News & Notes
Guruguha Akhandam

Guruguha Akhandam
By Asmita
Padmanabhan
As
we approach the 249th birth anniversary of Muthuswami Dikshitar (24 March),
several organisations organised akhandam singing in the last few days as a
homage to the renowned composer. On 16 March 2024, the Kural Trust, Sukrtam
Foundation and the Seethalakshmi Ramanathan Trust came together to organise a
12-hour akhandam of Dikshitar kritis at The ARTery. The akhandam gave the
audience the opportunity to travel across Madurai, Tiruvarur, Tirumala,
Tiruttani, Kanchipuram and several other sthalams through the kritis of
Dikshitar.
A
special mention goes to The ARTery for creating a serene atmosphere that
perfectly blends traditional architecture with modern lighting and acoustics.
It's not common to find spaces dedicated to the arts, particularly Carnatic
Music, that are well-lit and equipped.
In
the few hours I could attend, I heard a diverse range of artists. It was a
wholesome presentation from Preethi Sethuraman's young school-going disciples
who fittingly rendered Dikshitar's first kriti Sree Nathadi to well established
musicians like Ashwath Narayanan and Vasudha Ravi.
Soumya
Sree rendered Meenakshi Me Mudam Dehi.
Any tribute to Dikshitar would be incomplete without this masterpiece. It's,
after all, the composition that took him towards the ultimate enlightenment!
Anuvratha Narasimhan, on the other hand, presented Ramachandran Bhavayami and Tyagarajaya
Namaste in a pleasing tone. Yadushree rendered a soothing Sheshachala Nayakam and another
Dikshitar masterpiece, Akshaya Linga
Vibho.
Singer
Anugraha Lakshman's performance was the standout. The Kamalamba Jayati in Ahiri was full of raga bhava and bhakti and
held the audience in rapture. We then heard Aditya Rangan's Pahi mam Ratnachala Nayaka and Archana
Murali's Sree Venkatagirisham Aalokaye,
both of which were neatly presented.
Ashwath
Narayanan sang Balagopalam in
Bhairavi and a soulful Rama Rama Kali.
It was a joy to hear Dikhitar handle a well-known raga in one composition and
explore a new and rare raga in the next. Vasudha Ravi did a thematic
presentation of Vinayaka kritis - Lambodharaya
Namaste, Raktaganapathim Bhajeham
and Ganesa
Kumara pahi mam. We then had Hiranmayee presenting Varalakshmim Bhajare and Guruguhaya
Bhaktanugrahaya. Yours truly, too, was blessed with an opportunity to
perform in the akhandam. Mridangist Arunprakash attended the event and
commended the organisers for successfully arranging it.
The experience of continuously listening to so many kritis was indeed enlightening. I noticed that with each kriti, one went through a cycle of emotions and thoughts. When a composition is sung, one is immersed in the raga and the music. Whenever the word 'Guruguha' was sung, it was a subtle reminder of the legend himself. The kritis, though entirely in contrast with the others in terms of raga, context, deity and geographical location, all had one person in common - Dikshitar.
(The author is a freelance writer and a student of Carnatic music)