RAMAKRISHNAN MURTHY AT SRINGERI SARADA TEMPLE, T.NAGAR

[CRama]

The Sringeri Sarada Temple in Venkatnarayana Road, T.Nagar conducts music festival every year in connexion with Ramanavami celebrations. On 13 April 2016, the ever charming Ramakrishnan Murthy provided a Sangeetaradhana at the temple Meditation and Prayer Hall where the concert is held right in front of the sanctum of Adi Sankara, Sringeri Acharyas, Saradambal, Ganapthi etc. He was accompanied by Dr.Hemalatha on the Violin and Vijay Natesan on the Mridangam. List of songs.

1. Jagadanandakaraka-Nata- T
2. Saketanagaranaatha-Harikambodi-Mysore Sadasiva Rao (S)
3. Amma Ravamma- Kalyani- T (R,N,S)
4. Sree Ramam Ravikulabdhisomam- Narayanagowla- MD
5. Orajoopu- Kannadagowla-T
6. Vidhi Mukham Bhoja hamsi Sarade- Kambodi- Jagadguru Chandrasekara Bharathi swami of Sringeri
7. Slokam- Sree Sankara guru Samhitha padayugale- Hatakambari-Jagadguru Chandrasekara Bharathi swami of Sringeri
8. Nanmayum selvamum- Slokam- Sindubhairavi
9. Ramanai tharuvay- Sindubhairavi- AK
10. Vanga kadal-Suruti- Tiruppavai
11. Pavamana

RKMurthy has already won rasikas all over the globe with his serene, sowkhyam laced music and vidwath laden concerts. His assets being sruti sudham, pliable voice, good manodharmam, padantharam, stage manners and presence. These attributes along with the KVN favourites he successfully spreads the KVN aura in all the concerts. This has already been reported by myself and many others in this forum- not that I am telling anything new. But in this concert, there were a few non KVN items which he handled with aplomb. Some people have pointed out that he had some voice problems in some of the concerts. Fortunately, in this concert, he did not have any problems with his voice and it was fully at his command.

The venue. The temple is in the busy Venkatnarayana Road and the concert is held right in front of the sanctum where people congregate for darshan and there ought to be frequent disturbances. This is the first time I was going for a concert in that venue. I could witness that the divinity of the venue with the holy sanctum in the front brings out the best in the musician. The devotees enter through a side entrance and the artistes are not disturbed by the entry or exit of the devotees. People who came to hear the concert had to sit in front of the artistes on the floor and I was happy to see nobody leaving out in the middle of the concert. There was provision for sitting for people like me in the sideways. I got a good seat facing the dais. So my enjoyment doubled.

The concert. Being a Ramanavami concert, there were enough songs on Rama and the venue being Sarada temple, there were songs on Saradambal composed by Jagadguru Chandrasekara Bharathi Swami of Sringeri Mutt which have been set to tune by Sri. R.K. Sreeramkumar, the Guru of Ramakrishnanmurthy. The spright start with Jagadanandakaraka set the tone for the concert. The second one, Saketanagaranatha of Mysore Sadasiva Rao- is a favourite of mine greatly impressed by the rendition of the same by KVN and GNB especially the neraval at Rajitha amarapala ramachandra bhoopala. RKMurthy rendition was on the same lines of KVN, but he eschewed neraval. A few quick bouts of swaras at pallavi imported the required gusto at the initial stages of the concert. Swaras could have been extended little further. The mike played hide and seek and for most of concert, the volume was low. I even went and requested the mike man to increase it- but not with much success. I presume the abysmally low volume of the violin prompted RKM to end the swaras short.

The sub main – or the first main- it will be more appropriate to call- was the majestic Kalyani. Kalyani, when taken for elaboration at the early stage of a concert definitely brings a weight to the concert. The raga was explored with telling details in a comprehensive manner for about 7 minutes and the mighty song of Thyagaraja in Khanda Chapu was taken for a majestic presentation. The cascade of sangathis was in tact and Khanda Chapu is anybody’s delight for elaborate swara exercises. Neraval was done at Nee mrdu tanuvunu gani nee parimalamunu gani nee mahatvamunu gani Neerajakshi and swaras were sung for Tamarasa dala netrudu Thyagarajuni mitrudu. RKM presented very intelligent combinations of swaras never once sacrificing aesthetics for virtuosity. It is very difficult to attain this discretion at a very young age and this is the USP of RKM. The entire song took 30 minutes. The rare song Sree Ramam is making its repeated presence on account of Rama Navami and as I wrote in an earlier review, the irreversible stamp of Semmangudi was there in the rendering of this song. I am very happy about it.

The (second) Main was Kambodi. The alapana had all the necessary flourishes, melodious karvais, gamakams, long sancharas, time tested pidis all in the right proportion building up the magnificent edifice of Kambodi for 7 minutes. The song was a new one for me. It had the tightness of a Deekshitar kriti which was handled with the right gowravam for a main song. There was no neraval, and the swaras in attractive rhythmic patterns at Sarade were applauded by the discerning rasikas. The entire song took 35 minutes. Post thani, RKM presented another song of the same composer and tunesmith, Sree Sankara guru Samhitha padayugale in Hatakambari preceded by a slokam in the same ragam. The tail enders soaked in raga bhavam and sahithya bhavam brought a solemn finish to the concert.

Dr. Hemalatha with her manodharmam in raga alapanas and violin returns embellished the concert to a great extent. But mike was the culprit for most of the time. The thani by Vijay Natesan, groomed in Mumbai by Nandakumar and later honed by TVG was brief but highly enjoyed by the rasikas. An excellent concert for two hours.

[thanjavooran]

Thanx for the review. Good selection of songs. Inclusion of compositions by Sringeri Peetathipathi is very apt since the venue is Saradambal temple.
Thanjavooran
15 04 2016

[Govindaswamy]

Tamarasa dala netrudu Thyagarajuni mitrudu.

Sri V.Govindan in his blog gives this line as "
tAmarasa daLa nEtru tyAgarAjuni mitru"

Some people sing this as "tAmarasa daLa nEtri tyAgarAjuni mitri".
In this alternative these phrases appear to be addressed to Tulasamma. If so the last line "prEmatO Siramunanu peTTukonnAD(a)Ta" will
have to be understood as VishNu prEmatO Siramunanu peTTukonnAD(a)Ta.
Which is the correct version. All three make sense.
Govindaswamy

[Rsachi]

For RKM

For CRama!!!