This year’s Sri Rama Navami music season has begun. With happy and welcome showers of rain and cool breeze of the evening soothening the body and mind the ardent lovers of music are opened up for a sumptuous treat of music. Organisations in different parts of the City have put up pandals and warmed up their premises for the purpose. Sri Raghavendra and Anjaneyaswamy temple on the eighth cross of Malleshwara along with Srikantham Sangeetha Sabha and Sapthagiri Bhajana Mandali led by vocalist Varuni Jayateerthachar has hosted an eight day music festival from Thursday. The festival began with a resonating vocal duet by P.Ramaa and R.Chandrika who have become well accustomed to the duet format. Heralding the Sri Ramanavami musical treat, the duet was a great success. Brevity was the soul of their duet. Both performers were rather comfortable on the microphones. They had a chemistry built on mutual respect and the other’s reputation, both honored and amazed to share the stage together. After a generous and exciting introduction in the form of their Guru Nagamani Srinath’s unique varna in Andolika raga(Haribhakti saara), they crowned Gajavadana(Sriranjini) with neat and tidy swaras. Nee dayarada (Vasanthabhairavi) was pleasing. Their style of renditions appeared in a natural flow of form and design. The pair mixed their voices and sounds, taking the audience on a journey through the depths of music.
Adding a substantial treat to the evening and demonstrating their chemistry vividly they negotiated even the speediest phrases in unison and finished each of them sounding not like a duet but a single voice. Singing of Shuddhya Dhanyasi(alapana by Chandrika, for Bhajisi), Hamsaanandi(by Ramaa, Ee pariya) and Kharaharapriya (by both for Raaraa eni pilachithe) ragas were sketched in a short and sweet frame work. Karedare barabaarade and Sri Chakrarajanilaye were crisply sung. Mattur Srinidhi(violin), Sudheendra (mridanga) and Sukanya Ramgopal(ghata) were the excellent accompanists.
Elegant choreography: The classical group dance performances held at the Seva Sadana, Malleshwara, under the aegis of Yuva Sambhrama of Sangeetha Sambhrama made all art lovers remember the glory of Indian art, culture and tradition. It was something I would unhesitatingly recommend to anyone susceptible to dance, rhythm or beauty. For, it lifted my spirits to no end.
The dance dramas unfolded under the directions of seasoned dancer-Gurus Dr. Sanjay Shantharam and Mithun Shyam saw an elaborate cast from tiny tots to upcoming young dancers, who dramatized the theme. All the important milestones in the theme, artistry, technique and aesthetics were neatly traversed. Two dance groups exemplified them quite so well. The presentations combined fast rhythms with fluid movements, creating a nice blend of control and abandon, strength and delicacy.
On the first day of the Sambhrama, elegantly choreographed by a seasoned dancer Dr. Sanjay Shantaram the roles of Krishna (Gopalakrishna), Kamsa and Arjuna(Rupesh), Radha and Kaalinga(Anjali Srikanth), Kubje(Sneha Bhagawath), Yashoda (Sushanva Prakash) and Pootani (Stella and Namitha) were neatly discharged. The theme was the explication of nine rasas. To demonstrate and delineate these rasas different episodes of Krishna tale were selected. Navarasa Krishna was certainly an emotional journey through the life of the Lord. Thus the nuances of shringara (raasa leela with Gopis), bhayanaka (Kamsa killing the babies of Vasudeva-Devaki), beebhatsa (Pootani’s gory form), adbhuta(lifting of the Govardhana mountain), veera(killing of Kaalinga snake), hasya (Gopika vastraapaharana), karuna (Kubja) and shantha (Vishwaroopa darshana) rasas could be savored by the rasikas.
Fleeting emotions: The second dance drama fraught with mimetic gestures was a charming sojourn of Bibi Nachiyar. The episodes from her tale were reenacted by the troupe of Vaishnavi Natya Shaale led by Guru Mithun Shyam, an expert in Bharatanatya. Mithun has been gaining name and fame both as an adept performer-choreographer and as a prolific teacher. Donning the role of Sri Ramanujaacharya, the proponent of Sri Vishishtaadvaitha philosophy, he thrilled the audience with his scintillating performance. His dance and mime themselves could explain anything and everything. Varied rhythmic foot work, mature and mellowed representation emphasizing the different rasas in abhinaya captured the right mood. The other dancers’ performances were also marked with lucid mime while they went through the fleeting emotions. The freshest dancing and much of the most enthralling choreography which was Bharatanatya oriented had Kathak and Mohini Attam too.
The performance began with an eulogy to Sri Ramanujaacharya. In compliance with the elements of the Vishishitaadvaitha philosophy Sri Vishwaksena, instead of Lord Ganesha, was saluted. The story which was spread over eight scenes was all about a Muslim girl Mumtaz, the daughter of Delhi Sultan, who gets infatuated with the idol “Chelva pillai”of Lord Krishna. She accepts Him as her husband. As the tryst with destiny would have it, she becomes one with the Lord. Sri Ramanujacharya honours her by calling her Bibi Nachiyar. Rich musical support and traditional costumes with appropriate props created a delightful experience. Mrudala Bhaskar as Bibi Nachiyar, Sanjana Reddy as Tirunarayanaswamy and Sowmya Narayan as Chelva Pillai among other dancers stole the show.
Worthy daughter: Young and talented singer Deepti Srinath proved her mettle as the worthy daughter of her accomplished artiste-mother P.Ramaa by not only successfully organizing Yuva Sambhrama but also presenting a challenging and rewarding ensemble of melody and rhythm. Her voice, style of singing and scholarship always reminded the audience of her mother. Ably accompanied by Venkateshajosier (violin), Amrithkumar, Vinodshyam (mridangas), Sunad(khanjira), Ramesh(ghata), Lakshminarayan(morsing), Adarshshenoy, Karthik (tablas), Gopishravan (drums), Karthikvydhatri (rhythmpads), Bhaskar(tala) and Vinaynagaraj(dholak) Deepthi cast a spell. Her brilliant artistry came to the fore in the singing of varna(Saveri), a krithi on Lord Ganesha(Gambheera Nata, with neraval and swaras as Gambheernata) and climaxed in the exposition of a swarapallavi set to Keeravani raga. Raga and tana were followed by a scholarly manipulation of rhythm and speed. The ragamalika swaras in Kalyani, Hindola and Madhyamavathi made room for a vibrant laya vinyasa directed by veteran percussionist S.V.Balakrishna.