CHENNAI: The devotional poetry of Purandara Dasa, Akka Mahadevi and Basavanna found expression through the vocal chords of Ambanna and Ramachandra, a duo of travelling musicians, at an event organised by Aalaap at Ashvita’s, Mylapore, on a Tuesday evening. Street Surrender as the event was called, brought the audience, which included a few children, up close with one of India’s traditional folk arts, albeit in a totally different setting.
Hereditary practitioners of ‘Therukoothu’ a form of street theatre commonly practised in parts of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, the Karnataka-based musicians have made Chennai their home for the past twenty years, and have staged their performances in many of the city’s major streets. Tuesday’s performance at Ashvita’s was both a departure for the performers, who were now performing within an enclosed space, and a novelty for the audience.
The first songs were delivered by Ambanna, who played the harmonium as he sang, with Ramachandra accompanying him on the tabla. The performance started with a series of Abhangs in praise of Pandurang Vithala, a deity in Maharashtra, and so the songs were also in Marathi. This was followed by renditions of devotional compositions in Kannada, like Naaneno Madideno Ranga by Purandara Dasa.
Performing on the open road requires a singer to stretch his vocal skills to the maximum, and a lot goes unnoticed. After a lifetime as a Therukoothu artist, performing in an intimate space got one into closer contact with the full range of the singers’ voices. As they sang every song from memory, even the presence of a microphone seemed superfluous, so much that the last song, the popularly known Bhagyada Lakshmi Baramma by Purandara Dasa was performed by Ramachandra with only the harmonium for accompaniment, and without the aid of further amplification. It was, as Aalaap founder Akhila Krishnamurthy remarked, the right way to listen to their music.
As the show wound to much applause, Akhila expressed her thanks to Ashvita’s for hosting the event. “I’m delighted to see some of you have brought your children to the show. I hope this will instil curiosity and interest in the younger generation about this artform,” she remarked.
ALL THE WAY FROM KARNATAKA TO CHENNAI
Hereditary practitioners of ‘Therukoothu’ a form of street theatre commonly practised in parts of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, Ambanna and Ramachandra have made Chennai their home for the past 20 years, and have staged their performances in many of the city’s major streets.