Karnataka - Hassan   

Raaga is a way of life here

Shama Sunder

UNIQUE: An artist's impression of the Sapta Swara Devatha Dhyana Mandir which will come up at Rudrapatna

HASSAN: Mathoor Krishnamurthy, who inaugurated the sixth Sangeethotsava organised by Rudrapatna Sangeethotsava Samiti Trust at Rudrapatna on the banks of the Cauvery in Arkalgud taluk on Friday, wanted Rudrapatna to be developed as musical heritage village on the lines of those in London.

He paid rich tributes to the village that had given maximum number of musicians to the country. "You take any stalwart musician and if his initial is R, then he must be from Rudrapatna. The future generation should be aware of this. Hence the suggestion to develop it as heritage village so that its musical imprints should be preserved," he said.

Dr. Krishnamurthy recalled that in London, people took keen interest in preserving heritage. He said once there used to 150 musician families in the village. Now, the number had been reduced to 30. He lauded the efforts of R.K. Padmanabha — the managing trustee of the trust which is conducting music festival in the village for the last six years.

He said Rudrapatna was a sacred village because it was on the banks of the Cauvery and this was the place where Athi Rudra Maha Yaga was performed in ancient times. He released cassette on Vadiraja.

Dr. Krishnamurthy, Mr. Padmanabha and Kashipathi were taken in a procession, which culminated at "Narayana Vedike" in front of the temple. The music programme started at 8 p.m.

Mr. Padmanabha said the Sangeethotsava was aimed at preserving classical music. On Sunday, Minister for Energy and Public Works H.D. Revanna would lay the foundation for Rs. 55-lakh Sapta Swara Devatha Dhyana Mandir - first of its kind in the country.

The programme began with "Ranga Geethe" by Paramashivan and his troupe.

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