The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Striking the right notes

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, May 07, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Striking the right notes

Staff Reporter

The hall was the idea of the ex-BDA chairman, K.K. Murthy The construction, which started in 1974, came to a halt because of lack of funds. But help came from the former Chief Minister, R. Gundu Rao.

BANGALORE: For two-and-a-half decades now, the Chowdiah Memorial Hall in the city has been worshipped like a shrine by performing artistes.

It has reverberated with notes, steps and accolades of art and music lovers.

This year it is celebrating its silver jubilee. It is maintained by the governing council of the Academy of Music.

An exact replica of a seven-stringed violin, complete with the strings, keys and the bow, it is arguably, the first ever memorial to a musician anywhere in India.

The hall was the brainchild of the academy president and former Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) chairman, K.K. Murthy, who thought it was a fitting tribute to the legendary violin maestro Mysore T. Chowdiah. The very thought of designing a violin shaped structure seemed an extremely difficult task. Yet, Mr. Murthy, a connoisseur of music was not deterred.

The thought struck Mr. Murthy while he was listening to M.L. Vasanthakumari in a temporarily erected pandal at the Seshadripuram Ramothsavam. He realised the need for lovers of art and music to do something that would immortalise the names of great artistes. This thought materialised into the state-of-the art auditorium.

Association

"Mr. Murthy chose Chowdiah and the violin because the maestro was an eminent musician of his generation. Also Chowdiah happened to be an intimate friend of Mr. Murthy's father the late K. Puttu Rao," recalls Suma Sudhindra, veena exponent and secretary of the governing council of the Academy of Music.

The construction which started in 1974 ground to a halt because of lack of funds. But the then Chief Minister, R. Gundu Rao, took keen interest in the project and waived loans to ensure that the hall was opened to the public in November 1980.

View

Mr. Murthy had chosen the area that overlooked Sankey Road because of the aerial view one could get of the colossal structure. The area that was called `owl creek site' by the local people, has now transformed from obscurity to fame.

It has been a stage to felicitate great artistes such as U. Srinivas, L. Subramanian, Chemmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan and many others. The violin shape of the hall is complete with bow and seven strings.

The A/C hall that can house 1,011 people with an unobstructed view of every part of the stage also boasts of near perfect acoustics.

The academy has been honouring musicians and more awards and scholarships are on the anvil, according to Ms. Suma Sudhindra.

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