Purandhara Dasa remembered
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Audience endured the glaring inconsistencies as the programme related to the unstinting devotee of Lord Vithala.
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THE KAVERI Kannada Sangha, one of the noted cultural organisations in Visakhapatnam, commemorating the 441st death anniversary of the Carnatic "sangeetha pitaamaha" Sriman Purandhara Dasa, organised a three-day fete in at its auditorium in Seethammadhara recently.
Inaugurating the fete, Sangeetha Kalanidhi, Sriman Nedunuri Krishna Murthy, said that the first "vaaggeyakara" of the south, not only is said to have had sung about four lakh songs in praise of Lord Vithala, but also systematised the learning of Carnatic music and provided a strong base by way of "geethams" by which the student gets familiarised with the fundamental aspects of "tala" and "raga" structure.
The recital of about a dozen compositions of the "vaggeyakara,"by G. Sarada Subrahmanyam, marked the evening. The second day got off to a devout start with short duration recitals by members of the Sangha, B. Raghuram, Jyothi and B. Sarada. Jyothi was the most impressive among the lot.
Concert time
Then followed a concert (Purandara Dasa's compositions) by veteran artiste, M. Jalajakshi. Both Sarada Subrahmanyam (first day) and Jalajakshi on the second day regaled the large gathering making their recitals emanate the fervour of typical Carnatic "kacheris"(concert). K.V.S. Prasad on violin, G. Venkata Rao on the first day and S. Subrahmanyam on "mridangam" on the second day lent excellent support.
The third day witnessed a full play in poetic diction titled `Purandara Dasa' scripted and directed by G. Premkumar for Katamaraju Cultural Artistes' Welfare Association founded and managed by Pinninti Babu Rao.
Notwithstanding, the glaring inconsistencies in the diction of Telugu in which it was scripted, the tempo due to lack of proper rehearsals and casting, without regard for the fitness including age of the artiste and so on, the audience bore the brunt as it was an effort revealing the important twists in the life history of the unstinting devotee of the Lord Vithala of the 15th Century.
Dusi Anuradha as Saraswathi, the wife of Purandara Dasa, lived up to the role.
Director Gummuluri himself was in the title role, while P. Simhachalam, G.V.K.N. Prasad,Y. Srinivasa Rao, D.S.N. Murthy, I. Eswara Rao, M.V.K. Rao, M.S. Varaham, K. Satyanarayana and D.B.P. Kumar donned the roles of Krishnadevaraya, Vysanarayana, Varadappa, Sandehappa, Annambhattu, Bhusura, Ranganna, Archaka and Balakrishna respectively.
Guest artistes, Udaya Rao and Kanthi Sarma, made their presence felt with their display of talent as Tirumala Devi and her sakhi"
A. RAMALINGA SASTRY
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