CHENNAI: As mist casts the sky, what remains eager as the year inches to its end is the month, Margazhi. Waiting behind the curtain, Margazhi is presented as a glamorous, fashionable, dolled up young maiden by the sabhas of Chennai today. But how did it all begin? Who were players then? How many are still playing the game now?
Parthasarathy temple in Thiruvallikeni is among the oldest townships of Chennaipatinam and undoubtedly, Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha (PSS) is the oldest sabha of Chennai today. It was founded in 1896 by Manni Tirumalchariar and was initially called Sangeetha Vidwad Sabha. As intended, the academic discourses particularly in music during Margazhi in this sabha is one of its kind. The presenters are not necessarily named and famed, but their scholarship is academically authentic and culturally rooted.
Distinguished senior Carnatic vocalist, Neyvelli Santhanagopalan recalls, “I owe my career to all the Madras music sabhas and, although my first kutcheri was in Indian Fine Arts, my first break as a Carnatic musician was given to me by Parthasarathy Sabha in mid ’80s. Also, this sabha, on one occasion when Semmangudi mama could not perform, to fill his performing slot, called me. Among many honours I have received, I feel that day stands on top. For these reasons alone, I will always cherish PSS.”
To get some insights on the history of Chennai’s other sabhas, historian Venkatesh Ramakrishnan narrated many stories painting a picture of Chennai Margazhi upto the 1950s.
He begins, “When Music Academy was only five years old, it convened a committee and blacklisted the violin maestro, Mysore Chowdiah for using seven strings instead of four. Feeling let down and creatively curbed, Chowdiah founded the Indian Fine Arts Society (IFAS) in 1932 to break the monopoly of the Academy. For the first IFAS music conference, Raja Annamalai Chettiyar, a man of high social standing was invited to deliver the inaugural address.
Interestingly, he will play a significant part in the coming years of Madras’ cultural history.” He continues, “While the rivalry between Music Academy and IFAS continued, during the early 1940s, music connoisseurs in the likes of Rajaji and even Annadurai felt that the Madras music scene was ignoring the Tamil language and was also deeming its scope to be unsuitable for rendering Carnatic music.
Their concern reached the ears of Raja Annamalai Chettiyar; being a businessman, Chettiyar immediately acted and organised a conference that not only instigated the Tamil Isai movement but also culminated in the formation of the Tamil Isai Sangam. Initially, for the first eight years, events of Tamil Isai Sangam were held in St. Mary’s Hall in Armenian street, followed by a year in Madras Museum.”
“Later, when most sabhas at that time were conducting events under a thatched roof, Tamil Isai Sangam conducted its festival at its own premises that was named after Rajah as the Raja Annamalai Mandram. In the ’50s, Raja Annamalai Mandram was the heart of the Carnatic centre and therefore was the soul of Madras Margazhi.”
On the note of the Margazhi’s expansion, interestingly, Venkatesh Radhakrishnan had another anecdote to share. “Chittor V Nagaya, the yesteryear actor who played the role of the Rajput king in the 1945 film Meera, was a trained musician.
His musical inclinations, in fact, got him the role of Saint Thyagaraja, for which he was taking musical lessons from GNB as well as Musiri Subrahmaniya Iyer. One day, on his way back to his residence after lessons, he noticed a group of people completely drenched waiting at a bus stop without shelter or umbrella.
Upon learning that they were also residents of his neighbourhood, he offered to drop them. During the car ride, while making polite conversations, he realised how T Nagar lacked an auditorium that would gratify the cultural audience of the neighbourhood. His efforts led to the forming of Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha and the construction of Vani Mahal.”
Secretary of Karthik Fine Arts, Shekar shares, “My father, Sri Rajagopalan, is the founder of not one, but two sabhas in Chennai — the Mylapore Fine Arts (MFA) and Karthik Fine Arts (KFA). While music and dance were getting their due space, my father felt that among the three cultural expressions of Tamil: iyal-isai-nadakam, the nadakam was getting neglected. Mylapore Fine Arts was thus established in the 1950s.
TN Chief Ministers: MGR and Jayalalitha have themselves been members of this sabha. Why! For that matter, even director Balachander, before he branched off to cinema, used to stage his plays in MFA. Along with Nagesh, he would wait to hear my father’s comments after writing the script as they respected his nuanced knowledge on matters of expressions.” On the auditorium’s role, he said, “Narada Gana Sabha and Bharathi Vidhya Bhavan graciously collaborates with KFA every year to host drama, music and dance. Being the secretary of KFA, however, I do feel much more can be done if we had our own infrastructure.”
Like Shekar, Saaswati is a young sabha secretary, whose grandfather established the Krishna Gana Sabha (KGS) in T Nagar. She too opined that infrastructure and real estate has strengthened the KGS’ long standing in the society among the rasikas. In her words, “We are eternally grateful to all our patrons, Nalli Kuppuswami Chetty and Sri Shankar. The infrastructure has certainly enabled us to be active throughout the year and allowed us to expand our activities.
This has particularly benefited the Natya Kala Conference (NKC). From its inception, the conference is conducted on the last five days of the year for updating the rasika-s on the dance academia and dance community’s outreach programmes; today, the format has diversified. Apart from lecture demonstrations, panel discussions and talks, NKC, today, conducts workshops and also accommodates a Bazaar. So, my memories of KGS is how it has transformed from a thatched roof to where it stands. My grandfather and father have spotted talent and given visibility to many artists.”
Like Neyveli Santhanagopalan, artiste Chitra Visweswaran too feels that the sabhas have supported, encouraged her team and her works for pushing the envelope of aesthetics in performance.
“Whereever I presented my solo or group productions in Chennai sabhas, the city’s cultural audience of every sabha enthusiastically turned out in large numbers to show-off their aesthetic sensibilities and grasp for abstractions in the presentation.
The scholarship of the Chennai audience, in my experience, is unique from other parts of India, even the globe. This has been a shot in the arm for us as artists to present here as well. Many of my students have gained visibility and their performing careers have benefitted as well due the Chennai sabhas.”
Clearly, the cultural sabhas that sprouted during the 40s and 50s, have survived the test of time as they were united in the cause of propagating the essence of Indian art, which was also the bedrock of Tamil ethos.