Music is not just confined to rendering concerts. But one must also have strong hold on the theory aspect of it. Here is an organisation, Sreekantham Sangeeta Sabha, striving hard towards preserving manuscripts written on palm leaves, gramophone records, musical instruments and scripts. President of the organisation, Nagendra Shastry Sreekantham spoke to City Express about the activities they undertake in the organisation.
This organisation which was established in 1992 is currently affiliated to Chinthalapalli Parampara Trust. Speaking about the organisation, Nagendra Shastry said, "Chintalapalli Parampara has over 800 years of history in Carnatic classical music. Our organisation is making an effort to carry forward the heritage of this style of classical music."
Sreekantham Sangeeta Sabha has also brought out publications like Apoorva Sadashiva, Ashesha Padmanabha Samputa, Kruti Stuti Malika, Rasaraja Vaibhava, Slokanjenya Kruti Manjari and others. "These compositions are also sung by established artistes while rendering the concerts.
We conduct seminars and workshops on the same subjects. Also, experts on these subjects will speak about various topics related to Carnatic classical music. Besides, students will also speak about the topics provided to them."
With respect to concerts, the organisation conducts Sri Rama Navami Sangeetotsava, a nine-day music festival which begins from Ugadi and continues till Rama Navami, besides conducting music concerts once in every three months. Over six years ago, this Sabha was affiliated to Chinthalapalli Parampara Trust, which is like an university solely for Carnatic classical music. Speaking about the same, he said, "We have converted my ancestral property into a Gurukula in Chintalapalli near Kolar. Over 500 years ago, in the world of Carnatic classical music Lokapalana Vishva Vidyalaya was a university with its own syllabus. This is an attempt to revive the age old traditions."
Here, courses are introduced, exams are conducted and certificates are given away to the students like in universities. In Bangalore, the activities are conducted in halls like Chowdiah Memorial Hall, and Malleswaram Raghavendra Swamy Temple.
Many senior artistes like late A Subbarao, M A Narasimhachar, S K Ramachandra Rao, Dr R K Srikantan, S Shankar, Sukanya Prabhakar, TAS Mani, Malladi Brothers, Hyderabad Sisters, Nagamani Srinath and others have performed here. Young and upcoming artiste are also given an opportunity to showcase their talent.
When asked about the library facility, he explained, "I have my personal collection of over 3,000 books which students of our organisation are making use of. Also, we have gramaphone records of Mysore Vasudevacharya, Bidram Krishnappa, B S Raja Iyengar and others which are more than 100 years old."
The organisation also conducts free classes on every Sunday for the general public to spread awareness about the importance of music.
When asked about the future plans with respect to the institution, he said, "We have made an appeal to the government to convert the Trust to an open universty solely for Carnatic classical music. A report has been submitted to the Human Resource Department of Karnataka."