Devotional music echoed in the hearts of devotees and music lovers attending the annual Purandaradasa day organized by Houston Kannada Vrinda and Sri Meenakshi Temple on February 12, 2005 at the Meenakshi Temple auditorium, Houston. Adults and kids as young as 3 years old took part in paying tribute to the immortal poet Saint Purandaradasa. This was the 22nd year of Purandaradasara Aradhane conducted by Houston Kannada Vrinda.
Saint Purandaradasa also known as Sangeeta Pitamaha (Father of Carnatic Music) laid firm foundation for Carnatic music. He formulated graded music lessons that provide solid foundation to classical music students. The hymns are predominantly devotional in character.
Two splendid portraits of the saint, done years ago by Indumathi Krishnamurthy, musician and an artist of many talents, adorned the stage of the Meenakshi temple auditorium. President of Kannada Vrinda, Vatsa Kumar welcomed the guests at the program, which began with the traditional pooja, arathi and Pillari geeta rendition by children. Students of Suman Jayakeerthi, Rajeshwari Bhatt, Chitra Dharmarajan, Rajarajeswari Kalaga, Usha Narasimhan, Vittal Ramamurthy and Anuradha Subramaniam sang under the
guidance of their teachers.
The wonderful ballads and songs about Krishna, make Saint Purandara Dasa's compositions an excellent choice for performing them as Padams in Bharathanatyam. With plenty of scope for story depiction, his compositions provide ample opportunity for histrionics. Students of dance teachers Padmini Chari, Indrani Parthasarathy and Yamuna Srinidhi presented solo and group dances, choreographed for the occasion.
Later, several musicians, teachers and music lovers rendered Purandara dasa Krits as solos, duets and in groups. While almost all the singers sang the Haridasa compositions in Carnatic music tradition, singers Sruthi Sample and Jamuna Murali delighted the audience by singing a few compositions in the Hindustani style. The program ended with a vote of thanks by Kannada Vrinda Vice-president Meena Vishwanth and mangalam by Vatsa Kumar. The legacy of Sri Purandaradasara Aradhane lives on.
Contact: Indrani Parthasarathy, E-mail: indupartha@hotmail.com
