Singathon By T. V. Gopalakrishnan

#Singathonat86 #TVG
We're all familiar with Walkathon, Marathon, Talkathon and the likes. But probably we've not cared for great stalwarts of music such as Pt. C. R. Vyas, Gangubai Hangal, D. K. Pattammal, M. S. Subbulakshmi, Dr. M. Balamurlikrishna, Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, who rocked the three worlds with their magnificent voice at the age of 80s/90s.

One such Singathon was last evening's presentation by the Multi-faceted virtuoso, Vidwan T. V. Gopalakrishnan, who did a sprint with his amazing flexible voice at 86. Organised by Prof. Guruvayoor T V Manikandan of Rasikapriya and the Lawrence Road Aishwarya Mahaganapathi Temple, T.V.G. brought a fantastic amalgamation of carnatic music with his cultured intonation of Hindustani idiom and lilting rhythmic patterns, being a Mridanga Vidwan. His ardent disciple - Devi traversed the Swaras and Layas of T.V.G. like his alter ego or Manasa Putri, as one would describe it.

Delhi's veteran Mridangist Sri. Kumbakonam N. Padmanaban perfectly blended with T.V.G's Swara and Laya and earned Kudos from the Maestro.

Delhi R. Shridhar on the Violin and Hari Narayanan on the Ghatam did their very best to match up upto T.V.G.

Ramakrishna Sharanam by Bhanumathy Vishwanath

Tomorrow happens to be Poorvabhaaga of the Aradhana of the revered saint Sri. Raghavendra Swamiji. Historians, biographers and chronologists have failed to provide a detailed account of the life and contribution of Raghavendra Swamiji as in the words of the unequalled Adishankaracharya who proclaimed in the Soundarya Lahiri that even the thousand-headed Serpent Lord 'Adisesha' could never describe the beauty and the glory of the Divine Mother Tripurasundari.
The miracles and spiritual feats performed by Raghavendra Swamiji are undoubtedly of Supernatural Import; but what is of utmost significance is the extraordinary power of the saint to have transformed the otherwise illiterate, innocent, cowherd boy Venkanna into Dewan Venkanna, who was appointed as Wazir by the Nawab of Adoni, singularly due to the divine blessings of Sri Raghavendra
It was later on Dewan Venkanna, who at the command of his Guru Raghavendra, made arrangements to construct the Jeevasamadhi of the Mantralaya Mystic, who attained unison with the Lord even while singing his immortal composition 'Indu Enage Govinda'.
A similar feat was accomplished by Adishankaracharya when he turned Giri - a so called illiterate, innocent disciple - into the great Totakacharya.
That clearly establishes the undeniable fact that innocence of heart “otherwise known as Nishchalachittam”, is the Sìne quá non, to derive perennial blessings of the Gurus and Spiritual Savants.
As Sir John Woodroffe describes in his celebrated work - The Garland of Letters, Adhikari in Shaktà Sadhana is defined unequivocally by qualification of Karma/Sadhana/Upasana rather than the inheritance of Janmà or Prarabdhà.
It was purely due to the perennial blessings of Srividya Guru Sri Sri 1008 Vimarsha Nanda Nathendra Saraswati Swamiji that I and Bhanumathy were shown the path of intoning swaras (sounds) and words/syllables for understanding Nadà Yogà Puranà.
This was churned into Musical Discourse format with the blessings of Sruvidya Bhushanam Sri Anantha Subramanya Sharma and his eternal consort Srilakshmi (maternal grandparents of Bhanumathy) with the 'Life of Adishankaracharya' - Shankaradigvijayam - in two parts from the Krishnapuram Village in Tamil Nadu which houses the hallowed Temple of Swayamprabha Hanumateertham, set amongst rich paddy fields, described in the special Hanuman edition of Kalyan Kalpataru published by Geeta Press, Gorakhpur, mentioning the temple to the Ramayanà age.
The great philanthropist Late. Shri. T. Natrajan, who was instrumental in building the Chembur Sringeri Sharada Temple at Mumbai, sponsored our missionary trip on Adishankaracharya through the Sringeri Sharada Peetham, Pocconos, US. After receiving the warmth of the American audience and on our return to India, our Musical Discourses were blessed by the revered Shankaracharyas of Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham Sri Sri Jayandra Saraswati Swamigal and Sri Sri Shankara Vijayendra Saraswati Swamigal during their Chaturmasyà camp at Enatur, near Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, where they, out of pure compassion, became captive listeners to our blabberings.
Subsequently, another great opportunity came forward in our lives to endeavour for constructing a Brindavanam for Raghavendra Swamiji at Hanumantapuram - a spiritually surcharged village, known for Nama Sankeertanà Heritage, near Bhuvanagiri, the birthplace of Raghavendra Swamiji.
This activity, apart from taking us through the trail of Chidambaram-Hanumantapuram-Bhuvanagiri-Mantralayam, also bestowed upon us the opportunity to immerse ourselves in the Tungabhadra River and catch a glimpse of the Holy Sushmeendra Teertha Mahaswamigal, (the then Peethadipati of the Mantralayam) during the Aradhana celebrations of Sri Sutheendra Teertha Mahaswamiji - Guru of Sri Raghavendra Swamiji - at the Navà Brindavanam.
The perennial blessings of the Gurus continued with the production and Direction of 'Nadopasana' - a 13-part tele-serial on the life if saint Tyagaraja of Tiruvaiyyar, in which a rare treat can be watched with visuals of great saints, encompassing the Shankaracharyas of Sringeri Sharada Peetham and Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham in the same programme.
The tele-serial has been telecast in Doordarshan National Network several times and is considered to be a priceless heritage of the Doordarshan archives.
From 2003 onwards, the saint filled with Vatsalya Bhavà - Shakatapuram Srividya Peetham Badari Shankaracharya, Sri Sri Krishnananda Teertha Mahaswamiji has been playing his lèela with us like the Gopalà of Gokulà.
Awards and rewards have been coming on their own but the perennial blessings of the Guru and the imperishable, unalloyed love of the saints has made our lives - Myself, Bhanumathy, Amrutaa, Akshayaa along with all our friends, relatives and well wishers - worth living.
Once again our salutations to the spiritual savants - Sri Anantha Subramanya Sharma and his eternal consort Srilakshmi (our maternal grandparents) - for 'picking the Lotus from the Slush and making them worthy of being offered at the Lotus feet of the GURUs and the GODS.

- With utmost reverence to the Gurus and the Goddess,
L. R. Vishwanath.

Centenary of The Spiritual Savant

He was a fountainhead of wisdom,
He had inherited the Royal Path of Srividya Kingdom

He was equally poised towards the mighty,
And those who belonged to serfdom

He extolled the Agamas
And laid bare intricate Shastric conundrums

He was revered for his austere lifestyle
Without artificial Spiritual Syndrome

Salutations to the immortal Subramaniam
Adored along with his consort - Srilakshmi - ever residing in his hŕidayam

Adorned by the accolade Srividya Bhushanam from the Hoary Sringeri Sharada Peetham
Today being his centenary Nakshatram

Humble tributes to a spiritual savant.

- By Shakatapuram Srividya Peetham, Asthana Sangeeta Vidwan, Lalitaa Veenaa Shiromani and Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham Asthana Vidwan,
L. R. Vishwanath
Additional Director General,
Doordarshan.

17th July, 2016 happened to be the Punya Tithi of Padma Vibhushan late Smt. D.K. Pattammal. The legendary Doyen of Carnatic Classical Music left her mortal coil on 16th July, 2009 after etching golden words in the history of Arts and Music.

This year her Punya Tithi was observed with special Musical Homage concert by one of DKP's authentic and prominent disciples Gana Kala Vibhushaba Sangeet Ratna Smt. Bhanumathy Vishwanath.

The Chief Guest for this special event was Dr. M.B. Athreya. Eminent Management Specialist and Padma Bhushan Awardee by the Hon'ble President of India.

This initiative was undertaken by the indefatigable Nonagenerian Shri. N.A. Ramchandran, Secretary, Gayathri Fine Arts, Rohini, Delhi, who turned 91 this year.
Violin support was provided by Delhi R. Sridhar.
Mridanga Selvam Kumbokonam Shri. N. Padmanabhan lead the rhythm on the Mridangam.
Master P. Adityanarayanan accompanied on the Kanjira.
Shri. N. Harinarayanan played on the Ghatam.
Konnakol – Vocal Percussion was rendered by Kumari Amrutaa Vibho.
Kumari Akshayaa Vibho accompanied on the Tambura.
Prayer song was rendered by Kumari Anagha.
The programme was presented by R.J. Miss Vineeta Parmar.
Dr. M.B. Atreya filled the auditorium with his sweet ringing words full of erudite scholarship on the subject as well as nostalgic memories of DKP.
Here is the Youtube link of the programme-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_G97IAuH3M

Here is a glimpse of the still photographs of the programme