The 240th Jayanthi of Muthuswamy Dikshitar was celebrated over two days by Veenavaadhini Sampradaya Sangit Trust at Arkay Convention Centre, Mylapore, recently.
The recitals of Lalgudi Viji (violin), Meenakshi Ramamurthy (vocal) and R.S. Jayalakshmi (veena) were held. The concluding session was a thematic concert, ‘A sojourn in Kashi,’ presented by the husband-wife pair, Jeyaraaj Krishnan and Jaysri (veena).
First, a word about the acoustics of the hall. It was wonderful and ideal for veena concerts. It was also heartening to see a full house, as the audience for veena concerts has dwindled in general.
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The duo set off at a leisurely pace with Dikshitar’s ‘Kalabhairavam,’ but not before Jaysri explored Bhairavam’s realms. Thanjavur Kumar (mridangam) restrained himself, adopting a style befitting a veena recital. Jaysri’s foray was marked by gamaka suddham and meetu suddham. The kriti was rendered with the devotion quotient intact.
Rajani Arjun Shankar’s commentary on each kriti, preceding the rendition, was useful. Jeyaraaj Krishnan’s interpretation of Karnataka Kapi (almost similar to Kaanada) was a mix of viraladi techniques, which was sweet to the ears. One could perceive the all pervading ‘Mahadeva bimbam’ when they played ‘Visweswaro Rakshatu’ at medium slow speed. Thanjavur Kumar’s light taps on the left topi and sarvalaghu nadai on the right effectively contributed to the mood. Bhavani ragam, equivalent of Bhavapriya, saw Jeyaraaj successfully using the split finger style now and then to produce the desired effect. Mixing fast and slow paced phrases, he made the listening emotional in all the three octaves.
A rare kriti of Dikshitar in this raga, ‘Sri Viswanatham,’ describes how the Lord grants salvation to those who breathe their last in Varanasi. Jaysri’s singing, with Jeyaraaj on the veena, had a telling effect.
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Kasiramakriya was the evening’s main raga, replete with melodic novelties. The modern day magnetic pick-ups are a boon to veena players, as they permit several phrases with just a single meetu (pluck), the luxury of which cannot be had with a ceramic pick up. The duo capitalised on this advantage and essayed ragas brilliantly.
The beauty of veena as an instrument is its tala strings. They add colour when played intelligently during the raga, tanam and kriti phase.
Surprisingly, the couple chose to avoid the tala strings throughout the concert, except during the tanam phase of the main raga. Even that was almost inaudible.
‘Visalaakshim Visweshim’ was laced with niraval and swarams. ‘Ehi Annapurne’ in Punnagavarali was the evening’s choice. The duo’s rendition was sheer ecstasy. The perfect pulling of the strings, identical in nature and overall style moved many in the audience. The Chenchurutti kriti, ‘Gange Maam Pahi,’ was no different. The sruthi alignment with perfect sketches of raga and kritis created a mesmerising effect with Thanjavur Kumar’s soft tekkas and arudhis. On the whole, it was a tranquil journey in and around Varanasi. At the end of the concert, guests of honour Prabha Sridevan, retired Judge and writer, and Prof. T.V. Gopalakrishnan, praised the couple and said that they should continue the rich tradition for years to come.
The inauguration of the two-day festival was marked by an audio-visual presentation by Revathi Sadasivam on A. Ananthakrishna Iyer, disciple of Ambi Dikshitar, the great grand nephew of Muthuswami Dikshitar. A Srividya Upasaka, Ananthakrishna Iyer spent his learning years with Ambi Dikshitar (gurukulavasam).
Revathy’s presentation showed how during this period, Iyer worked round the clock to find and preserve compositions of Dikshitar. He published several books containing notations of rare Dikshitar songs. He composed songs with the mudra Guruguhadasa. Ananthakrishna Iyer set up Sri Guru Guha Vidyalaya at Kolkata in 1943. After his demise, this institution was run by his son Anantharama Iyer and daughter Champakavalli, whose disciples are Jeyaraaj and Jaysri. The festival, a homage to Dikshitar, is an initiative of the couple’s Veenavaadhini Sampradaya Sangit Trust.