A roly-poly man takes charge of the drive. Pranesh is a civil engineer in his 60s. And he has an interesting pastime – conducting sales of Carnatic music albums at all kinds of music festivals in Karnataka. Bengaluru, Hassan. Shimoga, Udupi . . . he does the rounds when he can take leave of his civil projects. He says more people buy classical music albums at such fests than at music stores.
Fest started in 2002
Pranesh has been to Rudrapatna the past six years. That is, from the time vidwan Padmanabha launched a 'sangeethotsava' in 2002 in this village which is now being promoted as the 'Thiruvaiyaru of Karnataka'. That is because this has been the birthplace of a legion of music vidwans. One year, the fest was limited to a concert or two. Then, it was run over two days. And on one occasion, the 24-hour non-stop concert was a big hit. "Many of us sat through the kutcheris because we made sure cups of tea and coffee kept flowing in," recalls the jovial Pranesh.
We make friends with him and hope to glean more when we settle down later that day. Music played over the public audio system greets us as the buses roll into Rudrapatna village. The villagers aren't amused or curious. They have got used to the annual jamboree I suppose. It is past 1 p.m. and we head straight to the 'sapad pandal' to enjoy a good meal served by bare-bodied men with poo-nools who know what their job is.
There aren't any lodges and community halls or mantaps in Rudrapatna. The local people double up as hosts. Since Phalgun hasn't found an appropriate nook for me and my videographer, we retire to a hall of the local high school which is enjoying a summer holiday.
That evening, the town looks besieged. For, between noon and 6 p.m. at least one thousand rasikas have descended here. All of them are in their traditional finery as they troop out into the main street to welcome Ganapati Sachiddananda swami of the Mysore Mutt who is the chief guest for the function. He is taken in a procession in a gleaming Nissan and when he alights at the Sapthaswara Mandira complex, in the heart of the village, everybody around scampers into the temple.
We prefer to wait outside as the swami goes about the short consecration and he and his hosts and the rest move over to a giant semi-circular pandal, the decorated venue of the festival.
Saptha Deva Gurus
Padmanabha's sishya Shirish introduces us to the temple, whose tambura-shaped gopuram towers into the clear skies, decked in a string of twinkling lights. The koda, the dandi, the bridge and the strings are all there in stone and cement and the bowl (koda) is the space for the shrine.
Here inside, is the shrine of the Saptha Deva Gurus, representing the seven swaras of music. Here are the images of Saraswathi for sadja (Sa), Purandaradasa for rishaba ( Ri), Vadiraja for gandhara (Ga), Kanakadasa for Madhyama (Ma), Thyagaraja for Panchama (Pa), Dikshitar for Dhaiwatha (Da) and Shyama Sastri for Nishada (Ni).
This evening, these greats have been colourfully decorated and enjoy the gaze of people who stream into the marble-floor, well lit hall. Sensors places close to each image trigger a short audio rendering in Kannada of a profile of the guru – a nice idea indeed.
Shirsh says that his guru, R K Padmanabha would visit this village every other week to supervise the work when the project was on the past year. "We had to get everything from Bangalore and this was the biggest challenge," he says.
Outside, the walls display dozens of granite tablets with loads of info – of the donors and patrons and well wishers. Most interesting though are the slabs which outline the family tree of the leading music vidwans of Rudrapatna.
Padmanabha tells us later that evening that he hopes the Mandira and Rudrapatna (he is also a native of this place) will be a destination of all music and arts-loving people. "When the idea of this project occurred to me I knew it would cost a lot but when the father of a sishya of ours who is into civil projects promised to work on the project, we went ahead with it."
The pandal is packed. And so is the stage for the inaugural event. Symbolically, seven well known personalities in music, dance, theatre, arts, literature, the Vedas, community service, are honoured on this occasion in a very elaborate way, and in true Karnataka tradition style. Each felicitation is launched with crisp songs sung by two well known young Bangalore based vocalists – Mansi Prasad and Sahana Ramachnadra.
Like all inaugural functions, this one too drags into the night. Which allows the residents of the village to stream in after their work in the fields and dinner. The audience erupts when the rotund Master Hiranniah, playwright and theatre person, who was honoured on this occasion, stands at the podium to offer his felicitations. They guffaw and laugh and smile every minute as he rushes on like a steam engine without brakes. And then I learn that Hiranniah is the most popular stage personality of the state, a man who can make people laugh at every turn and a man whose satire and dialogues takes a dig at the famous and the politicians of the day.
Hosting his play to round up the day's event is thus appropriate!
Phalgun has found us a new place for us for the night. A traditional, tile and teak house. And this is also the nook of Pranesh! The village comes alive at 5 a.m. in a swathe of mist. The men are driving off the cattle to the farms, the women cleaning the porches and watering the thulsi. We are off to the banks of the Cauvery river for a wash. Here, dozens of people are enjoying the bounty of the river, which seems stagnant now. Coracles transport people to the other bank and offer joyrides to the kids.
Exploring the village . .
We wander around the village, to explore it. Rudrapatna is home to the unique Sankethi culture. Of a community which is said to have once lived in the Shencottah region of south Tamil Nadu and then migrated to this part of Karnataka. The language is a mix of Tamil and Kannada, I assume. Mysore V. Subramanya, writer and arts critic says that it was a community known for the vedas, vyavasaya (agriculture) and veena.
Many great musicians went out to the world from here. People like vocalist R. K. Srikantan, violinist R. K. Venkatarama Sastry who often accompanied the great M S Subbulakshmi and the veena exponent Venkataramiah, the Rudrapatnam Brothers ( vocalists) and their sister, R K Srilatha ( a music scholar). Besides R K Padmanabha, the Rudrapatnam roots among the well known younger generation run in the violinist based in Madras, R. K Sriramkumar ( grandson of .R. K. Venkatarama Sastry whose birth centenary was celebrated in late 2007)
"Our children begin to learn music and veda from an early age," says one householder who invites us in for coffee. "Today, most of the families have moved on to Bangalore and many are now abroad."
Rudrapatna is a warm village. The doors of all the houses are always open. And at sangeetutsav time, natives of this place make sure they come here to enjoy the music and soak in native soil. Guests are welcome to find a cozy nook in the corner of any drawing room, to nap and sleep. Food can be had at the community dining pandal and you can get refreshed in the inviting Cauvery.
The village's greatest heritage space should be the Thotti-mane', a grand and large tiled house with its traditional courtyard in the centre where musician Thotti Thammiah taught music to people like Venkataramiah and Ramanavami fests were grand affairs. Today, the grand dame is left to slowly crumble. . . here is a great opportunity for the state to develop it as a heritage site.
This Monday morning, after a discourse at the main pandal, sisters Harini and Sharadha from Bangalore perform a kutcheri. It goes on till 1 p.m. and we break for a grand lunch. The bonus at lunch today is poli and sweets! I must say food and arts goes hand in hand and complement too!
Padmanabha shows us around the place as we chew on betel leaves. The Trust which oversees the mandira project and the fest has bought a few acres of land and plans to construct houses in the future. My colleague Mohan Das Vadakara raises an interesting question as we adjourn for a nap on that muggy afternoon – Rudrapatna is coming alive with the arts this past decade after a break with its famed past and heritage. Meanwhile, the village has grown on its own, far removed from the arts. How will the newer attempts at reviving the arts in a village be seen by its present generation and what turns will such attempts take? What then will be the impact of such efforts?
These are interesting questions. More so as we think of them in a place like Rudrapatna. . .
Music on the speakers which have been installed in all the streets, wakes us up ( a few streets have been named after great musicians of this place). It has rained! The Cauvery beckons us again. From the banks of this river, as we gaze at the setting sun in the west, sinking into a coconut grove in the distance which is on the fringe of the village, it is quite evident why this place was once a cradle for the arts and the Vedas. . . .
People continue to check out the Sapthaswara Dhyana Mandira. They also check out a few stalls that sell books, music, snacks, women's clothes and other little things. Of and on, rasikas stop at the Trust counter to make a donation. Violinist H K Venkatram and his brother have donated ten lakh rupees.
Padmanabha has spent a lot on this fest. He prefers to do it in style. And as he strides across the main stage, he looks like Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan, the famed violinist, who ensures he is the star at the annual saint Thyagaraja aradhana in Thiruvaiyaru, Thanjavur, which commemorates the samadhi of that great music composer . . .
The Malladi Brothers are on stage for the evening kutcheri. And they are off to a rousing start, singing to a packed pandal. "Today is also the anniversary of saint Annamacharya and we were invited to perform in Tirupati,"says Malladi Snr during a break in the kutcheri. "But since we have known the effort that have ben taken to build this Mandira and the efforts of vidwan Padmanabha sir, we decided we should be here to perform!"
It is past 10 p.m. when the Malladi Brothers finish their concert. The village falls quiet quickly. We retire to the warmth of the tiled house. Next morning, we catch a KSRTC bus to Mysore. With us are a few rasikas who have enjoyed the festival. A poster behind the bus driver's seat advertises the inauguration of the Mandira in Rudrapatna. A couple read it closely. Word gets around.
Rudrapatna is a new destination.
