collage of TNS in pictures

review of concert of Madurai TNSeshagopalan on9-4-2007

Review of the concert of TNS at the Musiri chamber of music.



I was a little upset in the beginning due to my inability to sit on the floor in front like Ram did and also because of the fact that the artistes were not at all visible clearly due to the diffused light in the hall,in which, normally concerts used to take place in broad daylight, I beleive. But the moment TNS started singing Mayamalavagoula and "Merusamana that could move the mountains" ( thanks Arasi for the coinage) I was raised slowly from the earthly discomforts and all of a sudden found myself up in the clouds as though transported by a jetplane. When we landed back( I say "we" because this feeling was shared by other rasikas who were with me.) we were left dazed, stunned and wonderstruck.

The concert was a layalahari from the start which was enhanced by Sangithakalanidhi TKMurthi who accompanied on Mrdhangam and MASundaresan who played the violin. The svara to 'Merusamana' of Thyagaraja was short but expressed expertise.After 'chandrambaja,' one of the navagraha krthis of Dikshithar, the day being a Monday, there came a beautiful Saranga followed by 'NeevAda nE gAna' of Thyagaraja as expected, with a similar short and sweet svara as in Mayammalavagoula.

Next came a surprise! 'Enthaveduko' of Thyagaraja, a forte of Musiri. The way TNS sang this made one remnisce of Musiri and the music of Musiri school, coming from the voice of Seshagopalan, nevertheless with the unmistakable stamp of TNS along with it, is a rare treat that could be expected only in the Musiri chamber of music.

After this TNS sang 'brovavamma' of Shyamasasthri in manji, which proved what TNS said earlier, during the annual conference of the Music Academy last December that manji has got a definite profile(moonji).


Then it was the nayaki krthi of Thyagaraja, the raga which always received rich nourishment in the hands of TNS and what followed was the exquisite abheri, the raga which was shaped, groomed and dressed rich to resemble a celestial dancer . In the end of the alapana the closed mouth singing finished the decor and then flowed the heavenly 'nagumomu' of Thyagaraja. The svaraprasthara was as usual at 'jagamele paramathma ,' following a fantastic neraval and it resembled AbheerinAtya (kuravaiyAttam).Sri TKMurthi and Sri MAsundaresan ably supplying the pakkavAdhya which was pakvavadhya.

The thani that followed was splendid with Sri TKMurthy on Mrdhangam and Aniruddh Athreya on kanjira after which it looked as though the mani part of the concert was over but no! What followed next was the unexpected, amazing (not amazing with respect to TNS but only regarding the time of its inception.) a double barrelled , double decker and double creamed RTP of Anandhabahiravi-sindhubhairavi.(it was not double raga pallavi with poorvardha in one raga and uttharardha in another but a pallavi sung in two ragas. simultaneously and hence the above adjectives! ) I have used so many qualifying phrases because it was Anandha(tthEn) sindhu(m)bhairavi.It was amazing in the sense the transition of one raga to another both in raga alapana and svaraprasthara was very quick but smoothly blended with the masterly strokes of a creative genius.It left the audience dazed, stunned and wonderstruck with its incredibility which feeling continued even after the javali "marulu konnadhira' in kamas, and a bhajan of Tulsidas in bahiragibhairav(or revati of carnatic) and the thiruppugaz in hamsanandhi which itself was a delight by the play in gathi, and it took a long time to come back to earth even after the landing like that felt during a jet-lag! He is not a mere sangithakalanidhi, a treasure trove of music but an inexaustible mine of music.

Review of concert on 4-4-2007

.Review of the concert ofTNS in Ayodhya mandapam on 4-4-2007

The concert was lifted to the skies like a jet from the start.. Every time TNS seemed to reach a height which looks as though he has reached the zenith only to find that he can go even higher in his next concert.

Yesterday everyone of his rendering was a diamond that decorated the crown of this gayakasimhaendra while the simmendramadhyama was truly a simha nadha shining as the gaykasimhendra kireeta madhyamani.

When he started the sahana in the beginning it was not quite obvious as to what was going to follow though when he started 'vandanamu,' one could see that it could not have been anything else. The svara had all the usual beauty and the ganavaridhi krthi 'dhayajoochuda,' has all the charm one could expect from him.

Next came a fantastic rendering of 'thanavari' in Begada, a very racy pace and with svaras streaming in a marvellous flow, which was a wonder to behold and TNS was ably assisted by SDSridhar and KVPrasad making it a real treat for the rasikas.

The same fare was presented later in 'Brovabharama,' the two together constituting the sentiment of closeness and familiarity which Thyagaraja must have displayed towards Rama.

All concerts of TNS possess a thematic undertone sometimes explicit and sometimes implied and this was no exception.Starting from vandanamu, offering salutations to Rama, the explicit theme being about Rama but the implying theme was entreaty after salutation, by 'dayajoochuda,'the tone changing to a demanding one in the ,'Thanavarithana' and the next was again plaintive varali, ,'Etijanma' in which the raga was exquisitely rendered that took the rasikas to a different realm altogether and hearing the krthi one could definitely feel that 'ETijanmamithi hA,' to not to be blessed to enjoy and appreciate such music.

TNS sang the svaras at 'sAgaraSayanuni,' ending each phrase in thArashadjam thus making it a svarakshara. The combination of svaras were something fabulous and in keeping with the mood of the song.The word 'vegame' was sung in a picturesque manner in different ways to depict the haste expressed by Thyagaraja to see the Lord in ksheerasagara and we could also see the speed of the Lord who Himself hastened to come to the devotee as much as the latter was in a hurry to see Him.

In BrovabhArama again there was the demanding attirtude of Thyagaraja portrayed by the way of rendering and the svaras looked as though to illustrate the miracle of the Lord having all the worlds in His udhara, 'andakotla kukshi neeyinchukoledha,' such was the magic with laya showing all the possible permutations and combinations in svaras.

Next was the Bindhumalini krthi 'entha muddho entha sogasO,' started with anupallavi. This piece is always a sudha bindhumalini with TNS. . Carrying on the theme mentioned above, one can imagine that the Lord has heard the cry of the devotee and has presented Himself and the beauty and grace of His form is described therein. this rasika could not help feeling the truth of the words, 'satthabhAvgavathavesulairi thutthapAlaruchi theliyusAmyamE,' that is unless the musician feels the sentiment expressed by the song and sings with the same me divine experience felt by the composer it is similar to expecting the vessel to know the taste of milk it contains.

The main item of the day was RTP in simhendramadhyamam and as I already mentioned it was a simha nadham. The pallavi 'raghupathe rAmachandra rAghavasimha dhayAnidhe justified the theme and depicted the joy of the devotee on seeing the Lord in front and praising Him.

Words fail me to express the RTP. Rama was said to show Narasimha in him once on the battle field to reassure Sugriva. I could only experience the same on hearing the simhendramadhyamam yesterday. Rama changed into Narasimha and it was the roar of the Narsimha coming out of the pillar and blessing His devotees. Such was the raga and the svara that flowed from TNS.

I express what I felt and surely it would also be the feeling of all his ardent rasikas, though in a different manner.

After a brilliant thani by KVPrasad and TVVasan the concert
ended with 'he dhayAluva,,' and ,Ramamanthravajapiso.

It took us, me and my friend who is also an ardent rasika. nearly an hour after the concert to comeback to earth from the heavenly region to which we were transported and it is a miracle we reached home safely without losing our direction!

Harikatha on valmiki ramayanam by TNS

Harikatha of Valmikiramayanam by TNS on 27-3-2007 at Hamsadhvani

The day being Ramanavami Sri Rama might have willed to hear only about His birth on the janmadhina, and wished to hear the rest of His story after an interval of time, to allow Him to grow! How else to explain the Hariikatha being postponed after the first day!. That TNS was having virus infection after the first day and could not continue and hence the date has to be postponed to allot five days together, which is only possible by end of April, owing to the Hamsadhvani concerts already scheduled , is by the will of the Lord who wanted to hear it in the month of Chaithra , which is His real month of birth.

In the inaugural address Sri.L. Swaminathan was all praise for TNS drawing attention not only to his talents but also his attire so as to neceessitate a pallandu by his rasikas and wellwishers! Any way he spoke well and pointed out the importance of bhakthi in music which alone will secure moksha and not mere music. But the sloka quoted as the example that sangitha alone is not enough to bring the Lord and to secure moksha was actually a case of siddha sAdhanam, that is, trying to prove what is actually proved. The words 'madhbhakthA yatra gayanthi thathra thishTAmi nAradha,' only stresses the importance of bhakthi in music and not mere music alone.Even then, as TNS himself pointed out later in his harikatha by referring to the story of Ajamila that by merely uttering the name of his son called Narayana, Ajamila was purified of his sins, because the very nama even uttered unconsciously is capable of bringing salvation, should it be a wonder that by mere singing of the name of the Lord which is part and parcel of carnatic music one could attain salvation, if the Lord so chooses? Or is it possible to sing the names of Rama or Krishna through the krthis of the saint-composers without any trace of bhakthi what soever?

Now let us come to the actual harikatha by TNS.

After the usual invocation sloka on Haygreeva, which itself was imposing and a delight for the rasikas, and the rest of the traditional pieces sung during Harikatha TNS launched on the Valmiki Ramayana by the sloka ' koojantham rAma rAmethi madhuram madhurAksharam Aruhya kavithA SAkhAm vandhE vAlmiki kokilam,' in which the rasikas could visualise the Arohana, climbing, of the cuckoo Valmiki on the branch of poetry, kavithA SAkha, by his picturesque way of singing the word 'Aruhya.' Next came the sloka 'vAlmeekermunisimhasya kavithAbvanachAriNah,SrNvan rAmakaTHA nAdham kO na yAthi parAm gathim,' Hearing the story of Rama,the roar of the sage-lion Valmiki, roaming around in the forest of poetry, who will not reach the ultimate?

TNS then delighted the rasikas in singing the sloka 'yaH karNAnjalisamputairaharahah samyak pibathyAdharAth;vAlmikErvadhanAravindhagalitham rAmAyaNAkhyam madhu;janmavyADHijarAvipatthi maraNErathyantha sopadhravam samsAram sa vihAya gacchathi pumAn vishNOH padham SAsvatham,' in madhuvanthi, saying that the madhuram madhurAksharam madhu should be presented in madhuvanthi. The whole sloka means that one who drinks the honey of Ramayana, which has fallen from the mouth of Valmiki, again and again with love,through his earfolds, reaches the ultimate abode of Lord Vishnu.

TNS said that his harikatha is not going to be kaTHApramAna, that is mainly narrative because everyone knows the story and Harikatha should have devotion, music, eloquence and expression. with passages committed to memory.He said that the Ramayana is a great ocean frequented by mighty fish, mahamathsya, and boat men, like Valmiki, Kamban and others and he has come forward to do harikatha on Valmikiramayana prompted by sheer devotion as the only qualification and that he was reassuring himself by saying so.This rasika could not help feeling that TNS is himself a mahamathsya who swims around in the mighty ocean of music!

The Valmikiramayana , which is deemed as the AdhikAvya is the only original text, said TNS and all the other Ramayanas that came later were only commentaries explaining the subtle meanings in a gross manner.The reason for this is that Valmikiramayana was divinely influenced, being the will of the Lord Himself, for which purpose He sent Brahma and later Narada. The Ramayana was veda itself as the sloka goes, 'vEdhab vEdhyE pare pumsi jAthe dhasarathAthmajE ; vedhA prAchEthasAdhAseeth sAkshthramayNAthmanA.' When the Lord known only through the vedas became the son of Dasaratha, the vedas were born from Valmiki as Ramayana.TNS sang this sloka in karaharapriya giving it the flavour of the vedic chant, the scales of the raga resembling Samaveda.

The Lord took several avatharas for the sake of dushtanigraha and sishtaparipalana, said TNS, and the incarnations before Rama seemed to imply the evolution theory, starting from the fish to man-lion, and then to diminutive man as Vamana. Ramavathara was that of full human being to show that how man can be transformed into God. Rama was the manifestation of the gunas of Brahman ,the supreme being, who cannot be understood or experienced. In all the avathras, especially in Ramavathara and Krishnavathara, where it is explicit,sishtaparipalana was the main purpose while dushtanigraha is subsidiary. That is why the Ramayana is called saranagathisasthra.Rama could have killed Ravana from Ayodhya itself but he took the trouble of walking to Danadakaranya in order to give refuge to the rshis there and to various saintly and good souls like Guha,Jatayu, Sabari and Vibheeshana.

TNS referred to Krishnavathara and said that the Lord wanted to show what he was going to preach later as Krishna, by following his own teachings as Rama. He stood as an example of an ideal son, brother, king , friend etc. Even the ordeal of fire he made Sita to undergo and later his banishment of Sita is to show how a chakravarti should set an example to his subjects. Both Rama and Sita enacted their parts, by crying and laughing when necessary like ordinary mortals to show that a human being can rise to the state of divinity, and TNS said that Rama was the illustration of the ThirukkuraL 'vaiyatthu vAzvAngu vAzbavan vAnuraiyum deivatthu vaikkappadum,' meaning that one who lives in this world following dharma will be considered as being equal to God.

Then TNS started to elaborate on the circumstances under which Ramayana was composed.It was Narada, who came first to transform the hunter into a sage. So Narada was his first guru who showed him Brahman, as a guru should do. TNS said there was no distinction between guru and sadguru in those days as all were sadgurus only , that is the one who showed the Brahman he experienced to the disciple. He also extolled the role played by Narada in enlightening good souls whenever necessary and said that the character of Narada has been abused much in plays and films, while he was seen in the puranas, to be present whenever anyone needed advice and enlightenment,..

This narration was followed by a divine exposition of the AtANA krthi of Thyagaraja, 'Naradaganalola' by TNS. His Atana is always adadANA and this was no exception! Narada came again after Valmiki became a sage and the latter asked him a question the answer to which was the fountainhead of the Ramayanakavya later. Both the guru and the sishya were acclaimed in the sloka 'thapasvAdhyAya niratham thapasvee vAgvidhAm varam nAradam paripapraccha vAlmikir munipungavam.' The guru was thapasvdhyAya niratha, ever immersed in penance and study of vedas and the best among speakers, vAgvidhAm vara and also the best of sages, being devarshi.The disciple was also a thapasvee, who had done penance while under the anthill, and best of sishya because he asked earnestly, paripapraccha.

TNS said while it is rare to find a guru who practises what he preaches,, anushTAnam krthavAn, it is even rarer to find a sishya who is fired with earnestness for acquiring kowledge and asks the right questions. Nowadays ,he quipped that the sishyas are more interested in discussing politics and cricket with the guru rather than learning what they have come for.

The question of Valmiki was, "kOnvasmin sAmpratham lOkE guNavAn kascha veeryavAn,dharmajnascha krthajnascha sathyavAk yO dhrDavrathah." TNS explained the sloka word by word which made the listeners aghast with his knowledge and wisdom

(I say knowledge and wisdom because one may have knowledge acquired through study but only with wisdom he will be able to give proper interpretations and not merely reproduce what he has learnt. TNS is adept in that art as he comes out with his own explanations quaint and thought- provoking which shows his originality and ingenuity.)

TNS explained the sloka thus:
Valmiki wanted to know who is the guNavAn , virtuous, veeryavAn, valourous, dharmajna, well versed in dharma, krthajna, remembers whatever service done to him,sathyavAk, true in words and dhrDavratha , unswerving in his vows.One may be a guNavAn but if he is not strong enough no one will care for his gunas, said TNS, and hence he should also be veeryavAn. Similarly he should know what is dharama and uphold it,that is, to be a dharmajna and dhrDavratha.He should also know and appreciate what others do to him, krthajna and true to his word, sathyavAk It is rare to find all these qualities in any one individual and hence Valmiki wished to know whether there is one such person living at that time, sAmpratham.
Narada answered that there is such a noble soul living right then and started to tell him about Rama. 'ikshvaaku vamSa prabhavO rAmO nAma janaiH SrutAHniyathAtmA mahAveeryO dhyutimAn DHritimAn vashee;prajApathi samO shreemAn dhAthA ripunishoodhanaH rakshithA jeevalokasya dharmasya pari rakshithA rakshitA svasya dharmasya sva janasya cha rakshitA.'

TNS sang the whole passage about valmiki's question and the answer by Narada in short phrases all in the raga atANA to the great joy of the rasikas.He explained that Rama , from the clan of Ikshvaku, was not only valiant but had self-control and equal to the creator himself in glory,and terrible to his foes, while protecting his own people and dharma .He was not merely possessed all these qualities but was ADyaH, richly endowed with these, and sadhA Eka priya dharsanaH, always pleasing to look at. TNS emphasised on the words sadha and Eka, always and only of pleasant personality, as Kamban says that his face was like a fullblown lotus both when he was asked to take the crown and when he was ordered to go to the forest.Narada thus related the whole Ramayana briefly"like the 4 kaLai pallavi we sometimes sing in 20 minutes in concerts due to paucity of time," quipped TNS.

Then TNS switched on to the episode of the killing of the krouncha bird by the hunter which was instrumental to the birth of the Ramayanakavya.He said the sloka that arose from Valmiki, seemingly a curse to the hunter but later assumed the character of mangalASAsana for the Lord, was born out of Soka, grief. Valmiki already distressed on account of the separation of Sita, who resided in his asrama, from Rama, was grief-stricken to see the bird struck by the arrow when it was in the company of its mate.The sloka that arose from his lips was 'mA nishAdha prathishTAm thvam aganmaH SAsvatheeH samAH; yathkrounchamiTHunAdhEkam avadDHeeh kAmamohitham.' TNS sang the sloka in subhpanthuvarali, which is suited for karunarasa, he said, and not for mourning as it is commonly believed.

Later Valmiki was surprised to see that the sloka had samAkshara, equal number of syllables and Brahma who appeared before him told him that he has already sent sarasvathi before him, said TNS,. that she took her place on the tongue of the sage and made him give out the sloka which, construed differently, became a benedictory verse in praise of the Lord, for killing Ravana.

TNS also referred to the principle called dhoorAnvaya, which is a defect in a passage unless it is auspicious in meaning. Here, the negative particle 'mA ' when connected with 'prathishtAm agamaH' gives the meaning that "you will not get rest forever ,SAsvatheessamAh, "as a curse to the hunter because he killed one of the two krouncha birds , krounchamiTHunAdhEkam avaDHeeH, which was in love, kamamOhitham.In this sense it suffers from the defect of dhoorAnvaya, connection with a word far away from it.

But when the same verse is construed to mean a benediction to the Lord, the syllable , 'mA,' instead of being a negative particle, means 'mA'=Lakshmi. In this sense the verse means mAnishAdha, consort of Lakshmi, that is Narayana, thvam, You, prathishTAm agamah, have become well known, SASvatheessamAH, for all the years to come, yath thavam avaDHeeH , because You killed, krouncha miTHunAth, from the pair of rakshasas, meaning Ravana and Mandodhari, Ekam , one, kAmamOhitham, who was possessed with lust.

TNS said that even in trethayuga the Lord gets His mangalASAsana by the word mAnishAdha, meaning 'abode of Lakshmi' and only in Ramavathara Sreedevi has accompanied Narayana for the first time. She actually went before Him and hid herself under the earth. Here TNS referred to the mangalASAsana of Azvar by the words 'agalakillEn enriraiyum alarmel mangai urai mArbA' to Lord Srinivasa, who has Sri in His chest permanently and hence there was no separate sannidhi for Lakshmi. She is described as 'thadhvakshadTHalanithya vAsarasikA and thadhksAnthi samvarDHInee,' living in His heart always and makes Him mor patient and merciful.Not only that, said TNS, but The Divine mother is further described as vAthsalyAdhiguNOjjvaLA and 'jaganmatha, 'VathsalyAdhi guNojjvalAm bhagavatheem vandhe jaganmAtharam.' (The Lord has willed that I should write these lines on the day of Panguni utthara, which is ascribed to the Divine mother which proves that everything that happens is only by His will.)

TNS said at this instance, referring back to the sloka 'mAnishadha,' said that even being scolded by elders of reverence and gurus and mahathmas is itself a blessing. He deviated a little here and said that the sloka 'suklAmbaradharam,' which is sometimes humourously explained as follows to extoll the merits of coffee as a beverage.It is suklambaradharam and sasivarnam, having white milk and chathurbhujam means there are two hands giving and two taking and drinking it gives rise to a prasannavadhanam, smiling face and it is sarvavighniOpaSAnthayE, for removing all obstacles as the one who drinks a good cup of coffee will be so pleased and will grant anything!

Valmiki mentions that the whole Ramayana consists of 24000 slokas representing the syllables of Gayathrimanthra but actually there are two hundred and odd slokas more, said TNS , which shows tht the great souls will rather underestimate their achievements.

Then TNS referred to the actual text of Valmikiramayana, which begins with a description of the land of Kosala,He said that normally the narrative should start with the account of the presentation of the epic by instructing it to lava and Kusa and their singing it in the court of Rama, but he had to rush through in order to describe the birth of Rama, when the punarvasu nakshathra rises, as the day was Ramanavami. He will come back to that part of the story the next day, he said, but the Lord has willed it otherwise as though telling him "You proceed in the normal manner and I will wait till m next month for it!"

Valmiki has mentioned the land of Kosala in only one sloka which was elaborated by Kamban so as to devote an entire chapter for it. The land of Kosala was so rich and there was abundance of food and money.TNS sang the sloka beautifully in the raga kosalam, and quoted the Thiruppavai pasuram 'AzimaZaikkaNNa,' where it is said 'thAZAdhE sArngam udhAittha sar mazAi pOL vAza ulaginil peidhidAi,' and said that as in the benediction 'kAlE varshathu parjanyah,' there was timely rains and the land flourished as a result.

Valmiki describes the city of AyOdhya in detail and says that all the people were rich and had everything and all were asthikas and bhakthas.There was only one thing lacking and that was due to the fact that Dasartha was without progeny. TNS sang the sloka expressing the grief of Dasaratha in Neelambari.He said while Dasaratha was pining for a son the Lord was looking for a suitable father to effect His incarnation. 'Evam dathvA varam devO devAnAm viSNuH AtmavAn mAnushE chinthayAmAsa janmabhoomim atha AthmanaH.- tataH padhma palAshAkshAH krthvA AtmAnam chaturviDHam pitharam rochayaamAsa tadhA dasharatham nrpam -- This sloka was sung by TNS in sankarabharanam.

Valmiki says that the Lord became fourfold and was born to Dasaratha but Kamban says that the Lord along with Sesha, shankha and sudarsana became Rama-Lakshmana- Bharatha- Sathrughna. Then TNS sang the Ramavathara sloka in Bilahari and mentioned about the placement of the grahas in the horoscope of Rama,( it was a placement as the Lord Himself willed it so and not due to karmaphala as in the case ordinary mortals.) thus showing that he is knowledgeable even in astrology!

Briefly but beutifully describing the episode of Rsysrnga TNS effected the birth of Rama at the exact moment of the rise of punarvasu on the horizon. He referred to Kamban also and quoted the verse ' oru pagal ulagu ellAmudharatthuL podhindhu arumaraikku uNarvu arumavanai,anjanakkarumugil kozundhu ezil kAttum jothiyai, thiru urappayandhanaL thiram koL kOsalai.' It means that Kousalya gave birth to the one who had all the world inside Him and who was the import of the vedas, who was looking like the dark cloud that took the form of a small flame of light. Here kamban uses the epithet thiram koL to describe Kousalya. TNS explained why she was called that, meaning, very skilled. What was the extraordinary skill in giving bierth to son that made her special among all mothers? TNS said that the infant was the one who slept on the banyan leaf having the whole universe inside Him and could be controlled only through devotion and He came inside the womb of Kousalya like a dark flame ( blue fire). Hence Kousalya has accomplished something which no one could.

Then TNS mentioned the namakarana of the children by Vasishta who knew the real identity of them.That is why he is referred to in the sloka as paramapreethah.The eldest was named Rama,'jyeshTHam rAmam mahAthmAnam bharatham kaikayii sutham saumithrim lakSmaNam iti shatrughnam aparam taTHaa vasiSThaH parama preetho nAmAni kuruthe tadha.'

TNS sang this sloka in reethigoula which was superb and also the verse from Kamban , extolling the glory of Ramanama, 'nanmaiyum selvamum nALum nalgume----immaiye irAma enru irandu ezutthinAl,' and he went on an eloquence on the greatness of Ramanama for few minutes non-stop which was a marvel to behold and served as the kudos of the day and the rasikas left thoroughly stunned.

TNS season continues-Reviews of concerts on 7th and 9th march2007

TNS season continues


Review of the concert on 9-3-2007 at Raja annamalaipuram bhakthajanasabha

There was a felicitation to TNS as sangeethakalanidhi before the concert and the function itself started late and the speeches went on and on so that when the concert started it was almost 8pm and TNS had to catch the train at 10.30! He was awarded the title of sangeetha seva siromani by the organisation and he thanked them nicely and mainly the rasikas who have nurtured him and he said that it is a great blessing to be able to appreciate good music .The greatest rasika of all was Srirama himself whom Thyagaraja gave the title (TNS said here is the instance where a man gave title to God ) rasika siromani and that great rasika inspires the musician to sing and the listener to derive joy from his music..It made this rasika to feel that we are indeed blessed by the Lord to be able to hear and understand and experience the joy of listening to such a great genius of music, TNS.

The concert started with the krthi 'sadguru swami' in ritigoula, a composition of Poochi Iyengar on Thyagaraja as it was the first concert during Thyagaraja aradhana celebrated at sringeriparavachana mandapam by that organisation,.Hence all the rest were Thyagaraja krthis.

'Thelisirama' in Poornachandrika that followed was gripping with his racy but beautiful svara, Neraval-svara was at 'rAmayani brahmamulaku peru, and the sahithyabhava itself was not sacrificed for the speed and he brought out the difference in the two usages of the word 'rAma,' one meaning women and another, Srirama, with his expressive way of singing.the sangathis.

The next was a mukhari krthi 'Epanitho,' rarely heard, which was followed by 'sari evvare,' in gangeyabhooshani.The sangathis in 'nagadhara sura,' with akAra were beautiful and followed nocely by the violinist Shertalai Sivakumar. The various inflexions in 'sari evvare' were in keeping with the sahithyabhava.

TNS took up next the Yadukula kambodhi piece , 'heccharigaga ra ra,' and brought out the whole picture of the raga without the alapana, but through the singing of the sahithya itself by hearing which, one could imagine the way it would have been sung by Thyagaraja himself. Surprisingly , may be not so to his rasikas, TNS sang the neraval-svara for this , at 'ninnujoodavacchi bagini.'

After a quick ,'vidamuseyave,' in karaharapriya there was a bhava-laden 'Etijanma' in Varali.which made one exclaim 'Etijanmamihti hA' not to listen to such music forever without break

Then came 'sarsasamadhana,' in Kappinarayani, which was full of the stamp of his excellence everywhere. Long since, this krthi has been adopted by him by sealing it with his mudra and today it was even more explicit. The marks of his special effects were:
1.
1. The first line 'sAti dheyvamamevvare brovave' was split into 'dheyvam evvare' to bring out the meaning clearly and also in anulpallavi, the line was sung as 'paramasambhava agresarundanutsu' and not as 'gresarundanutsu' as it is sometimes sung.

2.In 'Paluku ravanundu theliya leka poye' TNS displayed the anguish that Thyagaraja would have felt that Ravana did not know that Rama was the supreme purusha.
3.'Hithavu matalentho' in the charana showed Rama send message to Ravana with well meaning words, by TNS singing the word 'hithavu mata' with a lot of 'hitha,idham,' and the next line 'Sathavu gana ayodhya nicche nantivi,' where TNS stressed the word 'nicche to bring the meaning that Rama offered even ayodhya to him to bring him to senses.Here this rasika is reminded of the Thyagarajaramayana Harikatha by TNS where he expalned the reason why Thyagaraja said that Rama offered Ayodhya to Ravana. Rama has already promised Lanka rajya to Vibhishana and performed his coronation. But he had Ayodhya within his power as Bharata would offer it to him as soon as he goes back after fourteen years which was drawing to a close.So he thought that it is safe to offer him Ayodhya and keep his word.Then in singing the word 'ragahathamuchesithivi,' the raga flowed like anything through sangathi and in short, the krthi was never heard like this before.

.Last but the best was Saramathi, which was saravathi, full of essence. It flowed like a pravaha of ganga, sometimes like a bindusaras at others like the cataract and became a torrent later, as ir was 9pm and getting late for his journey, and flooded the hearts of the rasikas.When he started 'mokshamu galadha ' it left no doubt in the mind of the rasikas that for only those who worship the Lord by music the moksha is assured, which was emphasised by TNS by singing 'sadbhakthisangitha jnanaviheenulaku mokshamu galadha.' In 'sAkshathkaranee,' one could feel the sakshshatkara of the nadha brahman.

Then TNS sang 'meluko,' in bouli, 'pahi kalyanaram' in kapi and ended the concert with 'srirama jayarama,' inmadhyamavathi.

Shetalai Sivakumar who accompanied on Violin and the veteran accompanist Guruvayur Dorai on the mridangam gave beautiful assistence despite the paucity of time with 100% cooperation.

Others may have had high BP because it was late for him to catch the train but not TNS He took his time to give a full fledged concert within the span of one and a half hour.! An elixir of high potency!

Thus the mini season was concluded gloriously and the next awaited event is on 27th March when TNS is going to do Harikatha on Valmiki ramayana in Hamsadvani for five days. Await day to day reviews of the same.

Veena concert at Hamsadvani on 7-3-2007

TNS started the concert with Anandhabhairavi and the krthi was 'marivere' of Shyama sastri and it was delightful anandha bhairavi.Next was raga alapana in Panthuvarali, the raga with Poorvikalyani, which alternatively finds place in most of his concerts,especially in veena.The krithi was 'apparamabhakthi ' of Thyagaraja with beautiful svaraprasthara, just as he would in his vocal concerts.

After a quick 'sarasasamadhana,' TNS played Hemavathi, doing grahabhedha and the Dikshithar krthi 'srikanthimatheem' with the kalpana svara at 'sukasounakadhi,' as usual. Next was 'sallare rama, ' of Thyagaraja in ahiri, a melodious rendition and the kadhankuthoohala krthi 'raghuvamsasudha ' that followed proved to be off -beaten track and was gamaka oriented and did not sound like playing on a typewriter.

The main raga was bhairavi which was lustrous but soft like the autumn sun, (bhA raveh iva) with the spectrum of colours(ragas) in the thanam, the ragsa being, kedaram,kanada,sahana,subapanthuvarali,begada, hameer kalyani, revathi and surutti. Giving rise to wild guesses as to what would follow next, TNS chose to play the royal krhi of Thyagaraja ,'kolyvaiyunnade.' It was just like hearing him singing and he also sang the pallavi a little as a treat to the rasikas.

The concert ended with a javali in kamas, chinnanjirukiliye of Bharathi and thillana of svathithirunal in dhanasri.






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TNS season continues

TNS season continues


Concert review -TNS at connoisure's club, Bharathiyavidyabhavan-chennai
0n 6-3-2007

To describe today's concert in one word, it was 'mAttrArai mAttrazikkum sangeetham,' meaning, it was a concert which would have attracted even those who want to criticise his music.The rasikas were led into raptures right from the outset. One should have seen the faces of the rasikas, which were lit with wonder and joy when they left the hall in the end, to believe this.

The flag was hoisted in the very beginning when TNS sang 'dhayajuchudaku' in ganavaridhi, a thyagarajakrthi, after kalyani adathala varna and started his ever ebullient poorvikalyani.The song was 'ekkAlatthilum' of Thiruvrur Ramasami Pillai. The svara was taken up by both TNS and TNS Krishna and was the delight of the rasikas as usual. It was a skilful presentation and MASundaresan also did full justice to the raga on the violin.

The soaring to the height of ecstasy of the rasikas (I was not the only one, there were quite a few around with 'oos and aahs') was however experienced in his singing the raga Suruti which was beyond description.Rasikas were swept off their feet and this is not a bit exaggerated. Such was the Suruti that came from TNS.

I have heard wonderful Suruti from him once before in Meenakshi college in Dec. 2005 and this was a reminder of that marvellous experience.' SuruL suruLAga varum raga alapanai appadiye elloraiyum surutti vittadhu.' The krthi was 'angarakam,' as it wasTuesday and the svara was sung at 'dheenerakshakam' and was fabulous.The violinist did a very good job of it too.

Next was the song by Ambujam Krishna in Suddhadhanyasi, 'Azagaa azagaa,' and it was beautifully rendered true to the words of the song(azagaa azagaa).

Perhaps TNS was still overwhelmed with the bhakthipravaha at the Ksheerasagara hall on 4th, where he performed harikatha on extolling Ramabhakthi, (bhakthipravaha-review of which will follow shortly as I am still struggling to find words to express all that was said within two and a half hours), because he started raga Devagandhari which was followed by the krthi Ksheerasagara.

The waves of Devagandhari swept the place like Tsunami that was welcomed, and one could visualise ksheerasagara even before the krthi was sung.The waves of the raga came in all sizes and shapes preparing the abode of the SunAmi,the thAraka nAmi, the Ksheerasagarasayana.The krithi was beautiful as could be expected and was the main piece and the svara in the end was also like the waves of the ksheerasagara, sweeping and roaring, after which the mridangist K.V.Prasad played thani avarthana which was as skilful as his accompaniment through out.

After the graceful 'Mohanavalli: a piece from azagar kuravanji by Kavi Kunjara Bharathy, TNS started the sloka 'vaidehishitham,' and the surprise which was in store could not have been anticipated by the rasikas who expected the usual short but sweet presentation as it was past 9.30 pm. TNS started to sing the lines as ragamalika, which was also expected but not the way it was sung!

The first line was in Begada, picturing the magestic golden hall, ( haime mahaamandape) and the second line was in Hamsanandi and a wonderful Hamsanandi it was, taken over by Krishna who did a portrait of the raga with exquisite strokes and between both of them it was a paramahamsaanndhi.The way TNS sang the words' manimaye ' in Hamsanandhi he seemed to construct the veerasana (manimaye veerasane sustTHitham) with gems inlaid by his music. ( manigalaal izaitthaarpol).

The next line 'agre vaasayathi prabhanjanasuthe,' was in Brindavanasaranga, which was the description of Hanuman with his humility and then the last line 'vyaakhyaantham bharathaadhibhih parvritham Ramam baje shyaamalam ' was in Sindhubhairavi, which surpassed all expectations. Such a sindhubhairavi it was which made one wonder wherefrom did he pick out all the nuances hitherto hidden from view of all. In singing vyaakhyaantham he made a real vyaakhyaana, elucidation of the raga.It was real Sindhubhairavi, then sindhum, bhaavam sindhum, azagu sindhum Sindhubhairavi, bringing before the mind of a rasika, fired with imagination, the lines of Bharathi, "sindhunadhiyin misai nilavinile" as it was such a pleasant and enjoyable experience as that. TNS did not leave any crevice or nook and corner of the raga unexplored and MASundaresan also did an admirable feat on the violin.

It was then 10.10pm when TNS started the bajan Ramachandraprabhu in Sindhubhairavi by Swathithirunal and ended the concert with the thillana in khamas. Rasikas left feeling that they could have listened to him more despite the late hour

TNS season continues

Bakthipravaha-Harikatha on 4-3-2007

by MaduraiTNSeshagopalan

at Ksheerasagara hall VillivAakkam


From the beginning till the end it was bhakthipravaha in the ksheerasagara hall, the aptness of the topic in accordance with the name of the hall was remarked by TNS himself later during the harikatha . Devotion coursed through the discourse and music flowed as a pravaha, making the place a veritable ksheerasagara, in which the rasikas took a holy dip on the day of Lunar eclipse.
TNS was assisted by Varadan on the Mridangam and Ananthakrishnan on the violin.The former is a seasoned accompanist to TNS in his Harikathas and did a good job of it keenly observant and followed him closely which is not an easy task since TNS would suddenly lapse into viruttham style while singing a song and come back to the song again, all of which needed alertness on the part of the mridangist.Anantha Krishnan also interposed with suitable interludes according to the mood of the music, enhancing the bhava.

'Kalou nAmasankirthanam.' The easiest way to attain salvation in the kaliyuga has been laid out in Srimadbhagavatham and it is namasankirthanam, singing the glory of the Lord. The more strenous modes of performing yajna, doing penance etc. are out of questiioon in this age of kali, chitthasuddhi.TNS sang few lines from the Purandaradasa krthi 'harinarayana' where he says that the nama alone protected Prahlada, Gajendra, Ajamila and the rest and there is no need for homa,japa or thapa. Not only the Lord hastens for protection when his name is uttered in anguish but also presents Himself wherever His devotees are singing. TNS said that the Lord comes and stands in front leaving vaikunta or the hearts of the yogis where He normally resides, quoting the sloka 'nAham vasAmi vaikuntE a yOgihrdhayE ravou, madbhakthA yathra gAyanthi thathr thishTAmi nAradha.'.The rasikas could immediately feel the presence of the Lord there,as if to prove these words.

TNS further extolled the efficacy of Ramanama which was narrated by Lord Siva himself to Parvathi who asked him 'kEnopAyEna laghuna,' by what means the thousand names of Hari can be chanted and he answered that the Ramanama is equivalent to the thousand names of Hari.It is easy to pronounce, no knowledge of sanskrit is even necessary in order not to mispronounce the letters. The letter 'rA' when uttered the mouth opens and all the sins go out and saying 'ma ' the mouth closes not allowing new ones to come in. Not that one should worry about correct pronounciation because the lord cares only for bhakthia and not knowledge as the story that even the one who said 'maraprabhu' instead of 'amaraprbhu' was bkessed as the Lord appeared in a tree for him.

TNS sang the verse from Kamban 'Nanmaiyum selvamum nAlum nalgumE-----immaiyE irAma enru irandezutthinAl.' and cited the verse 'nAdiya poruL kaikoodum jnAnamum----rAman thoLvali kooruvOrkkE,' and said one will get wealth as well as wisdom by chanting ramanama and eulogising his valour, meaning that the two are not mutually exclusive. He also sang few lines from Thyagarajakrthi 'dhyAnamE varamaina gangAsnAnamE,' in Dhanyasi, and jocularly remarked that Thyagaraja has shown in this krthi that Ramanama can be chanted any time by demonstrating by a long sangathi in the word sriraaaaa madhyAname, which looks as 'madhyaname varamaina' , that is, for Ramadhyana , madhyana, noon is the best! TNS explained the 'nanmaiyum selvamum ' as not only wealth but also mukthi is given by Ramanama 'Janmamum maraNamum inri theerumE.' Wealth is needed in this world' poruLilArkku ivulagam illai ,' and the divine grace in the next 'arulilArkku avvulagam illai' and saying thus TNS quipped that it is the general impression in these days that poruL ilArkku evvulagamum illai. The words 'nAdia poruL kaikoodum ' has been proven to be true in the case of Vibheeshana and Sugreeva, said TNS, the former wanted only the aruL and the latter wished for the poruL and they had both. Jatayu who did not wish for anything had the great boon of getting the last rites performed by Rama and attained salvation unasked.

Kamban refers to Rama as irukai vEzam, an elephant with two arms (usually the trunk of the elephant is called as its kara and hence it has only one arm) and TNS aid that after pondering on the expression he came to the plausible reason of Kamban for doing so. The elephant is strong enough to uproot a tree by its trunk but with the same trunk it can lift even a child gently and put him on its back. Similarly Rama has the valour to vanquish the whole army with his arms but to those who surrender to him the same arms provide protection. If one touches the feet of this elephant, said TNS< it will lift him and place him in its head.TNS also gave a beautiful explanation as to why the elephant puts mud on its head after bath. The earth is sanctified by the Lord by walking on it in all His avatharas and the elephant wants to sprinkle the dust of His feet on its head.

Lord coming to the rescue of Gajendra has been acclaimed by the devotee composers like the azvars, said TNS, quoting Periazvar thirumozi ' thuppudaiyArai adaivadhellAm sOrvidatthutthunai Avarenre oppilEnAgilum ninnai adaindhEn Anaikku nee aruL seidhamaiyAL,' meaning "I have taken refuge in you even though I don't deserve it because you have showered your grace even to an elephant." TNS also gave a plausible reason as to why the crocodile caught the leg of the elephant. Gajendra was chanting the name of Narayana all the time and the sweetness of the nama permeated through the whole body and the leg was as sweet as the rest of the body and also because the crocodile knew the secret that catching the feet of the bhAgavatha will ensure the arrival of the Bhagavan.He also said in a lighter vein that the elephant belonged to Taminadu (it was the king of Pandyanadu in its previous birth) and shouted 'mudhalE, mudhalE' in tamil and the Lord came proving that even unconsciously uttering His name will secure His protection!

That Rama was none other than the Lord Narayana who is the origin of everything,'Adhimoolam,' was known to Vasishta who named him thus, said TNS,quoting Kamban, 'karA malaiya thaLar kaikkari eiytthE, "arAvaNaiyil thuyilvOY ena," annAL virAvi, aLittharuL meipporuLukkE, "irAman enappeyar eendhanan anrE.' Vasishta gave the name Ram to the one who is the supreme reality who came and protected the elephant that called Him as the one who sleeps on the bed of Adhisesha.

TNS delighted the rasikas by singing the Purandhara dasa krthi 'rAmamanthrava japisO,' in Jonpuri and also sang few lines from the Thyagarajakrthi 'sangithasatrajnanamu' in mukhari where it ia said that the singing of Ramakatha will give rise to devotion, bring the benediction and affection of the good., the grace of the Lord, and also, fame and riches.' premabhakthi sujanavAthsalyamu sreemadramAvarakatAkshamu nEma nishta yaSodhanamosangunE.' The real wealth is not of money but the wealth of bhakthi as affirmed by Thyagaraja in his krthi 'nidhitsAla sukhamA,' who says 'dhAsarathi dhyAb nabajana sudhArasa mu sukhamA.' TNS sang the word 'dAsarathi' in different ways to show Rama in many forms, as a veera, as a king and as the beloved of Sita etc.

Thyagaraja has clearly said that the avathara of Rama was not for killing Ravana but only for the protection of the devotees in his krthi 'Sriraghukula" in Hamsadvani, said TNS by the words 'paramabhakthulanu pAlanamu seyu' and TNS sang the Bharathiar's composition 'bhakthiyinale,' in Bilahari to show that through bhakthi one can achieve mukthi and also sang the firstline of 'mokshamugaladha' of Thyagaraja which conveys the same meaning. Next he sang the pasuram of Peyazvar, 'paarkadalum veEnkatamum-----irum ndhAr amnamum idamAgakkondan,' in Ahiri.

Rama is common to both saiva and vaishnava tradition, said TNS, because it the name is the combination of the two manthras , the panchakshara and ashtakshara , as explained by Thyagaraja, in his krthi 'Evarani.' Thyagaraja says 'sivamanthramulanu ra jeevanu mAdhavamanthramulanu ma jeevanu' and the name Rama is got by combining the two and TNS sang the lines.

The idea that Siva and Vishnu are one is also found in the pasuram by Thirumangai azvar who says that the leg which kicked the god of death for the sake of Markandeya was that of Vishnu who forms the left part of Siva in his manifestation of sankaranarayanan. TNS said this is justified because Siva who has ordained that Markandeya will live for sixteen years cannot go back on hss words when Yama was only obeying his command and it was the leg of Vishnu, the protector, which saved Markandeya..

Vali knew before he died that Rama was Narayana Himself as soon as he saw the ramanama on the arrow.'mummai SAl ulagukkellAmmoolamandhiratthai------rAman ennum Semmai ser namamthannai kangalil theriyakkandAn.'

Anjaneya told Ravana who Rama was,said TNS and sang the verse from Kamban 'moolamum naduvum eerum illadhu-----kAranan kaivilEndhi soolamum thigiri sangum karakamum thurandhu----ayOddhi vandhAn.'

What followed next was a feast for the rasikas because TNS sang a number of songs , ofcourse some in full,some in parts, to extoll the namasankirthana and devotion The songs were, 'kElathi mama hrdhaye' and 'bajana seya rAdha ' in AtAna,'bajanaseyave' in kalyani, rambhakthi chesina in begada, from Thyagaraja ramasumara, in rakesri, chod dhiya, of kabeer, Purandaradasa krthis ramaramarama ,in vasantha,ramanamapAyasage in anandhabhairavi and dAsachee sampathi of Samartha Ramadas.

Next was the krthi 'seethamma mAyamma,' of Thyagaraja where he says that he has Sita as the mother and Rama as the father and Hanuman,Lakshmana , bharatha, Garuda and Jambavan are his briothers and the relatives are Prmesvara, vasishta ,Narada etc.Here TNS expounded the glory of the Divine mother,Sita. He said that Kakasura was saved because of the glance KatAksha, of Sitawhich made Rama merciful, even though he committed unpardonable sin against her..Marica got mukthi because of her glance , being killed by Rama,for which purpose only Sita adamently asked for the deer.The episode of Vibheeshana also proves only her mercy, TNS said, because she would have glanced when he flew through the sky and was pointed out by his daughter who was in the asokavana. Due to her kataksha only he got the lanka samrajya as a reward for his bhakthi and also been accepted as seventh brother of Rama 'ninnOdum ezuvar AnOm,' as mentioned by Kamban, though he wanted only the feet of Rama placed on his head to destroy the sin of being born as the briother of Ravana, 'kalviyal arakkan pinnE thonriya kadmai theers ilaiyavarkavittha moli ennaiyum kavitthi enrAn.'

TNS explained the action of Rama in accepting Vibheeshana saying 'ninnodum ezuvar Anom,' beautifully with referenc to The Thyagarajakrthi, 'nAdhasudhArasambilanu,' where Rama is desribed as the personification of nadhasudha, the nectar of music, being the source of veda, purana and agama sastra,. his bow is the raga, the saptha svaras are the bells on his bow etc.TNS gave the reason as to why Rama accepted seven brothers, saying that since he was the nadha itself the seven notes became the seven brothers.

Ramadasa when he was imprisoned secured the mercy of Rama only after entreating to Sita and TNS sang the composition of Ramadasa 'nannu brovu' in Kalyani. Ranadasa tells Sita "why don't you l plead my case when you are alone with him at the time of sleep?" When he is dozing off, TNS explained, he would not have remembered the wrong done by the devotees and may nod his head agreeing to what she says.

TNS then referred to the hall which is named as ksheerasagara hall and said he had to honour it and sang 'ksheerasagarasayana' of Thyagaraja in devagandhari. and then elucidated on the lakshana of Harikatha.He said a harikatha must have, according to kirthana sampradhayam,sanskrit, music,and songs in all languages, knowledge and eloquence, as found in the harikaha of Maha vidvans . Otherwise, he quipped , it will be a hurry-katha.

Then TNS extolled the thiruvadi of rama by singing the line 'SriramapAdhamA,' displaying the thiruvadi in different aspects, walking, lifting (as Thrivikrama) and enjoying the tender caress by Sita. TNS also sang the krthi 'pakkalanilapadi,' in which Thyagarja enumerates the different ways of worship, 'thanuvuche vandana, physically bowing down,,namakirthana, manasuna thalach mai marchi, meditating in the mind,,'etc.TNS sang the whole song as a viruttha thus bring out the beauty of the lyric.

He also sang the krthi 'enthanine varninchunu sabaribhagya,' in mukhari where Thyagaraja describes how Sabari served Rama, 'kanulara sevinchi, drinking him with her eyes,kammaniphalamula nosaki, giving him delicious fruits tanuvupulakarincha, experiencing the horipulation and padhayugamu mrokki, worshipping his feet,' as a result of whcih she attained punarAvrtthi rahitha padham, the state of non-return to this world again.

TNS outlined the Rama bhakthi samrajya, as described by Thyagaraja, and portrayed the romAmcha, horipulation through his singing the line 'rOmAnchamane ghanakanchukamu,' in a picturesque manner.He also sang 'Apparambhakthi,' in Panthuvarali, which shows the glory of devotion that enabled the monkeys to cross the ocean, gave power to Svayamprabha and made yasodha tie Krishna to the mortar. Finally, Ramakatha is able to do everything to the listener as well as to the narrator, and the state of bhakthi unlike that of mukthi which is desvribed as 'kandavar vindilar vindavar kandilar,' is expressible but has to be experienced to know the bliss, 'eelAgani vivvarimplenu tsAla svAnubhava vEdhyamE' as declared by Thyagaraja in his krthi "'ramabhakthi samrajya.' TNS concluded by saying that everyone should get the namarasAnubhava by singing the names of the Lord.

Mini season for TNS rasikas

Review of rasika_tns of the concerts of TNSeshagopalan



A mini season for TNS rasikas

A welcome off- season shower of music for the rasikas of TNSeshagopalan for four days! A shower is pleasant at any time that too if it rains honey and sugar! It was a feast for four days as in the marriages celebrated in olden days(nAlunAL kalyaNam)

Concert on24-2-2007at Hamsadvani

It was Dikshithar Day at Hamsadvani and there were all rasikas favourites featured in the concert. Sri Mahaganapathi in Goula was presented with beautiful svaras which was followed by Sankachakra in Poornachandika. Next was Anadhabhairavi with masterly strokes and proved to be a real anandha bhairavi as usual.The krti was 'Kamalamba samrakshathu mam ' one of the kamalamba navavarana.

TNS started Kumudakriya and while he was exploring the nuances of the raga the lights went off and so did the micraphone! This did not deterr TNS as his rasikas knew well, and he continued his heavenly alapana in the darkness and it was really an experience. There was pin-drop silence in the auditorium and the voice of TNS could be heard clearly because it is not mike-voice but mayakku- voice (with due apology to TNS for borrowing his own words) and there was loud applause when he finished.The current came only after he finished the krthi in Kumudakriya, Arddhanaareesvaaram and almost finished singing the next one also, Sri rajagopala in saveri.

Nagagandhari that followed was sparkling (lights came on then!) and he sang 'sarasijanabhasodhari.' Next was vasantha with the krthi "Hariharaputhram.' What followed next was the exotic feast of the day , the Brindavana saranga . There was real brindavanam with all the features described by Vedanttadesika in Yadhavabhyudhaya being present there, agaadhakaasaaram, deep lakes, maheenasashpam, thick vegetation, atheekshnasooryam, soft sun light, achandavaatham, pleasant wind etc.,abounding in all kinds of saranga,(Brindavane saarangaah), the bees, antelopes, lions and elephants, finally ending with the picture of the bow(Saranga) in the hands of Lord Soundararaja. Word fail me to describe the raga Brindavanasaranga expounded by TNS then.

Ambaneelayathakshi, another of the rasikas' favourites followed next and the main piece was Bharavi, Balagopala. The raga and the svara contained all the splendour as could be expected with TNS and the krthi had the extraordinary sweetness and beauty of neelaneeradha sarira of Lord Krishna.

The end piece was marked by 'anandhamrtha varshini ' and srivenkatagirisam in suruti and the concert ended with srikamalambike in sriragam.

The concert was a spectacular prism of three sangithakalanidhis,TNS,VR and MC.

Concert on 25-2-2007 at Mylapore Fine arts

The concert was arranged by YACD and TNS sang on the first day of their Tamiz isai festival.The speeches were going on and on making the everyone restless and the best and only relished speech was that of TNS in the end. He reiterated his stand that isai has no barriers of language or region. Thamiz isai , as defined by him, is tamizarin isai, tamizaraal valarkkappatta isai, which denotes carnatic music as a whole. The word Carnatic, he said means ancient and not belongng to any region.A good musician is one who touches the heart of the rasikas through his music irrespective of the sahithya which only adds to the flavour, only if, the musician has already established a rapport with his music.He said that he has been requested to sing Thyagaraja krthis even in the other states where the people do not understand the language and know only one word such as pakkala or evarani etc.He mentioned that when he went to Andhra he inadvertently started the Tamil composition 'ammaiyappa' which was well received inspite of the words not being understood. Similarly they asked him to sing 'kakkai cchiraginile' by saying only the word 'kakkai' TNS also said that there is no language present in raga alapana which is enjoyed by all as well as (if not more than) the song itself.This rasika cannot help feeling that such a comment on music is befitting and authentic coming from such a maestro of music as he is capable of producing navarasa with his raga alapana alone.

The concert started with the lyric of Subramania Bharathiar a viruttham,in beautifully expounded Nattai and the song 'ganapathi thaLai' in the same raga. Next was a composition of kavi kunjarabharathi, 'sami mayuragiri vadivela' in khamas. Poorvikalyani was the next raga which is one among the precious gems studded in the garland of TNS's music.It was delightul as usual and the thaniyans in praise of Andal, which usually he sings before any thiruppavai gave a clue as to what is following, that is 'koodarai vellum,'
the 27th thiruppavai.The thaniyan that begins with 'pathakangal theerkkum' which ends as 'kodhai thamiz ariyadha manidarai vaiyam sumappadhum vambu.' was delivered with gusto and expression that could be found only with TNS.

He adopted the technique of 'kondukootti' in that connecting the words as 'thamiz ariyadha, padhakangal theerkkum kodhai thamiz ,paramanadi kattum kodhai thamiz,vedam anaitthukkum vitthagum kodhaithamiz etc which emphasises the bhakthi aspect that cannot be dissociated from music and Thamiz, and the message is very clear.Besides, in the line 'Kodhai thamiz ariyaadha maanidarai vaiyam sumappadhum vambu,' TNS presented a vivid picture of the word 'sumappadhum' to show the burden on the earth by different inflexions in singing. The same technique in the pasuram also in singing the words 'paadipparaikonduYam peru sanmanam' and 'nadu pugazum parisil' reflected in the mind of rasikas the wide renown attained by TNS himself through sheer merit and the grace of the Lord through his nadhopasana(paadipparaikondu).

The next raga was sahana which was presented with its full grace and the composition of Vallalar 'thadittha or maganai thandhai aditthaal' in which the line 'aditthadhu podhum anaitthidal vendum' usually sung by TNS brings tears to the eyes of rasikas , and it was followed by 'Appa nAn vendudhal kettu' of Vallalar.The whole piece starting from the raga alapana till the end of the song was bhava-laden.

Then came the shower of manna. the most beautiful charu(thama)kesi.. I have heard charukesi by TNS few years ago in Meenakshi college and I cannot forget it even now But even if you hear the same raga two days in succession from TNS it still rings new and that is the charm of his versatality and indefatigable and incredible manodharma.TNS sang a Periazvar Pasuram, 'siruviralgal thadavipparimara,' one of the ten, describing the flute-playing of Krishna and the song by Ambujam Krishna 'Kuzalosai ketka manam vizaiyudhayya.' In brindavanasaranga of yesterday the rasikas had a mental picture of Brindaavanam and today it was an asthetically sensuous experience of it , a light and sound (oLiyum oliyum) presentation!

We saw the cows which forgot to move their ears by the words 'seviyaattakillaave,' and the sound of the flute of Govinda and of the accompanying melody of the cuckoo, all of which , depicted through expressive singing, became a direct experience. This was made into the main piece of the concert by the elaborate and fantastic raga alapana and exuberant svara, exuding expertise( the song was in jamba thala) and elegance. The rasikas were transported bodily to Brindavanam and witnessed the kuzlosai with all the paraphernalia. It was a divine charukesi , sung by a charu kesi, beautiful lion, of music on charu kesi, the Lord with beautiful locks who appeared ass a beautiful lion-Narasimha.

After a wonderful thani ( jambathala) bySrimushnam Raja rao and B.purushotthaman TNS sang the krthi 'Arabhimanam vaitthu' a raga malika with one line in each raga and svaras in the respective ragas.It goes without saying that TNS sang the different ragas with beautiful ragabhava,but in the end he sang kalpanasvaras in each raga with the raga name, in his own inimitable style, to the delight of the rasikas.

Next was the song of Mazavai Chidambara Bharathi, 'kanmaniye solladi' and TNS sang this in Kapi to the surprise of those who have heard this in saranga from GNB. But the kapi seemed to be the original raga and it is beautifully suited to the mood of the song and it was a new and exhilerating experience to hear TNS singing it., especially in the end when he sang the words 'kanmaiye' in different bhavas.

The last but not least before thillana was the thirppugaz 'erumayileri,' where TNS changed the gati alternatively from tisra to ganta and vice versa in each line. It was a cherry of the cake.The concert came to an end with the niroshta thillana of TNS.


Concert on 26-1-2007 at Ananthapadmanabhswamo koil, Adyar

The concert started with the Thyagaraja krthi 'aparadhmula' in Rasali, followed by 'sadhinchane' in arabhi.Next was the raga panthuvarali which is always a treat for the rasikas with the krthi 'sarasaksha' of swathithirunal. The svara singing at 'bhamini samudhaya' was taken up by both TNS and TNS Krishna, which is always a rich repast to the rasikas.

Then came the dvajarohana of the day, the dvijavanthi, which was really dvajavanthi, adorned with flag,hoisted by gaayakadhvaja, (the first and foremost among musicians), sporting a colourful flag, painted with masterful strokes.The krthi that followed was of course as it could be expected on the occasion, 'chetasri balakrishnam' of dikshithar.

Next was a quick rendering of the Thyagaraja krthi, 'ganamurthe,' and then the main raga of the day proved to be Kalyani., followed by the krthi, 'pankaja lochana,' of swathithirunal, as could be anticipated. The neraval and svara at 'sundarathararupa,' was verily what one could experience only from TNS and kept the audience spell bound inspite of the disturbances around. After that, the Lord Padmanabha who started out on His procession before the concert decided to comeback to listen to TNS and there was a lot of commosion outside and the concert ended soon afterwards with TNS singing 'bajare yadhunatham' and a thillana in kamas.TNS was accompanied by VVRavi on violin and Trichur Narendran on Mridangam.


concert on 27-2-2007 at Nayaki -kotturpuram

It was a marvellous concert and everyone of the pieces TNS sang was a gem.This was the apex of the mini season.

TNS started the concert with 'mayatheetha svarupini' in mayamalavagoula His acumen was seen in splitting the word mayatheetha as maya +atheetha. All the songs selected were those not frequently heard in his concerts.

The next one was the dharuvarnam of Mutthiah bhagavathar 'madhe malaydvaja' in kamas preceded by raga alapana of kamas. The kamas of TNS is always sukhamas,. The varnam was sung with pleasant and mellifluous .tonal inflexion, sukhamaana kamas.

Brovabharama in bahudharai which followed was sparkling like a lightning, fast and bright, with the racy svaras.

The concert today reminded one of a Tanjore painting of sangithadevatha, with the cloth being prepared with slow and soft Mayamaklavagoula and the drawing done by the kamas varnam. Bahudhari served as the sparkling semi precious stones that are used to decorate the drawing.

The main part of the painting was however done with the Hemavathi that followed. That is, the applying of gold foils over the image. The raga alapana was like melting gold and making it into foils. The shining gold (kanthimathee) was carefully laid on the portrait
and the deity shone with hiranyamanimayashobha, with the stones chiselled out by the master chiseller, sulakshana gana vichakshana thakshah and who added splendour by colouring( raga) the portrait.

Then the scene changed to set the stage for another chiseller, the one who created the Universe. Rasikas were treated with a presence of the Lord Krishna with His bewitching smile, when TNS started the song of Ambujam Krishna, 'Punnagai onre podhume' in Hamsanandi. This raga is one of the various gems that adorn the crown of glory of TNS and in this song rasikas could visualise the Lord descending , flying and walking to redress the harm done to his devotees. TNS sang the lines irangi ninrai , parandhu senrai and nadandhu senrai etc, and it was an illustration of his extraoordinary power in creating visual experience through his music. Words fail me to describe the effect that was produced and it could only be experienced. 'eelaagani vivarimpalenu tsalasvanubhavavedhyame,' to quote Thyagaraja which is the best I could do.

The next krthi was 'ramachandra needhaya' in suruti of Thyagraja as though in reaction to the mercy of the Lord,depicted in the previous song, in bhaktha paripalana. This krthi was presented in a manner that it was exuding of karunarasa.

There was a sudden change in the atmostphere perhaps to welcome the Nayaki that was arriving later, when TNS started the thodi composition of Papanasam Sivan, 'thanigai ivalar saravanabha.' I told my friend who is hearing it for the first time to watch out for the playful dance of the peacock and sure it came in the charanam,'thulli vilaiyadi varum thogai mayil mele.' If one could coin the term 'visual music,' it is what we experience when TNS sings.

After a short and sweet interlude, 'entha muddho,' the bindumalini krthi of Thyagaraja, it was the grand entrance of Nayaki, which was the nayakamani of the diadem of music presented by the Gayakasikhamani. The seasoned rasikas of TNS were awaiting for the raga as we knew that it would come as the performance was at Nayaki, Kotturpuram. But what came as a surprise was that it was rendered as RTP! And what a Nayaki it was! No wonder it was Sriranganayaki who featured in the pallavi, as nothing short of the portrait of the thAyar of Srirangam would have justified such a delineation of the raga. It is also interesting to note that this was the only RTP of this mini season. It was extraordinary to do so in such a raga like Nayaki as RTP for anyone else except TNS, for whom it is ordinary; as he has sung even minor ragas like Desh as RTP in the past.The raga was presented in all its nuances and entering the heart coursing through the veins it produced a warmth despite the chilling AC of the auditorium!The svaraprasthara was in ragamalika. comprising of nayaki, revathi,begada ahiri and the svaras in these ragas were in accordance with the main raga, melodious and gamaka oriented. Of course the svaras become impressive and expressive when sung by TNS and this was no exception.

The end part of the comcert considted of the dasaranama in behag, 'narajanmabhandhaga,' and the thiruppugaz 'alliviziyalum amd thillana in bilahari.

Thus ended the miniseason for TNS rasikas who left feeling un kuralosai ketka manam vizaiyudhayya.

Harikatha on Thyagaraja

At Asthijka samajam Thiruvanmiyur on 11-2-2007

TNS always starts with the sloka 'jnananandhamayam devam,' which is the first sloka of the Hayagriva sthothram of VedantaDesika. In a later sloka Desika says 'jihvAgrasimhAsanam abhyupEyah,' entreating the Lord Hayaghriva to come and occupy the throne of his tongue so that the words will flow with flourish. This is exacltly what happened on the day of Harikatha by TNS and it seemed as though from the moment he uttered the sloka 'jnannanandhamayam devam' the Lord Hayagriva has made His presence through his words. Such was the eloquence which could not be explained otherwise as TNS himself remarked that the Lord puts the words in his mouth as he prepares only the material for his discourse and not the exact text of it, which is spontaneous.This is why his harikathas are not only entertaining and musical but also educative and inspiring.

TNS extolling the greatness of namsankirthanam ,which is the most effective in kaliyuga quoted the sloka 'rAma rAmthi rAmEthi ramE rAmE manorame; sahsranAma thathulyam rAmanAma varAnane, which is the reply of Lord Siva to Parvathi who asked him the easiest means of chanting the thousand names of Hari. He was pleased with the question which gave him an opportunity to tell the world about the efficacy of Ramanama and hence he praised her as varAnanE,meaning one with beautiful face.

TNS said that the eyes are the main features which give beauty to the face, and the eyes of the Divine Mother were full of mercy for her children, which made her ask the question.The reply was, Ramanama is equal to the thousand names. Thyagaraja calls Siva as Ramanamarasika and hence he was happy to talk about the subject nearest to his heart.TNS further elaborated the merciful glance of the Divine Mother by mentioning the remark of Parasarabhata to Lord Ranganatha who used to appear in a festival dressed as Ranaganayaki thAyAr. Parasar bhatta who actually conversed with the Lord told him that He looked the spit image of the Mother except for one thing. The mercy always seen in the eyes of the Divine Mother was missing!

Kirthanam is the first and foremost means of bhakthi among the nine kinds of bhakthi mentioned in Srimadbhagavatham, said TNS, in Kaliyuga, because it is difficult to achieve integration of the mind necessary for the others like smaraNam, SrvaNam etc. He also quoted from kandharanubhoothi of AruNagirinAthar the words 'summA iru sol ara enralumE ammAporuLonrum arindhilanE,' and said that it is very difficult to do so. He gave a quaint explnation to .the words 'ammA poruL ' as 'that great truth' by splitting the words am+mA+poruL.

The namasankirthanam is twice blessed because it blesses the one who sings and the one who listens. Here TNS made a remark, (which applies to his music perfectly, thought this rasika) that the singer who sees the divinity through his music should show it to the listeners then and there.( of course the listener should have his sails open to catch the wind!) All the saint-devotees who sang about the Lord in all languages from all regions have shown the exemplary merit of namasankirthana, said TNS, and sang the dhoha of Kabir who says 'kahatha kabeera hariguNa gAna gAvatha nAchatha vaikuntajana , by singing and dancing about Hari one can easily go to Vaikunta or rather bring Vaikunta here itself. TNS added that even to do the namsankirthana one requires gurukrpa. Even Rama himself showed that one can achieve anything through the grace of guru by obeying the command of Visvamithra and serving Him.TNS said that the Ramavathara was for bhakthaparipalana and not for Ravanasamhara alone. Rama did that right from the time he started for the forest, by showering His grace on Guha, Sabari and the rshis of Danadaka forest and did even anthima samskara for a bird Jatayu etc. For this he needed the union with the Divine Mother and it started only after his marrying Sita. TNS quoted Kamban , 'karumkadal paLLiyin kalaviyin neengippoi---pirindhavar koodinAk pEsalum vendumo,'(this he had explained beautifully in his kamabaramayanaharikatha of which I have given a review earlier) Thyagaraja who has sung the whole Ramayana in a nutshell in many krthis, one of them being 'Sriraghukula' in Hamsadvani, has clearly shown in that krthi that Ramavathara was only for protection of the devotees (parithrANAya sadhoonAm) by the words 'parambhakthulanu palanamu sEyu.'

To say something is easier than doing as one says and Rama first set an example to what he was going to say in Krishnavathara in the Bhagavatgita. AnjanEya was the witness to this fact, according to Thyagaraja ,said TNS, and that is why he is placed at the top of the chariot in the flag when bhagavat gita was spoken and Thyagaraja also placed him at the top in the jeevaasvara nishadha, in his krthi 'geethArThamu' in suruti. by saying 'vAthAthmajunikibhaga thelusukora.'


Next came the delightful singing by TNS of the krthi 'ElaneedhayarAdhu, which of course he sang only in parts, as it should be, in a harikatha.But as TVSankaranarayanan remarked later in his speech praising TNS, even a short flash of his music gave rasikas the satisfaction of hearing a complete concert because it was a concert in a capsule, meted out by TNS in these musical interludes.

The krthi was composed by Thyagaraja when Rama appeared before him and the way he describes Rama in the krthi by 'bAlakanakamayachEla' etc. and the way he fondly called Rama by 'rAra devadideva' etc. creates a doubt ,said TNS, in the minds of all whether even Kousalya would have fondled Rama so.

TNS then remarked that Thyagaraja raises a plaintive cry by saying 'ElaneedhayarAdhu,' even after Rama gave His darsan . Why ? TNS himself supplied the answer that It is because he was a sathguru and a sathguru is the one who shows the God he has seen, to the others also,

Thyagaraja is to be considered as Rama himself, descended on earth to show the eminence of bhakthi, said TNS, and so was Muthuswami Dikshitar, the incarnation of Lord Subramanya and Shyama Sasthri was Godess Kamakshi herself, which was why he was referred to as Kamakshi by people in his days.Thyagaraja himself has hinted this in his mukhari raga krthi, 'sangitha sasthrajnanamu sAroopya soukya dhame manasa,' which means that the ardent devotee becomes the object of his worship.TNS also quoted an incident to show this from the life of the kavi Kalidasa. There was a contest to prove who, of the two, Dandin or Kalidasa, was greater poet and they asked the goddess Sarasvati herself to give judgement and she said 'kavirdandee kavirdandee kavirdandee na samSayah,' meaning dandee is 'the' poet, without doubt whereupon Kaldas asked her with anger and resentmentn'Then who am I?" Then the goddess replied, "thvamEvAham you are none other than myself."

TNS then mentioned briefly the throwing of the Rama idol into Kaveri by the brother of Thyagaraja who was enraged at his refusal of the offer to go to the court of the king. He said it was the leela of the Lord, who was comfortably resting on the riverbed, to get more kirtanas from Thyagaraja. TNS said that Thyagaraja did some introspection in asking himself in the krthi 'Nidhisala,' when he asked his mind,' nijamugapalgu manasa.' Not only that, but he was really pained at the very idea that they approached him thinking that he may accept the proposal and showed his mental agonty in the krthi .'padhavi ni sadbhathiyu,' in salagabhairavi where he says that no post is superior to that of being a devotee. TNS referred to the krthi 'Nadhaloludai' whereThyagaraja describes the joy of sankirthana of the Lord to be equal to brahmanandha.

Thyagaraja gave the essence os Svararnavam, the work on sangithasasthra given to him by Narada, to the whole world in the form of easy music, like the honey that mixes with the fruits to make them easily edible, said TNS, and there are compositions for .the beginners as well as for the skilled singers. There are immense varieties of raga variations in the krthis of Thyagarja, TNS pointed out, for instance, each of his thodi raga krthi begin in a different svaram.

Next TNS took some krthis and explained them. In 'kaddhanuvariki,' in thodi Thyagaraja gives the lakshana of devoted musician, as 'niddhura nirakarinchi,' giving up sleep, 'muddhuga thamburapetti,' wielding the thambur gracefully,'shuddhamaina mansuche' with pure mind ,which is the most important, said TNS, and 'susvaramutho,' correctness of svaras.Here TNS quipped that nowadays it is only thamburapetti, thambura box (electronic) instead of the real one!

Similarly Thyagaraja gives the requisites of good music also in the krthi 'sogasuga' as 'mrdhanga thalamu jathakoorchi,' etc. In fact the whole krthi is about how to sing. The music without bhakthi has been denounced by Thyagaraja in many krthis, said TNS, like dhunmaragachara and so on.

Lastly TNS mentioned the greatness of Ramanama as made out by Thyagaraja by referring to the krthi 'evarani,' The letter that gives the meaning to siva mantra"om Namasivaya' is the letter .'ma ' as without it the manthra becomes na sivaya, 'not for siva.' Similarly the letter 'ra' in the Narayanamantra,' namo narayanaya' when taken out, the word becomes 'na ayanayaa' which means 'to one who has no abode .' So the two letters which are the soul of the two mantras are joined to make the name Rama, says Thyagaraja and this shows that Rama is the combination of Sankara and Narayana , said TNS jocularly referring to TVSankaranarayanan, who was sitting in front. This propelled TVS from his seat and he got up and gave a very fine encomium to TNS to prove that 'vidvAn Eva vijAnAthi vidvajjana parisramam,' only one vidvan knows the worth of another. He extolled the work behind the performance and said 'uzaippukku marupeyar Seshagopalan and guru bhakthikku oru udharanam.'. He showed concern that TNS delivers his discourse standing for three hours continously not even stopping for his cup of tea! TVS also said that TNS is a perfectinist and a complete musician and remarked about his comments during the lecture demonstrations of the Music academy seesion for which he was the president, being awarded sangithakalnidhi and said that his preparation for the topics was even more elaborate than the lecture demonstrations themselves.He also said that TNS is known to work until the small hours ( niddhura nirakarinchi!) for his preparations, especially now that he is going to do Valmiki Ramayana next month in Hamsadvani.For every one of his remarks rasikas applauded vehemently to show their approval.

What I have written is only the tip of the iceberg because as TNS himself remarked he can talk about the music and devotion of Thyagaraja for five days whcih he had done earlier, and to talk about TNS, as TVS remarked, one can go on an on without satisfaction. To Quote Thyagaraja--'evari valla varNimpa dhagunE!.'

concerts of TNSeshagopalan from 25th DEC2006 to 1-1-12007

sangaithakalanidhi award function-1-1-2007
The unparalleled, unexcelled, one and only and without a second creative genius, the n maestro of music, Madurai TNSeshagopalan, is now sangithakalnidhi and the function of conferring the title to him went on exceedingly well and in a grand manner. When the title was conferred there was a nonstop cheering from the rasikas for a few minutes.

After the formal function his students paid their tribute to their guru and presented him a huge tanjore-painting of Lord Lakshminarasimha and Madurai Sundar, Gayatri Girish and others honoured him. Dr. Hamsini NagEndhra his desciple from Bangalore who, inspite of her being visually impaired went to the stage with the help of a friend to pay her respects to her guru. Another member of the rasika_tns group, Dr. Jaikrishna went and paid his respects to his manasikaguru and presented him with a citation on behalf of the group.Some friends and disciples of TNS paid their tribute to the great master with lifesize garland (ALuyara mAlai)

In all respacts it was a grand function unparalleled in the recent history of the music academy. Some one in the Academy was heard saying that after the conferring of the title to GNB, forty years ago, there has never been such a public acclaim like this for any other sangithakalnidhi. Every one in the auditorium was exceedingly happy which reflected in their faces.

1-1-2007-at Tamizisai sang
1-1-2007-at Tamizisai sangam

TNS had taken 'Azagarkuravanji ' by kavikunjarabharathy for his thematic progrmme in Tamizisai this year. The first was 'pahigajamukha vibho'in Kanada for which TNS sang delightful svara. After this TNS gave an introduction wherein he mentioned that the Tamil language has become rich by incorporating some of the words from other languages especially sanskrit! TNS alone could do this in Tamizisai sangam ! He further said that even Subramania bharathy has composed lyrics in sanskrit such as "Bhooloka kumari.' He said Tamil is establshed firmly because of the adaptatruion of the words from other languages!

The azagar kuravanji he said, is a mutthamiz kaviyam as it contains isai, iyaal and natakam, that is, music , lyrical beauty and drama. Kuravanji deals with the nayaka-nayaki bhava, the heroine seeing the hero coming in a procession and falling in love with him. The hero of the work is usually a deity such as Lord Siva as in kutralakuravanji or Lord Azagar of Madurai as in this one. The rasa is sringara but of devotional fervour, madhurabhakthi.The heroine is Mohanavalli the amsa of Lakshmi.The sakhi or the friend to whom the heroin appeals and later the kuratthi, denote the guru or acharya who unites the jeevathma with paramathma.TNS said the thiruvarul, grace of God, will come only if one gets guruvarul, the grace of the guru first.

The type of music in this work is that of padham, folk music and classical music. Some of the compositions from the work demonstrated by TNS were 'arutcheyyavendumadi' in atana, 'kolamigum' in saranga and 'mandaradaramaadhavasundararaja' in thodi. the arrival of Mohanavalli to see the processsion of Sundararajan, Azagar, is in Hameerkalyani, TNS sang the raga Hameerkalyani in his own inimitable style making it a 'ameer'(rich) kalyani On seeing him the thought that came to the mind of Mohanavalli expressed in the song 'ivanaaro,' in kambhodhi which contains the whole lakshana of Kambhodhi, he said.

'Mohanavalli' in manji was the next and sung beautifully Manji, said TNS, is not Bharavi sung slowly as some seem to think but Manji has a separate 'moonji', face, and this song has been made popular by him in his concerts .This padam contains all the aspects of raga alapana, neraval and svara, said TNS, and called kavikunjara bharathy a svarakavi.

The next was 'paavaiye swami varum munnaal' in kedaragoula in which the sakhi advises Mohanavalli to be patient till the Lord comes to her of His own accord. TNS said that the grace of the Lord will come only when it would and the devotee has to be patient because He only knows when and how to give His blessing.

Mohanavalli addresses the sea and asks it whether it is also lovesick and the lyric in senchurutti is in folk tune and was pleasant and then the advent of the kuratthi is in begada 'malaikkurvanji vandhaale.' The words describing the malaivaLam, the mountainous regions from whcih the kuratthi hailed were beautiful being tastefully explained by TNS.

The raga was Anadhabairavi as it is usual in all kuravanji kavyas The male tiger is singing lullaby to a calf and the female tiger is giving milk Such is the glory of the hills.The most beautiul part exquisitely explained by TNS were ' vAnaippidi enru yAnai pidikkum,' the male elephant grasps the rain cloud thinking that it is a female elephant and realising its true identity squeezes it and drinks the water. The way he sung it was more picturesque.

Kuratthi extolling her own powers asks Mohanvalli to show her hand and the lyric is in yadhukulakambhodhi and the prediction 'vandhuseruvaar maane ' is in sahana.TNS said that the lakshana of the raga can be seen in this composition.

Then the marriage is sung in Mohanam. Here TNS remarkd that all kalyanams are having only the name of the bride as in sitakalyanam, rukmimikalyanam, meenakshi kalyanam etc with the sole exception of Srinivasa kalyanam But perhaps it is not an exception ,he said , because the word Sri, denoting Lakshmi prefixes the name of the Lord as Srinivasa.

Last but not least came a RTP on kavikunjarabharathi composed by TNS for the occasion in the raga simmendramadhyama.with words 'varakavi, svarakavi,kunjarakavi, kuraivillaadha veera kavi.' He said he composed the pallavi in simhendramadhyama because kavi Kunjara bharathi was not only a kunjara but also a simha and that too a king among the simhas, simhendra. TNS proved that he too is a simhendra, not madhyama but utthama, gayaka simhendra utthama singing simhendramadhyama raising it to the status of Simmendrauttama.
The programme ended with mangalam from the kurvanji kavya in surutti and Madhyamavathi and 'Vazia senthamiz' as it is the practice with the cocerts in Tamizisai sangam.

31-12-2006-concert at Brahmaganasabha

Rasikacame ti ot his concert full of expectation and they were not disppointed. The reason for this is that TNS was flanked with M.Chandrasekaan and Umayalpuram Sivaraman.

The concert started with 'bajanaseyave' in Kalyani a Thyagarajakrthi ith svara sung at 'vaadhacharcha.' The next was 'sadguruswamiki in anandhabhairavi ,a composition of Poochi ayyangar. The succeeding one, 'aanandhnatamaaduvaar' in poorvikalyania composition of Neelakanta sivan fulfilled the expectations of the rasikas to a great extent. the raga itself was aanandhamaya and the krthi with the accompaniment of UKS was very picturesque. The svara that followed depicted all kinds of nrthya attributed to Lord Siva, such as thandava, lasya, ajaba etc.Aided with the expert exposition of UKS it was really a joy to behold, yes to behold as it was nearly visual.

The krthis that followed were 'ambaneelayathakshi' of Dikshithar in Neelambar,a favourite of the rasikas for which UKS was playing to suit the mood of the song, and 'thappulanniyu' in bouli ,a composition of Mutthiah bhagavathar and 'sonnal oziya manam , a ootthukkadu composition in raga kannada.The next was on a listener's request, the krthi 'vAnchathOnu' in karnaranjani.by Muthiah bhagavathar.

The main raga was Thodi and the krthi was 'Dasarathi.' I give below the excerpt from the review of the concert by Ramakumar, a rasika of TNS regarding this piece with my remarks added in the end.
The tODi alapana was an elaborate affair. It lasted for about 18 minutes and reminded me of a much longer tODi I had heard him sing in Bangalore a few months back (the Bangalore one is probably the best tODi I have heard till now) . Sri TNS did graha bhedam with rishabam as the base to sing mOhanakalyANi and with dhaivatam as base to sing kEdAram. Sri M. Chandrasekaran during his turn in the alapana also did graha bhedam with madhyamam as the base to play Anandabhairavi in kavaDi chindu style. The neraval and kalpana swarams sung for the kriti were fantastic as well. After the last kalpana swaram by Sri TNS ended, Sri UKS requested Sri MC to play kalpana swaram on the violin before the taniavartanam began. Sri MC initially would play a few phrases and allow Sri UKS to play his replies on the mridangam. After hearing him exactly translate whatever he played on the violin on the mridangam with some very good use of gumukis, Sri Chandrasekaran said "aaha ... enakku idha kettunde irukkalaam pola irukku (aaha
" I just feel like simply listening to your mridangam)" to which Sri TNS jokingly remarked "naa rendu per odadhaiyum kettindirukken (and I am listening to you both")-Ramkumar .- Source: http://ram

The svara prasthara in 'Dasarathi' was at 'bodhinchina ' in charanam and TNS sang
'sa dha nee' bhodhinchina, ' sa dha bhodhinchina and 'nee paa dha bhodhinchina to the amusement of the rasikas.
After this was the thani avarthanam by UKS and Sundarkumar which was a real fanfare.

The concert ended with a sloka followed by a bajan "harigunagavatha' and a thillana in Bilahari.
The mangalam as usual ended with the sloka 'sriyahkanthaya' about which I reproduce the comment of Ramkumar which was as follows.
". The really delightful part of this slOkam rendition was when Sri TNS held his breath and elaborated the raga srI just using the word "srI" from the beginning of the song. A wonderful concert from Sri TNS once again."-Ramkumar.

concert on 29-12-2006 at KKNagar.
The concert being arranged by Ramabhaktha janasabha almost all krthis were from Thyagaraja with few exceptions..The first was 'Apparamabhakthi ' in panthuvarali for which TNS sang a short raga and exotic svara.This was followed by 'ninnuneranamminanaura' in devamanohari, a compositoin of Muthiah bhagavathar. the next was 'muddhumomu' of Thyagaraja in suryakantham preceded by raga alapana

'Sarasasamadhana ' in kapinarayani of Thyagaraja was the next which is always 'ka api' (something beyond description) when TNS sings it and the svaraprasthara at 'hithavumartalentho' was exquisite the way he kept on riverting to nishadha everytime emphasising 'nee hithavu maata.' The krthi 'nepokadakunte ' in varali followed this and then came an enchanting mohanam, Krishna also joining in to spread the magic. The krthi was 'nannupalimpa,' for which TNS did neraval in detail at 'karamuna kodhanda' like the drawing up of the kodhanda (Villai edutthu nANetri) and the svara that followed were the saras from the kodhanda, a saramaari.

The tail piece comprised of a verse from Kamban extolling Ramanama in raga desh followed by the si ong ib nthesane raga, 'ramanamme thudhi maname.' The concert ended with a sloka in sindhubhairavi and the bajan of swathithirunal 'ramachandraprabhu.'

concert on 28-12-2006 at bharat kalachar

TNS started hich concert with the Thyagarajakrthi 'yochana' in durbar with a short svara
at the end and it was followed by 'hecchrigagaraaraa' another Thyagarajakrthi in yadukula kambodhi.

Next was hamsanadham and the krthi was bantureethi kolu of Thyagaraja. Hamsanadham was rajahamsanadham and the svara singing was areal jugalbamdhi between father and son.After the thiruppavai pasram of the day 'pullinvi keendaanai' was the real treat in Brindhavanasaaranga., the main raga of the day.
The saranga (Bee) was fluttering from flower to flower, bower to bower in the Brindhavanam buzzing gleefully with cuckoo(saranga) giving out melodious notes which made way for the elephant (saranga) leading the path for the arrival of the simha,(saranga) Soundararaja. (The word saranga means all these). The krti was, as you might have guessed , 'sri soundhararajam' of Dikshithar, for which TNS sang beautiful and elegant (soundharyamAna) svara.

Brovavamma of Shyama sasthri in Manji was the next followed by 'padaravind' in saveri a composition of Kshetrajna. Next was alistener's choice, f requested by Mrs.YGP, the oothukkaducomo position 'vandhuketpaar illaiyo,' a beautiful song in ragamalikai portraying Krishna stealing the hearts by his doings, comprising of simple words but was made rich byt he singing of TNS, This and the ragamalika pasuram.puLLinvai pilaLandhittai' were audio- visuals as usual.

The concert ended with 'ajagiridhar' a bajan and thillana in Dhanasri.

Every item in the programme was a gem as Mrs. YGP said, and TNS was assisted by HKVenkatesh on the violin, Trichur Narendran on Mrdangam and BS Purushottham on Ganjira.

27-12-2006- Lecture demonstration on Mutthaiah bhagavathar

TNS was showing his superb mastery over any subject he handles and his sincerity and involvement during the morning session of the Music academy in his speech rounding off the days proceedings and the hall in the mornings were overflowing with rasikas who came especially to hear him speak.His own lec/dem found the hall crammed with people many of them standing through the whole programme.

Vardarajan and Velore Ramabadran were accompanying TNS on this programme. He said that to speak about the great musicians like Mutthiah bhagavathar within the time span allotted is like trying to cram the ocean into a small pot.

Muthiah bhagavathar came in a guruparampara of vaggeyakaras as his guru was Patnam Subramania ayyar. He was a verstile artiste having many faces, doing harikatha, Namasankirthanam, as a musician and a composer etc. TNS described his history shortly as being influenced by his uncle,Lakshmansuri a great scholar, and having had his addhyayanapata at the age of ten but that he was more interested in music. He first sang through listening only and later did nadhopasana for ten years as the disciple of Patnam Subramania Ayyar.

Muthiah bhagavathr could sing in three different voices. TNS said that in those days there was no mike facility available and musicians had to sing in full throated voice and quipped that what they had was no saarira for the mike but a mayakku saarira..One could not whisper secrets with the mike , he said. Muthiah Bhagavathar went to Thanjavur and had training in harikatha with Abraham Pandithar. He included all sorts of compositions in his harikatha. like kavadi chindhu. Here TNS sang the piece 'moosivandu ' in the manner of the great giant with the two ragas mohanam and mukhari in the phrase 'mohanamukhari ragam padudhe,' to the delight of the audience.

TNS mentioned that the note Maurai Mani Iyer used to sing was composed by Muthiah Bhagavathar. At this instance he praised Mani iyer as a nadhayogi, a super star who used to sing with svarasuddham and sruthi suddham.

Everybody knows that Muthiah bhagavathar composed krthis in new ragas and TNS said that he was able to do so only because he mastered what was already there and said that anyone who wants to do something new should first know the existing material well. Not only that, he was eager to learn anything new no matter who did it, let it be music or anyhing else and was the first to praise when he came across anything good.He was generous not only in giving away gifts but also in praise which ,TNS said is a rare thing to see especially in the society of musicians.At this juncture we cannot help the thought that TNS himself has been following his guruparampara not only in musical tradition but also in his broadmindedness in commending talent where it is due.

The kadhanakuthoohalam krthi of Patnam Subramania Iyer 'raghuvamsa sudha ' starts from the lower shadjam while Muthiah Bhagavathar composed his krithi 'giripriyam gangadharam' from the higher shadjam and TNS said that may be he thought that it should be so since Lord Siva is up in the mount Kailas! The chittasvaram of the krthi is described by TNS as 'kaalatthai venra chittasvaram.'

The raga Hamsanadham was handled by Muthiah bhagavathar differently according to the old sampradhaya as the janya of Neethimathi. TNS has sung this krthi as such in his concerts.TNS insisted that sampradhaya should not be changed to suit our facility and made into sowkaryasampradhaya. He defined sampradhaya as the powerful research done over the decades or centuries and which stays and will stay and it is the responsibilty of the vidvans to preserve it.

TNS demonstrated the svaraksharavarnam of Muthiah hbagavathar in suddhadhanyasi and displayed the aesthetics of the vadi samvadi svara combination. The mohana varnam 'Manamohana' was composed on the Ramanatha Sethupathy and contains the svarakshara sa haja dha dha, ga ri dha, pa ri dha etc as though asking the king to give horse etc calling him a natural benefactor. The dharu varnam of Muthiah bhagavathar is well known and has been sung by TNS beautifully in his concerts.The speciality of that is pointed out by TNS as containing chittasvaram with solkattu and sahithyam.

Muthiah bhagavathar, said TNS, became a full fledged composer only after he started enjoying the patronage of the king of Mysore. He established his composership there in front of the galaxy of vidvans of the samasthatna of Mysore.

As it is the usual hazard of the musicians who sing in a fullthroated voice .Muthiah bhagavar had trouble with his voice on his first performance in Mysore and he was not acclaimed.as he deserved and he felt that it was due to his forgetting the Devi, whom he propitiated through srividhya upasana during the time his voice was affected at the age of 35 or so and got it back, from then onwards becoming a staunch Devi upasaka. Immediately he went to Chamundi hills and composed and sang the krthi 'maanamukaavalanu thalli' in sahana which starts unusually in madhayamam. The king of Mysore who came there heard him and understood his worth and therafter held him in high esteem.

TNS said that the raga Hamsanandhi, founded by Ramadikshithar was popularised only after Muthiah bhagavathar. The raga Karnaranjani is one of those founded by Muthiahbhagavathar in which he has composed the krthi 'Vaanchathonunaa' for which TNS has composed the chittasvara on the command of his guru Ramanathapuram Sankarasivam, one of the foremost sishyas of Muthiahbhagavathar. This krthi as many others in rare ragas by Muthiahbhagavathar has been popularised by TNS, none the less by his famous chittasvaram, which has always been a listener"s choice in his concerts.Another one for which TNS has composed a skilful chittasvaram is the krthi 'saravanabhava' in Pasupathipriya.

TNS said that we owe it to Muthiah bhagavathar that we have so many swathithirunal krthis because he collected and presented them. Then TNS sang his own composition in kapi raga with the words ' raga brhmamaanaar harikesanadhabrhmam,' in which he has included the names of almost all the ragas composed and popularised by Muthiah bhagavathar. Then he demonstrated the raga niroshta in which Muthiah bhagavathar has composed the krthi 'rajarajaradhithe' and on public demand he also sang the thillana he himself has composed in Niroshta.
TNS further said that Muthiah bhagavathar was familiar with many north Indian ragas which were popular in Mysore and composed a thillana in hamsanandhi for the sake of the kathak dancers who were there at that time . TNS also demonstrated beautifuly how the thillana was suited to dance, to the delight of the rasikas.

After mentioning and singing a little of the other compositions of Muthiah bhagavathar, his pithamahaguru, like 'andavan darisaname , mavoor valam peruga, moovasai' etc he concluded the lecdem which went on for longer than the time allotted for whcih everyone felt happy and never wanted him to finish it. With his eloquence, humour and wonderful music he made the programme a memorable one and nobody noticed the time till he finished.As Sri V.S.sundaram pointed out he proved himself to be a complete vidvan.

Concert on 26-12-2006 at Thyagabrahmaganasabha -vanimahal
Begada varnam marked the beginning of the concert and it was followed by 'ramaninneganinannu' of Thyagaraja in Huseni. with neraval svara at 'rajarajavandhitha.' Next was Hameerkalyani aleways 'ameer ' (rich) kalyani when TNS sings it, the krthi was 'venakatasaila ' of Dikshithar. As a contrast to this mellifluous krthi the next was 'paridhanamicchithe' in Bilahari by Patnam Subramania ayyar. The svara to this racy krthi was something stupendous and was real bilahari, that is , a lion from its den, 'bilaath hari.' The oothukkadu krthi 'needhaan mecchikkolla' in sriranjani followed this and the main raga was sankarabharanam, with the krthi 'sahajagunarama' of Mutthiah bhagavathar, the neraval svara sung at 'parambhakthudaina.' The sankarabharanam had all the usual grandeur and the concert ended with a bajan 'thoo dhayalu ' of Tulsidas and 'saramaina' a jaavali by Swathithirunal.

concert at the Music academy on 25-12-2006

The concert started with the Malahari geetham 'lambodharalakumikara,' which came as a surprise to those who had not looked up the programme book but not for the rasikas of TNS who have heard him sing that before.It was an example to show how even the beginner's lesson which has been made threadbare by now can be transformed into a thing of beauty at the hand of the maestro of music.The Mohanavarnam came next followed by the sriraga pancharathna of Thyagaraja.

The panthuvarali that followed had the unmistakable stamp of the creative genius and was delectable to the rasikas as ever. The krthi was 'ramanatham bajeham,' which was a little surprise for those who were expecting 'apparamabahkthi or 'sarasaksha,' and the svasra was sung at 'kumaraguruguha' The panthuvarali from TNS is always a rasika's delight and this was no exception.

The next was a krthi of swatitirunal 'palaya mam,' in Nayaki, not frequently heard, followed by the Annamyya krthi 'Namoralakimpave ' in yadhukulakambodhi.What succeded this was a beautiful deliniation of Lalitha and the krthi 'nannubrovu' of Shyamasasthri. After this was a krthi of cheyyur chengalvaraya sasthri 'emamma vinave ' in suruti.
In a banquet noramally the dessert will be the most deliciuos . Likewise in this musical banquet the RTP which formed the tail part of the concert was the most fabulous and was acclaimed by one and all . It was a rare treat indeed not heard for so many years and in such a manner. It was the four raga pallvi of yore worded as 'sankarabharananai azaitthOdic vaadi kalyani darbarukke,' comprising of shankarabharanam, thodi , kalyani and durbar.The way TNS sang this proved that he is the emperor of ragas.The ragas sung in quick succession backwards and forwards in short phrases was astounding and he was like an elephant playing in the raga(coloured) waters splashing the ragas around which was like frolic during holi and which set the stage for what was to follow, that is, the sloka on Rasakreeda, 'sayankale.' There were more ragas and ragas in 'sayankale,' .a spectrum of colours (ragas). One could count as many as 20 ragas in the piece as a whole and in the phrase 'navarasabharithaih' alone.there were 16. He ended the sloka with sindhubahairavi and sang a thillana in sindhubaiaravi and mangalam, when the audience gave him standing ovation. The accompaniists were his seasoned partners in music, M.chandrasekharan and Guruvayur Dorai whose participation added to the richness of the music.