A Soulful Kshetradanam - Gayathri Girish

A  SOULFUL KSHETRADANAM

Smt. Gayathri  Girish gave a vocal concert under the auspices of Meenakshi Sundararajan  Fine Arts Academy at the Meenakshi college for women, Chennai 600024 on Sunday the 8^th December 2019

Accompaniments: V.Sanjeev on the violin, Vijay Natesan on the Mridangam,

Alathur Raja Ganesh on the Kanjira and Mrs Lalitha Venkataraman on the Tambura.

Smt. Gayathri Girish commenced her concert with a  brisk “Sami Dhaya Juda manchi samayamu vega raa..raa” varnam in Kedara gowlai. Composed by Thiruvottriyur Thyagayyar in Aadi taalam this piece had a regal  treatment from the artiste. The brisk tempo was maintained throughout.

Following this song Gayathri took her rasikas on a holy tour. First to Thirumayilai Karpagambal temple (Mylapore, Chennai) She rendered Papanasam sivan’s Bowli raga krithi “Karunanidhiye Thaaye…Kadaikkann paartharullvaaye Amma…” set to Misrachapu taalam. The brief neraval at “Karunanidhiye” was captivating. Violinist Sanjeev accompanied the artiste with  his good bowing techniques.

Then came a riveting Reethigowlai aalapana. In continuation of her temple-tour, Gayathri now took her rasikas from Mylapore to Guruvayur, God’s own country. Yes..Ambujam Krishna’s “Guruvayur Appane appan” in Reethigowlai raagam set to Aadi taalam was the wonderful offering with undaunted devotion. The violin exposition of Reethigowlai was very sweet and soft. Gayathri dwelled deep into the krithi at the point…“Vizhikattku Amudhoottum” with a mesmerizing presentation. The rasikas were in for a virtual Guruvayur temple tour having Nirmalya darisanam, Navakabhishekam till the Seeveli. Wonderful presentation.

Gayathri gave a pleasant surprise by choosing Sarasangi raagam next. The raga exposition was neat and the artiste already announced that she would be presenting Sarasangi. Patnam Subramanya Ayyar’s “Manavi che Konavaiyya” in Rupaka taalam was the song presented. The in-depth study of the raga came into limelight when she explored at..”Varadha Venkatesudanu…”

The artiste then moved on with a fast paced Thyagaraja krithi in Sriranjani set to Aadi taalam…the song being “Maaru balka”. It was this song that inspired Papanasam Sivan to compose “Enna Seiven…enge selluvaen..” for the film “Seva Sadanam” (1939)  that introduced M.S.Subbulakshmi to the tinsel world.

Gayathri then presented a soulful alaapana of Subhapanthuvarali that was further enriched by the violinist once again. The composition was  Thyagaraja swamigal’s telugu krithi “Ennalu oorake” on Lord Rama…set to misrachapu taalam. The elaboration at “Sati matala” was captivating. The thaniaavarthanam that followed was vibrant.

Under the Thukkada section once again Gayathri took her rasikas to Palani  through the first piece which was the beautiful Brindhavana Saranga song composed by Periyasami Thooran set to Aadi taalam …”Kaliyuga varathan Kann kanda deivamai ..”

As she was about to conclude the concert a rasika requested her to sing “Ranga naayakam” in Nayaki ragam. Being an Ekadasi day the artiste fulfilled not only the rasika’s request but guided everyone to “Bhoologa Vaikuntam” Srirangam to have a darshan of Lord Ranganatha. A wonderful journey indeed.

Niroshta…”Nir-oshta” means without lips. Literally it means that the lips do not meet or touch each other.

Gayathri concluded her concert with a thillana in this Niroshta raagam composed by her Guru Shri T.N.Seshagopalan.

Starting from Mylapore, then over to Guruvayur, Palani and Srirangam, Gayathri took the rasikas for a holy soulful  Kshetradanam…..!

About the Author:

SHANKAR VENKATRAMAN, a practising company secretary by profession, hails from a family with musical lineage. On the maternal side, his mother’s great grandfather Nemam Subramania Iyer was one of the last disciples of Saint Thyagaraja Swamigal. His maternal grandfather Nemam Nataraja Bhagavathar was the disciple of Mahavaidhyanatha Sivan and an Asthana Vidhwan of Sringeri Samasthanam. His son “Kalaimaamani” Prof N.S.Ramachandran was the Director of different  Kendras of All India Radio and the  Dean and Director of Music Department, University of Delhi. He had composed many kruthis out of which “Sri Chandrasekhara Yatheendram Aashrayae”on Sri Kanchi Paramacharya in Sankarabharanam popularized by Dr.M.S.Subbulakshmi and “Sree Maha Ganapathae..” in Aabhogi an evergreen hit of M.L.Vasanthakumari are very popular.

Shankar Venkatraman’s father (Late) K.V.Venkatraman, son of Kanjanur-Kottur S.Vaithyanatha Swamy Iyer was an ardent devotee of Sri Kanchi Paramacharya and had served as the Correspondence-in-charge for Sri Paramacharya while Shri Periyavaa was camping in Kumbakonam during 1930-31(When Periyavaa was referred as Kumbakonam Periyavaa). Sri Sengalipuram Anantharama Deekshithar is Vaithyanathaswamy Iyer’s maternal cousin.

Shankar did his schooling at Vidya Mandir, Mylapore (1968-1982) Chennai and obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce from Loyola College, Chennai. He did his Company Secretary course from the Institute of Company Secretaries of India, Chennai-600034.

(*The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and not necessarily those of Music of Madras.)