Review
Annamacharya and (Bhadrachala) Ramadasu Day Celebrations - a write up
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by Prof. V. Sivakumar, Washington DC, USA.
A day is considered a ' GOOD DAY ' when people think,speak and act in unison in doing good things to mankind. It becomes 'SPECIAL' when collectively society engages in celebrating commemorative days of Enlightened Souls such as Annamacharya and Ramadasu with a religious flavor coupled with entertainment in the traditional way with music and dance. SSVT marked the occasion on both 25th and 26th of march in honor of these great poets/saints.
Both young and old, students and teachers ,amateurs and professionals, in short, artists of all shades and caliber participated in these two days events at the SSVT to celebrate the saints Annamayya and Ramadasu ,their contributions and legacy along with Dr. Balamurali Krishna's who was a genius and a great composer of the 20th century.
There was individual and group singing followed by mini concerts. The high light of the two days events were the evening full length concerts, by Vishnu Namboodhari and party on 3/25 and by Srikanth Mallajosyula and party on 3/26. Prior to the concert on the 26th, Mrs. Pavani Srikanth headed a team singing nine selected songs of both Annamayya and Ramadasu. It had good accompaniments and the chorus singing was superb especially the Kurinji raga song of Annamayya--Mudhugare Yashodha-- with a violin tune as a prelude by Srikanth before each charanam.
Vishnu Namboodiri sang a few pieces of both Annamayya and Ramadasu befitting the occasion. He made a good effort in his 'Dwijavanthi" RTP that he had composed for the occasion. He was very very ably supported by Ramakrishnan on the violin and Trivandrum Balaji on the mrudhangam. The accompanying artists understood that their job is to ably support the vocalist and enhance the over all quality of the concert which they did extremely well. The result was ' people walked away with the feeling it was a good kutcheri'. If Vishnu can have a better modulation of his pitch and can vary his 'Sthayees" instead of singing all songs at the same pitch and thara sthayee only ,his kutcheries may become even better. Hope he takes it in the right spirit in which it has been written.
On day two evening, it was like a family affair for the Mallajosyula family as he was the featured vocalist accompanied by his wife Pavani on the violin,vocal support by their first son SyamaKrishna and kanjira accompaniment by their second son Sivateja. Like his name suggests, he was the shining star on the stage at age 8. I think that must be a world record. Besides, Srikanth was accompanied on the Veena by Nagaraj Kota from Michigan,on the mrudhangam by Srinivasa Venupuri of Florida and on the ghatam by our own Soumyanarayan of Virginia.
Srikanth,knowing perhaps that each yuga has a presiding Deity and the one for Kali yuga is Lord Muruga (and he likes Shanmukha priya Ragam,) started the concert with a great Varnam of Dr. Balamurali Krishna in that ragam. Besides the fact that Dr. Balamurali Garu is a child prodigy,genius and a great composer, he pays extra ordinary attention to lyrical values and ragha bhava in his songs. The varnam explained in great detail the role of the 'premordial sound-Om khara- and its various roles in our Lives.
Next, Srikanth sang a song of Annamayya in Bhahudhari ragam highlighting the fact that to be happy in Life,we should have "Peace of Mind. Only, Lord Shiva can bless mankind with that Peace. There was one sentence in the song that emphasized the fact that most of us lack peace of mind vis-a-vis happiness because of our indulgence in sins thru' our "papa-budhi" meaning that thought,words and action must be all good at all times as was stated in the beginning of this write up.
This was followed,aptly, by the celebrated song of " Ramadasu" in the ragam Khambhoji," Emayya Rama " that brought to us all the salient idea that only total surrender to Lord Rama will provide us with that Peace of Mind resulting in that bliss called " Happiness Always". His alapanai of the ragam ,niraval and swaram reminded us about his great Guru Garu-Dr. Nedanuri Krishnamurthy-. He followed it with a great Kalyani song where the swarams and the style of rendering them reminded us of Dr. Balamurali Krishna.
Due to paucity of time,he had to wrap up the kutcheri, so he quickly rendered a 5 raga thillana of Balamurali Garu and a song with three charanams praising the Lord venkateshwara in Thirupathi ,followed it with a mangalam. Since the accompanying artists including the 6 year old Shiva Tejas were all professionals, the kutcheri had a synergistic effect. Srikanth is blessed with extremely good knowledge about music,its nuances and intricacies with ,of course , great teachings by his Guru Garus. He has the ability to apply this talent , very effectively, while performing the concerts and with professional accompaniments at their best, his kutcheries turn out to be a treat for the ears and the Souls.
Kudos to him, his family and the accompanying artists.
Thanks to Smt.Prabha Maruvada,the organizing team and the SSVT coordinator and cultural team for organizing this two day extravaganza that made the people feel very great about the function. Definitely, the "Annadhanam"at the end of the concerts on both nights was of immense help in planning the trip to the temple.
Let us all benefit more and more ,especially our next generation of youngsters,from such religious and cultural celebrations at our temple (s). That can happen only with our financial support and attendance. Please let us all pledge ourselves to doing our BEST towards this noble cause , both moneywise and timewise, for preserving our traditions for posterity.
Radhe Krishna !!!
Prof. v. Sivakumar
908-510-6832.
Wash. DC, USA.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
by Prof. V. Sivakumar, Washington DC, USA.
A day is considered a ' GOOD DAY ' when people think,speak and act in unison in doing good things to mankind. It becomes 'SPECIAL' when collectively society engages in celebrating commemorative days of Enlightened Souls such as Annamacharya and Ramadasu with a religious flavor coupled with entertainment in the traditional way with music and dance. SSVT marked the occasion on both 25th and 26th of march in honor of these great poets/saints.
Both young and old, students and teachers ,amateurs and professionals, in short, artists of all shades and caliber participated in these two days events at the SSVT to celebrate the saints Annamayya and Ramadasu ,their contributions and legacy along with Dr. Balamurali Krishna's who was a genius and a great composer of the 20th century.
There was individual and group singing followed by mini concerts. The high light of the two days events were the evening full length concerts, by Vishnu Namboodhari and party on 3/25 and by Srikanth Mallajosyula and party on 3/26. Prior to the concert on the 26th, Mrs. Pavani Srikanth headed a team singing nine selected songs of both Annamayya and Ramadasu. It had good accompaniments and the chorus singing was superb especially the Kurinji raga song of Annamayya--Mudhugare Yashodha-- with a violin tune as a prelude by Srikanth before each charanam.
Vishnu Namboodiri sang a few pieces of both Annamayya and Ramadasu befitting the occasion. He made a good effort in his 'Dwijavanthi" RTP that he had composed for the occasion. He was very very ably supported by Ramakrishnan on the violin and Trivandrum Balaji on the mrudhangam. The accompanying artists understood that their job is to ably support the vocalist and enhance the over all quality of the concert which they did extremely well. The result was ' people walked away with the feeling it was a good kutcheri'. If Vishnu can have a better modulation of his pitch and can vary his 'Sthayees" instead of singing all songs at the same pitch and thara sthayee only ,his kutcheries may become even better. Hope he takes it in the right spirit in which it has been written.
On day two evening, it was like a family affair for the Mallajosyula family as he was the featured vocalist accompanied by his wife Pavani on the violin,vocal support by their first son SyamaKrishna and kanjira accompaniment by their second son Sivateja. Like his name suggests, he was the shining star on the stage at age 8. I think that must be a world record. Besides, Srikanth was accompanied on the Veena by Nagaraj Kota from Michigan,on the mrudhangam by Srinivasa Venupuri of Florida and on the ghatam by our own Soumyanarayan of Virginia.
Srikanth,knowing perhaps that each yuga has a presiding Deity and the one for Kali yuga is Lord Muruga (and he likes Shanmukha priya Ragam,) started the concert with a great Varnam of Dr. Balamurali Krishna in that ragam. Besides the fact that Dr. Balamurali Garu is a child prodigy,genius and a great composer, he pays extra ordinary attention to lyrical values and ragha bhava in his songs. The varnam explained in great detail the role of the 'premordial sound-Om khara- and its various roles in our Lives.
Next, Srikanth sang a song of Annamayya in Bhahudhari ragam highlighting the fact that to be happy in Life,we should have "Peace of Mind. Only, Lord Shiva can bless mankind with that Peace. There was one sentence in the song that emphasized the fact that most of us lack peace of mind vis-a-vis happiness because of our indulgence in sins thru' our "papa-budhi" meaning that thought,words and action must be all good at all times as was stated in the beginning of this write up.
This was followed,aptly, by the celebrated song of " Ramadasu" in the ragam Khambhoji," Emayya Rama " that brought to us all the salient idea that only total surrender to Lord Rama will provide us with that Peace of Mind resulting in that bliss called " Happiness Always". His alapanai of the ragam ,niraval and swaram reminded us about his great Guru Garu-Dr. Nedanuri Krishnamurthy-. He followed it with a great Kalyani song where the swarams and the style of rendering them reminded us of Dr. Balamurali Krishna.
Due to paucity of time,he had to wrap up the kutcheri, so he quickly rendered a 5 raga thillana of Balamurali Garu and a song with three charanams praising the Lord venkateshwara in Thirupathi ,followed it with a mangalam. Since the accompanying artists including the 6 year old Shiva Tejas were all professionals, the kutcheri had a synergistic effect. Srikanth is blessed with extremely good knowledge about music,its nuances and intricacies with ,of course , great teachings by his Guru Garus. He has the ability to apply this talent , very effectively, while performing the concerts and with professional accompaniments at their best, his kutcheries turn out to be a treat for the ears and the Souls.
Kudos to him, his family and the accompanying artists.
Thanks to Smt.Prabha Maruvada,the organizing team and the SSVT coordinator and cultural team for organizing this two day extravaganza that made the people feel very great about the function. Definitely, the "Annadhanam"at the end of the concerts on both nights was of immense help in planning the trip to the temple.
Let us all benefit more and more ,especially our next generation of youngsters,from such religious and cultural celebrations at our temple (s). That can happen only with our financial support and attendance. Please let us all pledge ourselves to doing our BEST towards this noble cause , both moneywise and timewise, for preserving our traditions for posterity.
Radhe Krishna !!!
Prof. v. Sivakumar
908-510-6832.
Wash. DC, USA.