BANGALORE: The former Chief Justice of India M.N. Venkatachalaiah on Friday expressed displeasure over the fact that "some kind of noise is being understood as music these days."

At the inauguration of a two-day national festival of veena organised by the Academy of Music, Bangalore, and the Veena Foundation, New Delhi, Mr. Venkatachalaiah said that Indian music needed to be "protected and promoted" by great musicians.

"In the din and buzz of commercialisation, some kind of noise is understood as music today. This is really unfortunate," he said.

Describing veena as an "asset of Mysore culture," the former Chief Justice lauded the efforts of the founder chairman of the Veena Foundation L.M. Singhvi "in promoting and protecting this great symbol of national integration."

Mr. Singhvi, who has organised similar festivals in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai, referred to veena as the "Lokayukta of all music."

"Mr. Venkatachalaiah and myself have spent all life listening to the music of law and justice. But I realised that I also need to experience the spirituality of veena. This instrument deserves to be revived for its superb versatile qualities," he said.

Pointing out that several musicians from Karnataka had won the hearts of music lovers in North India during the veena fests organised there, Mr. Singhvi said: "this indicates that veena is a great symbol of national integration. It is usually considered as an instrument of entertainment. But it is an instrument of enlightenment."

Honoured

On the occasion, noted veena artiste Padmavathi Ananthagopalan was honoured with the `Veenavadana Tatvagna' Award. Mr. Venkatachalaiah, Mr. Singhvi and Lokayukta N. Venkatachala felicitated her.

Book released

Mr. Singhvi also released a book titled `Veena in the theory, practice and experiment in Carnatic music' written by K.S. Raghavendra Rao and M.K. Jaishree Prasad.

Secretary of the Academy of Music Suma Sudhindra, musicians Shanthi Rao, Jayanthi Kumaresh, Revathi Sadashivam, Geeta Krishnamurthi, Alur Ananthakrishna Sharma, Jayachandra Rao, S.M. Narayan Murthy and Giridhar Udappa — who are performing in the two-day festival were also felicitated.

Secretary of the Veena Foundation V. Raghuram Ayyar and Mr. Venkatachala spoke.

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