Narayana Teertha's ‘Sri Krishna Leela Tarangini', most popular among performing musicians and dancers, depicts various deeds of Srikrishna from his birth to his wedding with Rukmini. Though many singers and dancers present them as part of their repertoire, there was no occasion to know in detail about the life and work of its author Narayana Teertha and the context of each lyric written in reference to the events in Krishna's life.
Extensive research
Y. Ramaprabha, an established singer and teacher in music, gave a two-hour concert at a special programme Sujanaranjani arranged at its venue, Hanuman Devasthanam, Sanathnagar recently. Ramaprabha prefaced each of these krities with a brief on how Narayana Teertha conceived the situations and wove them. She did a lot of research on the life and contribution of Narayana Teertha. sanyas
Narayana Teertha's work Nritya, Sangeetha, Sahitya Tarangini can be called as a confluence of Bhakti, Rakti and Mukti , explained Ramaprabha. Each lyric he penned was, in itself, a detail of each act of Srikrishna, she said.
They were all written in Sanskrit. Narayana Teertha's original name being Govinda Sastrulu, each composition of his carried the word ‘Govinda' as his signature. He lived during 1560-1614 in Kaja near Mangalagiri in Guntur and belonged to Tallavajhula family.
He took Sanyas early in his life and left for Kasi. He wrote 15books and some were available in Banares Hindu University and some like Parijatapaharanam , at Saraswathi Mahal in Tanjore, she said.
Among the tarangas she rendered on the occasion the most popular one was Neelamegha Sareera in Mohana.
She treated this number as her main rendition and presented it in a Kacheri format, taking good time for the delineation of raga , Nereval and swaraprasthra , with leisurely grace. Blessed with a melodious voice, she rendered all the kirtanas with enthusiasm. Kalaya Yasode Tava Balam in Kedaragowla and Dehi Mudam Dehi in Ananda Bhairavi, Saranam bhava Karunamaya in Sourashtra, Sripatine Nandagopa Gruhe in Kambhoji and Kalaya Krishnam Sakhi in Mukhari weresome delectable pieces among the set of 20 numbers she rendered, Jaya Jaya Swamin
She called Srikrishna Leela Tarangini as lyrical Bhagavatham. O. Rajasekhar on violin and B. Janardan on mridangam lent support.
