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Section Synopsis
NEWS & NOTES
15th anniversary of Rasikapriya
-TAPATI CHOWDHURIE
Rasikapriya, a cultural organisation in Kolkata, recently
celebrated its 15th anniversary. The brainchild of S. Kannan, its founder-secretary,
it was launched on 7th September 1992 to serve the cause of music in general
and the cause of Carnatic music in particular in Kolkata. The inaugural
five-day festival in 1992 featured music concerts by the Sikkil Sisters
(flute), Rajeswari Padmanabhan (veena), Tanjavur S. Kalyanaraman, the Hyderabad
Brothers (both vocal) and Ganesh & Kumaresh (violin).
“What is offered should be endearing to the rasika,” says S. Kannan. In
keeping with the objectives of spotting and encouraging young talent, the
sabha conducts music competitions, seminars, lecdems, symposia, and workshops,
and awards scholarships to deserving students in the field of classical
music and the fine arts. It has honoured musicians, teachers and scholars
in the field. Over the years, Rasikapriya has been bringing performances
by leading artists to the music lovers of the metropolis. Apart from its
anniversary celebrations, Rasikapriya organises talent promotion series
every year.
Click to read more
Mohini confest in Tiruvanantapuram
-SUNIL KOTHARI
Natyaveda, engaged in research, training, and promotion of Indian music,
dance and theatre organised ‘Mohini Festival’ a five-day national
festival of Mohini Attam from 22nd to 26th December 2007 at the Koothambalam,
Vylopilly Sanskriti Bhavan in Tiruvanantapuram. Presented with the support
of the central Sangeet Natak Akademi, in collaboration with Vylopilly Samskriti
Bhavan and Soorya, the festival also comprised a seminar and workshops featuring
prominent Mohini Attam exponents, scholars and critics. Renowned exponent
Kalamandalam Sugandhi was the Festival Director. It was presided over by
theatre director, musician and scholar Kavalam Narayana Panikkar, Vice President
of the central Sangeet Natak Akademi and inaugurated by Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam
from Chennai.
Practical training was given to young dancers during the workshops in the
afternoon, while the mornings were devoted to papers, demonstrations and
discussions during the seminar
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Swaralaya fest in
Palakkad -K.K. GOPALAKRISHNAN
 The
Swaralaya music and dance festival at Palakkad showcased the artistry of
both veteran artists and young performers. Held from 1st to 11th October
2007, it was a cultural feast with an unusual audience turnout on every
day. The venue was the kota maidan (fort ground) in a make-shift pandal
with a seating capacity of about 5000.
Septuagenarian Kalamandalam Gopi, who inaugurated the festival, was honoured
on the first day. The festival started with a ‘gana mela’ billed as ‘Kaithapram
night’ in which Kaithapram Damodaran Namboodiri led a group of young singers
who presented some of his songs. The other two gana mela-s in the festival
were Tamil Gana Nisha presented by young Tamil playback singers like Tippu
and Harini, among others. The third gana mela titled ‘Melodious journey
to the past’ was in Hindi and was presented on the concluding day by Club
Nostalgia of Mumbai. While all the gana mela-s drew more
than 5000 listeners with a sizeable number outside the venue, classical
dance and music programmes fetched an audience of one to two thousand.
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Devadasi national
dance festival in Bhubaneswar
-SHYAMHARI CHAKRA
 The
temple city of Bhubaneswar hosted the second annual Devadasi national
dance festival in October 2007.The three-day festival featured 13 promising
dancers from India, Japan and Bangladesh who represented seven
Indian classical styles (except Kathakali) and the ritualistic Mahari
dance of Orissa that was the dance of the ‘devdasi-s’ in the Jagannatha
temple of Puri.
The festival, which aims to provide a platform for up-and-coming dancers,
has also launched the annual Devadasi National Award for a promising
Indian classical dancer “who has the devotion of a devadasi towards
dance”. This year, the award went to Yamini Reddy, daughter and disciple
of the celebrated Koochipoodi dancing couple Raja-Radha Reddy. Interestingly,
the last living devadasi of the Jagannatha temple was present along
with the Orissa Governor to confer the award. Yamini also performed
on the occasion
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Sangeetholsavam
in Trissoor - A CORRESPONDENT
 The
Vaikuntha Ekadasi Sangeetholsavam was held at the Sri Krishnan Tiruvambady
at Trissoor in Kerala. Carnatic music concerts are presented throughout
the day at the mandapam in the temple premises. Many musicians from
in and around the town voluntarily participate and consider it a blessing
to perform there. Others who belong to Trissoor but have now settled
elsewhere, also make it a point to participate in at least a part of
the two-week festival. The clean surroundings, spiritual ambience, create
an aura conducive to heartfelt performances. A sizeable, knowledgeable
audience too encourages performers to give of their best.
Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar used to organise a music festival at
Guruvayur in the month of Kartikai during Guruvayur Ekadasi, with the
help of his disciple Parameswaran Namboodiri, a mridanga artist with
AIR-Trissoor. When Chembai passed away in 1974, Namboodiri conducted
the festival in a befitting manner in his memory. However, Namboodiri
was unable to participate in the event in the following years for a
variety of reasons.
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Promoting Sattriya
dance in the U.K. - A SPECIAL
CORRESPONDENT
Indira Bora — national award winning dancer-teacher, and her daughter
Menaka Bora, classical dancer and choreographer, presented “Sattriya
Dance Series UK 2007” to promote the Sattriya dance culture of Assam
in the performance and arts education in the U.K. The series was presented
in historical and contemporary contexts through a series of performances,
lecdems and workshops in mainstream venues. It focused on the contemporary
relevance of the Sattriya culture evolved in the 15th century AD by
Sankaradeva whose message of bhakti and social cohesion through dance
and music is highly relevant in today’s world of increasing violence
and socio-cultural segregation. The series also highlighted the people
— of the remote Majuli island in Assam, the largest river island in
the world — who have been preserving the Sattriya tradition for centuries
amidst hardships like erosion, floods, poverty and ethnic violence.
The tour covered five major cities of the U.K. and introduced the Sattriya
dance heritage in three mainstream sectors of the creative industry
— art and culture, university, and museum. The dance series was performed
at Alexandra Theatre and Mac Theatre in Birmingham, Arts in Education
Theatre in Leicester, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in London, Michaelis Dance
Theatre, Roehampton University in London and the World Museum, Liverpool.
Interestingly, Liverpool will be the “European Cultural Capital” in
2008.
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more
NEW PRODUCTION
Chandramauleswara A Gujarati kuravanji
- SAPNA RANGASWAMY
Chandramauleswara, the first Kuravanji in Gujarati, was composed by
the late Anjali Merh, a Kalakshetra alumnus and the head of the Dance
department at the Faculty of Performing Arts in Baroda. She was the
first to set the Bharatanatyam margam in Gujarati. Chandramauleswara
was written and choreographed by her in 1979. After her sudden demise
in 1980, her prime student Dr. Parul Shah established the Anjali Memorial
Trust in memory of her guru.
On 9th February, Parul Shah and students of the faculty of performing
arts presented Chandramauleswara in memory of Anjali Merh at Abhivyakti,
an art gallery and open-air theatre gifted to the people of Baroda by
Srimant Ranjitsingh Gaekwad. He and the Chancellor of the Maharaja Sayajirao
University attended the programme.
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more
COVER
STORY
Rukmini Devi Arundale
(29 Feb 1904 – 24 Feb 1986) A legend remembered
- EDITOR
 The
Kalakshetra of today is a place bustling with activity, an island of excellence
preserving tradition overall, but with numerous new initiatives naturally
unheard of during the lifetime of its founder Rukmini Devi Arundale, whose
centenary fell on 29 February 2004. We had to wait four years to celebrate
her next birthday. She would have been 104 last month.
The story of Rukmini Devi and Kalakshetra is now part of the cultural history
of contemporary India. Her life was part fairytale, part heroic saga, a
life lived by lofty ideals and unshaken conviction. She played a large role
in the revival of Bharatanatyam, redefined its stage and costume aesthetics
as well as its grammar and spiritual underpinnings. A brilliant choreographer
and designer, she created the genre of dance-drama, collected around her
some of the finest artists and teachers from a variety of disciplines, to
teach and practise at Kalakshetra. She did a magnificent job of preserving
traditional arts and crafts making the Kalakshetra weaving department a
centre of excellence. She was a strong and vocal advocate of vegetarianism
and compassion to animals. She became an effective, often inspiring speaker
on all the subjects dear to her. Above all, she was an institution builder
par excellence. And like many others of her high standards as a teacher,
mentor, head of institution, she perhaps failed to put in place a proper
succession plan. In her own words, “Often people exclaim and say: ‘What
will happen after you!’ My answer is twofold:
firstly, one must do the best one can while one is alive and even that is
worthwhile. Secondly, we must not stop working just because we may not find
the kind of successors we expect. I feel sure that there will be some who
will carry on the work and that, if our destiny is good, there will be some
one or more outstanding personalities to take over, who will make their
own contribution.”
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MAIN FEATURE
Yashwant Buwa Joshi
A pioneer of the Gwalior-Agra confluence
-DEEPAK S. RAJA
 Yashwant
Buwa Joshi (born: 1927) is an unusual musician who has spent most of
his adult life as a modest teacher, and gained recognition as a performer
only after the age of sixty. Yashwant Buwa’s career has flowered (“Buwa”
is a suffix commonly used in Maharashtra to signify a respected, elderly
gentleman) in the sunset years of his life, thanks to the incredible
vitality of his performances which have earned him nationwide popularity,
and the growing rarity of his brand of music. He has performed on All
India Radio since 1946, and currently occupies the top grade amongst
empanelled musicians. Since the mid-1990s, he has also established a
substantial presence in the commercial recordings market and collected
his share of honours.
Joshi studied first with Mirashi Buwa (Yashwant Sadashiv Mirashi) of
the Gwalior tradition, and switched thereafter to the Agra style. The
switch did not, evidently, quench his thirst for musical ideas. He therefore
went on to study with several other vocalists, representing an eclectic
mix of styles. Today, he is respected as the last surviving pioneer
of the Gwalior-Agra stylistic confluence in khayal vocalism.
Push and pull
In the post-Independence period, the Gwalior as well as Agra gharana-s
suffered a substantial loss of popularity. Amongst the styles with a
balanced approach to music-making, Gwalior was overtaken by Jaipur-Atrauli
vocalism, with its more oblique and clever engagement of melody with
rhythm. At the rhythm-dominated end, Agra had no rival in sight. But,
the rhythm-dominant extremity itself appeared to have suffered from
aesthetic obsolescence. This is evident from the rise of the melody-dominant
Kirana vocalism at the other end of the spectrum to pre-eminence, with
several Kirana-trained musicians rising to the top of the profession.
This situation prompted Gwalior-trained vocalists to look beyond their
boundaries on a substantial scale. The drift of Gwalior towards Agra
was triggered by a “push” factor as well as a “pull” factor.
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SPECIAL
FEATURE
Narayanan Nambiar Master of poetic rhythms
- K.K. GOPALAKRISHNAN
 Octogenarian
Kalamandalam P.K. Narayanan Nambiar is a towering figure among theatre
percussionists of the country. Awarded the Padma Shri this year,
the mizhavu maestro has become the first of his clan to earn this
national honour.
This unassuming and quiet but artistically adamant gentleman was
unmoved when he came to know of the honour. Of friends and fans
who called on him to greet, he politely enquired, “Anything special?”
When they congratulated him and said, “Asan, we are glad to know
that you are among the Padma Shri recipients”, he just smiled with
a hardly audible “Yes”. After a brief pause, Nambiar, son of one
of the most wonderful theatre actors of the last century, the late
Mani Madhava Chakyar, said, “It is my father’s blessings. I dedicate
this honour to the memory of the masters of yore who preserved our
tradition by dedicating their
whole life.” [Sruti published a cover story on Mani Madhava Chakyar
in August 1990/Sruti 71].
Along with the Chakyars, the Nambiars too played a significant role
in preserving the legacy of Koodiyattam. Women of the Nambiar community,
known as Nangiars, traditionally don the female roles. As part of
their ‘kula tozhil’ (the predominant profession attached to the
caste) the Nambiars accompanied the Chakyars and Nangiars with mizhavu,
one of the oldest percussion instruments of the country, and provided
all sorts of help in the green-room. A reference to mizhavu in the
second century Tamil classic Silappadhikaram is believed to be the
earliest reference to it.
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POINT OF VIEW
Aesthetic values in ‘sabha gana’
- LALITA RAMAKRISHNA
Classical music is the most immediate of arts (aapaatha madhuram). As
a performing art, its beauties and faults are unrepeatable because every
time the musician’s creative imagination performs with a slightly different
twist or accent. In the plastic arts like painting and sculpture, the
artist can correct and improve at leisure and then present a finished
product. Music being the most immediate of all arts lives in the now,
in today, this moment. It is created on the spot, extempore.
Sabha gana
Sabha gana or kutcheri music is in a constant process of evolution.
Distinct trends and values are perceptible in each decade. We must take
stock of the classical values, and focus on the major features of concert
music in each decade.
If music has to retain its power and grip, it has to be presented in
a manner that is meaningful to the contemporary generation. The artist
participates in the contemporary situation and is conditioned by ‘desa
kala dharma’. He is sensitive to the cultural climate and to the thinking
pattern of his times.
‘Niroshtha’: the
raga or the sahitya?
- N. RAMANATHAN
In the book Sree Muthiah Bhagavatar Avargalin Apoorva-raga Keertanangal
(pp. 85-86) there is a song Raja raja radhitey with notation
in a raga called Niroshtha, which is a janya of the 29th mela. A
note at the end of the song states: “This raga and song can be sung
without the lips joining”.
In the process of pronouncing letters, Sanskrit phonetics identifies
many regions in the mouth and around it with which a letter is associated.
These are: guttural (kantha), palate (talu), cerebral (moordha),
dental (danta), labial (oshtha) and their combinations. Thus ‘niroshtha’
denotes utterance ‘devoid of the lip region’ (nih+ostha) or ‘lipless’.
In language, the vowels ‘u’ and ‘oo’ and the consonants ‘pa’, pha’,
‘ba’, bha’ and ‘ma’ are the letters that require the association
of the lips during the process of speech
Rare raga-s
— dormant or effervescent ?
- K.S. NAGARAJAN
Baradwaj Rangan’s presentation (Sruti 272) of the points of
view of some young star musicians of today, of a veteran pedagogue,
musicologist and tunesmith, and of a seasoned critic-cum-cultural
journalist is thought provoking. I don’t belong to any of the
above categories but I am in my 80th year, a rasika since 1942,
and a music documentarian since 1993. I have garnered data on
compositions, composers and compilations of Carnatic music,
for the purpose of creating a computerised database. The multi-indexed
database has information on several parameters on over 21,000
lyrics and tunes; on a total of 1040 talented persons (vaggeyakara-s,
lyricists, and tunesmiths); and a third file of bibliographic
data on some 1600 books and other documents relating to the
coverage of the other two files.
From the point of view of a listener, or even that of a fairly
knowledgeable rasika, there are common raga-s (familiar and
not-so-familiar), rare raga-s, unheard raga-s, and raga-s whose
names have not even been heard of ! A rare raga to me may not
be considered rare by someone else. It depends on a number of
factors including the number of years of listening, frequency
of exposure; involvement in musical experience; musical maturity
as a rasika, and so on. There can be a broad consensus on the
rarity or uncommon-ness of several raga-s, but while labelling
a specific raga as ‘rare’, the subjective factor becomes predominant.
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REAR WINDOW
Koodiyattam — a “high-brow” art?
- ADITI GOPALAKRISHNAN
Koodiyattam is now declared as “Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity”
by UNESCO. Some months ago I had the opportunity of watching Koodiyattam
at a conference organised by UNESCO in New Delhi.
The story performed was Toranayudham, which narrates scenes from the
Ramayana, in which Hanuman sets fire to Lanka with his tail, and then
meets Ravana who is full of indignation and injured pride at Hanuman’s
antics.
For the performance, I had the all-important role of displaying on a
projector what the characters were doing or saying in the play, so that
the delegates from various countries could follow the performance —
every dialogue and sloka, without interrupting the performance. This
involved a lot of typing on the spot as the actors could ad-lib or elaborate
a particular line if they so wished. As Hanuman carried on with his
monkey tricks, I was pleasantly surprised to see the audience laughing
at the right points and enjoying the performance the way I was. It was
surprising because none of my friends had so far shown any interest
in Koodiyattam, which I thought was too esoteric for almost everyone’s
taste. But here were people, who were not even Indian, feeling exactly
the same things that I was awed by Ravana and laughing at Hanuman.
Dhamal: an Afro-Indian dance
- SAPNA RANGASWAMY
 Folk
dances are the dance of everyday life as compared to sophisticated
and stylised classical dances. They form part of every occasion
from birth to death, and are expressions of joy and overcoming sorrow.
Folk dance is community dance; each community has its own dances
to herald different events and festivals.
Gujarat’s Gir area, famous for its lions, is also famous for its
Dhamal dance performed by the Siddis, originally from the African
continent. No written records are available about them, but it is
believed the Siddis of Africa travelled to India about three hundred
years ago and settled in Ratanpur near Bharuch, in Jambur near Junagadh,
and in Ahmedabad. About 700 years old, Dhamal dance is today performed
with many modifications although the flavour of African dance has
been kept intact. The story goes that Hazrat Baba Gaur, along with
his Siddi clan, migrated to the village of Ratanpur in Gujarat,
from his home in East Africa. Travelling in search of business,
the Siddis never went back to their home and Baba Hazrat who breathed
his last in Ratanpur slowly gained the status of a Pir.
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SEASON SPILLOVER
Role of media in Carnatic music
- Dr. R. KAUSALYA
In the midst of all the music and dance concerts of the season,
an exhibition titled ‘Early propagation of Music: Print and Gramophone’
was jointly organised by the Roja Muthiah Research Library Trust
and Sundram Fasteners from 21 December 2007 to 4 January 2008 at
the library. Sanjay Subrahmanyan and Sriram V curated it.
Roja Muthiah Chettiar was a private collector of books. His collection
included not only books and periodicals but also gramophone records,
wedding invitation cards, cinema handbills, film songbooks and a
variety of memorabilia.
The exhibition included an introductory note on the Sangeeta Sarvartha
Sara Sangrahamu of Veena Ramanuja of Triplicane in 1859, its subsequent
edition, Nandanar Charitram by a French official of Karaikkal in
1861, the publications of Tachur Brothers from 1882-1916, and the
periodical Oriental Music in Staff Notation issued from 1892 by
A.M. Chinnaswami Mudaliar. While Telugu compositions dominated the
concert platform, Tamil songs were sought after in temples, theatrical
performances and at family events. Some of these works of Tamil
composers brought out in print were on display at the exhibition.
Interesting lecdems at the
Parthasarathy Swamy Sabha
- A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
The lecdem sessions held at Parthasarathy Swamy Sabha during
the season are gaining in popularity for their expansive sweep
and interesting presentations. This year the sessions were held
from 16th December 2007 to 2nd January 2008. Many eminent musicians
and musicologists participated in concerts and lecdems.
The first lecture demonstration was by Rajashri Ramakrishna,
on ‘Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer’s 72 mela-raga-malika’. She gave an
account of his life, his lineage, his guru parampara, his works,
and the patronage extended to him and his brother Ramaswami
Sivan. Describing it as the longest ragamalika, she explained
its structure in detail. The 72 mela-raga-malika was presented
in parts and the brilliance of Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer as a composer
was brought out.
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SPOTLIGHT
Fluctuating fortunes of classical music in Assam
-MITRA PHUKAN
Whenever lovers of Hindustani classical music, or indeed practitioners
of the genre, meet up in any place within the twin valleys of the
Barak and the Brahmaputra that make up Assam, they ask each other
the same question, always. “What is happening? Why is it that we
cannot get to listen to good classical music events any more? Why
is it that functions and performances are becoming so rare these
days? Leave alone the top national level performers today, even
functions featuring middle level artists, or good “local” artists,
are rarely heard here now.”
The performers and students of this genre, those who have spent
a great deal of time and effort in reaching a certain level of competence
in this field, have an additional woe. The paucity of organisations
prepared to invest effort and time to conduct Hindustani classical
music events has hurt them very directly. For without frequent shows,
they cannot survive as artists. There is the monetary aspect, certainly.
A person cannot take to music full time in the absence of monetary
incentives. Even musicians need money to live!
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WAY OF
LIFE
Parassala Ponnammal looks back
Vocalist KIRANAVALI VIDYASANKAR interviewed 83-year old
veteran vidushi from Kerala, Ponnammal at her disciple’s place
in Chennai. Here are some excerpts — in Ponnammal’s own words.
Musical beginnings
When I was a girl of 14 living at Parassala with my parents,
I took part in a music competition during Maharaja Chitra Tirunal’s
birthday celebrations. Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer and other eminent
musicians were among the judges. I didn’t know who they were
so I sang fearlessly! I remember singing Kamalambam bhajare
in Kalyani with ragam, niraval and swaram-s. Later, I was sent
for with the news that I had won the gold medal in the competition!
Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavatar presented the medal to me.
Early turning point
After he gave me the medal, the generous hearted Muthiah Bhagavatar
enquired about my father’s work and urged him to move to Trivandrum
so that I could enrol in the Swati Tirunal Music Academy, where
he was the Principal. My father hesitated. But soon Muthiah
Bhagavatar arranged for my father’s transfer and we all moved
to Trivandrum. I was directly admitted into the second year
for the three year course called Gayika. I belonged to the first
batch that graduated out of this course. This was a major turning
point in my life.
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more
BOOKSHELF
 POORVA
– Magic, Miracles and the Mystical Twelve. By Lakshmi Devnath. [EastWest
Books (Madras) Pvt. Ltd. Pp. 152. Rs. 195].
-CAVIARE
Lakshmi Devnath is a name familiar to readers of Sruti. As contributing
editor, her pieces in the magazine include biographies of musicians
and, in particular, a series about the Dasa-s in the form of a narration
to a young girl by her mother.
In Poorva, she has produced a full length fantasy in which the eponymous
heroine, a young girl, is taken on a trip back in time by a saintly
granduncle into the lives of the twelve Alwar-s, hymnodists and religious
savants of the Vaishnava School of Hinduism. A sort of Through the Looking
Glass meets Time Machine.
A DICTIONARY OF SOUTH INDIAN MUSIC & MUSICIANS of Prof. P.
Sambamoorthy - Vol. IV (O – S). Edited by Dr. M.B. Vedavalli. 2007.
[The Indian Music Publishing House, Chennai. 23-A, Sripuram I Street,
Royapettah, Chennai. 600 014. Pp. 274. Rs. 330.]
-LALITHA RAMAKRISHNA
This is a recent addition to the three existing volumes
in this series which have already covered topics from A to N. Volume
3 of this series was published in 1971. The fourth volume presents relevant
topics in Carnatic music from O to S. T to Z will be published soon
so as to complete this excellent series.
THE BOOK OF DEMONS including a dictionary of
demons in Sanskrit literature. By Nanditha Krishna. [Penguin Books,
2007. Pp. 264, illustrated. Rs. 200.]
-V.A.K. RANGA RAO
Over the years, there have been books about gods
and goddesses, characters from epics, encyclopaedias about puranic personages,
but this is probably the first book exclusively about demons. To make
matters visual, there are line drawings and art-plates, some in colour.
Click to read more
NEWS YOU CAN USE
Padma Awards
2008
The following is a list of Padma awardees in the field of performing
arts.
Padma Bhushan
Asad Ali Khan (H-Rudra veena), Rahim Fahimuddin Dagar (H-dhrupad), Sushil
Kumar Saxena (scholar, writer).
Padma Shri
Gangadhar Pradhan (Odissi), Gokulotsavji Maharaj (H-vocal and devotional),
Helen Giri (Khasi music), Jatin Goswami (Sattriya), Meenakshi Chitharanjan
(Bharatanatyam), Mangala Prasad Mohanty (Chhau), Moozhikkulam Kochukuttan
Chakyar (Koodiyattam), P.K. Narayanan Nambiar (mizhavu), Pratap Pawar
(Kathak), Sabitri Heisnam (theatre), Sirkazhi C. Sivachidambaram (C-vocal),
Yella Venkateswara Rao (C-mridanga).
Click to read more
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