing pin pattu. I remember seeing this video fully. The junior concert before Brinda amma's concert was by a young TM Krishna. The one-hour video had 10 min of TMK and remaining of Brinda amma. That khpriya varNam is etched in memory and gives me goosebumps whenever i recollect. Had missed this somewhere and was frantically looking for it, for years now. Much thanks for posting these links Srinath.

[ksivapra]

Does anyone know where to get Dhanammal's recordings?

[RSR]

Would like to share a very moving blog on VeeNai DhanammaaL by
SriramV today.
https://sriramv.wordpress.com/2020/01/2 ... al-wealth/
------------------------
Some excerpts.

"It was in the house in Ramakrishna Chetty Street that Dhanam’s famed Friday evening concerts took place. A reclusive personality who spoke little, the old lady’s house received visitors on this day and they quietly made their way to the tiny room on the first floor. There Dhanam held court, veena in hand. Near-blind by then, she was kept informed as to who had come and she would throw each visitor a curt word of welcome. And then the veena performance would begin. Nobody could speak, keep time, clear their throat, sneeze or clap. Vendors shouting out their wares would be turned away at the entrance of the street and neighbouring households would reduce all activity to a minimum to ensure perfect silence was maintained. The performance lasted till 8.00 pm when the cannon in Fort St George sounded the hour. The numbers that attended these performances were small – the room could not accommodate more than 30 people at any time- but they were all great scholars and aficionados of the art. Discreet donations and contributions by these people kept the old lady financially afloat.
Not that Dhanam really cared. It was said that on one occasion that a visiting Taluqdar of Awadh was so blown away by her veena recital that he placed Rs 116 at her feet. Dhanam immediately asked Ramaniah Chetty to fetch Abdul Kareem Khan of the Kirana Gharana who was then visiting the city and was a great fan of her’s. A performance by the ustad followed and the money was given to him as his fee.
----------
This was also the home to which several musicians came of an afternoon, to learn some songs. The names are legendary – Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Iyengar, Musiri Subramania Iyer, Parur Sundaram Iyer, Madras Lalithangi and Tiruvarur Rajayi. In some cases it was an exchange – Dhanam taught and learnt from Kanchipuram Naina Pillai. To some she gave freely – Calcutta Gauhar Jan and Abdul Kareem Khan learnt Carnatic songs from her and released discs of these. Some she adored and they reciprocated in full – Tiruvottiyur Tyagier and Tiger Varadachariar were two such. A younger musician whose talents she admired was the nagaswaram maestro Tiruvavaduturai Rajarathinam Pillai
---------------
By 1937, Dhanam was sinking. A trio who regularly called on her and delighted in music at this time comprised TT Krishnamachari, then businessman and a leading light of the Congress (later to become Union Minister), SY Krishnaswami, ICS and ND Varadachariar, lawyer. Another regular was R Rangaramanuja Iyengar, the fiery and acerbic music critic and scholar, who learnt from her.
-------------------------------
it was at the home of T Jayammal, her third child, that she passed away in October 1938. The pallbearers included TT Krishnamachari, violinist Papa KS Venkataramiah and Kasturi Srinivasan of The Hindu.

[Pratyaksham Bala]

Javali 'nArImaNI kainadrirA' by Veenai Dhanammal
https://youtu.be/Kf2eE-R_rko?t=1

For lyrics & meaning :-
viewtopic.php?t=12771&__cf_chl_jschl_tk ... NwRx9zDEkA

[shankarank]

Mridangam Solo (Video) by Sri T Ranganathan

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1187851351386441

[shankarank]

Smt. Dhanammal's vINA recital consolidated:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEB9vZpIIR4

[shankarank]

Smt. T Brinda interview here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfU2eH93bbE

[shankarank]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3k7frfM6vg

The rasali rendition is a relish - don't miss it! Vervy! So also dinamanivamsa.

[shankarank]

A SankarbharaNam Alapana by Smt. T Jayammal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0_Qbv57pRs

[shankarank]

This seems a full concert of the same?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sRLPqa ... oNarayanan

A vervy tanavaari (bEGaDa) and a charming venkatasaila (hamir KalyANi of SrI Subbarama dIkshitar).