A long time ago, I heard a joke about
why Nadaswaram is played in marriages. When
the “getti melam” is played during the time of tying the knot the decibel level
of the instrument is so high making it hard for the couple to have second
thoughts. The music generated by the Nadaswaram
and Thavil simply carries above the general chatter of the people attending
weddings it will even drown out any harmful family gossip.
For me, sitting in the front row for the
Nadaswaram concert, forget about the second thoughts I did not even have first
thoughts. The music simply drove away all
the thoughts allowing us to experience just the presence which is beyond
thoughts. For that, we are grateful to
Mr. Nakenthiran and party for a sumptuous concert. That could be the reason though many of us
complained about the high volume but stayed through the concert. Presence must be addicting. Allow me to digress a bit and we will pick up
from here shortly.
Our beloved singer within our community
received a coveted “Aasthana Vidwan” title from Kanchi Sankaracharya
recently. It is none other than Sri
Madhu Venkatesh Chandrasekar. Well
deserved title for someone who is innately talented, well trained and has
worked extremely hard to achieve great heights such as this in his music
career. Jayanthi joins me in wishing you
enormous success in the field of music and every aspect of life. The entire South Florida community is very
proud of having Sri Madhu in our midst.
Congratulations to his family as well for providing the support. Nice job.
Shiva Vishnu temple Kumbhabhishekam
activities are happening around the clock.
It will culminate during the Thanksgiving weekend this year. Along the way, we have some unique opportunities
to experience a few rare events. It is
our strong belief that the Moola vigrahas inside the inner sanctum have the energy
of their respective Gods invoked in them when the Temple is first built. In the case of our temple, Sri Savyasachi
Swamigal came to do the initial invocation or Prana Prathista at the time of
the first Kumbhabhishekam. Over the
years through the chanting of Vedas, abhishekams, poojas and prayer of
thousands of devotees the Sannidhyam or divinity has grown. Now, it has been 12-years and it is time to
renew the temple or do the Jeernodharanam followed by another
Kumbhabhishekam. The question is what to
do about the energy inside these Moola Vigrahas? During the recent Balalayam function, this
energy was transferred on to mirrors and
saved for the next two weeks. The energy
will be transferred back during the Kumbhabhishekam. It was interesting that strands of darbhai, a
form of sawgrass, are used for this purpose.
One may ask – is this all hocus pocus?
Well, if you believe there is energy in those vigrahas then it can
surely be transferred to another object and transferred back. If you can believe thin strands of fiber
optics can carry thousands of phone calls then surely darbhai can be the
conduit to enable the transfer. Let me
leave it at that and allow people with more knowledge to carry on the dialogue.
Let us get back to the concert.
I must admit I enjoyed the Carnatic music
part in the first half of the concert more than the film songs that followed. But everyone enjoys songs from the evergreen
film like Konjum Salangai and Thillana Mohanambal.
· Vathapi Ganapathim in Hamsadhwani –
started the concert powerfully. The sahithyam
part was done very well. Swaras could
have been stronger but overall a powerful rendition
· Aravinda Lochana in Needimathi – took many
of us for a loop in guessing this ragam.
Glided us through the song beautifully.
· Ninuvina in Navarasa Kanada – when the
alapana started I thought the song was going to be Papanasam Sivan’s “Naan oru
vilaiyatt bommaiya”. Let me put in the
request for the next time. Excellent
alapana and very nice rendition of the song.
Thoroughly enjoyed it.
· Ever popular “Kurai Onrum Illai” in
Raga Malika – audience was in a music-high at this point. Now the film song section:
· Singara velane
deva – abheri. Probably an all
time favorites among nadaswaram fans. A difficult
song with very intricate gamakams. Took
us back 50-years to this film era. Nice. I am going to list the film songs played so
you can gain an appreciation (at least the Tamils among the readers) for the
breadth and depth of the team’s knowledge of film music.
· Thunbam
nergaiyil (in Desh), Kannodu kanbathellam, Ponnonru kanden
· Maraindirundu
parkum (in shanmuga priya), Nalamdana, English note by madurai mani –
great to hear Thillana Mohanambal songs back to back
· Aiyyayyayyo
anandame, Unnai kanaada (from Vishwaroopam), Nee oru kaadal sangeetham,
Then sindude vanam, ENNa paravai siragadithu, Pakkathile kanni
pennirukku (from padikkada medhai), Vinnodum mugilodum, Konja
neram, Thakita thadhimi (from salangai oli), Innum konja neram?? –
kumki, Amudhai pozhiyum nilave, Thaazhaiyaan poo mudichu, Povoma
urgolam - chinna thambi, Radhaiyin nenjame, Uruguthe maruguthe
· Nenjukkulle
unnai from recent movie Kadal. Responded
to on the spot request from the audience.
A very difficult song to sing or play.
I thought the song was simplified and played in Nadaswaram. Good attempt.
· Thillana –
from where else? Thillana from Thillana
Mohanambal, of course.
