Madurai T.N.Seshagopalan at KGS on 1Sep 2010

CRama · Post by **CRama** » 02 Sep 2010, 14:08

Another brilliant concert from the master of music on the day of Gokulashtami - a special day so dear to him. TNS was accompanied by M.Chandrasekhar (Violin), Guruvayoor Dorai(Mridangam) and TV Vasan(Ghatom). Being the birthday of Krishna, all songs were on Lord Krishna. The list of songs is given below.
1.Yaar enna sonnalum anjathe nenjame-Manirang-OVK (R)
2.Sarasaksha -Panthuvarali-Swathi Thirunal (R,N,S)
3.Chetasree Baakrishnam-Dwijavanthi,MD(R,S)
4.Bagayanayya-Chandrajothi,Thyagaraja
5.Thaye Yasodha-Thodi,OVK,(R,N,S)
6Virutham-Vanna maadangal soozhum thirukkoshtiyoor nambi
Khamas,Kapi,Gopikathilakam,Saveri and Hamsanadi
7.Base Mere- Meera bhajan

TNS was in geat form. No voice,sruti problems, The start of the concert itself was unusual. The raga Manirang was elaborate. The Kriti was rendered with lot of devotion.No swaras.
Dwijavanthi was rendered exquisitely for about 15 minutes. There were some sancharams in adimandhra sthayi. Swaras were rendered in two kalams.There were very interesting combinations in the swaras. Each phrase was soaked in raga bhava. The kriti was rendered with lot of devotion. After a quick bagayanayya, Thodi was taken for elaboration. The structuring of thodi was different. Mostly it had sancharas in madhya and thara stayi and it was mostly medium tempo. This gave an indication of the song to follow-Thaye yasodha. I was hearing this song first time from him. The neraval at Kaalinil chilambu konja was very interesting. It had some unique sangathis. During neraval, he did srutibhedam to kurinji and also to Mohanakalyani. At one stage, MC told neengale paadungo..It ended with a very complex korvai.
The virutham was also rendered with full of raga bhava and emphasis on the sahithyam at approprioate places. All the ragas in the virutham were handled very beautifully. It was followed by the Meera bhajan. I left soon after.

MC provided lively accompaniment - the first rasika of TNS music. He enjoyed TNS singing and his playing throughout. Guruvayoor Dorai and TV Vasan also provided excellent support- never loud, obtrusive.
I celebrated Gokulashtami with this excellent concert of my favourite musician.

kssr · Post by **kssr** » 02 Sep 2010, 21:10

So heartening to note review after review assuring TNS's return to the days of his original excellence. A real master. Reading the review itself, brings in the temptation to go to Chennai to listen to a couple of his concerts. Who is not a rasika of TNS?

I do not remember listening to his Neraval @ Kaalinil chilambu. It is a MMI/TVS speciality. Would like to listen to it. If available some one can upload.

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 03 Sep 2010, 03:08

The viruttam should be
vaNNa mADangaL sUzh tirukkOTTiyUr
kaNNan kEsavan nambi pirandinil |
eNNai suNNam edir edir tUviDa
kaNNan muRRam kalandu aLarAyiRRE ||

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 03 Sep 2010, 04:20

While we are on the subject of tirukkOTTiyUr ( the name tirukku +OTTi + Ur ---> tirukku = misery (of the celestials and rishis); OTTi = removed, Ur = village), how come the name has been morphed into tirukkOshTiyUr?
This village was the meeting site of Lord Vishnu and the celestials and rishis in order to be out of sight of and trouble from Hiranyakasipu to discuss plans on eliminating him. The lord gave them a preview of the narasimha avatAr, according to legends.
What does tirukkOshTiyUr mean?

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 03 Sep 2010, 06:55

"Etmology, names and significance
Thirukoshtiyur, derived from its native name Thirukotiyur. During Kritha yuga, Rishis, devas and people were tortured, anguished by the asura Hiranyakashipu as the vengeance for hiranyaksha's death in hands of Lord Vishnu in the form of Varaha Avatar. Devas, Rishis approached Brahma and Shiva for the solution. In response Brahma, Shiva, all devas, Saptha Rishis decided to meet at one place to discuss regarding. Finally all chose Thirukotiyur as the spot. Together they came like a group and so the name came as Thirukoshtiyur, koshti means in group or as a team.

Thirukoshtiyur is known for its great temple, Sri Sowmya Narayana Perumal Thirukovil ( Thirukovil means temple ). One of the 108 divya desams in India."
Ref http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirukosht ... gnificance

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 03 Sep 2010, 07:42

They say not seek to know the origins of a river or a rishi (rishi mUlam nadi mUlam tEDAdE). It applies to places too, I guess. It suits anybody's fancy to offer an explanation and associate the incident with the explanation in a circuitous fashion. They call Ramanujar's guru as tirukkOshTiyUr nambi, perhaps a distortion of tirukkOTTiyUr nambi.
I thought "gOshTi"( rather than kOshTi) means group--like ghOsTi gAnam.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 03 Sep 2010, 08:04

gOShTi in Tamil script --> kOShTi

sivapriya · Post by **sivapriya** » 03 Sep 2010, 17:35

The real take -off point was in the swaras for Saarasaaksha - at the line Bhamini . The Dwijawanti that followed was a red carpet welcome in all grandeur, ushering the grand masterpiece of Dikshitar. The maestro did not leave untouched even one single nuance of the raga and sang the raga in such a unhurried and spaced out manner. The swaras were a perfect lesson in how to handle creatively a raga like Dwijawanti. So many combinations with the swaras ( R<G<N<D<P)- (M<P<D<P<S) !!

The Todi alapana was crisp and precise and Thaye Yashoda came in as a pleasant surprise. Again the Neraval and the swaras at Kaalinil Silambu, were so replete with superb and intricate patterns that were woven around the swara flow of the line . Base mere Nainana mein , was sung in the true NI style that could have challenged the most seasoned singer of that genre of music !

All in all it was as much a "listeners delight" as it was a " learners encyclopaedia" ; so much of material that any avid student of music could aspire for and learn from .

MC gave his true accompaniment support. Special mention needs to be made about Dorai sirs thani avartanam which kept the spirit of the song and the singers imagination. TV vasan followed with him intelligently.

squims · Post by **squims** » 03 Sep 2010, 17:47

It's lovely to listen to these excellent reviews about TNS sir's concerts. The only two times that I was able to listen to him live, he was in very bad form. Was painful to see the master struggle like that. These good reviews are so comforting.

A small request. Can anyone suggest some good live recordings of TNS sir at his peak?

ragam-talam · Post by **ragam-talam** » 03 Sep 2010, 17:57

A small request. Can anyone suggest some good live recordings of TNS sir at his peak?

squims, there are quite a few TNS concerts uploaded at sangeethapriya.org site.

Here's one e.g.: http://sangeethamshare.org/murthy/173-T ... land-1998/
(includes a lovely Hindolam, brilliant Todi and RTP in Sahana)

srikant1987 · Post by **srikant1987** » 03 Sep 2010, 17:58

kssr wrote:Who is not a rasika of TNS?

Me?

squims · Post by **squims** » 03 Sep 2010, 18:36

Thank you r-t. Downloading it now.

bhaktha · Post by **bhaktha** » 03 Sep 2010, 19:12

squims wrote: Can anyone suggest some good live recordings of TNS sir at his peak?

Academy: 1992 with Sri. M Chandrashekaran, Sri KV Prasad and Sri Ramachar (Panthuvarali, Karaharapriya, Nilambari, Todi)

Krishna Gana Sabha: 1986 with Nagai Sri Muralidharan, Karaikudi Sri Mani and Sri Harishankar (Varali, Chakravaham, Khamas, Todi)

Both concerts have been released as commercial recordings.

squims · Post by **squims** » 03 Sep 2010, 19:37

Any idea where I would be able to purchase those two discs?

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 03 Sep 2010, 19:51

cmlover wrote:gOShTi in Tamil script --> kOShTi

à®ªà¯à®°à®¾à®£ à®ªà¯†à®¯à®°à¯ : à®¤à®¿à®°à¯à®•à¯à®•à¯‹à®Ÿà¯à®Ÿà®¿à®¯à¯‚à®°à¯
à®Šà®°à¯ : à®¤à®¿à®°à¯à®•à¯à®•à¯‹à®·à¯à®Ÿà®¿à®¯à¯‚à®°à¯

à®¤à¯‡à®µà®°à¯à®•à®³à®¿à®©à¯ à®¤à®¿à®°à¯à®•à¯à®•à¯ˆ (à®¤à¯à®©à¯à®ªà®®à¯) à®“à®Ÿà¯à®Ÿà®¿à®¯ à®¤à®²à®®à¯ à®Žà®©à¯à®ªà®¤à®¾à®²à¯ "à®¤à®¿à®°à¯à®•à¯à®•à¯‹à®Ÿà¯à®Ÿà®¿à®¯à¯‚à®°à¯' à®Žà®©à¯à®±à¯à®®à¯ à®ªà¯†à®¯à®°à¯ à®ªà¯†à®±à¯à®±à®¤à¯.
This place got the name tirukkOTTiyUr because here the plan was hatched for narasimha avatAram to remove the misery of the celestials.
Read the sthala purANam here.
http://temple.dinamalar.com/New.aspx?id=421

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 03 Sep 2010, 21:42

mahakavi wrote:They say not seek to know the origins of a river or a rishi (rishi mUlam nadi mUlam tEDAdE). It applies to places too, I guess. It suits anybody's fancy to offer an explanation and associate the incident with the explanation in a circuitous fashion. They call Ramanujar's guru as tirukkOshTiyUr nambi, perhaps a distortion of tirukkOTTiyUr nambi.
I thought "gOshTi"( rather than kOshTi) means group--like ghOsTi gAnam.

I agree with you accordingly the derivation you posted is also somebodyâ€™s guess!
I derive it as thiru +kOTTi+ Ur = thirukkOTTiyUr which is straight forward.
KOTTi = assembly of learned persons (Rishis and devas) (Lifco Dictionary).
Later somebody sanskritized kOTTi to gOShTi for it to become thirukkOShTiyUr!

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 03 Sep 2010, 22:31

Whatever!
A name is given and a story is woven around it. What is laughable is that the site was chosen to be a secure place( like Fort Knox) to be insulated from Hiranyakasipu, while vaikuNTham itself was considered NOT impregnable. In that case Hiranyakasipu should have taken an avatAram instead of Vishnu. The pujAris became more important than gods by concocting various stories. Poor God went along for the ride.

This is another case of medium becoming the message.

Pratyaksham Bala · Post by **Pratyaksham Bala** » 03 Sep 2010, 22:57

kOTTi-Ur means a 'reputed/renowned village'.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 03 Sep 2010, 23:26

The word kOTTi does not appear to have the meaning 'famous/renowned' though it may be appropriate. But dictionary also gives the meaning
kOTTi = gateway under a tower (gOpuram).
MK can confirm whether that town is famous for the gOpuram which probably is due to Ramanujar proclaiming the aShTAkSharam from the tower!

I wonder whether the sthalapuranaas have any puranic significance or even historical basis other than being the fertile imaginations of some poet...

Pratyaksham Bala · Post by **Pratyaksham Bala** » 04 Sep 2010, 00:45

cmlover wrote:The word kOTTi does not appear to have the meaning 'famous/renowned' though it may be appropriate.

The Sanskrit word 'kOTTi' means 'famous/renowned'.
The Tamil word 'kOTTi' means a gateway.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 04 Sep 2010, 01:14

...if you mean kOTi then Apte gives the meaning:
excess/pitch/climax/excellence/...
There is no reference to kOTTi in Apte. I did not check MW..

Gadolinium · Post by **Gadolinium** » 04 Sep 2010, 01:39

squims wrote:Any idea where I would be able to purchase those two discs?

musicindiaonline has many of his recordings for live listening. (e.g.) http://www.musicindiaonline.com/#/album ... lan_Vocal/

They have the 1992 concert as well.

Listening to him, especially recordings from 80s and 90s, is pure ecstasy. I hope I get to hear, at least some snippets, from this concert. I have also been hunting for his kamala manohari RTP from sometime in the mid 80s (Academy, I think). any hope?

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 04 Sep 2010, 02:24

Gadolinium:
Are you just a metal (zerovalent state) or an active ion (trivalent)?
With a name like gadolinium you have to be a chemist.

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 04 Sep 2010, 02:42

cmlover wrote:The word kOTTi does not appear to have the meaning 'famous/renowned' though it may be appropriate. But dictionary also gives the meaning
kOTTi = gateway under a tower (gOpuram).
MK can confirm whether that town is famous for the gOpuram which probably is due to Ramanujar proclaiming the aShTAkSharam from the tower!

...

1. Yes, this temple tower is where Ramanujar climbed and declared the "Om namO nArAyaNa" to the masses against the wishes of the nambi. The nambi prohibited R from disclosing it to others lest he should go to hell. When R declared he would rather go to hell if others can go to heaven, the nambi had an instant change of heart (like it happens in the movies

) and called R "emberumAn".

2. The meaning "gateway under a tower" is not applicable in this case. Every temple has a gateway under a tower.

Gadolinium · Post by **Gadolinium** » 04 Sep 2010, 04:48

mahakavi wrote:Gadolinium:
Are you just a metal (zerovalent state) or an active ion (trivalent)?
With a name like gadolinium you have to be a chemist.

Nah, quite far actually. I would have preferred a different name if I were a chemist. I just tried different names and everything was chosen, hence..

Based on the frequency of my posts, I will call myself inert-gadolinium

t n seshagopalan · Post by **t n seshagopalan** » 04 Sep 2010, 13:15

Me?[/quote]

My dear Srikanth, but alas, I am your ardent fan!!!!!! 8)

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 04 Sep 2010, 16:48

It is time to quit such pranks, using the names of famous musicians (using internet anonymity) and making silly remarks. Although everybody knows this is a prank, it does not suit well to do so here. Pl use generic names when registering and posting.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 04 Sep 2010, 20:36

You are right MK! This is a despicable act of sabotage. We want all of you to alert us as and when you spot such dastardly encroaches. Again don't encourage such supicious characters by engaging them iin debates. Thanks!

t n seshagopalan · Post by **t n seshagopalan** » 06 Sep 2010, 14:04

Moderator,
It is ofcourse me, Madurai T.N.Seshagopalan. Nobody has resorted to any prank whatsoever. You can contact me incase u have a doubt. My mobile number is 94440 33444.

Lakshman · Post by **Lakshman** » 06 Sep 2010, 18:48

sri.Seshagopalan: It is so nice to have you participate in the discussions on our forum!

VK RAMAN · Post by **VK RAMAN** » 06 Sep 2010, 19:21

What a pleasant interaction with the master!

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 06 Sep 2010, 19:48

Before we go head over heels on this, did anyone call the master at the phone number and talk to him and make sure that it is not an impersonator? Posting in somebody's name is the "virtue" of the internet. Even giving a phone number belongs in that category. Anybody can give the phone number of celebrities. Alternatively the phone number may not be a working one. It could also be the impersonator's phone who will answer in the name of the master. So please check for all details. Verify that the phone number is truly that of TNS, and when you call make sure it is his voice--I don't know how you would do that. We have had so many internet postings on the article by TMK where the postings appeared in the name of some celebrity and then there was a denial in the name of that celebrity too. All of them could be pranks.
One last question: Why would TNS register recently in this forum just to make a trivial remark? Think about it.

cienu · Post by **cienu** » 06 Sep 2010, 20:00

I agree with MK. Someone must check. (wish we had Saroja Ramanujam on our forum ! )
Though I must hasten to add that TNS does interact with his fans on Facebook, even to the extent of wishing them on their birthdays.!

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 06 Sep 2010, 20:01

it is the same prankster again!
Please ignore the posts...

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 06 Sep 2010, 20:08

Giving an authentic phone number out in public is inviting trouble. Does he have time to talk to all and sundry, even though they may mean well? There will be a flood of calls just for the sake of having made contact with a high calibre musician.
NSG has registered in this forum but he rarely posts here. What is suspicious to me is the fact "TNS" registered on 4th Sept ostensibly to reply to srikanth and made the very first "humorous" post . Then he followed it up to "confirm" that he is the real TNS. Now when God makes an appearance in this forum would anybody believe it--- even if he declares he is the real God?

musicfan_4201 · Post by **musicfan_4201** » 06 Sep 2010, 20:10

If I were to say I checked with the maestro and it indeed is him who posted it

Will this solve the mystery.
Common guys, it is a public forum and there will be such pranksters on the proul. Ignore and move on than debating on this, giving a red carpet welcome the moment a posting is done by a chappie claiming to be ..

mankuthimma · Post by **mankuthimma** » 06 Sep 2010, 20:26

Now when God makes an appearance in this forum would anybody believe it--- even if he declares he is the real God?

An Old Joke from these columns , circulated once again
Graffiti

GOD is Time ... Signed Einstein
Next day somebody had scribbled underneath
Time is GOD .... Signed Bertrand Russel.
The next day some one else had scribbled
Come to Church this Sunday and I will show you who is GOD .... Signed Billy Graham

There was a lapse of three days and then, there was this .

Who is Billy Graham ? Signed .GOD

adiyen · Post by **adiyen** » 06 Sep 2010, 20:29

I am close to TNS for the last 40 years and I know that it is his mobile number. I have called him a number of times on this number.

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 06 Sep 2010, 20:44

My suggestion: Nobody ( legitimate ones of course) should post anymore on this thread (that includes me too after this post). If necessary this thread can be put in the closet since the original posting has served its purpose.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 06 Sep 2010, 21:21

MK
since you liked to have the last word, we oblige..
This thread is now locked..