Guruguhanjali in Melbourne

Guruguhanjali – an offering to Guruguha, the musical signature of Muthuswami Dikshitar – set the tone for Melbourne, Australia's tribute to two and a half centuries of the composer’s legacy

Thoughtfully conceived and directed by vainika Shobha Sekhar, Artistic Director of Kalakruthi School of Music (accredited by the Madras Music Academy), Guruguhanjali was one of a kind, featuring nearly 200 artists in Melbourne and staged before a packed audience. The programme reflected the composer’s depth, bringing together pedagogy and performance in a meaningful way, while gently underscoring the importance of carrying this legacy forward to the next generation.

The programme opened with an engaging biography by Shobha Sekhar, who traced Dikshitar’s life, lineage, and contributions as a composer-scholar integrating raga, laya, sahitya, and bhakti. She also recounted her meeting with Sumathi Muthiazhagan, a descendant of the Thiruvarur temple trustees, whose ancestor Thambiappan—Dikshitar’s student—was the inspiration for Brhaspathe, composed to appease planetary influences.

The nonpareil highlight of the evening was the ensemble presentation of the nottuswarams, in Sankarabharanam composed by Dikshitar. What set this apart as both a scholarly and musical endeavour was its imaginative reconstruction of historical listening. Alongside a large Carnatic ensemble, a Western band first rendered the original European tunes – Irish, English, and French – that Muthuswami Dikshitar and his brother Baluswami Dikshitar are believed to have encountered through colonial military bands. The term nottuswarams is believed to be a portmanteau of notes, referring to Western melodic structures, and swarams, reflecting their adaptation into Carnatic music. Featuring piano, guitar, bodhrán (Irish drum), saxophone, Western flute, piccolo, Irish whistle, violin, and GeoShred (digital instrument), this segment recreated the experiences that inspired Dikshitar's creative compositions.

The medley of nottuswarams included Shakti Sahitha (based on Voulez-vous danser), Shyamale Meenakshi (Ah, vous dirai-je, maman, famously known as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and later elaborated by Mozart), Vara Siva Balan (Guracha Waltz / Castilian Maid), Rama Janardhana, Vande Meenakshi (Rakes of Mallow), Somaskandam (Humpty Dumpty), Kamalasana (Galopede), and Shauri Vidhinute (Oh whistle, and I'll come to you, my lad).

 A unique musical soundscape was created by bringing together an impressive collective of over 120 vocalists, including children as young as three years old, 20 veenas, 15 violins, mridangam, and the nine-piece Western ensemble. For a moment, the hall seemed to hold two distinct musical eras and geographies in simultaneity – the European folk tunes and nursery rhymes as they were heard in colonial Madras, and their transmutation by Dikshitar into compositions of philosophical profundity, while retaining an unmistakable Carnatic identity.

The second half of the event featured a series of lecture-demonstrations by Melbourne-based musicians, each illuminating a distinct aspect of Dikshitar's oeuvre.  Sridhar Chari presented on the Vibhakti kritis, unpacking their grammatical and devotional depth. Ravi M. Ravichandhira followed with an exploration of Dikshitar's compositional genius through rhythm, structure, and musical architecture.

Jayshree Ramachandran then presented on the Pancha Linga kritis, supported by her students, with  Murali Kumar on violin and Ravi M. Ravichandhira on mridangam. Murali Kumar followed with an exposition on Sahithya Sreshta, focusing on the lyrical and philosophical sophistication of Dikshitar's compositions, accompanied by Krishny Shanmugarajah (violin) and Sai-Sarangan Ravichandhira (mridangam).

The event culminated in a grand presentation by Shobha Sekhar and her students of Dikshitar's chaturdasha ragamalika Sree Vishwanatham. Accompanied by Murali Kumar (violin) and Venkat Ramakrishnan (mridangam), this magnum opus was rendered with precision and bhava, serving as a fitting conclusion to a momentous occasion.

Click to watch an excerpt

 by

Vaishnavi Muddam