Attending festival concerts of Tamil Isai Sangam at Raja Annamalai Mandram takes one back in time when concerts of several nagaswaram stalwarts were held late in the evening. I would travel by an electric train along with Guru Veenai G.N. Dandapani Iyer, alight at Fort Station and walk across MMC Grounds to reach the Mandram and return by the last train to Mambalam after the concert. I remember guru Dandapani Iyer talking about the importance of listening to nagaswaram kutcheris for a mature approach to classical music. All these thoughts came to the mind while waiting for SRGS Mohan Doss to begin his concert.
Mohan Doss is the sixth generation nagaswaram player of the Sembanar Koil tradition. His father Sembanar Koil S.R.G. Sambandam and uncle Sembanar Koil S.R.G. Rajanna used to perform together. Now Mohan Doss is one of the torch-bearers of this tradition. His brother SRGS Vasantha Kumar is content playing for the deities at the Tirukkadaiyur Temple.
Mohan Doss and team took the rasikas on a journey through the temples in the Thanjavur district, where nagaswarams are played during kala sandhi puja . He never placed his nagaswaram on the floor even during long pauses. He put it on the lap during the thani, a discipline imbibed from his forefathers.
The Andolika raga alapana was marked by phrases typical of nagaswaram. The melodic output of Mohan Doss was equivalent to a vocal presentation. His subtle pauses and controlled blowing while resting at the shadjamam and panchamam were enjoyable. It was easy to make out the sahityam of Muthu Thandavar’s ‘Maravadhiru Maname,’ thanks to his fingering and blowing technique. The Lathangi rendition was highly expressive.
Instead of the routine sequential journey up and down the scale, Mohan Doss offered some brilliant phrasings.
It was interesting to watch him lift the instrument high in the air and hold it at a particular angle while playing the tara sthayi.
His Abhogi raga exposition was ably supported by Chidambaram Thulasiraman.
Mohan Doss must be commended for his adherence to patantharam, as he brought the sahithya bhava to the fore while playing Sivan’s ‘Pirava Varum Thaarum.’ The swaraprastharas brimmed with bhava. The tani avarthanam of Pazhaiyanur Venkatesan (thavil) and Vadapalani Vadivel (thavil) were about lively patterns built on sound technique. Mohan Doss packed Neelamani raga with emotion and continued in the same mood while executing ‘Enna Kavi Padinalum.’
He concluded the concert with a padam in Kurinji, a javali and ‘Chinnachiru Pen Polay’ in Sindhu Bhairavi.
