It is a major attempt by a Tamil professor to document the life sketches of Tamil Musicology Research Expert Kudanthai Pa. Sundaresanar who played a significant role in taking Tamil classic ‘Silappadikaram’ towards masses through his mellifluous voice.
Mu. Elangovan, Assistant Professor of Tamil in Kanchi Mamunivar College of Post Graduate Studies has made a documentary film on the yesteryear scholar.
The Tamil Scholar excelled in lecturing the nuances of music in the verses of Tamil classics Silappadikaram, Thirumurugattrupadai, Paripadal, Panniru Thirumuraigal and other literary works which have a wealth of information about various arts like music and dance of those times.
The onslaught of time erased his contribution to classical Tamil Music as his lectures and works are not properly recorded or documented.
Sundaresanar was an adept in languages such as Telugu, Hindi and Sanskrit. He was a great singer and deeply involved in Saivism. In his time, he had created awareness on classical Tamil music among the public in several parts of the State.
Sundaresanar was born in 1914 in Sirkazhi and educated up to fourth standard. In his tender age, he joined a jewellery shop. Sundaresanar’s enormous curiosity led him to learn several literary works on music from several pundits in Kumbakonam.
In 1946, he started giving musical discourses at Arul Neri Appar Kazhagam in Aduthurai.
Sundaresanar rose to the level of professor by sheer hard work and dedication. As he was relieved from the post, he had to struggle a lot.
He criss-crossed Tamil Nadu and Puducherry with a mission to spread awareness on classical Tamil music.
He died in 1981 due to illness.
“During my college days, several persons recalled the lecturing skills of Sundaresanar on the great epic Silappadikaram. Since then I did thorough study on his life and contribution to Tamil music. I collected audio recordings which were in bits and pieces. Now we have compiled it as an audio-video presentation which runs for around 50 minutes. His voice is played in the background,” Prof. Elangovan said.
He added that the documentary will create more awareness on classical Tamil music.
