Veena... where the gods reside
MANJARI SINHA
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The recent Veena Festival saw a host of talent, proving that the veena represents all gods.
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MELODIOUS DUET Jeyaraj and Jaysri
The Festival of Veena, jointly organised by the Veena Foundation and the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) celebrated the veena, the divine musical instrument, revered through the ages as the source of Nada (cosmic sound) and sublime devotional feelings. The veena is said to be the abode of gods according to Sangita Ratnakara. "Dandah shambhu... sarvamangala," which translates, "The danda is Shiva, the strings Uma, shoulder Vishnu, the bridge Lakshmi, the gourd is Brahma, the connecting wires Vaasuki, the jiva is Moon and the pegs Sun. The veena thus represents all gods." The invitation card also carried a graphic picture of the veena as described in this Sanskrit shloka (verse).
Focused on the Saraswati veena tradition, the four-day festival was inaugurated by Dr. Karan Singh, President ICCR and Trustee INGCA at its conference hall. L.M. Singhvi, Founder Chairman of the Veena Foundation, presented The Veena Foundation Award "Veena Vadana Tattvajna" to R. Venkataraman, whose mesmerising concert later that evening, especially the concluding Ananda Bhairavi, proved that he deserved it. Raghurama Ayyar, Secretary General, Veena Foundation, presented resource materials including rare recordings of legendary veena maestros to the IGNCA Archives on this occasion. The IGNCA also documented the entire festival to enhance its cultural archives and to build a database for future reference and study. After documenting the Saraswati Veena tradition this year, the IGNCA also plans to document other veena traditions like the Rudra veena, Chitra veena and Vichitra veena in the coming years.
"Making of Veena in Tanjore", a film by Rajeshwari Anand was an added attraction that enlightened the audience on the art of making veenas and threw light on the creative craftsmen of this intricate instrument. The festival opened with the rendering of saint Tyagaraja's "Panchratna Kritis" by Prema Mallikarjun, accompanied by Nalini Sampat, Geeta Mohan, Veena Venkatraman and Uma Balasubramanium.
Another film by Rajeshwari titled "Music in the Wood" focusing on the history and traditions of veena playing, screened the next day was also much appreciated. Presentations like "History of Veena in the Temples of South India" by Geeta Rajgopalan, Director, Sampradaya Kalakshetra, Chennai, and the panel discussion "Veena in Tamil Literature" with participants like P. Vishvanathan, Leela Omchari, M.G. Swaminathan and Gopal Sharman enlightened the audience with various aspects relating to the veena.
There was also a feast of music for four consecutive days. Among the solo artistes, Saraswati Rajgopalan opened her recital with a Tyagaraja kriti before she went on to play raga Rasika Priya that proved its name, through the favourable response of the audience. Her centrepiece was a detailed ragam-tanam-pallavi in raga Kharaharapriya.
Solo artistes
Hema Krishnamurthy and Jayshri Arvind were the other solo artistes of the second day. C. Balasubramanian, S. Radhakrishnan, Kannan Balakrishna and Revati Krishna regaled the audience on the third day.
The melodious duet by Jeyaraj and Jaysri stole the show on the concluding evening. Right from the opening raga Shyama to the popular Tyagraja composition in Nalinkanti,and the centrepiece ragam-tanam-pallavi in raga Todi adorned with a riveting ragamalika, to the concluding Kadanakutuhalam, their recital was drenched in tunefulness.
They impressed not only with their technical virtuosity and perfect synchronisation, but also with their sensitivity and acute perception. Prem Kumar on the mridangam and Ramamurthy on the ghatam not only gave them inspired support but also excelled in the sawal-jawab during the tani avartanam.
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