A visual journey through lives of Carnatic legends

April 13, 2014 01:28 am | Updated May 21, 2016 10:55 am IST - CHENNAI

The Ragasudha hall in Mylapore was packed for the launch of one of Lakshmi Devnath’s books from her Pictures of Melody series. The series, a collection of pictorial biographies of iconic Carnatic legends, looks to popularise the age-old music tradition among the young. Maharaja Swati Tirunal, the celebrated composer and king of Travancore, is the subject of Ms. Devnath’s new book. The event also saw the release of the Tamil translation of her book on M.S. Subhalakshmi, kick-starting the vernacular series.

Ms. Devnath’s series, under the title of Graphically Carnatic, looks to change the perception of aged connoisseurs being the sole patrons of Carnatic music. Publishing these books was an attempt to mobilise young children to lay claim to their own artistic heritage, she said. “Biographies are the most important link to the past. These books are not a mere narration of a list of achievements of different artistes but a retelling of their emotional journeys,” she added.

The books use the visually dynamic format of the graphic novel to narrate stories. The detailed illustrations, interspersed with real photographs, make it especially attractive for young readers. While the books do not appear to be dense, their content reveals thorough research. Striking this balance was a challenge acknowledged the author. The books aims to educate, but by nurturing engaged reading by youngsters.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.