When bhakti transcends applause

FOR MUSIC lovers, January is a welcome month. Its significance arises from the fact that the commercially polluted music season of December enters the Thyagaraja aradhana environment with the minds of rasikas tuned to the divinity of Tyagaraja's songs, even though the reputation of musicians by way of gratitude to the saint composer is nothing to speak about. It is during the aradhana that the gathering of listeners realise that Bhakti is supreme in the scale of musical value even though their hands were no doubt clapping in December unmindful of the quality of the concerts.

If the aradhana at Tiruvaiyaru is still considered the main event, it is not at all due to the participation of musicians, but due to the esteem with which the audience holds the divine compositions of Sri Tyagaraja. The pancharatnas, however shabbily rendered at Tiruvaiyaru or at many Chennai sabhas that hold aradhana functions ritualistically, elevate the consciousness of the listeners bodily present at Tiruvaiyaru or watching the TV screen at home and enlighten us about the nature of divinity that Sri Tyagaraja has left as his distinctive heritage to us.

The television coverage in a way does serve a noble purpose, to present the two pictures vividly - the concourse with books in hand avidly singing and the casualness of the serried musicians inside the special enclosures with all external piety - with prominent display of caste marks on their foreheads, angavastrams covering their bare bodies, rudraksha and tulasi malas adorning their necks, glittering sarees, profusion of jewels and heavily made up faces of women musicians putting film stars to shame as one pancharatna after another is rendered.

The contrasting scene is heart-rending - the abhishekams performed to the idol of Tyagaraja and the popularity through the good offices of Doordarshan that attending artistes seek. The irony of it is that those who demand fabulous sums for concerts having gained public acclaim through the songs of Sri Tyagaraja sing in a way to make one feel that in fact Sri Tyagaraja has to be grateful to them for popularising his kirtanas here and abroad.

Through the Pancharatna songs Sri Thyagaraja makes us realise that a deeper and meaningful life is in our hands as many great souls have proved (``Endaro Mahanubhavulu''). He presents through these pieces stunning forms of Sri Rama placed on a pedestal as it were for the attention of listeners. Our minds take the devotional path through remembrance of the saint's mission in life. The sincere listeners are inspired to visualise the meditative potential of Sri Tyagaraja's compositions. Today Sri Tyagaraja rules only the minds of rasikas and not that of musicians.

Professional expertise

The concert at the Music Academy's aradhana with the endowment of Mr. P. Obul Reddy and Smt. P. Gnanamba, by Sanjay Subramaniam was marked by professional expertise. The amplitude of his bhani, exuberance of manodharma and incisive expressiveness measured ragas and songs in terms of depth. His raga exposition of Begada, Varali, Durbar and Sankarabharanam sought to bring out more their deeper import than running after raga scales. In a few strides he covered well the length and breadth of Sankarabharanam followed by the song ``Swara ragasudharasa.'' The process of creativity was enveloped in Carnatic luxury.

As he sang the kritis ``Lokavana Chatura'' (Begada), ``Eti Janma'' (Varali), ``Upacharam'' (Bhairavi), ``Mundu Venuka'' (Durbar) and ``Swara ragasudharasa'', how well Sri Tyagaraja has given special tones, flavours and direction to them was palpable. The pleasure of hearing them at the hands of Sanjay was enhanced by his clear articulation of the sahityas.

The concert was not just a programme of alapanas, songs and swaras, but an enriching musical experience. In creating such an environment, M. S. Anantaraman on the violin in his characteristic style of brevity contributed purposeful support. Vellore Ramabhadran is one mridangist who always presents a picture of laya grace and it was interesting to hear how in the company of E. M. Subramanyam (ghatam), Ramabhadran in the tani avartanam transformed the percussive patterns into glowing images of tuneful tekas and gumkis.

Aesthetics of violin

M. S. Gopalakrishnan aided by his daughter M. Narmada, in his Tyagaraja concert for Saraswathi Vaggeyakara Trust, led the listeners musically along violin's aesthetics. When manodharma merges with the beauteous landscape of ragas as Gopalakrishnan presented Kamas and Durbar, the joy of Carnatic music could be felt. The style of Gopalakrishnan is unhurried and precise helping the rasika cherish, and charm, slowly pausing to wonder what melodic treat the kirtanas of Sri Tyagaraja has to offer. A suffused glow of finesse permeated the alapanas and kirtanas but the Kamas ragam he played rustled with cherubic attractiveness. The style of presentation apart, the audience could not overlook the felicity of the flow at every turn.

Through the songs ``Ninne Bhajana'' (Nattai), ``Kripa Joochutaku'' (Chaya Tarangini), ``Nithya Roojo'' (Durbar), ``Sitapati'' (Kamas) and ``Paramatmudu'' (Vagadeeswari), Gopalakrishnan almost recreated the rich image of Sri Tyagaraja's world.

What crispness and tremendous appeal he imparted to the Vagadeeswari kriti. A vein of musical fervour animated the two kirtanas - ``Sitapati'' and ``Paramatmudu velige''.

Mannargudi Easwaran (mridangam) and Vaikkom Gopalakrishnan (ghatam) breathed inspiration into laya patterns and their support was graphic and exquisite. The sharpness of patterns enhanced impressively the quality of the concert.

For Nada Inbam, observing Marungapuri Gopalakrishna Iyer Day, V. V. Ravi, accompanied by Melakkaveri Balaji (mridangam) and Pudukkotai Ramachandran (ghatam) presented a simple and straightforward programme containing the items ``Raga Sudharasa'' (Andolika), ``Manasa manasaamartyamemi'' (Vardhani), ``Kamakshi'' (Bhairavi Swarajati) and ``Meenakshi Memudam'' (Poorvikalyani).

The Bhairavi Swarajati, by its intrinsic sensitive sentiments, registered well by the way he interpreted it. Poorvikalyani raga alapana progressed with smooth movements. Melakkaveri Balaji played with great vigour to exhibit his versatility and the ghatam vidwan was comparatively docile.

SVK

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