The strains of devotion

Musical event

This was conducted by Vidushi Madhuvanthi along with Vidwan Nagaraj Mandya on the violin and Vidwan Raghu Bhagavat on mridangam at the Seva Sadan Auditorium recently.

The main purpose of conducting this event was to develop a fervour about culture and traditions among the people.

Said R Rangaraja, one of the organisers, “We conduct such thematic events regularly. The purpose of conducting a lecture demonstration of this kind is to make people aware of the raag and kritis of different composers.”

Through the compositions of different composers on Navavidhi Bhakthi, the artistes Madhuvanti, Nagaraj Mandya and Raghu Bhagavat gave an insight into the various aspects of Navavidhi Bhakthi in Carnatic Music.

Bhakthi is a form of expressing devotion to God and is the quintessence of traditional Carnatic music. Various composers have conveyed their bhakthi towards their deity in different ways.

Some of the renowned musicians who have composed in this genre are Thyagaraja Swamy, Muthuswamy Dixit, Ramaswamy Dixit, Purandaradasa, Kanakadasa and others. While some vaggeyakaras have composed kritis highlighting all nine aspects of this Navavidhi Bhakthi, some vaggeyakaras have surrendered themselves completely to a single form of Bhakthi.

The event started with the artistes singing Sangeeta Jnanamu Bhakti Veena in Dhanyasi Raag.

This represented an invocation at the beginning of the programme.

The other famous compositions sung were Purandaradasa’s Narayana Nimma Mamada Bheejava which was a Shuddha Dhanyasi.

Bhakthi is said to be of nine varieties – known as Navavidha Bhakthi. Shravanam is the hearing of God’s stories. Keertanam is glorifying God through songs. It is said that a prayer becomes powerful when it is sung in the form of keerthanas.

The programme was not only entertaining but also enlightening to many.

Said Athmika, who has been learning Carnatic music for fifteen years now, “We have to learn all this nuances in our music classes. But such programmes give us a broad insight into various aspects of kritis and raagas which we might have missed
during our lessons.”

Maya Saraswathy agreed, “Music as an art form is always evolving. There is so much to learn. Such events should be held regularly.”