Tripunithura, the land of ‘Atha Chamayam ‘ paid homage to the legendary musician of Carnatic music, M. D. Ramanathan, by hosting the MDR Day for the seventh consecutive year on April 26 at a private hall at Tripunithura.
Mrudangam maestro Palghat Mani Iyer was also remembered during on the occasion.
This year marked the 25th death anniversary of MDR.
For Krishnamoorthy, who is an ardent fan of MDR and his music, organizing this event is his way of showing his reverence to the legend. It was a ‘dream come true’ for Krishnamoorthy to have the presence of the two maestros of Carnatic music, violinist T N Krishnan and mirdangist Umayalpuram Sivaraman for this year's MDR Day.
Also present were musicians Prof. K. Mavelikkara Velukutty Nair and Thiruvananthapuram V. Surendaran.
A book written in Malayalam by Krishnamoorthy on Palghat Mani Iyer and his life was released at the function.
The morning session started with a prayer by Dr. Sreevalsan J Menon. T N Krishnan lighted the ‘vilakku’ and inaugurated the function.
Tripunithura N. Krishnan (alias T N Krishnan) said he was happy and proud to be present here as the event was conducted in his native-land, Tripunithura. “It is only in Tripunithura and only by Krishnamoorthy and no where else in the world that MDR is remembered with such fervor,” he added.
He remembered the days when he used to accompany MDR and Mani Iyer at many concerts and added that people of that era were fortunate to have listened to the amazing concerts of MDR.
“MDR has more fans now than when he was alive”, he added.
Mani Iyer’s son, T. Rajaram, paid tribute to his father by rendering a warm and touching speech.
He narrated a few of his memories, pointing out how practical and unbiased his father was. He appreciated Krishnamoorthy’s effort in writing a life sketch about his father and said that T. Rajamani, his elder brother is a vital source of information for the book and that the book is a nice illustration of his father’s life.
Prof. Mavelikkara K.Velukutty Nair, a senior disciple of Mani Iyer paid tribute by talking about the ‘gurukulavasam’ and the guru’s love for his sishyas. He had accompanied MDR at his concerts.
Thirivananthapuram.V .Surendran also remembered his guru Mani Iyer.
MDR’s son Balaji Ramanathan’s in-laws were present throughout the function. In the audience, other musicians present were Parassala Ravi and Tripunithura Radhakrishnan.
Prof. Mavelikkara P. Subrahmanyam delivered the vote of thanks speech.
The morning session ended with a feast organised by Krishnamoorthy.
After lunch, a documentary film, “Samam”, directed by K. Ramachandran and co-ordinated by Krishnamoorthy was screened. It dealt with MDR’s family, life, music and his compositions. The film features interview excerpts of musicians like Sreevalsan Menon, speaking about MDR’s unique singing style, Sanjay Subrahmaniam explaining the unique rendition style MDR employed in kritis and percussionist T V Gopalakrishnan talking about MDR’s strong vocal chords,
“Vani”, a Kannada, black and white film was also screened. The film features a music concert by stalwarts of Carnatic music, Mysore T. Chowdiah, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bagavatar and Palakkad Mani Iyer.
In the evening session, Umayalpuram Sivaraman released “Swara sudha mrudanga thalamu”, the book written by Krishnamoorthy, which is a life sketch of Palghat Mani Iyer.
Other invitees on the dais were K. J. Johny of 'Current Books', K. Babu (MLA), Kerala's Minister for Education and Cultural Arrairs M. A. Baby, writer Subhash Chandran, T.R. Rajamani and M V Benny.
An e-mailed message sent by Balaji Ramanathan, son of MDR for the function was read out.
Umayalpuram Sivaraman remembered his gurukulam days and said that he was treated more like an elder son by Mani Iyer's wife than as a student.
Subhash Chandran, a writer evaluated the book and said all music lovers should own the book since it captured the musical heritage.
The event concluded with a violin concert by T N Krishnan accompanied by Umayalpuram Sivaraman on the mrudangam and Tripunithura R. Radhakrishnan on the ghatam.
