Revival of Velangudi Navaratri music festival - KARAI A. SHANGARASETHU
The Vallamba Nattars are the main residents of Velangudi – a small fertile
village near Karaikudi. Vayal Nachiamman on the eastern side of Velangudi,
and Perianayaki Amman by the western side of the Karaikudi Tiruchi highway,
are the grama devata-s. The Palaya Nattars are ardent devotees.
Sixty years ago, there lived in this village a connoisseur of music called
Periyanan Ambalam, who was a devotee of Periyanayaki Amman. On his own initiative
he started Sri Periyanayaki Vasanta Navaratri Festival in 1940. A number
of music lovers and vidwans like Tiger Varadachariar, Chittoor Subramania
Pillai, Madurai Somasundaram, Mani Rajan (Tiger's disciple), Salem B.K.
Viswanatha Sarma, Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan, Ramnad C.S. Murugabhoopathy, Tiruchi
Tayumanavan and Avudayarkoil Harihara Bhagavatar were close friends of Ambalam.
So with the help of these vidwans he conducted the festival in a grand manner.
The vidwans did not ask for any remuneration from Periyanan Ambalam because
they knew he was spending liberally from his own pocket and was not seeking
any financial help. The Navaratri music festival was conducted very well
for almost fifteen years. Some years later Ambalam fell on bad days, so
he went to Malaysia and Singapore to collect funds to conduct the navaratri
festival. At that time, some well wishers like Ganapathy Ambalam came forward
to help him and continue to do so. Swami Saravana Bhavananda composed many
Tamil songs on Periyanayaki Amman. After some years, with the passing away
of Periyanan Ambalam, there was none to conduct the Navaratri festival.
Rasikar
Mandram celebrates MLV's 80th birthday - A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
MLV: a heady amalgam of melody, laya and vidwat. The birthday of this
"spring maiden of music" was celebrated by the MLV Rasikar Manram on
3rd and 4th July in Chennai.
On the inaugural evening, the programme started with a prayer sung by
some of MLV's disciples like Yogam Santhanam, Subha Ganesan, Jayanthi
Mohan, and Kousalya Sunder. T.R. Rajagopalan, a senior advocate and
trustee of the manram, welcomed the gathering. N. Murali, Managing Director,
The Hindu and president of the Music Academy, presided over the function.
He recalled the greatness of MLV's evergreen music and congratulated
the Rasikar Manram for diligently upholding her memory since its inception
in 1991. R. Krishnaswami, Secretary, Narada Gana Sabha and President,
Federation of Sabhas, who had known MLV from 1945, spoke about her deep
commitment and dedication to her art. He recalled a concert when MLV
was very sick but had persuaded her doctor to allow her to sing while
an ambulance was waiting outside the auditorium. He spoke about her
generosity and magnanimity in helping people in need. M. Murali, Managing
Director, Sri Krishna Sweets spoke of the high quality of her music
and her ability to reach out to the laypersons in the audience. The
speakers expressed happiness that MLV's musical legacy lived on through
her disciples.
Dance Intense is a two-week intensive dance residency for emerging professionals
who have received advance training in dance and wish to equip themselves
with the skills of diverse dance forms. The participants get an opportunity
to interact and practise with and learn from renowned choreographers
from different countries including India.
The Dance Intense Toronto 2009 was organised by Sampradaya (run by Canada
based Bharatanatyam dancer Lata Pada) in partnership with SAMPAD (run
by Birmingham based dancer Piali Ray), in collaboration with the Dance
Department of York University. Many funding agencies in Canada like
Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, The Ontario Trillium
Foundation, Metcalf Foundation, City of Mississauga, Toronto Arts Council,
Canadian Heritage, as well as Indian Council for Cultural Relations,
India provided necessary financial assistance. Lata Pada's proposal
for the intensive workshop was based upon her conviction that such a
residency would go a long way in the training of the dancers, aspiring
to be professionals. Over the years she has seen the dynamic range of
dance and experimentation in contemporary, hybrid and intercultural
works being performed across the country.
ENGLISH THEATRE A look at three plays recently performed in Chennai.
Dystopia
An impressive play by a young team - V. RAMNARAYAN
A recent production by the Chennai group Masquerade's youth wing was
among the more heart-warming developments in English amateur theatre.
Dystopia, which Mathivanan Rajendran scripted and directed, featured
two short plays Mathi adapted from the popular sci-fi television series
The Twilight Zone.
The first play The Last Actor on Earth is a story on the lines
of George Orwell's 1984, or Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. An actor
is tried for the crime of obsolescence in a totalitarian state that
has banned theatre. In the second, Man in a Box, a general in his uniform
wakes up in a cube with no recollection of his past, but finds strangers
for company - a clown, a mime, a ballerina and a tramp. Both plays deal
with how people examine and interpret their individual and collective
dystopias.
Madras
Players and Landing Stage
make friends with Swami - V. RAMNARAYAN
Yet another impressive theatrical performance in English in recent times
was the production of Swami and Friends, adapted for theatre by young
Manasi Subramaniam and directed by another youngster, Aruna Ganesh.
Taking a huge risk, the youthful theatre group, Landing Stage, led by
Manasi, took the help of Madras Players to showcase some brilliant talent
and succeeded in pulling off a coup of sorts.
In perhaps the first stage adaptation of R.K. Narayan's immortal debut
novel in which he introduced the imaginary town of Malgudi and its true-to-life
inhabitants, the staple of a lifetime of fiction-writing that followed
from his pen. Swami, Rajam and Mani came to life at Sivagami Pethachi
in October (and early November on public demand). The boys Ujwal Nair,
Shyam Sunder and Ajay Kumar Ramachandran were quite superb, while Aruna
displayed a deft touch as director, getting the young actors to realistically
relive their boyhood.
ONE DAY IN ASHADHA by Mohan Rakesh. Design, Direction and Music by
Gowri Ramnarayan. Presented by The Madras Players and DIA on 10, 11,
and 12 July 2009 in Chennai. Principal characters: Kalidasa – V. Balakrishnan,
Mallika – Akhila Ramnarayan, Ambika – Anita Ratnam, Matul – P.C. Ramakrishna,
Vilom – Vasudev Menon, Princess Priyangumanjari – Sunandha Ragunathan.
Dancers: Sheejith Krishna and Anjana Anand. Vocals: Amritha Murali and
Swarnarethas (recorded) and Akhila Ramnarayan.
Nothing is known about Kalidasa's life. The hero of his play Malavikagnimitra
is Agnimitra, the Sunga king who ruled Magadha in 152 BCE. An Aihole
inscription of 634 CE praises Kalidasa's poetic skills. He obviously
lived some time between these two dates. Many scholars associate him
with the rule of the Gupta king Chandragupta, others with King Vikramaditya
of Ujjain, whose court was believed to have been adorned by the navaratna-s
or "nine gems ". The only thing that we know with any certainty is that
Kalidasa extols the beauty of the Himalayas in Kumarasambhavam and displays
his love for Ujjain in Meghadootam, so he knew these two places well.
And we know that he was one of the greatest poets the world has ever
known.
S.
SARADA (1915-2009)
A quiet farewell - V. RAMNARAYAN
"Janardhana, ethaavathu oru slokam sollenda? " G. Sundari, S. Sarada's
constant friend for years, says to veteran dancer and dance teacher
Janardhanan, breaking the silence among the many students, teachers
and friends of Kalakshetra, gathered at Peria Sarada Teacher's home
to mourn her death (4th November 2009). Janardhanan, Sundari Teacher,
Saishankar, Jyotsna Narain and Sumitra Gautama are among those who lead
the gathering in several time-honoured, beautifully muted chants, befitting
the occasion. Outside the tiny house within the Theosophical Society,
home to both Sarada and Sundari for well nigh a century, more mourners
stand in the verandah, or in the open, under umbrellas, quietly, respectfully,
listening, paying attention, contemplating. Young Satyajit, Shanta and
Dhananjayan's son, is busy arranging the footwear left outside by the
visitors, while some other youngsters are busy helping the older and
infirm mourners, escorting them by hand or pushing their wheelchairs.
A BOW DIPPED IN HONEY
T.N. Krishnan's life in music
- RAMANATHAN N. IYER
The quality of music is not strain'd, It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes...
Apologies to William Shakespeare for taking liberties with Portia's
homily on the quality of mercy in The Merchant of Venice, but those
words perfectly describe T.N. Krishnan's fluid bowing. One of the
world's great exponents of the art of violin, Krishnan is now in
his eighty first year. His life has entered a phase when most men
tend to curl up on the park bench of nostalgia, benevolently watching
over the pranks of their grandchildren and great-grandchildren and
gazing wistfully at the approaching golden sunset. Not this evergreen
hero, who travels worldwide even today with all the energy of men
half his age, enthralling audiences with his sheer virtuosity and
wowing critics with the exquisite nuances of his masterpieces like
Yadukulakambhoji and Surati.
The early days
Tripunithura Narayanan Krishnan's journey started
on 6 October, 1928 with his birth into Bhagavatar Matham, an illustrious
family of musicians acclaimed in both the Carnatic and Hindustani
traditions. Parents A. Narayana Iyer and Ammini Ammal hailed from
families whose musical lineage could be traced back five generations.
Grandfather Appadurai Bhagavatar was a renowned musician too. Music
was thus an integral part of Krishnan's childhood in Tripunithura,
the seat of the Cochin royal family. Father Narayana Iyer, an eminent
music educator, was his first guru. An extraordinary teacher and
strict disciplinarian, Narayana Iyer spared no effort in developing
his son's innate talent.
Little Krishnan was a quick learner, absorbing masterpieces like
Veena Kuppier's Ata tala varnam in Narayanagaula and major kriti-s
like Sri Subrahmanyaya namaste (Kambhoji, Muthuswami Dikshitar).
He was greatly encouraged by violin vidwan G. Krishna Iyer (Kittam
Bhagavatar) and maternal uncle G. Narayana Iyer, an advocate in
nearby Perumbavur. Krishnan has fond memories of accompanying his
father to hear the evening broadcasts of Corporation Radio at the
municipal park, featuring such great masters as Ariyakudi Ramanuja
Iyengar, Tiger Varadachariar and the Karaikudi Brothers. Krishnan's
arangetram at the age of seven was at Tripunithura's famous Poornatrayeesa
temple.
Dr. V. Raghavan
Mentor to the Music Academy -
SRIRAM V
This is the first part of a special feature on the late Dr. V. Raghavan
on the occasion of his birth centenary which was observed for a year
from August 2008. Photos courtesy his daughter Nandini Ramani.
His role in the rise of the institution
A young man was seen diligently taking notes during the presentation
of papers by musicians and scholars at an all India music conference
held in conjunction with the 1927All India Congress session in Madras.
This was V. Raghavan. Of the several resolutions passed at the meet
the most significant one was on the founding of the Music Academy, Madras.
The intellectual that he was, Raghavan was attracted to the new organisation
and joined it. In time, he became one of its leading lights. The Raghavan
era at the Academy lasted fifty years.
Initially the academic side of the institution dominated, with raga-s
and their evolution in practice, being the subject of many discussions.
Such great musicians as ‘Tiger' Varadachariar, T.S. Sabhesa Iyer and
Harikesanallur L. Muthiah Bhagavatar were prominent in these. Inheritors
of great musical lineages such as Ambi Dikshitar and Syama Sastry (a
descendant of the great vaggeyakara) lent weight to these discussions,
as did scholars like Pt. S. Subrahmanya Sastri of Tanjavur (the grandfather
of Peria Sarada), P.G. Sundaresa Sastri, ‘Tandava Pandita' Bharatam
Nallur Narayanaswami Iyer and Hulugur Krishnamachar, who analysed the
development of raga-s as seen in texts and manuscripts. The growth of
Carnatic music over the centuries and the work of scholars, kings and
composers who played an important role in it were also discussed. This
demanded extensive knowledge of treatises on music, most of them in
Sanskrit and Telugu. Raghavan announced his arrival to these scholars
with an extremely well researched paper in the 1931 conference on "Some
Early Names in Sanskrit Sangita Literature ". His talk covered musicologists
and academicians from the time of Bharata to Sarangadeva. He followed
this up with a second lecture in the 1933 conference, quoting from commentaries,
alankara-s and several unpublished works. In the process, he mentioned
120 works he accessed from the Adyar Library, the Tanjavur Saraswati
Mahal Library, the Government Oriental Manuscripts Library, Madras,
and the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Poona. The Academy's
committee welcomed him with open arms, realising they had a jewel in
their midst. A member of the Academy's Executive Committee from 1938,
he became one of its three secretaries in 1944.
One of the oldest sabha-s of Tamil Nadu, the Sri Parthasarathi Swami
Sabha of Triplicane was established in 1901. It conducted concerts at
the Hindu High School in the early period. A few years after he started
teaching mathematics there, G.V. Narayanaswami Iyer became the secretary
of the sabha. As a consequence, Mani was seen at every concert of the
sabha.
Writing in Ananda Vikatan in 1942, GNB said, "I used to bask in the
reflected glory of being the son of the honorary secretary of the sabha.
I attended all the concerts in my ‘honorary' capacity. That is how I
acquired much musical knowledge by osmosis in my childhood. " In the
same story, GNB describes scenes such as the one that follows.
Narayanaswami Iyer, we're all so lucky! " Chinnaswami Iyer exclaimed.
"How would we get to listen to such concerts without your Parthasarathi
Swami Sabha? "
"Isn't that why he was made secretary of the Sabha? " said Palladam
Sanjeeva Rao. "At Kumbakonam, the man had all the leading vidwans in
his grip. Otherwise, how could we listen to Mudicondan and Ariyakudi
at Triplicane? There was a time concerts were held only in the princely
states. If that had continued, listening to concerts would have been
a distant dream for us. "
"Full many a gem of purest ray serene
The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear Full many a flower is born to blush unseen
And waste its sweetness on the desert air"
These famous lines of Thomas Gray, although in an altogether different
context, seem to describe the status given to some of our most accomplished
musicians. Closer home, Subramania Bharati's "Nallador veenai seidey,
adai nalam keda puzhudiyil erivathundo, " conveys similar meaning.
To a large extent, the two quotations fit the classical vocalist
and musicologist Rama Ravi (66), seldom heard in sabha-s. The description
"complete musician " fits Rama Ravi better than many more successful
musicians.
sruti.com
The Vallamba Nattars are the main residents of Velangudi – a small fertile
village near Karaikudi. Vayal Nachiamman on the eastern side of Velangudi,
and Perianayaki Amman by the western side of the Karaikudi Tiruchi highway,
are the grama devata-s. The Palaya Nattars are ardent devotees. 
MLV: a heady amalgam of melody, laya and vidwat. The birthday of this
"spring maiden of music" was celebrated by the MLV Rasikar Manram on
3rd and 4th July in Chennai. 
Dance Intense is a two-week intensive dance residency for emerging professionals
who have received advance training in dance and wish to equip themselves
with the skills of diverse dance forms. The participants get an opportunity
to interact and practise with and learn from renowned choreographers
from different countries including India. 
A recent production by the Chennai group Masquerade's youth wing was
among the more heart-warming developments in English amateur theatre.
Dystopia, which Mathivanan Rajendran scripted and directed, featured
two short plays Mathi adapted from the popular sci-fi television series
The Twilight Zone. 
Yet another impressive theatrical performance in English in recent times
was the production of Swami and Friends, adapted for theatre by young
Manasi Subramaniam and directed by another youngster, Aruna Ganesh.
Taking a huge risk, the youthful theatre group, Landing Stage, led by
Manasi, took the help of Madras Players to showcase some brilliant talent
and succeeded in pulling off a coup of sorts. 
ONE DAY IN ASHADHA by Mohan Rakesh. Design, Direction and Music by
Gowri Ramnarayan. Presented by The Madras Players and DIA on 10, 11,
and 12 July 2009 in Chennai. Principal characters: Kalidasa – V. Balakrishnan,
Mallika – Akhila Ramnarayan, Ambika – Anita Ratnam, Matul – P.C. Ramakrishna,
Vilom – Vasudev Menon, Princess Priyangumanjari – Sunandha Ragunathan.
Dancers: Sheejith Krishna and Anjana Anand. Vocals: Amritha Murali and
Swarnarethas (recorded) and Akhila Ramnarayan. 
"Janardhana, ethaavathu oru slokam sollenda? " G. Sundari, S. Sarada's
constant friend for years, says to veteran dancer and dance teacher
Janardhanan, breaking the silence among the many students, teachers
and friends of Kalakshetra, gathered at Peria Sarada Teacher's home
to mourn her death (4th November 2009). Janardhanan, Sundari Teacher,
Saishankar, Jyotsna Narain and Sumitra Gautama are among those who lead
the gathering in several time-honoured, beautifully muted chants, befitting
the occasion. Outside the tiny house within the Theosophical Society,
home to both Sarada and Sundari for well nigh a century, more mourners
stand in the verandah, or in the open, under umbrellas, quietly, respectfully,
listening, paying attention, contemplating. Young Satyajit, Shanta and
Dhananjayan's son, is busy arranging the footwear left outside by the
visitors, while some other youngsters are busy helping the older and
infirm mourners, escorting them by hand or pushing their wheelchairs.
The quality of music is not strain'd,
This is the first part of a special feature on the late Dr. V. Raghavan
on the occasion of his birth centenary which was observed for a year
from August 2008. Photos courtesy his daughter Nandini Ramani.
Initially the academic side of the institution dominated, with raga-s
and their evolution in practice, being the subject of many discussions.
Such great musicians as ‘Tiger' Varadachariar, T.S. Sabhesa Iyer and
Harikesanallur L. Muthiah Bhagavatar were prominent in these. Inheritors
of great musical lineages such as Ambi Dikshitar and Syama Sastry (a
descendant of the great vaggeyakara) lent weight to these discussions,
as did scholars like Pt. S. Subrahmanya Sastri of Tanjavur (the grandfather
of Peria Sarada), P.G. Sundaresa Sastri, ‘Tandava Pandita' Bharatam
Nallur Narayanaswami Iyer and Hulugur Krishnamachar, who analysed the
development of raga-s as seen in texts and manuscripts. The growth of
Carnatic music over the centuries and the work of scholars, kings and
composers who played an important role in it were also discussed. This
demanded extensive knowledge of treatises on music, most of them in
Sanskrit and Telugu. Raghavan announced his arrival to these scholars
with an extremely well researched paper in the 1931 conference on "Some
Early Names in Sanskrit Sangita Literature ". His talk covered musicologists
and academicians from the time of Bharata to Sarangadeva. He followed
this up with a second lecture in the 1933 conference, quoting from commentaries,
alankara-s and several unpublished works. In the process, he mentioned
120 works he accessed from the Adyar Library, the Tanjavur Saraswati
Mahal Library, the Government Oriental Manuscripts Library, Madras,
and the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Poona. The Academy's
committee welcomed him with open arms, realising they had a jewel in
their midst. A member of the Academy's Executive Committee from 1938,
he became one of its three secretaries in 1944. 
One of the oldest sabha-s of Tamil Nadu, the Sri Parthasarathi Swami
Sabha of Triplicane was established in 1901. It conducted concerts at
the Hindu High School in the early period. A few years after he started
teaching mathematics there, G.V. Narayanaswami Iyer became the secretary
of the sabha. As a consequence, Mani was seen at every concert of the
sabha. 
"Full many a gem of purest ray serene