Milieu charged with devotion
RANJANI GOVIND
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Tarangam Every facet of Narayana Tirtha's work was highlighted at the three-day mini-festival.
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SYMPHONY: Young violinists paying obeisance to Narayana Tirtha. Photo: R. Shivaji Rao.
"Offering a multi-faceted perspective of Narayana Tirtha would help people have a better understanding of the Saint. Hence the Narayana Tirtha Trust has decided on an exposition that has variety, " said Thirupoonthuruthy V. Venkatesan, during the inauguration of the mini-tarangam festival in the city this past weekend.
Narayana Tirtha (whose `Krishna Leela Tarangini' with colourful ragas and jathis is a spectacular work of dance-drama) lived in Thanjavur District. He is believed to be an incarnation of Jayadeva, author of `Geeta Govindam.' Several hundreds of his bhajans and kritis on Lord Krishna are explored and sung by musicians and musicologists. Concerts, lectures, divyanama, harikatha, veda parayanam, bhajans unchavruthi ... Narayana Tirtha was covered in every form at the festival.
With piercing clarity and a resonant voice, O. S. Arun handled sancharas in `Neela Megha Shareera' for a Mohana kriti. Each sanchara ending with the word `Paadaravinda,' reflected Tirtha's passion for Lord Krishna and the huge crowd gathered at the Sringeri Pravachana Mandiram in Raja Annamalaipuram was stirred by the piety, raga and bhava of the tarangam. Arun's vilambakala rendition of `Pahi Pahi Jagan Mohana Krishna' in Naadanamakriya enhanced the momentum, even as his repeated stress on Krishna made it especially appealing.
In simple Sanskrit
The three-day mini festival of Namasankeerthana Tarangams, under the auspices of the Narayana Tirtha Swamigal Trust, presented glimpses of the saint's bhakti expressed in simple Sanskrit. V. V. Srivatsa spoke on the valuable contribution of the saint to the namasankeertanam tradition. Bhajans by Karna Ranjani group, divyanama by Udayalur Kalyanarama Bhagavatar, Varakari sampradaya abhangs of Tukaram Ganapathy and Harikatha by Vishaka Hari charged the atmosphere with melodic devotion. Concerts by Sriram Parasuram and Anuradha Sriram, T. M. Krishna and Jayanthi Mohan were the other highlights.
Tiruchi Jayalakshmi Sharma said singing Tirtha's kritis is made more enjoyable because a majority can understand and appreciate the simplicity of his Sanskrit usage. The artiste, with a degree in Sanskrit Honours from the University of Delhi, chose to bring out the description of the Lord in `Swaminam Vanamaalinam' after a brief alapana in Shanmukhapriya before moving on to `Aehi Mudam Mama Dehi' in Todi.
K. Vageesh's `Krishna Vandanam, Choornika' in Valaji added more colour and smoothly slipped into the kriti `Sri Narayana'.
Narayana Tirtha, known for his unbridled affection for the young Lord, Balakrishna, is said to have had a magical cure from Him for a chronic stomach ailment, which later drew the saint closer to the Lord at Varahur. Vageesh's delineation of `Bala Gopala Krishna Pahi Pahi' revealed Tirtha's state of mind during troubled times.
As if to project Tirtha's adoration for Bala Gopala, the Narayana Tirtha Trust brought in a rare confluence of 25 bala violinists, led by C. A. Rajasekar, to pay obeisance.
The young boys, along with B. Sivaraman on the mridangam, wielded their bows in unison for ragas such as Bilahari and Ratipatipriya and also for the serene Ganeshalingam and for Madurai Mani Iyer's jubilant English Note.
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