A Titan moves on : Sri. K. Srikantiah (1928-2024)
A Titan Moves On
This morning, I received a call from Smt. Mysore Prabha, an only child of Sri. K. Srikantiah, well known to Carnatic rasikas around the world for the blog, ‘A home called Parvathi”. Sri KS had moved on…passing away in his sleep in the hospital last night at 2:30AM.
A full life of 96 years has come to an end. A titan has moved on. A man who endeared himself to musicians and rasikas around the world by hosting home concerts for over 70 years has breathed his last. The famous ‘A home called Parvathi, Mysore” will miss its patriarch forever.
Or, Will not Sri. KS, like the ever-green musicians we have seen -Lalgudi, Madurai Somu and GNB, adorn the celestial spheres and live forever in the world of music? In fact, I believe so. If there is indeed ‘The Next World” for all of us, it better be full of music, and give us rasikas like Sri. KS and the ever-great musicians we know in Carnatic music.
As someone who spent a few teen years in Mysore in the sixties, I knew of the “PuttuRao Family” and their music concerts. I also knew that the family was behind the establishment of the famous Chowdiah Hall on Sankey Tank Road in later years. But I really came to know about the family when they started a blog in 2009 called “A home called Parvathi” to share archived recordings. I came from Australia where I was then, met Sri. KS, and volunteered to work on the blog> I became a lifelong friend and a great admirer of Sri K. Srikantiah.
Sri. KS was one of the many distinguished sons of the famous Mysore lawyer Sri. K. Putturao. Sri. Putturao had played a big role in the running of the famous Bidaram Krishnappa Prasanna Sitarama Mandira, working closely with the legendary violinist Mysore T. Chowdiah. Sri. Putturao died in his fifties. Of his many sons, a 28-year old Srikantiah, just married, inherited his passion for culture and Carnatic music. He pursued this passion from 1958 till his death in 2024. He spent from his own pocket every rupee needed for the concert series year after year, bringing the best of musicians to perform in the special Pandal he used to put up in his large home. He set up the Sri Rama Mantapam right under the big Parijata tree that he had ensured flowered copiously around Sri Ramanavami every year!
Sri .KS regaled me with his stories as I sat in his home, working on the blog with Smt. Prabha. He did not give up organising concerts till he turned 90 and his family found his efforts to organise the Putturao Festival in Mysore Jaganmohan Palace too hard for him. He was a perfectionist and demanded the best from the auditorium, attendees, audio engineers, photographers, and of course musicians. He was not satisfied until he saw the large 800-seater Jaganmohan Palace auditorium filled up, whether it was a concert of Vid. Yesudas, or Mandolin Shrinivas, or the Mysore Brothers. The venue had shifted from the grounds of Parvathi after the property had been remodelled.
I do not have much to say, more than point every rasika and musician to visit the blog, “A Home called Parvathi.” It is a magnum opus of Sri. KS and is filled with chronicles of his endeavours over 70 years. I can simply say this:
Mysore has this ineffable clime for art and music like no other place on earth. It has also produced great musicians, composers, and titans among rasikas like Sri. K. Srikantiah. These are the stars that smile from the skies forever. Om Tat Sat
