Friday Review
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Back to basics
A.D. RANGARAJAN
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Gajjela Puja brought back the tradition of offering prayers before performing.
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In honour of the Guru Pullela Peri Somayajulu and his wife are being felicitated.
Gajjela Puja, a traditional ritual considered the penultimate step before the official stage performance Arangetram, was conducted by Tirupati-based Srivari Kalakshetra Sangeetha Nrutya Kalasala last week. In fact, this was the first music school in
the city to perform such an event in the recent times.
The puja was marked by a prayer and Alarippu (a form of invocation). Even as the students were singing verses in praise of Lord Nataraja, the Guru applied turmeric and vermilion to the anklets and tied them to his disciples’ ankles.
It is a practice since ages for disciples to offer prayers to the anklets (Gajjelu), pay obeisance to the teacher (Guru) and then bow before the audience before giving a concert. “Unfortunately, the practice of giving credit to all those responsible for one’s success is almost forgotten by the present generation and is on the wane. Our aim is to remind our students about the need to stay in touch with our roots”, the Kalasala founder correspondent S.V. Suresh explained.
Pullela Peri Somayajulu, the former head of Violin department at the TTD’s Sri Venkateswara college of music and dance, was honoured on the occasion and the befitting title ‘Srivaari Violin Vadya Naada Brahma’ conferred on him. V.S. Narasimhachari, treasurer of Sri Tyagaraja Festival Committee, honoured the violin wizard and recalled anecdotes of the Carnatic maestro Ariyakudi Ramanuja Ayyangar’s visit to Tirumala some decades back.
Vedavyasa Rangabhattar, Special Officer of TTD’s Mahati auditorium read out the citation (Birudu Patram) he had written in praise of Somayajulu. N.V. Nandagopal, the school’s music Guru choreographed the songs to which the students T. Deepika, N. Muni Deepika, M. Shiridimaye, E. Sandhya, T. Lahari, P. Sindhura, R. Indumathi and S. Madhavan gave a performance. Kesavulu and Umasankar provided accompaniment on violin and mridangam respectively, while G. Venkateswara Rao provided vocal support. The concert was so enthralling that the members of the audience voluntarily announced a gift of Rs. 1116 to the kids.
The principal Radha Suresh announced that her Kalasala was trying to get an exam centre of Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva University, Meraj and that luminaries in the field of music would be honoured henceforth on a regular basis.
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Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
|
