NEW DELHI:Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s movement for the cleaning of the Ganga has at last found its melody. The campaign, Ganga Cleaning Mission, is where the river and raga will meet. The government plans to use the ‘Namami Ganga Anthem’ to have wider outreach and appeal for the Ganga cleaning project.
The Ministry of Water Resources and Ganga Rejuvenation has roped in the Trichur Brothers, vocalists from the Carnatic tradition, to compose the anthem for the Ganges. The Trichur Brothers’ composition dedicated to the holy river will be launched as an official song. It’s touted as the first-ever song dedicated to the cleaning of a river. The lyrics would inspire people to work towards a clean Ganga.
The government plans to launch the anthem in a big way. The shooting of its video will be finished by May. The anthem will be part of a big publicity drive planned for the project as the NDA government completes a year in office. The ministry has prepared Rs 200-crore plan to focus on Ganga-cleaning works that would be visible on ground in the coming months.
The Trichur Brothers are sons of senior Mridanga Vidwan Trichur R Mohan and belong to the Sitaram Group, a traditional business family based in Trichur, Kerala. They are trained chartered accountants and have performed across the globe.
The Trichur Brothers—Srikrishna Mohan and Ramkumar Mohan—along with a team of musicians from Chennai have composed the anthem, a teaser of which was released in December 2014. It received over 1,000 hits within a short span of time. On the request of the ministry, the teaser has been taken off all online mediums.
Srikrishna and Ramkumar were titled ‘Trichur Brothers’ by His Holiness Jagadguru Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi Swamigal of Shri Kanchi Kamakoti Matam. They have been performing under this banner ever since. The team has tried to reach out to millions of people across the world. Other members of the ensemble include violinist Karthick Iyer, guitarists Aalaap Raju and Joshua Mark Raj, drummer Jeoraj Stanly George and techno Prashant.
The musicians are expected to get an official letter from the government in the coming week. They are supposed to meet top ministry officials here. The nod would have come by now but for changes at the top level in the National Mission on Clean Ganga (NMCG) with Mission Director R R Mishra replaced by TVSN Prasad.
“The Trichur brothers came to us with the idea of having a Ganga anthem and then a composition. It was appreciated by everyone. Soon, a formal letter will be issued to them. It will be launched as the official Ganga anthem by the ministry,” said sources in the ministry, adding the clearance from the Prime Minister’s Office has already been received.
Ganga cleaning has been one of the top priorities of the government. Modi has chaired a high-level meeting to assess the progress made so far. The next meeting is slated for March 26 with all five Ganga states scheduled to participate. The government has also initiated a Ganga-cleaning fund to ensure NRIs can support the task.