JOIN USRenowned mridanga player vidwan Umayalpuram K Sivaraman, minutes before his concert to begin at Ravindra Kalabhavana here on Sunday took down the memory lane, cherishing the glorious moments he had in the State.
The Mridanga maestro was speaking at a function organised by Mangalore Sangeeta Parishat, Mangalore Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and University College as a part of Sangeetha Parishath’s bi-decennial celebrations.
Second home
“Next to my birth place Tamil Nadu, I regard Karnataka as my second home, both because of the love and affection I have been receiving from here and the connection between Umayalpuram and Karnataka,” he said.He recalled the invitation of Mysore king to erstwhile legendary Umayalpuram artistes and the rousing reception they got in Mysore, the first place where the artistes performed outside their birthplace as they were unwilling to leave Umayalpuram.
“Violin maestro Chowdiah was the direct disciple of Umayalpuram. Bangalore Nagaratnammal, Narasayya…there are a host of Umayalpuram disciples who kept the Karnataka bond special”, he said.
“This is my 58th or 60th concert in Karnataka. My next trip is scheduled on May 24 at Nidle to attend a musical workshop. The very reason I have been always here is music, may be to perform or for divine reasons. It’s my mission to see Carnatic music reaches the pinnacle of glory globally”, explained Umayalpuram.
Mangalore memories
The Mridanga maestro did not forget to share his fond memories of Mangalore. “It was almost 50 years ago that I first came here, on a trip to Kollur temple. We usually refer Mangalore as ‘Mangalapuram’, the abode of goddess Mangala devi. Later, I performed a jugalbandhi with musical maestros Hariprasad Chaurasia, Kashinath Mishra and N Ramani in Mangalore. This is the second consecutive year I’m here. I want to make my Mangalore performance an annual event,” said Umayalpuram, much to the delightment of audience.
Mangalore Sangeetha Parishath President Dr C R Ballal, Kannada Sahithya Parishat former president Harikrishna Punaroor, former airport director M R Vasudeva spoke.Earlier a flute concert of Archana Priyadarshini enthralled audience.
She was accompanied by Venugopal Shanbogue on Violin and Krishna Pawan on mridanga.
In Umayalpuram’s concert, Pattabhirama Pandith Bangalore, M A Sundareshan Chennai and Guruprasanna Bangalore performed on vocal, violin and khanjira respectively.