Vidwan Aleppey Venkatesan was honoured by the Ekatvam Trust for his 60 years of dedicated service as a performing vocalist on 26 October 2024 at Raga Sudha Hall, Chennai. The event featured Sangita Kalanidhi T.V. Gopalakrishnan as the chief guest, with Sangita Kalanidhi Tiruvarur Bhaktavatsalam presiding and Sriram Parasuram as the special guest. The celebration included a concert by Venkatesan, supported by M A Sundareswaran on the violin, Shertalai R Ananthakrishnan on the mridangam, and B.S. Purushotham on the khanjira, with vocal accompaniment by his student, E.R. Anirudh.

The guests praised Venkatesan, with Bhaktavatsalam recalling how Venkatesan’s father, Papa Swamy, supported musicians in Aleppey and lauding Venkatesan as a master of rhythm who upholds traditional music.

Vidwan Sriram Parasuram described Venkatesan’s music as pure and highlighted his deep guru bhakti, emphasising that true devotion involves not only serving one’s guru but also upholding the musical tradition they represent. He praised Venkatesan’s manodharma and his dedication, which serves as an inspiration for students. Recalling their collaboration on the Sampradaya series, Sriram admired Venkatesan’s skill in performing complex RTPs.

Vidwan T V Gopalakrishnan spoke of Venkatesan’s distinguished family, recalling their hospitality and support to numerous musicians, which led to many vidwans emerging from Aleppey. He commended Venkatesan’s high-calibre music, shaped by his guru Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar, and described him as a complete personality, excelling in music, teaching, and his auditing profession. In his response, Aleppey Venkatesan thanked everyone for the heartfelt tributes. “My parents created a wonderful atmosphere filled with music, and with so many musicians visiting and staying with us, our house in Aleppey was suffused with melodies,” he said.

The speeches were followed by a concert in which Allepey Venkatesan started with Bhajana Seyave O Manasa in Kedaram by Anai Ayya. A brilliant cittaswara  composed by him, was presented in this song.He then went on to sing, a song in Mandari, Enthuku itdhu chapalamu by Patnam Subramania Iyer.  This was followed by a ragam-tanam-pallavi in raga Kapi, in tisra nadai, tisra Jhampa tala. Enna Tavam Seidanai Yashoda, engum nirai parabhramam Amma endrazhaikka were the words.

The pallavi was replete with all the tala nuances and expertly presented. Venkatesan followed this with the song Enna Tavam, Sree Venugopala in Kurinji by Muthuswami Dikshitar and Valli Kalyanathai, a kavadi chindu by Ramanathapuram Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar. The concert ended with a viruttam on Goddess Kanyakumari, his ishta devi and Agastiar kizhamai paadal.

Vidwans M.A. Sundareswaran on the violin, Shertalai Ananthakrishnan on the mridangam and B.S. Purushotham on the khanjira accompanied with a high level of expertise, which matched Venkatesans’ presentation.

by

Sivapriya Krishnan

Aleppey Venkatesan’s students Shruti  Jayaram and E R Anirudh have compiled a video to mark this milestone.