The chillness of the Margazhi morning was swept away by the warmth of the vocals and instruments as Carnatic musicians, prominent and the aspiring, came together to render in unison saint Tyagaraja’s Pancharatna Kritis.
It was the annual lyrical tribute to the saint composer on his 171st aradhana utsavam at his samadhi on the banks of the Cauvery at Tiruvaiyaru in Thanjavur district on Saturday. The Sri Thyagabrahma Mahotsava Sabha is conducting the event and this year the music concerts connected to the utsavam commenced on Tuesday.
The high point of the aradhana for saint Tyagaraja, who attained mahasamadhi on the Pushya Bahula Panchami day corresponding to the same Roman calendar day in 1847, is the chorus rendering of his admired Pancharatna Kritis as a mark of propitiation for a prolific composer who had reportedly penned more than 24,000 songs, mostly on Lord Ram in his mother tongue Telugu. But only about 700 of them are practically handled by every Carnatic musician in their concerts.
The day started with a group of bhagavathars taking out the uncha vritti bhajan , with an icon of the poet in procession, through the Thirumanjana Veedhi where stands the house in which the poet lived. Once the procession reached the samadhi and priests commenced special abishekam to the granite idol of Tyagaraja, a set of flautists led by Prapancham S. Balachandran along with nagaswaram and thavil vidwans set the tempo for the musical treat.
As the notes tapered to silence, the vocalists took over to be joined immediately by the instrumentalists of all trades. Musicians Umayalpuram Sivaraman, Sudha Raghunathan, Sirkali Siva Chidambaram, Sasikiran, O.S. Arun, Injikkudi E.P. Ganesan, Srirangam Sheikh Mahboob Subhani, Kalisha Bi Mahboob, Tirupamburam T.K.S. Meenakshisundaram, Mahadhi, Ranjani-Gayathri and others rendered Jagadhaananda, trailed by Dhudhukugala , Sadinchane , Kaana Kana Ruchira and Endharo Mahanu Bhaavulu .
Harikatha on Tyagaraja Vaibhavam by Vishaka Hari and Upanyasam by Thamal Ramakrishnan followed.
As part of the valediction, the idol of Tyagaraja was carried in a procession even as nagaswaram and thavil vidwans rendered Mallari in unison at the pandal . The curtain on this year’s aradhana was brought down with the Anjaneyar utsavam in the night.
Sabha president G. Rangaswamy Moopanar, secretaries Aridwaramangalam A.K. Palanivel, Srimushnam V. Raja Rao, treasurer R. Ganesh, and trustees had made elaborate arrangement for the event.
