JOIN USThe modern maestro passed away even as hundreds of musicians from all over the country gathered at the ‘Samadhi’ of Thyagaraja on the banks of the Cauvery in Tiruvaiyaru Monday morning to pay homage, coinciding with ‘Bahula Panchami’ – when the Saint poet breathed his last on this ‘thithi’ in January 1847.
Musicians who gather at Tiruvaiyaru in Tamil Nadu’s Thanjavur district, rise in unison as their voices sublimely lift up while rendering Thyagaraja’s ‘Pancharatna kritis’ (the five gems).
This strange unity in the death of these two great classical musicians seems inexplicable, but has certainly enhanced Bhimsen Joshi’s personality unwittingly. In fact, there have been a few such profound ironies in Bhimsen’s life that were turning points in his life till he made his mark.