Krishna Jayanthi Festival

Krishna Jayanthi Festival

Both vocal and instrumental music, bhajan, dance, recital of Divya Prabhanda and Bhagavatha, Dolotsava - were held at Sri Venugopala Krishnaswamy Temple, Malleswaram, as part of Sri Krishna Jayanthi.

Sanjay Subramaniyan, who gave a vocal concert here on Sunday, proved once again, that he is a crowd puller. The Youngest musician to receive the title “Sangeetha Kalanidhi,” Sanjay is a consistent vocalist and also never disappoints his music lovers. After singing a number of ragas he chose “Balagopala” a masterpiece in Bhairavi. In this composition Dikshitar says - “Oh Balagopala! protect me. You are the ocean of compassion to devotees.   ...... is adorned with ruby gem-studded crown, necklace and bracelet ..... is worshipped by Bramha .... is well disposed with friends and foes, alike ......” 

The Bhairavi alapana was neat and he sang every sangathi with good involvement and deep feeling. Nerval (Vainika Gayaka Guruguha) and sparkling swaraprasthara - made it a wholesome treat. Earlier, a few evocative phrases in Suruti added a lively lilt to his singing. He concluded with a few Tamil devotionals. It was a lively concert throughout leaving an indelible impression on the listeners. Venkatesh on mridanga and Alathur Raja Ganesh on khanjari supported him. 

Nrithyollasa

In the Ananya Nrithyollasa, there were three dance recitals - two Bharathanatya and one Odissi dance recital, last week.

Chinmayi, who opened the programme, is a student of Radhika Ramanujam and has completed her Ranga Pravesha also. After the invocation piece (Ikshudanda), she moved to a well known keerthana “Kanjadalayathakshi,” which contained beautiful description of the Devi. She concluded with another well known jawadi “Paralenna Mata” and a devaranama (Aluvadethako Ranga). With her pleasant stage presence and good abhinaya, she caught the attention easily.

Impactful devotionals

M R Venkatachar was a great philanthropist and a connoisseur of music. In his memory his family members have installed an endowment to organise a music concert every year at the MES Kalavedi. The inaugural programme of the endowment was held on Tuesday. It was a vocal music concert by O S Arun, popular singer. O S Arun is a seasoned musician, who is well versed in many categories, like classical, light classical, bhajans and devotionals in different languages.

“Vatapi Ganapathim Bhaje,” the established invocatory piece gave Arun, a head start. He also added swara for it, briefly. His next choice was “Endaro Mahanubhavulu,” the most popular composition, among the Pancharathna Kruthies of Saint Tyagaraja. The meaningful kruthi is the most favourite composition of the music lovers always and everywhere.

Then he started singing devotionals one after the other, in different languages including Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and Hindi. He chose songs in a variety of ragas like Neelambari, Misra Mand, Pahadi, Kaapi ... so on. Eppadi Than, Dhanya Ho, Hari Hari Rama Nama, Tumak Chalati Ramachandra, Jagadoddharana, etc, etc. He paid tributes to Purandara Dasa, Bhadrachala Ramadas, Tulasi Das and many others. With his resonant and rich voice and a harmonious blending of lyrics with the appeal of the raga, also using the body language appropriately, Arun captivated the listeners. A band of instrumentalists accompanied him with a good understanding. Mathur Srinidhi on violin, Shivaraman on mridanga, Sri Krishna on Harmonium, Martin on Thabala and Selvam on Thaala.
Graceful Odissi

Though Paridhi Joshi gave an Odissi dance recital here, she has also learnt Bharathanatya (Ganesha Natyala, New Delhi) she was later attracted by the beauty of Odissi dance and joined Nrityantar Academy. Melody and rhythm were brought out gracefully in the Janasammohini Pallavi by Paridhi Joshi. In the “Bajuchhi Sahi Bajare,” Sakhi says “Oh Dear Radha! people on the streets are talking about your (Radha and Krishna) love affair! It will not go unnoticed! But your love affair has become talk of the town of Braj! Paridhi’s abhinaya was pleasant and concluded with a Shiva Stuthi “Jaya Mahesha” in Ragamalika neatly.
Bharathanatya duet

A boy (Yogesh Kumar) and a girl (Aditi Sadashiva) joined together to perform a Bharathanatya duet. Aditi is a postgraduate in dance and is continuing her training under Guru Satyanarayana Raju. Yogesh Kumar, a scholarship-holder, is also a student of Satyanarayana Raju and has won prizes also. He is teaching young aspirants in Bharath-anatya. The celebrated varna “Nee Inda Maye” - was proof of their talent and good training. While Yogesh chose “Sandhya Thandava,” Aditi’s selection was “Shiva Panchakshareya.” They performed with ease and confidence.