Rupa Gopal tells you how she got this album done

Rupa Gopal has just released a DVD on Muthuswami Dikshitar, the youngest of the Trinity.
This has been a labour of love for Rupa.
Earlier she released a film on GNB and the DVD has been appreciated.
Here is Rupa’s story on this new project. In her own words.

Dikshitar’s life was one of deep and absorbed devotion, especially to Kamalamba, the deity of Tiruvarur. His compositions, in pure and simple Sanskrit bring his emotions alive, transporting the listener to a clear and simple plane, where materialism takes a back seat.
The making of this documentation was especially difficult, as Dikshitar lived in the late 18th to early 19th century, leaving no visual details whatsoever, only a wealth of music.
Being a video DVD, I actually despaired initially, of ever being able to finish what I had started, having to literally create relevant visuals.
Dikshitar as such is not portrayed by anybody in this DVD, making my task practically impossible.
Somehow, it has all been done, and brought out now. The support of various small contributors has helped the financial side of it.

Trying to follow the Dikshitar trail to some extent, my daughter Nalina and I travelled from Madras first touching Chidambaram, going on to Sirkali, Vaideeswaran Koil, Tiruvidaimarudur, Tribhuvanam, Mayavaram, Kumbakonam, Nidamangalam, Tiruvarur, Sikkil, Nagapattinam, touching Alandur,

Karaikal and other places en route. Tirupati, Tanjore, Guruvayur, Kashmir and Nepal had been covered much earlier by me. The Tiruvarur trip alone left us exhausted though we were travelling in a comfortable car.

The thought of Dikshitar traversing the country, probably by slow bullock cart, was terribly humbling to us, leaving us bewildered as to the extent of his effort, beyond human imagination. So great must have been his inspiration, and faith, leading him to visit temples near and afar, and so great his musical genius that led him to compose so profusely, and so superbly.

This DVD has come about with the kind contribution of all the musical personalities involved—S. Rajam, Dr. Srivatsa, Dr. N. Ramani, Mandolin Shrinivas, E. Gaayatri, P.S.Narayanaswami, S. R.Janakiraman, T. M. Krishna, Charumathi Ramachandran, Lalgudi G J R Krishnan and Vijayalakshmi.
Each artiste was most enthusiastic about this project, Dikshitar being their inspiration.

They all kindly undertook to concentrate on the songs and other aspects suggested by me, for this project, so that we could present the complete picture of the idea of Dikshitar and Devi. The music of various artistes has been used in the background, to highlight the commentary.

<< Copies of the DVD are available at the KutcheriBuzz office. They cost Rs.360 per copy.

Five Thandavas of Shiva

Dancer couple Gayathri and Balagurunathan thought of a theme for this Thiruvadirai. Five differnt thandavas of Lord Shiva.

Shrishti thandava, depicting creation, Pradosha thandava for protection, Samhara Thandava symbolising the dissolution, Urdhva thandava representing the Ardhanareeshwara or the union of the god and the goddess and finally the Ananda thandava or the liberation will form core of the dance ballet.

"We highlighted the significance of the Nataraja's natyam in the dissolution section. We prefer to call the Samhara as dissolution and not destruction." says Gayathri. "Also, we have taken up the story of Karaikkal Ammayar to refer liberation" adds Gayathri.

While the concept, choreography and direction was by Gayathri and Balagurunathan, the dharus from the ancient literary work 'Kalladal' were selected by Prof. Raghuraman for this ballet, Prof. Va. Ve. Su. penned the lyrics and music is scored by T. K. Padmanabhan.

This dance ballet is presented for Brahma Gana Sabha at Sivagami Pethachi Auditorium on Dec. 24 at 6.30 pm.
Another show will be for Bharat Kalachar on Jan. 9, 2008.