Madrasana Tinge, a fiveconcert, colour-based festival, was held from 27 to 31 October 2021 in association with IIT Madras Music Club. Each artist was given a colour for interpretation, based on which several unique pieces were presented. Storyteller and painter Vinay Varanasi composed a pallavi exclusively for each concert, roping in various technical details into the few lines of the pallavi. Every concert began with an explanation of each piece and why they were selected, amongst other compositions available.

One of the highlights of this festival was that it did have a live audience, except autotrophs. Being a carbonneutral event, this is the first time in India that plants have been an audience to a concert. The plants were often showcased in the concert, with the recording being taken from near or behind them.

Apart from the flawless audio, Madrasana has once again excelled in the visual aspect of the concert. Large white drapes hung from the top, lit up by the respective colours, were showcased in each presentation. The dramatic lighting intensified the focus on the colours allotted to the artists.

Red - for Compassion

Adithya Narayanan, Vittal Rangan (violin) and R. Akshay Ram (mridangam) did a wonderful job of starting the series. Various interpretations for the colour red were taken—love, compassion, shakti and more.

The concert began with a viruttam, followed by Sree Guruguhamoortey composed by Muthuswami Dikshitar in the raga Udayaravichandrika. In various texts, the primordial guru has been referred to in red, white, and reddish white. This reference is beautifully evident in the wordplay of the colours of the raga’s name (Udayaravi meaning rising sun, and Chandrika, meaning moon).

A Kalyani piece, Japakusuma composed by Vinay Varanasi and tuned by Adithya Narayanan, brought about a stark change in the spirit of the concert. Beginning with an alapana, this song spoke about the red flowers in Indra’s garden used to adorn the Goddess Kamakshi.

This composition was followed by an elaborate ragam-tanam-pallavi in Sahana. The lyrics of the pallavi were based on Adi Sankara’s Saundarya Lahari. Set in misra Triputa tala, the lyrics followed the pattern of the gopuchcha yati. The vocalist’s stellar kuraippu in the ragas Revati and Nayaki were reverted well by Vittal Rangan’s violin.

The concert ended with Nenjukku neediyum, by Subramania Bharati in Sindhubhairavi, followed by a Sangam poem and a Ramayana chindu, based on the story of a bard predicting Sita’s marriage.

Yellow - for Light

Anahita and Apoorva were assigned the colour yellow for their concert. Exploring various dimensions of this colour with their co-artists B. Ananthakrishnan (violin) and N.C. Bharadwaj (mridangam), the duo did full justice to the concert. 

The presentation began with a short alapana in raga Lalita followed by Hiranmayeem Lakshmeem composed by Muthuswami Dikshitar. The next piece, in raga Surati (Haridra kumkuma priye, composed by Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavatar), brought in the reference of the yellow dye, ‘haridra’ (turmeric) in the pallavi. The pair excelled in the niraval and swara in this song, with the violinist playing back every note.

The piece de resistance, the dwiraga ragam-tanam-pallavi, began after Kanakasaila (in Punnagavarali preluded by the Mooka Panchasati stuti) and Vallarisamane (in raga Malavi, composed by Oothukadu Venkatasubba Iyer).

Set in the ragas Soorya and Sooryakantam, the pallavi was composed with the reference of the unusual turmeric abhishekam of the presiding deity. The sisters alternated between themselves in the alapana, and fluidly continued with the tanam. The ragas Hemavati, Hatakambari and Kanakangi (each raga having a reference to ‘gold’) were incorporated in the tanam. The pallavi itself, set in two extremely different ragas and misra jati Matya tala (Tisra nadai) was delivered exquisitely by the sisters. The concert concluded with a Jayadeva ashtapadi in Madhuvanti raga.

Blue – for Expanse

The colour blue was interpreted by vocalist Adithya Madhavan and his team of artists comprising M. Vijay (violin) and Akshay Anantapadmanabhan (mridangam).

The concert began with Ambara Chidambaram (in Janaranjani, composed by Muthu Tandavar), regaling the cosmic dance of Siva in the akasa, followed by Neelotpalambikaya in Kannadagaula raga composed by Muthuswami Dikshitar. An alapana preceded the next song, Ela nee in Athana. The artist sang niraval at Neela navya vanamalikabharana, emphasising the meaning of the line. A dwi-raga ragam-tanam-pallavi began after a short utsava sampradaya kriti of Tyagaraja in Ahiri.

The ragam-tanam-pallavi set in ragas Shyam Kalyan and Kanada revolved around the story of Siva disguising as a gopika to enter Vrindavan and dance with Krishna. The two dynamically different ragas complemented each other, and the shift between the two, both in the pallavi and the kalpanaswaram were smooth. The concert ended with a lullaby of Annamacharya in the raga Neelambari

Green – for Nature

Spoorthi Rao was allotted the colour green. Ably assisted by her co-artists Sayee Rakshith (violin), and Sai Giridhar (mridangam), Spoorthi’s voice traversed comfortably from the lower to the higher octave.

The concert began with Marakathavallim (the first word of the song meaning ‘emerald creeper’) in the raga Kambhoji composed by Muthuswami Dikshitar. Ennaganu in raga Pantuvarali, preceded by an intricate alapana followed. The composition of Bhadrachala Ramadas was sung with niraval and swara in all its glory. The ragam-tanam-pallavi, rendered next was the highlight of the concert. The artist sang it with the ease of a seasoned artist, despite it being her first time of attempting one. Tuned by vidushi Gayatri (of the Ranjani-Gayatri duo), the pallavi was addressed to the parrot perched on Goddess Meenakshi’s shoulder. An abhang of Tukaram in Bheemplas (Vrikshavalli, emphasising the finding of joy while sitting in the shade of a tree in spring with the chirping of birds), tuned by Spoorthi marked the end of the concert.

White – for Purity

From spiritual aspects, purity and knowledge, to physical beings like swans—white as a colour, is associated with many things. Sunil Gargyan’s concert was filled with many such compositions, and his concert was enhanced by his coartists R. Raghul (violin) and Sumesh Narayanan (mridangam).

The concert began with a varnam Annamey in Arabhi, composed by Tiger Varadachariar, in which a swan is said to deliver a message to Lord Siva. This peppy varnam was followed by a rare piece in Nadanamakriya (Chandramandala composed by Swachannam Aravamudachariar) in which Lord Hayagriva is referred to as glowing like a thousand moons. The next song, Kailasanathene in the Kambhoji was sung with alapana, niraval and swaram. The beauty of the raga was brought out in the fidelity of the alapana. The vocalist continued with Sasivadana, in raga Chandrajyoti. Set in a vivadi raga on Goddess Sarada, this song changed the pace of the concert, and paved the way for a ragam-tanam-pallavi in raga Hamsavinodini. The lyrics of the pallavi was set in the srotovaha yati, the concept of the kolam drawn daily outside most houses. The shadava raga was traversed beautifully, with the srotovaha yati in the pallavi not deterring the high quality of the rendition.

Each of the concerts marked the beginning of a new interpretation of ragas and kritis. The ordering of the colours was established on the concept that all colours dissolve together to form the colour white. Once again, with the presentation of the Tinge festival, Madrasana has left a lasting impact on the listener’s eyes, ears, and mind!

VIBHA KRISHNAKUMAR

(A young student at Vidya Mandir, Mylapore, and also a disciple of Carnatic vidushi Geetha Raja)