Kalyana Vaibhogame

If I have to highlight a few personal qualities of Vijay Siva that dazzled like a Kohinoor during his recent concert for Jaya TV Markazhi Mahautsav – a true scholar and soulful singing doesn’t seek any advertisement and pageantry, music is penance, humbleness and magnanimity comes only by birth. A true scholar never shies away from sharing knowledge.

There was no trace of paper on the stage and or any other reference material, Vijay Siva was fluently (not flamboyantly) and erudite in quoting shlokams and drawing parallels from Bhagavadam, Narayaneeyam, Kamba Ramayanam, Valmiki Ramayanam, Oothukaadu and Arunachalakavirayar. I wish every musician who performed a thematic concert on this dais was as prepared and as scholarly as Vijay Siva. It is so true that brilliance can never be hidden and needs no advertisement.

He opened the concert with the first slokam “Sada Bala Rupaapi Vignadhri hanthri” from Subramanya Bhujangam in Begada and proceeded to well know Dikshithar krithi Vallabha Nayakasya. He highlighted the phrase “Valli vihaha kaaranasya” and paid due tributes and respects to Ganesha before proceeding with his Mama/Mami’s kalyanam. Only very few sing the Jathi (Dheem thakita jham..) which was originally composed by Dikshitar himself in the samashti charam - which reflects the true and original patantharam of DKP/DKJ school (Thanks to my friend Ramji for pointing this out).

In those days people turned to soothsayers than astrologers’ when it came to knowing about their marriage and partner. The next krithi Villai Murithidum Vallavanukku vaaithittu describes Seetha’s would-be husband. This krithi was popularized by DK Pattammal long ago. Tradition never fails.

Seetha can be decked with exquisite ornaments and fragrant perfumes, but one aabharanam that adds the final touch to her majesty and beauty is Sankarabharanam. Vijay’s rendition of Sankarabharam was pure, unhurried and grand. Annai Janaki vandaalae by Arunachalakaviraya was so befitting for the occasion. In this krithi Arunachalakaviraya describes Seetha’s bridal finery and how she looks at her bangle to catch the reflection of Rama. Neraval was done in the line “Sundara paadham vaikavey”. It makes me wonder was it Seetha or Arunachalakaviraya or Vijay Siva and his team exhibiting the Nayaka-Nayaki bhavam? To write such exquisite pieces one has to fall in love with both Nayaka and Nayaki.

Hamsanadham is one raga that conveys jubilation and Vijay siva’s brought out the mood and the essence of the raga during elaboration. Any wedding celestial or otherwise is never complete without the august presence of revered souls. Kalayanarama krithi by Oothukaadu describes the wedding scene and the attendees present “Gowthama, Vashista, Narada, Thumburu, Kashyapa munijana vara”. Neraval at Mallikaathi sukanthamaya was very fragrant and colorful.

Vijay Siva moved from Oothukaadu to Narayana Bhattathri’s Narayaneeyam to describe Rukmani Kalayanam. He highlighted the difference in interpretation between Narayaneeyam and Bhagavadam when it came to Rukmani Kalayanam. Rukmi favored the wedding according to Bhattathri but Rukmi seems to have objected the wedding according to Sukar in Bhagavadam. Vijay rendered Tridasha Varthaki in Revathi (Revathi was there in the sahityam) and then turned the rest into a beautiful garland – Ragamalika. He also explained the beauty of the alliteration in the 4th line – Navapuram and vapuram. He rendered this long piece without a piece of paper or any reference material in front of him. This piece exuded confidence and bakthi.

What is so pious about Phalguni Uthiram? 4 important celestial weddings Rama- Seetha, Murugan – Valli, Shiva- Parvathi, Ranganatha- Andal happened on the same day. With this brief information Vijay proceeded to sing Oonjal composition by Pillai Perumal Iyengar. He took a few stanzas from Ranganatha swami oonjal paatu tuned in Kurunji and Ranaganayaki oonjal paatu tuned in delectable Nadanamakriya and presented a delightful scene on who besides the couple gently pushed the oonjal. This was a very rare and never heard before item in the concert.

Dikshithar may not have used the word Radha in her composition, Sukar may not have described this in his Bhagavadam, but love and kalyanam is never complete without Radha and Krishna. Vijay presented Jayadevar’s 22nd ashtapadi Radha Vadana in Sri Ragam as the penultimate piece in the concert.

Hanuman is inseparable from Rama and Ramayana, but sadly this messenger was not present during Rama-Seetha kalayanam. Thyagaraja says when Hanuman first saw Seetha in Lanka he picturized the divya dhampati Rama and Seetha together and sang Paavanaja stuthi paatra paavana caritra ravi soma pavanetra ramaneeya gaatra. What is more befitting than finishing the concert and Ekadesi with the lines Seetha kalyana vaibhogamae Raama kalyana vaibhogamae from Thyagaraja’s Utsava sampradaya krithi?

After doing a diligent home work on the theme “Kalayana Vaiboghame” Vijay Siva and his team (RK Shriramkumar on the violin and Manoj Siva on the Mridhangam) gave the audience a hair-raising concert on Perumal Kalyanam rendering slokams from various scriptures and krithis composed by various vaggeykaras . That day also happened to be Kaishika Ekadesi. Should we call this opportunity a double spiritual jackpot?

For some sangeetham and sapaadu both are done according to tradition and Vijay Siva definitely falls in this category. Vijay Siva had satiated our spiritual hunger and had also arranged for sundal prasadam to be distributed at the end of the concert. Now I am thinking if we should recommend a change in the famous Thirukural

Sevikku unavu illadha pothu
sirithu vyatrikkum eeyapadum

Legacy of Oothukaadu

An artist has done a thorough job if he/she can spiritually polarize the crowd and if rasikas leave the hall with a feeling of enlightenment, elation and devotion. Did the 2000+ people - sitting, standing and even seated outside the auditorium and watching Smt. Aruna Sayeeram on the TV screen at the Jaya TV Markazhi Mahautsav 2008 leave the auditorium with this feeling? Did she create a musical trance?

The auditorium was brimming to its fullest capacity 2 hours before her concert given the theme for Smt. Aruna - Legacy of Oothukaadu. I also heard a few of them say they came to hear J.Vaidyanathan on the Mridhangam, Karthik on the Ghatam and HN Bhaskar on the violin. No concert can be successful if there no team-work and if the wavelength of the accompanist don’t match with the vocalist. Was the evening a divine unison?

Aruna opened the concert with a brief sketch of Gambira Naati and rendered the famous krithi Sri Viganrajam Bhaje composed on Thiruvalanchuzhi Ganesha. What other raga than Gambira Naatai can create the right pulse in 2000+ crowd? She sounded jarring at a few places in this song, may be she trying to settle into the theme and mood. Nevertheless, the kalpanaswarams for this piece was rich and short.

Kalayanarama composed on Vaduvoor (aka Dakshina Ayodhya) KothandaRamar in Hamsanadham brought fond memories of DK Jayaraman along with beauty of Vaduvoor Ramar. Kalapanaswaram at Raghava Raghu Rama in duritha kalam was delightful and divine.

There are not that many krithis in Umabaranam and we’ve all heard the popular one Nijamarmamula by Thyagaraja. Oothukaadu has done just 2 kritis in this raga and Udajagopasundara was along the lines of Nijamarmula loaded with bakthi.

Oothukaadu is the master when it comes to Saptharathna krithis. Aruna rendered Alavadennalo Sivane in Paras, the only Saptharatna kriti in Thamizh. The krithi mentions all of 63 Nayanmars in the madhyamakala charanams. After every 5 Nayanmars there is swara passage. The main charanam line “Innavaril oruvaraipole” pleads with the lord for a release from the cycle of birth and death, but if born again may it be like one of the 63 Nayanmars. The composer’s humility and mastery over Shiva Puranam is reflected in the words “adiyark adiyark adiyanai” and he asks Shiva if he can be Shiva baktha’s baktha’s baktha. This piece won Aruna a thunderous applause.

When Aruna started Oyyara kanna kuzhal oodha – virutham in Kambodhi the spell bound audience were fascinated by description of Kannan and recreation of Aayarpaadi. Kuzhal Oodhi Manan yellam followed the virutham.

Aruna explained the composer’s devotion towards Sri Rajagopalan of Mannargudi and Santhanakrishan and presented Mani Noopuradhari in Neelambari. She brought out the vatsalyam in the Neelambari.

Aruna was surrounded by papers on the dais and the Mama besides me made an interesting comment. “ Idthu yenna vadaam vathal kaya vekkara madiri ore paper a irukku”. One can refer to lyrics for songs like Alavadennalo Sivane, but not for popular numbers.

Adathu asangathu vaa kanna (Madhyamavathi) is what Aruna asked the almighty, but she could not hold the audience from swaying in bakthi and in the jeevan of the lyrics. Her alapana reminded us to Late ML Vasanthakumari and Kanna piece in this raga. Neraval at chinnan chiru padangal was done with finesse to bring out the tenderness and beauty of the Krishna’s feet. She did a ragamalika rendition of the same line in Todi, Bowli, Atana and Hindolam. In zeal and excitement she dragged charanams from the krithis into this Madhyamavathi and made it taste like payasam and curd rice together. She should have refrained from singing swaram in Todi for a Madhyamavathi krithi. You can be an ardent devotee of Krishna and Oothukaadu, but it is not right to try such experimentation on the concert platform however sweet and interesting it may sound. Creativity and innovation should never go beyond tradition.

Oothukadu has not only sung on Krishnan, but also made compositions on Ganesha, Vishnu, Shiva, Devi, Rama, Subramanya, Ranganatha, Parthasarathy, Saraswathi, Aghora Veerabadhra, Nrisima, Anjaneya, and Surya. He is one of the 3 composers (other being Muthuswami Dikshithar, Swati Tirunaal) to do Navavarna krithis. Bhajaswa Sri Tripurasundari on Garbarakshambikai in Nadanamakriya. How can one forget the one who protects fetus and takes care of the process of srishti? The madyamakala sahityam “Gajamukhajanani sasadharavadani sisiritabhuvani sivamanoramani was so beautiful rendered.

When you call Shanmukapriyan, the nephew of Vishnu for a boon, you should do that with atmost devotion. It took Aruna a minute to bring the essence of Shanmukhapriya in the krithi Varamondru Thanduarulvaai. How can one ever forget the rendition of the same krithi by Maharajapuram?

The penultimate piece of the concert brought out the pranks played by Krishna. Vishamakara Kannan (popularized by Smt. Sudha Raghunathan) in Chenchuritti lightened the atmosphere and lines pakkattu vittup-pennai azhaippaan showed that bakthi can be fun too. HN Bhaskar brought out the folk essence of Chenchurutti.

The 2 hour spiritual journey started from Thiruvalanchuzi, Vaduvoor, Mannargudi, Thirukarukavoor, and finally reached Oothukaadu and concluded with the Kalinga Nardhanam. J Vaidyanathan and Karthik helped Aruna recreated the picturesque scene.
This was definitely a divine unison of jeevatmas with the paramatma. Legacy of Oothukaadu is in the right hands and is definitely preserved.

Tribute to MM Dhandapani Desikar

Sanjay's theme for Jaya TV's Markazhi Mahautsavam was "MM Dhandapani Desikar" (MMD). Many of us in the audience have heard some of his popular songs (Thamarai pootha, Inbakana ondru, Varugalamo, Iyey Methakadinam, Pirava varum tharum), on stage and on the screen, but the songs Sanjay presented that evening was new and unheard.

MMD was a part of the Thamizh Isai Movement (TMI) which gathered strength in the 1940s. The Thamizh Isai Movement was indeed an off-shoot of the Non-Brahmin Movement, which reared its head some time in the early decades of the 20th century. At that time and even today most of the top musicians hailed from the Brahmin community and the Non-Brahmin Movement was set up mainly against them. Especially Desikar had a passion to sing only Tamil songs and not songs in any other language unless the situation and circumstances were compelling.

Aarabhi has always enjoyed a special treatment in the vocal chords of Oduvars. MMD also belongs to the family of Oduvars, his grandfather Murugayya Desikar was a popular Oduvar of his time. The first song Vaazhnthiduvom vareer ulagiley in Aarabhi had enough of veera rasam and roudra rasam. This song was apt in the wake of the recent terror attack in Mumbai. Sanjay demonstrated that one can do away with warm up and varnam and if practiced regularly.

Nadhaswara vidwans and Oduvars have given Kambodhi a special place in Pann Isai and classical music. Sanjay in his rendition of the raga brought out the folks flavor of Kambodhi. It is called "Takkesi" in Thevara Pann. Adiyaenai Kaatharulvai Angayarkanni was rendered with bakthi and complete surrender.

Both rasika and the artist must be musically attuned to enjoy a concert. Sometimes I wonder if people on seated either side really understand the bhava, lyrics and nuances while rendering. MMD Padavendum Isai Porul Unarndhu in Hamsanadham was a surprise for the evening and an educative piece for all generations.

MMD has written songs in Thamizh with the same depth and devotion that Trinity kritis evocate. Kadavulai Maravathey Nann nenjay in Thandavam was pleading the audience not to forget almighty in penury, sorrow, and while even defamed. Thandavam is a rare ragam, janyam of 29th melakartha Sankarabharanam.

Hemavathi was the main piece for the evening. Hemavathi is a difficult raga to handle (like your wife's sister), if the madhyamam is touched wrongly it will make it Karaharapriya. Mere change in dhaivatam makes it Shanmukhapriya and altering the nishadam makes it Dharmavathi. Sanjay made efforts to highlight the key swaras to avoid ambiguity in the minds of the Mamis and Mamas. Navukku Arasinai Gnana Kozhinthinai was rendered perfectly. Just taking the first 2 lines of the composition Sanjay could have turned this into a brilliant pallavi.

Especially when you sing a concert of all Thamizh songs to a Thamizh audience artist must pay attention to the diction and must clearly pronounce the words, if not Thamizh audience fail to enjoy a Thamizh song. Sanjay must pay attention to this and must go easy on the brigas because he compromises on the sahityam and sowkyam.

The Aha moment in the concert was when he rendered the viruttam "Oor yellam thoongiyum unakillai thookam" in Sahana followed by Oho Kaalamey. Sanjay later announced that this is a composition by Vedanayakam Pillai and was tuned by MMD.

A few songs tuned by MMD were presented in the end of the concert. Barathidasan's Thunbam Nergayil in Desh made so many heads sway in gaiety and fulfillment. Narayananai thuthi (composer was not shared) in Komalangi (charukeshi Janyam) was the last piece for the evening

This year marks the birth centenary year of MMD and Sanjay must be given a big applause for choosing rare krithis of MMD. Infact he must be lauded for presenting other facets of MMD that most of us were unaware of. In the concert pattern where Thamizh songs are presented as thukkadas at the end, Sanjay concert was a testimony that concert with just Thamizh compositions can be fulfilling and enriching.

Harismarane Maado – Ranjani & Gayathri

Attending a thematic concert and going to cuisine are the same – menu caters to a particular cuisine and is limited, and expectations are set and taste buds tuned and tailored. But does that mean there will be no quality, taste, variety and surprise? Will connoisseurs go home hungry and insatiable and will the engagement be unappetizing?

Not necessary. Thematic concerts are a rarity in the Mecca of Classical Music. We have been tuned to a full course traditional meal on a banana leaf, but does it doesn't mean we detest other cuisines? Well it all depends on the theme, presentation, content and quality.

Subhashri announced at the beginning of the concert that it was two voices and one soul seated on the stage. As the curtains went up we were waiting to validate the tall claim. "Harismaranai" was the theme given to the young, and vibrant violinist turned vocalist Ranjani and Gayathri.

The name Hari is like honey, naturally sweet and doesn't need any additives to make it sweet, but nevertheless you need a vehicle to consume honey.

Durbar, a relatively recent origin was elevated to an exalted status by the Trinity, is seldom featured in the concerts today. Is it because the raga cannot be expanded and elaborated or it needs deft and crisp handling? There are more than 25 krithis in this raga, but only a few are known and popular. The duo presented the brisk, refreshing and majestic Tana varnam, Chalamela (only 2 tana varnams are there in this raga) composed by Thirvatriyur Thayagaraja. The madhyama kalapramaanam and swara pharses was executed with precision.

Can Markazhi festival ever be complete without Thirupaavai? Andal's Ongiulgalandha paasuram in Aarabhi was rendered with multiple repetitions of the line "Vaanga kudai niraikkum vallal perum pasukkal". Kalpanaswaram done for this short piece was delectable and different.When the sisters picked up Todi they plunged right in the deep without any dilly dallying or beating around the bush. Todi is one raga that can be expanded and sung for hours, but given a 2 hour time bracket they highlighted the key phrases and bringing out the essence of the raga. Rather than recanting the vocalist, HN Bhaskar displayed the raga bhava with discipline and mettle. Thyagaraja's Rajuvedala jutha murari from Sri Ranga Pancharatnam was apt for the occasion. Sriranga ksetra mahatmyam and beauty was rightly expressed while rendering the line "Kaaveri theeramamu nannu paavananamu rangapuri". The same twist, turn and encircling of the town by the meandering river was brought during the rendition. Lines Kasturi Gantha in the charanam was really fragrant and kalapanaswarams by Gayathri was enjoyable. Among the sister's, Gayathri's manodharam was impeccable and mature. Arun Prakash on the Mridhangam and Kumar on Ghatam added beauty to the concert by emphasizing key phrases and words in the sahityam without overpowering – anusaranayana vasippu!

After describing Sriranga kshetram the duo proceeded to describe the beauty of Ranganatha. Dikshithar's masterpiece Ranganayakam in Nayaki was rendered in slow tempo describing his anga lakshanam and building on the elements of bhakthi and sowkyam. These lines in the charanam are proof to how Trinity attained mukthi through music - Raaghava-araadhanam Maamaka Videha Mukti Saadhanam. Swati Thirunaal has enjoyed Hari as much as or more than Trinity. Kalyani raga krithi Pankajalochana was fresh, pure and rendered in agmark PSN's paatanthiram. Neraval at Brindavanaantha kruthu brought out the beauty and wilderness of both the raga and Brindavan. Justice was done in rendition to make the last lines Vividha suka vihara truly appropriate and befitting.

Periyaazhwar is always known for his lyrics loaded with bakthi and gnana. Aanathuselvathu in the majestic Shanmukhapriya, Kambamadha yaanai, and Chediyaya valvingaigal in kaarunyam effusing Hamsanandi can even turn an atheist to do Harismarana. Srinivasa Thiruvenkata could have been rendered at a slower pace and the bakthi bhava in the paasuram could have been continued.

Can there be Harismarana without Purandaradasa? Harismaraney maado niranthara paragathikku in Yamuna Kalyani doesn't need any elaboration and explanation.

Be it Trinity or Purandaradasa or Tukkaram our composers have made mukthi marga (Salvation) so easy. Abhang Bolo va vittala in raga Batyar tuned by the artist was enthralling and explicit.

My only wish at the end of the concert, Harismarane could have lasted longer. Gayathri's vocal power created most of the fanfare in the auditorium. The two voices blended perfectly in sruthi, diction was clear, and even a layman could notate the swarams, write down the sahityam from their rendition and attain salvation just listening to the concert.