Nama sankeertana, a popular form of musical group chanting of various devotional compositions and just Namas was very popular in South India, particularly in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. A large number of these Nama Sankeertana groups are well versed in music and give excellent performances in temples and also on prestigious stages.
For instance, Udayalur Kalyanarama Bhagavatar’s Nama sankeertana group is internationally famous. There are many other groups like that.
Mummaneni Subbarao Sidhardha Kala Peetham of Vijayawada arranged as its monthly cultural program at Siddhardha Kala Kshetram (for the first time in the Sabha’s history), a thrilling Nama Sankeertana programme by Sayi Bhajana Mandali of Chennai.
The team consisting of nearly 20 teenaged school going girls mesmerised the large audience and took them into a devotional trance. The group showed perfect discipline and precision in graceful and attractive movements while singing compositions in various languages like Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Marathi and Sanskrit receiving deserving applause from the audience. The members of the group were superbly trained by Sayivardhan and Umamaheswari, parents of the lead singer Matmika. Her brother Sairam supported on mridangam, tabla and dholak.
Rajaram supported the group on harmonium. Matmika who is equally at ease in both Carnatik and Hindustani music systems led the group with great command and precision. Sayi Bhajana Mandali received praise and awards from the Press and various prestigious Sabhas in the Country and abroad. They performed in many well known sabhas like Krishna Gana Sabha, Vani Mahal and Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan. They also released several C.D. albums that became popular. The Nama Sankeertana was a great hit giving the audience immense thrill and pleasure.
The Sidhardha Kala Peetham deserves kudos for arranging such a wonderful programme. The program was efficiently conducted by Ch.Sunderarama Sarma and Manmadha Rao.
