Saint Tyagaraja was a musical genius and a devotee of Rama who transformed the landscape of Indian classical music with his compositional gems. His songs are the most sung ones on the Carnatic Music platforms and most of the top Carnatic Musicians trace their lineage to him.
Come the month of April, Tyagaraja moves from Tiruvaiyaru (his native place) in Tamil Nadu, India to the North America. Most North American cities have a Tyagaraja Utsavam - a festival dedicated to Saint Tyagaraja. One of the oldest and more famous ones happens to be in Houston.
The thirty third Tyagaraja Utsavam organized by the Classical Arts Society along with Sri Meenakshi Temple Society was celebrated at Sri Meenakshi Temple, Pearland.
The theme of the Utsavam was “Endaro Mahanubhavulu Andhariki Vandanamulu (Salutations to all great men all over)”. This theme was conceptualized by the Artistic Director of the Utsavam - Charumathi Ramachandran. An accomplished and experienced artiste, it was fitting that she was the first woman artistic director in the history of Houston Tyagaraja Utsavam.
This festival was also dedicated to the memory of the Carnatic genius, G.N. Balasubramaniam, popularly known as GNB, whose birth centenary is being celebrated by the music fraternity all over the world.
'Carnatic Idol' winner Bharat Sundar performs
The festival began with a concert by 'Carnatic Idol' winner Bharath Sundar accompanied by Jaishankar Balan on the violin and Kallidaikurichi Sivakumar on the mrdangam on 16th April, Friday. It was encouraging to meet a young man like Sundar who is so passionate and committed to classical music. The concert was well attended and listeners were full of support and praise for the upcoming singer and this augurs well for the young man.
The festival commenced in the true spirit of Saint Tyagaraja at the shrine of Shri Rama parivar on the morning of 17th April, Saturday. The Rama parivar was eagerly carried on shoulders of devotees and followed by the traditional unchavrithi - a procession of devotes singing the praises of the lord.
The unchavrithi was led by Dr. Parthasarathy Krishnamurthy dressed as Saint Tyagaraja accompanied by local musicians and enthusiasts. A noteworthy feature was the presence of visiting artistes Trichur V. Ramachandran, Charumathi Ramachandran, Subhashree Ramachandran, and D. Pasupathy, noted teacher from Kalakshethra.
After circumblating the temple, the procession converged at the Kalyana Mandapam of Meenakshi Temple. The visiting artistes and the local musicians then rendered the Pancharatnams- the five compositional gems of Saint Tyagaraja.
Lec-dem on the music of GNB
The pancharatnam session was followed by the lec-dem on the music of GNB by his disciple, Trichur Ramachandran. Ramachandran said the characteristic feature of GNB‘s music is innovation within the parameters of the grammar and tradition of Carnatic music. He was influenced by the Nadaswaram bani and was the first to practice Sruthi Bedham. He was a great composer and his compositions reflect his innate devotion and musical scholarship.
Ramachandran accompanied by his daughter Subhashree regaled the audience by singing some famous GNB songs. This session was followed by a group of Houstonian singers led by Anuradha Subramaniam singing Tyagaraja’s compositions dedicated to Tulasi - the holy basil plant.
The next major event was a musical conversation - a samvada between Charumathi Ramachandran and Bharath Sundar. It was very insightful for the listeners. A highlight of this conversation was a demonstration of singing a pallavi on the Lord in multiple ragas based on popular Ganesha compositions by Charumathi Ramachandran.
The evening’s concert was by Gayathri Venkatraghavan accompanied by Jaishankar Balan on the violin and Kallidaikurichi Sivakumar on the mrdangam. The noteworthy feature of her concert was inclusion of several pieces in praise of Goddess Meenakshi, the presiding deity at the temple.
Houstonian artistes present Vadya Vrinda
The program on Sunday commenced with an orchestral rendition of select Tyagaraja’s compositions by a band of Houstonian instrumentalists under the banner of Vadya Vrinda. This event was co-ordinated by Mahesh Iyer.
The next item was a multi media lecture demonstration by Charumathi Ramachandran on the Chatur Stree Ratnas - the quartet of four lady legends of Carnatic Music - M.S. Subbulakshmi, M.L. Vasanthakumari, D. K. Pattammal and the Brinda-Muktha duo.
The highlights of the four styles were demonstrated by Charumathi. Her erudition and deep sense of respect for these senior artists was very evident and the multimedia presentation enhanced the appeal of the lecture demonstration.
The next event was the screening of the Tamil movie 'Shakuntala' made famous by the music of GNB and M.S. Subbulakshmi. The movie brought back nostalgic musical memories. Then, a team of local musicians trained by Rajeshwari Bhat presented Tyagaraja’s compositions that were popularized by GNB.
The major addition to this year’s Utsavam was a segment devoted to dancer’s view of Tyagaraja’s compositions. The renowned dance gurus of Houston Rathna Kumar (Vazhuvoor style), Padmini Chari (Kalakshethra style), and Indrani Parthasarathi (Pandanallur style) came together to demonstrate the potential for dance in Tyagaraja’s compositions.
Their wonderful abhinaya and graceful movements was a feast for the eyes. The music of Charumathi Ramachandran, Subhashree Ramachandran, Anuradha Subramaniam, and Geetha Radhakrishnan provided the music element. Then followed a concert by Trichur Ramachandran accompanied by Jaishankar Balan on the violin and Kallidaikurichi Sivakumar on the mrdangam. He dedicated the concert to his guru GNB, and his lineage.
He provided a veritable music feast with great choice of songs. Meenakshi Me Mudam in gamakakriya was wonderful. He did Ragam Tanam Pallavi (RTP) and sang his own pallavi that he composed in honour of his guru GNB. The choice of Todi ragam for the RTP was a tribute to not only GNB but also to T. N. Rajarathnam Pillai, the wizard of Nadaswaram who was called the emperor of Todi and was a big influence on GNB. The accompanying artistes Jaishankar Balan and Kallidaikurichi Sivakumar deserve our praise for skillfully accompanying the three artistes on three days of the Utsavam.
Apart from this, there were about 85 odd singers who rendered Tyagaraja krithis as their offering to the saint’s memory. Little Srisanvitha Sridhar stole our hearts with her cute harikatha rendition of Nadaloludai in Kalyanavasantham. Nalini Sadagopan with support from Bhavani Iyer, Lakshmi Venkateswaran, and Vyjayanthi Vivek kept the programme rolling with their skillful emceeing. The prize winners of Cleveland Tyagaraja Aradhana music competitions and their guru Rajeshwari Bhat were recognized.
The Utsavam was a major success and the credit goes the organizing team of classical arts Board members, the Meenakshi temple Board members, the visiting artistes, the local musicians, the arts patrons and the Carnatic music lovers of Houston.
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