Sunday, May 9, 2010

Jan-Apr 2010 Music Concerts

My father always believed that the Sannidhyam or the Divinity of the Moola Vigrahas in temples will continuously increase. As more and more devotees visit the temple, the veda mantras were chanted and regular abhishekams are performed the vigrahas will gain radiance as years roll by. During the growing years I don’t remember paying much attention to these concepts, at least, so I thought. Surprisingly I remembered those words recently. Even more surprise, those words were true.

Perceiving the growth in Sannidhyam on a vigraha that is hundreds are years old like the Mylapore Kapali Temple is very difficult. However, the temples in the USA are only a few decades old. Some of us might have seen them built from the foundation stage. As the years roll by, the divinity surely increases. Many of us living in South Florida surely feel that inside our Shiva Vishnu Temple. As you walk in, you feel the walls are reflecting the Veda Mantrams like Rudrams and Purusha Suktham. The divinity increase is more perceptible when we visit temples after a while. Two good examples from our recent temple pilgrimage to the temples in the Tampa area. Shirdi Sai Baba statue at the Inverness Temple has grown more life-like and the Sannidhyam of the Sathyanarayana Temple in Tampa has definitely grown at least according to my perception and many who came with us on the trip. Let us talk about the trip first and then the concerts.

It would have been a very strange sight for any onlooker to witness about 100 well dressed Indians (and two Spanish ladies) milling around a little after 5AM on a movie theater parking lot a little South of the Shiva Vishnu Temple in S. Florida. A few tables were set on the pavement, food boxes were stacked up and more being packed. Idly, Pongal and varieties of chutneys were packed in those food boxes. Janevi was at the center of the hurricane coordinating the packing effort – Indian food for adults and sandwiches for children. Ravi and Rajesh were busy taking attendance to ensure no one is missed. Two gigantic luxury buses with signs “Shirdi 1 and Shirdi 2” were waiting for departure with the drivers bewildered at the amount of food and the prep work. Yes, we were on the annual pilgrimage to the Inverness Shirdi Sai Temple in Inverness, FL. Drs. Shanti and Sundaram were the masterminds and the main sponsors behind the operation.

The trip to Inverness is becoming more and more popular every year. Even with two buses this time, it was not possible to accommodate all the people who wanted to go. Some ended up coming by themselves in cars. May be next time we will have 3 or 4 buses. The main attraction for us, of course, is the beautiful Shirdi Sai Temple at Inverness. We also make it a point to visit another temple in the area. This time it was the Sathyanarayana temple in Tampa. We always add some culture to the trip with a concert. This time we were graced by Sri Sanjay Chandran on the violin, which I will talk about later. In addition, there is the non-stop feeding frenzy, I mean literally - breakfast, lunch, snacks, coffee/tea, dinner and after dinner snacks. As if that is not enough, some of us mobbed the Starbucks during rest stops. It was a cruise on wheels with Indian culture, religion and spirituality thrown in.

As we entered the Inverness Temple the priest was chanting the Veda mantras. Several from our group joined in the chanting of Rudram, Chamakam and the Sukthas. It was a truly divine experience. Vijayamma’s son Gopi and his wife Kaja were among those who performed abhishekam to the Utsava vigraham of Shirdi baba. Kaja gave birth to a baby boy within three days after the trip and was appropriately named Abhishek Sai, what a nice blessing. The arathi songs in Shirdi Sai temples are always captivating. Unlike traditional temples with the Garbha Griha, Shirdi Sai temple was quite open with devotees having freer access and view.

After lunch, we had Sanjay’s wonderful violin concert and a few bhajans. In the meantime volunteers boxed our dinner and we were on our way to Tampa. I am visiting the Sathyanarayana temple after a gap of several years. I stepped into the temple and WOW. We could feel that the deities have gained more radiance. My father said that it is a reflection of the true devotion and discipline of the devotees who frequent that temple. It was amazing to see a proof of that concept in real life. I would love to hear your views on this.

Faith in God is good but not in GPS. On the way back our driver decided to take the scenic route following the GPS route designed for bullock carts. Late by about an hour, we reached back. Overall it was great. Let us go to the concerts:

Sri Sanjay Chandran – Violin concert accompanied by Sri Venupuri Srinivasan on the mridangam

Both Sanjay and Srinivasan accepted to play at the Shirdi Sai temple at the very first request. This surely has been a blessing for both of them to play in the presence of Shirdi Sai Baba for He surely listens and actually plays through the artists themselves. Sanjay chose very appropriate songs and ragams for this afternoon concert after a heavy meal. He is also an expert in measuring the receptivity of the audience and delivers. Sanjay is a naturally charismatic player and engages the audience into active listening. I have heard Sanjay many times and it is no secret that I am one of his fans. In my opinion this concert was one of Sanjay’s best.

The concert started with a flawless rendition of the ever popular Vathapi Ganapathim in Hamsadhwani. This was followed by Sri Saraswathi in Arabhi. The audience was now sitting up straight wanting more. Keep in mind the audience is not exactly the same crowd that comes regularly to Carnatic concerts in South Florida and it is even tougher to maintain their interest level. Everything came together that day with divine blessings. Sanjay may have even converted a few film music fans to Carnatic music fans that day. He played the main piece in Kalyani including a brief alapana and a short thani avardhanam by Venupuri Srinivasan. Sanjay enthralled the audience with the fast paced Raghu Vamsa Sudha in Kadana Kuthoohalam and gave an excellent rendition of Jagadodharana in Kapi. Sanjay has told me about his own Thillana composition and I requested him to play it in the presence of Shirdi Sai Baba. It was in the thrilling Bhageshwari ragam. Nice composition, I am sure we would all like to hear it again. I probably missed a few songs but you get the picture – it was great.

Venupuri Srinivasan usually plays mridangam with flair and that day was no exception. He is a versatile artist who plays for music concerts, dance programs and also has exposure to the film industry playing in A.R. Rehman’s troupe. He is another charismatic mridangam player. It will great for the duo to play a full length concert.

In spite of the stature of these artists, they both agreed to play under a make-shift environment within the temple premises. It shows their dedication to the art and devotion to Bhagwan Shirdi Sai Baba. They are truly blessed.

During the concert, some of the devotees noticed a garden snake inside the temple premises. We were told that it was Naga Sai which has made the temple its home and is harmless. We were all relieved Sanjay did not play Punnagawarali.

Sri S. Arvind – Vocal, Sri Sanjay Chandran – Violin, Sri S. Ramakrishnan – Mridangam

Overall, my impression is that the concert took some time to reach peak performance. The team took time to come together and find their timing. RTP in Brindavana Saranga was amazing. The last four songs of the concert including the Thillana in Bhageshwari were well rendered. Let us go to song by song analysis –

Begada Varnam – started strong with a good voice but the team did not settle together.
Jaya Jaya in Natai/Kanda Chapu – Very popular song in a pleasing ragam. Singer needed to work with the associates. Some miscues during the swara passages.
Ka Va Va in Varali/Adi – Started with the virutham, nice variations. Artists are starting to have some fun interacting with each other. Some audience interaction will also be good. Everyone was comfortable with this song, mridangam especially came out nicely.
Kailasa Natha in Kambodi/Mishra Chapu – Very pleasing alapana by the singer and the violinist. Neraval was done at the place in the song where the name of the ragam comes, very clever. Arvind demonstrated his strong foundation in carnatic music training.
Kadana Kudoohala Ragame – very clever lyrics written in praise of Meenakshi. But the team is not yet together.
Main piece – Parama Pavana Rama in Purvi Kalyani/Adi – I felt that the Alapana by the singer needed more punch. Sanjay usually does a good job with Purvi Kalyani and did not disappoint us. Thani by Dr. Ramakrishnan was enjoyable. The team continues to struggle with finding their timing
Bodhendra Sayeenam in Kunthalavarali/Kanda Chapu – peppy song.
RTP in Brindavana Saranga in Thisra Thriputai Thalam Khanda Nadai – Out of the world. This is one of my favorite ragams and so I am usually a bit biased, but I felt the alapanas by both singer and violinist were fantastic. The thanam part started and the mridangam joined in, refreshing. The team finally found their timing. Another clever sahithyam with the name of the Ragam at the beginning of the song. You can see the running theme in the song selection by the singer. Ragamalika section included Valaji, Chandrakauns, Hamsadhani, Basanth Bahar, Sindu Bhairavi and Durga. Overall fantastic rendition
Man Ki Ankhen Kholo – the bhavam stood out in this song
Bhageshwari Thillana in Adi – well rendered

Smt Peddada Suryakumari – Vocal, Sri Sanjay Chandran – Violin, Dr. S. Ramakrishnan - Mridangam

Let me start with the highlight of the concert. At the end of the song on Bhagawan Sathya Sai Baba (Uyyala Looguma in Yamuna Kalyani) the singer announced in a very thrilling voice that she found vibhoothi appear on the pages of her lyrics book. She only spoke in Telugu. Though some of us could not clearly understand what she was saying, her language sounded so beautiful.

The singer’s strong suit is rendering bhajans and light carnatic songs. She has a very mature soothing voice soaked in unmistakable bhakthi rasam. However when it comes to rendering classical carnatic music songs something was amiss.