THRISSUR: Sopana Sangeetham, tottering on the brink of extinction, will soon get a permanent venue for the first time in the country on the banks of the Bharathapuzha.
A sopana sangeetham festival organised by Njeralathu Kalashram, an institution formed to devote itself to the art in the state, to popularise and give a lease of life to the traditional temple art form, made the Kalashram decide on holding the festival here for art connoisseurs in the country on a regular basis every year, said Njeralathu Harigovindan, son of Rama Poduval, the doyen of sopana sangeetham, who took sopana sangeetham from the precincts of the temple quadrangles to the world beyond. The recent search by Kalashram for sopana sangeetham musicians in the state to restore the legacy of the temple art led to realisation that there were hardly any practitioners left. ‘’We could spot only 86 ardent practitioners of sopana sangeetham in the state for one-lakh odd temples, sacred groves and other religious places,’’ he said.
Among the 86 artists in the state, only 38 have been singing sopana sangeetham in temples to the accompaniment of idakka and chengila. “Most of the artists in our time fear to play the idakka by singing sopanam music, which was traditionally sung by men of the Marar and Poduval communities,” says Sooranadu Harikumar, a promising artist who took part in the festival.
Though the recently-concluded festival saw the participation of almost all the enthusiastic practitioners in the state, a lot more has to be done to give a fillip to the traditional art form which was popularised by legends like Thrithala Kunhikrishna Poduval, Mankombu Viswanathakuruppu, Njeralathu Rama Poduval, says Neena Warrier, the only famed female artist in this sector in the state. “First of all, we have to nurture a society capable of imbibing the art form in their hearts. Only then can the unique art form of sopana sangeetham sustain in the country,’’ says Hari Govindan.