CHENNAI : Every year, Priya Murali knew it was Margazhi season when her father began playing Thiruppavai on their tape recorder. Divine poetry would fill the air in her house, as her mother lit an agal vilakku at the threshold of their doorstep and she savoured piping hot ven pongal in the mornings. In her teen years, she began integrating into the music and dance scene, listening to upanyasams and visiting kutcheris. She carried the culture to the US, to where she relocated 25 years ago when it became impractical to visit Chennai for every Margazhi. “That’s when we started curating things in a small way. We would host small gatherings in our house, children would sing Thiruppavai and we would serve pongal prasadam just to keep that nostalgia alive even in the USA,” she shares.
Spirit that perseveres
However, when the pandemic struck in 2020 and Margazhi season came to a halt across the globe. The ardent rasikas were unable to attend the festival in person and thus came an idea that led to global collaboration through the love for Margazhi. Inspired by and featuring the compositions of her guru, Sri Sri Muralidhara Swamiji (and as a volunteer of his organisation Global Organisation for Divinity), in Tamil, Sanskrit and other languages, she began curating mini kutcheris online with co-curator Kripa Baskaran, on their YouTube channel Spirit of Margazhi Utsav. “We reached out to different music and dance artistes and curated a series where we would do a slice of either music, dance, kolam or prasadam segments every day for 30 days. We did this so that despite being shut down due to the pandemic, people could enjoy Margazhi wherever they are at the convenience of their devices,” she says. To create visibility, they created an Instagram account under the same name.
The online accounts feature well-known artistes who could offer a short spurt of Margazhi magic in 15-20 minute performances. Apart from celebrating artforms, they also featured content that centred around other aspects of the festival — how to string a garland, sangeet upanyasams, how to make sojji appam (a prasadam offered in temples). “The feedback we got was that when you bring together everything in one place and offer it (to people), it truly infuses the spirit of Margazhi. The concoction of everything together really resonated with people,” she adds. And this concoction received viewership from all over the world — New Zealand, Hong Kong, the USA, India and countries in Europe.
Moving past lockdowns
With sabhas opening up their doors since last year, many are finally enjoying the festival as it was meant to be — in person. However, the comeback of offline events did not mean the end of online appreciation for the Utsav. Feedback from stalwarts who participated in the first year have kept the accounts active and they plan to continue their operations henceforth as well. “The first year (2020) we obviously conducted the Utsav because we were all under the wrath of the pandemic.
The second year, things were getting better and we were past the second wave but many stalwarts gave us the feedback that not every enthusiast has the resources to come to Chennai to experience this joy during December and January. Their feedback was that we should continue on our mission. And normally in kutcheris, rasikas would go and sit for two-hour concerts and dance premieres would be attended by dance students but there was nowhere the spirit of the prasadam or other little things that lend themselves to Margazhi — how to string flowers, what does Andal’s Thiruppavai entail?,” Priya shares.
This year, the Utsav is taking more steps to pull in the younger generation and expose them to the nuances of the festival. For this, they are taking the initiative to collaborate with rising stars and involve children from across the globe in their showcases. Every day, as the programme premieres, one would be able to enjoy one child from one country rendering the Thirrupavai. “For this, they have to go through the rigorous exercise of learning it, then recording it for us to stream it. When a child from Hong Kong (will perform it), their aunts, uncles and grandparents are going to be so proud. That way, I feel the whole world is coming together to enjoy this little spirit that we are able to offer through this programme,” Priya concludes.