The eldest son S. Swaminathan and the senior disciples of Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, T.N. Krishnan, P.S. Narayanaswamy, V. Subramanyam, Kalyani Sharma, Kumara Kerala Varma and Palai Ramachandran were felicitated with shawls and exquisite Tanjore paintings.

Among the most interesting parts of the evening were the acceptance speeches of the disciples who related their own special experiences with their guru. While all of them recalled growing up in Semmangudi’s household as his own children, T. N. Krishnan made special mention of Shanmukhananda’s thoughtful gesture of honouring his son, P. S. Narayanaswamy, V. Subramaniam and Palai Ramachandran talked about their experiences in providing vocal support, and Kerala Verma and Kalyani Sharma dwelt on the privilege of learning from the doyenne and later working under him in the same institution. Palai Ramachandran’s spontaneous part-Malayalam and part-Tamil speech included his guru’s fond prophecy of the growth of his student’s music akin to the growth of the coconut saplings that he was watering as part of his duties at the gurukulam.

The felicitation function was followed by sangeetanjali by Kalyani Sharma, Saraswati Murthy and Radha Namboodiri with their students. The sangeetanjali included gems, polished and perfected by Semmangudi and etched in his doting audience’s psyche. Kalyani Sharma’s renditions were the Navagraha kriti Suryamurte, Swati Tirunal’s Kalyani Navaratri kriti Pahimam Vageeshwari, Dikshitar’s Bhairavi Kamalamba Navavarana kriti and Dikshitar’s Sree Venkatagireesham in Surutti.

Saraswati Murthy’s group rendered Dikshitar’s Vallabha Nayakasya, Swati Tirunal’s Bhairavi Navaratri kriti Janani Maamava, Dikshitar’s Mahalakshmi in Madhava Manohari , Tyagaraja’s Mahimadaggu in Rishabapriya, Emi Jese (javali in Paras) and Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar’s Poornachandrika tillana.

Radha Namboodiri’s group rendered Paripaalintsu in Suddhasaaveri, Swati Tirunal’s Paripalaya in Pantuvaraali, Tyagaraja’s Vinaraada Naa Manavi in Devagandhari, Dikshitar’s Shree Krishnam Bhaja Manasa in Todi and Tirupazhanam Panchapakesha Sastry’s Sapashyat Kousalya in Jaunpuri.

The felicitation function was followed by sangeetanjali by Kalyani Sharma, Saraswati Murthy and Radha Namboodiri with their students. The sangeetanjali included gems, polished and perfected by Semmangudi and etched in his doting audience’s psyche. Kalyani Sharma’s renditions were the Navagraha kriti Suryamurte, Swati Tirunal’s Kalyani Navaratri kriti Pahimam Vageeshwari, Dikshitar’s Bhairavi Kamalamba Navavarana kriti and Dikshitar’s Sree Venkatagireesham in Surutti.

Saraswati Murthy’s group rendered Dikshitar’s Vallabha Nayakasya, Swati Tirunal’s Bhairavi Navaratri kriti Janani Maamava, Dikshitar’s Mahalakshmi in Madhava Manohari , Tyagaraja’s Mahimadaggu in Rishabapriya, Emi Jese (javali in Paras) and Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar’s Poornachandrika tillana.