Priya Sisters-SICA-Hyderabad-April 10, 2012

[revanthv552]

South Indian Cultural Association and Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams have together conducted a two day music festival as a dedication to Annamayya. First day was a concert by Malladi Brothers and the second day, the concert was by Priya Sisters. Both the duos are very well known for their command in the subject of Annamacharya keerthanams and I really was happy they were chosen. And as the theme speaks for itself, all the songs sung in this concert were exclusively Annamacharya's compositions. I could not make it to the concert of Malladi Brothers but I did make it to the concert of Priya sisters. Every moment of that concert was oozing with amazing bhakthi bhavam. The pronunciation of the lyrics, the ragas in which the songs were set, the way each song was sung, the choices, the manner of rendition, the treatment, everything was so enjoyable. The raga choice was very wide. And each time they sang a raga, they succeeded in setting a beautiful atmosphere all around the hall. Each song excelled in every manner. It was a thorough journey into the bhakthi bhavam of Annamacharya's compositions.

The duo was supported by Sri M A Krishnaswami on the violin, Sri Neyveli Skandasubhramanian on the mridangam and Sri Madipakkam Murali on the ghatam.

The song list is as follows

1. a) Srimatvadeeya charithamritha-Bowli-Slokam
b) Harikrishna Meluko adi purusha-Bowli
2. Tiru Tiru javaraala-Gambheeranata
3. Nallanimeni nagavujupula vaadu-Poorvikalyani [S]
4. Adivishnuveethade Ateramma-Anandhabhairavi[R]
5. Vaadala Vaadala venta-Vasantha
6. a)Padhyam: "Gyanamu kora bhogabhagyamula kora"
b) Mariyendhu gathi-Saramathi [R]
7. Chaalu Chaalu-Mukhari
8. Daachuko nee paadhaalaku-Arabhi
9. Ghummani yedi sruthi-Bhairavi[R,N,S]
10. Naarayana nee-Hindolam
11. Vemana Satakam-Bhagesri, Hamsanandhi-Bowli
Ekkadi manusha janmam-bowli
12. Narayanasya parabhramma-Slokam
Adhimapurushudeethadachyuthudu-Des
13. Podhikka ennadu-Revathi
14. Kaligenidhey naaku-Sindhubhairavi
15. Nede Pelli Vela Nede Nagavalli-Abheri
16. Thelisithey-Revathi
17. Lalanuchu nucheru-Madhyamavathi
18. Marali Marali Jayamangalamu-Brindavani

Annamacharya compositions are generally reserved for the end of the concert as thukkada pieces. But this concert made me believe that Annamayya's compositions deserve more respect and treatment than what they get right now. Each song is such a beautiful masterpiece. So much of devotion! So much of vividness in the devotion! Once he pleas, once he praises saying that God is everything, once he tells God about himself, once he blames him, Once he narrates his beauty, Once he narrates the scene between the Lord and the Goddess, once he sings philosophy, once he is simple in his compositions, once he is so complex, once its telugu and once its sanskrit! This way all the 9 forms of devotion must have been covered by this great saint. Each song is a masterpiece and I believe he must be the only composer to have composed 32000 compositions!

The concert began with a beautiful slokam praising the Composer. This was followed by a melukolupu, a song waking the Lord from his sleep. This was on Lord Krishna. The composer says, Lord Krishna, please wake up and after you wake up, without fail look at me. It was such a beautiful song showing all the longing the devotee had for the Lord's presence.

The Gambeeranata composition was spectacular. The mridangam took the song to new level. This song was such a beautiful one. The song was on the Goddess Alamelumanga. The lyrics were in folk Telugu with phrases like "thi thi thi thi", "majjA majjA","dhimmi dhimmi thonga thonga" and "bhaLA bhaLA". It was thoroughly enjoyable to everyone from a layman to a scholar. The raga Gambheeranata was such a perfect choice for the flow of words.

The next song was the beautiful Poorvikalyani. "This Lord, is the one with black colored body and who smiles(nagavu) with his sight(chupulavAdu)! This Lord is the God with White eyes". The song describes the Lord in an extra ordinary manner. The rhythm in the words of this song was woven were intelligently.

The Anandabhairavi composition was preceded by a short alapana. The song talked about birth scene of Lord Krishna. As the moon rises (chanduru nudhaya vELa), Devaki has given birth to a boy(kandhuva dEvaki bidda kanenamma), To catch a glimpse of this, Bhrama and his entire parivaara stands outside the house where the birth happened (puritinti vaakita). The rhythm in this song was also amazing. "Vasudevuni inta vaikunta naadhudE sisuvAi avatharinchi chelagEnamma". The Lord of Vaikunta, became a little kid in the house of Vasudeva. This way there were many beautiful lines! I was particularly moved by the line which says that this boy who is extremely little (isumantha vAdu) is the one who gave the abhayam (gift of fearlessness) to all the sages and saints. I know my translation is totally inaccurate. But I wish I could convey atleast 0.5% of the essence the lyrics had.

A composition in Vasantha came up next! I could not place the meaning of the word “jAjara”. But as there is the verb, “challEru” (which means sprinkling) before it, I think that is a reference to perfume. The song was saying that it is spring season when the Lord is around! When he smiles, it’s the spring of camphor. When he looks, it’s the spring of water lilies. When he talks, it’s the spring of saffron. In this manner there were references to spring of musk, spring of pearls, spring of pollen grains etc. The metaphors and the other figures of speech in the song gave it a total outstanding feel. And the raga was so apt to the lyrics.

Saramathi alapana was initiated by Shanmukhapriya. Then Haripriya sang a padhyam whose meaning can be summarized as “Neither do I ask for wisdom nor for luxuries or pleasures, for whatever you give me, I accept it as my fate. I chant “Hari! Hari! Krishna! Krishna! Steer my life! Oh the ocean of mercy! Steer my life”. The padhyam was perfect for the keerthanam that followed. The song describes the devotee surrendering to the Lord. Nothing could have been better than Saramathi to give the best feel of this song. “Mariyendhu Gathiledhu” I had tears understanding the meaning of this song. It was set to simple telugu. The composer says that he has no other direction to resort, except the feet of the one who married Goddess Lakshmi. There is one line which means, “I am a person who fell into the ocean of this life’s monotony. I struggle and drown. To prevent this from happening, I can resort to only one direction which is: chanting your name. That name becomes the raft that helps me sail through this tumultuous ocean of life. “

The quick mukhari came up next followed by a grand Arabhi.
The Arabhi composition is believed to be the last song of Annamacharya. The sisters rendered this composition with amazing feel. They delivered each word of this song in an extremely beautiful manner.

In this song, Annamacharya places all his keerthanams at the feet of the Lord as an offering. The composer says. “Oh my Father (Ayya)! Preserve these (dAchukO)! These are the offerings I have for you (nE jEsina pUjalivi)”

First charanam’s meaning is as follows
“One sankeerthana is enough for all of us to be protected by you. Let the rest of them remain in your custody. The chant of your name is the source of all satisfaction. This chant’s price(vela) is inexpensive (sulabhamu) but the fruit(phalam) of that is immensely high (adhikamu). These sankeerthanams are the limitless treasures.”

Second charanam’s meaning is as follows
“You adorned my tongue and made me sing all these compositions. You are the Lord with a thousand names. Who am I after all to sing your glory? All this is just a boon you granted by you to me ( Annamayya talks about all the ability to compose sankeerthanams)”

Third charanam’s meaning is as follows:
“Lord! Please don’t find faults with me. I did not do this out of pride. All this writing about your glory is not something I did on my own. It was a result of my endless belief in you! I am a slave to you! You are my father! Venkateswara!”

The Bhairavi was fantastic. It was a very grand composition. The treatment on the violin was outstanding. The song had a detailed neraval at the lines “Venkatapathi ani Vedha nilayudani” The neraval and swarakalpana were very detailed. The patterns chosen for swarakalpana were immensely beautiful and they went like some sort of enjoyable competition between the sisters. Sadly, there was no thaniavarthanam.

The latter half of the concert had a beautiful balance of famous and not-so-popular songs. The ragas were repeated. Nevertheless, they thoroughly entertained the audience. Specially, Kaligenidhe naaku kaivalyamu, the audience kept clapping throughout in rhythm. The composition “Podhdhika ennadu podachunu” was so beautifully rendered. The raga clearly demonstrated the longing of the devotee for the Lord. Thelisithey mokshamu was also wonderfully received by the audience. The song is a philosophical number which says “If there is wisdom, it leads to mOksha. If not, it leads to Karma.” The charanam has even more beautiful wordings “ To the person who decides to have no attachments towards his body, what is a continuous joy? what is unbearable sorrow? To the yogi who knows what is wise, What is puNyam? What is pApam?” Finally he says that, “Lord Venkateswara resides in one’s mind. To that person who has him in his mind, what is this way? What is that way? Everything culminates unto him!”

The concert that began with a melukolupu ended with a jolapaata in the raga Madhyamavathy.

As I listened to each song of this concert, my heart bowed down to Annamacharya in reverence. As each song was rendered, the bhavam kept playing the strings of my heart and I was filled with unexplainable, indescribable eternal joys. I wanted to share that feeling with fellow rasikas, who can appreciate it. My efforts to translate the lyrics were a vague attempt to convey the feel in those compositions and the ripples each song caused in my heart. I apologize if I conveyed something wrong or if my translations were inefficient. But for sure, Annamacharya just is a magical composer.
From simple folk numbers to complicated philosophy, every type of song was written by Annamacharya. That shows the nine forms of bhakthi are clearly displayed in his compositions on Lord Venkateswara. Annamacharya is one of the greatest composers we have ever come across and I hope more and more compositions of his, surface in the concerts.

As I spoke of all the goods, let me also tell the little things that I felt in the other side too. I wish there was a thaniavarthanam, atleast a short one. Not having any thaniavarthanam disappointed me a little. And the sisters spent lot of time discussing what to sing on the stage. After every song, they kept navigating from book to book and pages to pages. Wish that did not happen. However I understand everything has a reason behind it and thinking from the artiste point of view, probably a justifiable answer will be understood by us. As I discussed enough good about the concert, I felt I must also mention a few things I did not enjoy enough about the concert too. But everything aside, it was an amazing concert!

Priya sisters definitely must be considering Annamacharya close to their heart. Their knowledge in Telugu, their efforts to understand the feel behind each composition and also their efforts to retain the essence of every feeling woven in the composition while presenting them to the audience makes them extra ordinary with Annamacharya krithis. It was a blissful experience listening to them. Majority of the audience who came yesterday were all normal listeners (not the scholarly critics or the knowledgeable mammoths of music) and Priya sisters enthralled everyone in the auditorium with the melody in their voice, devotion in their renditions and perfect synchronization between one another.

I definitely must thank TTD and SICA for organizing this wonderful concert of Priya sisters who enthralled the audience in every way possible.

[rshankar]

Revanth...a gem of a review...I appreciate the trouble you've taken to provide the jist of the songs...keep them coming! And yes, annamAcArya has composed kRtis that run the gamut - from ones that ooze devotion, to ones that brim with sRngAra! An amazing man indeed.

[rajeshnat]

revanthv552
For the age that you are , you are more and more maturing as a great listener. You are slowly getting every theme and your reviews are faithfully in line with the theme . Your review comes right from your heart and I guess with your understanding of telugu , you seem to connect too easily the undercurrent of each of the compositions. For me the song list is entirely new excepting the telisite mokshatamu ,which I have heard from malladis and shri nedanuri.

Your review is the thani revan(r)thanam.

[MV]

What a fabulous review. As I read it, my heart bowed down to Annamacharya in reverence. Thanks for sharing your experience.

[shreedarshan]

Thanks a lot revanth for such a wonderful concert review. It must have been amazing listening to every composition of Annamacharya being rendered so beautifully filled with devotion by Priya sisters.

[revanthv552]

@rshankar, cannot disagree with you. The sringara rasam in his songs is of a total different level. Thank you so much for your compliments about the review

@rajeshnat, Hahaha! Thank you so much I am indeed very very happy to read this comment of yours. I owe the quality I earned in my abilities to listen and write reviews, to this forum. This forum has helped me grow as a listener and I take inspiration from every forumite. I am happy my reviews are able to give a good picture to everyone. Thanks again for your lovely comment. And I also agree with you, my understanding of Telugu is indeed helping me experience the very essence of the compositions.

@MV, thank you so much.
@shreedarshan, yes, it was a bliss! Specially the sincerity in which they rendered each song and the devotion established a connection with every rasika in the auditorium