Thyagaraja Akhandam at alapana arts, Singapore

R.Ramapriya

The bard of Thiruvaiyaru was paid a musical homage in Singapore in the Thyagaraja Akhandam on 26/27 February 2011. The sylvan surroundings of Cauvery was not present. But the sparkling Little India area of Singapore assumed an additional glow during the Akhandam, through its 24-hours non-stop music at alapana arts located adjacent to Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple on the Serangoon Road. 

The Akhandam is the first of its kind in Singapore, with a continual rendition of Thyagaraja’s compositions. Commencing at 11 am on Saturday, 26 February 2011, the musical marathon continued till 11.15 am on Sunday,  27 Feb 2011. It was amazing that 97% of the programme was presented as scheduled. A few late-comers and absentees accounted for the remaining, which were ably managed through accommodation in other slots and suitable replacement by the teachers of the host organization, alapana arts, who were incidentally the organizers as well.

The inauguration on Saturday was marked by a brief Pooja with a Veena recital by R.Banumathy, disciple & daughter of Sangita Kalanidhi Dr S.Ramanathan.  It was immediately followed by the tiny tots of alapana singing Namo Namo Raghavaya Anisam , the first composition of the saint composer. The afternoon consisted of young student groups and individuals rendering Thyagaraja Kritis on the Veena, Violin and singing. Some mature and established singers and musicians were featured in the evening, night and early morning slots. The late night performances were mostly by the male singers.

 In the evening, Janani Sundararajan, a senior student of R.Banumathy gave a memorable performance lasting about an hour. She chose to present the kritis of Thyagaraja in unusual structures, which included Bhajana Seya Rada (Atana), Sambo Mahadeva (Pantuvarali, Sri Raghuvara (Kambhoji), Dorakuna (Bilahari), Vinatha Sutha (Jayanthasena) and  Laligunasali (Kedaragaula). 

V.Sankaranarayanan , blessed with a powerful voice, sang a captivating Vasantha Bhairavi, followed by Needayarada. The sangatis sung with involvement exuded the Bhava of the composition.  Over the years he has established himself as a competent singer in the professional circuit.

R.Lavanya’s students drew a large number of audience for the 2 kritis of Thyagaraja, which she had choreographed for alapana  Bharatanatyam dancers taking part in the Akhandam.  The dancers were Mira, Kritika Lakshmi, Meenakshi, Gayatri Devi, Aiswarya, Akansha and Anagha .  Rara Seetha  & Sarasara Samaraikasura were the Kritis chosen for Bharatanatyam. The latter kriti included a few relevant sancharis on Seetha Swayamvaram. Lavanya, being a disciple of the Dhananjayans, has not failed to introduce intricacies in keeping with the class of her own tutelage. 

Poornapragnya Rao, son of Late Sri Sandya Vandanam Srinivasa Rao, chose to sing Todi as the main raga.  He handled the Kritis carefully without missing out any of the characteristic nuances.  G.Manikandan’s solo violin recital & B.Kanesh and R.Lavanya’s Veena-Violin midnight concerts contained refreshing kritis like Ganamurthy and Jesina.

The late-night session was a Vocal music concert by Gokulakrishna, a disciple of the musicologist, Sri S.R.Janakiraman. Ennadu Juchi sung by him at a dignified pace highlighted the mood of the Kriti. Gokulakrishna, who happens to be student of V.V.Ravi, also accompanied several other artistes on the violin during the Akhandam. 

A special mention needs to be made about the vocal music concerts by A.Narayanan of Chennai (a disciple of S.P.Ramh) who sang first at 11pm on Saturday and later at 6am on Sunday. Endowed with a pleasing and flexible voice he could easily scale a 3-octave range. His musical acumen was proven beyond doubt when he sang an alapana in Subhapantuvarali. The confidence with which he sang “Ennalu” and the neraval at an appropriate line were impressive. This 22-year old youngster, a qualified Chartered accountant, has a long and promising career as a worthy musician. The music world of Chennai has another young carnatic musician in A.Narayanan to showcase to the outside world. (audio sample of his Sankarabharanam Raga alapana and Ennalu Kalpana swaram)

When the First part of the Akhandam music at alapana music school ended at 7am on Sunday, it continued at the adjoining Srinivasa Perumal temple premises at the same time with a Veena recital by R.Banumathy. Her rendition of Varalendukommani reminded the audience of her Guru & father, Dr S.Ramanathan.  Suiting the time of the day, young students of alapana rendered Thyagaraja kritis,  Rama Rama (Huseni) and Varaleela Ganalola to a large gathering waiting with their video cameras. This group of 35 children stole the limelight. A large group of alapana ladies sang Divya Nama & Utsava Sampradaya keerthanas later in the morning. And finally there was a congregational singing of the Gana Raga Pancharatnam by many musicians including alapana teachers. R.Banumathy was setting the pace to the Pancharatna singing and A.Narayanan, Srividya Sriram, R.Lavanya  & Meera Sampath were among many others who participated in the Pancharatna singing. R.Lavanya provided violin accompaniment, besides tripling as a singer and a dancer.  As soon as the Pancharatna singing was over, the Akhandam was concluded with a Mangalam, Arathi & distribution of Prasadam.

Mridangam accompaniment for the Akhandam was provided by V.Raghuraman, T.V.Rajagopal, Devarajan and students of alapana, Pathmanathan, Kumaresh, Arjun Murthy and Prasanna Venkateshwar.   In all, about 100 musicians took part in the Thyagaraja Akhandam.

The two able coordinators, Mrs Subha & Mrs Ravi could turn the dream into a reality, with active support from a few other alapana volunteers. There was a free flow of food and soft drinks alongside the music.  Attendees and mothers of students clad in colourful sarees and children in silk skirts and traditional attire added to the festive look. True to the words embedded in the logo of alapana, it was a home of Indian music and dance at alapana, Singapore with quality & variety as the hallmark.

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List of alapana student participants:-

Abirami J P

Hari Manasa

Poonguzhali

Sharmila

Tanay

Abirami S

Harini

Pranav

Shivani U

Vaishnavi

Agalya

Hemasri

Prasanna

Shreya Raman

Vishnupriya

Anjana

Ilampirai

Preethi

Shreyas

Vocika

Anoohya

Jaanavi

Prema

Siddharth

Yogini

Architha

Janani G

Puviarasi

Siddhi

Arjun Murthy

Janani Sundararajan

Rajashree

Sivaraman Y

Bharatanatyam

Arjun V

Kanesh B

Ramapriya

Sreevidhya

Akansha

Arthy Shankar

Karthik

Ramya

Srikanth Srider

Anaga

Ashwathi

Kavitha A

Rathinakumari

Srilekha

Gayathri Devi

Bharathi

Kavya

Richelle

Srinidhi

Kritika Lakshmi

Deeksha

Kumaresh

Rushat Gadepalli

Sriram R

Meenakshi

Deepa Ganesh

Lakshmi

Sachin Jangam

Srivatsan

Mira

Deneswari

Lavanya

Sahana

Sruthi.S

Divya Ravi Rajagopalan

Mithrajith

Sai Sakthi

Subha Kalathur

Divyadarshini

Neeraja Srinivasan

Sashang

Subhiksha

Eshalini

Nishta Raman

Sashvika

Sudha

Geetha Padmanabhan

Niveda

Shanmathi

Sumathy

Gurupriya

Pathmanathan

Shanthi Kaushik

Svetha

 

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