R. K. Shriram Kumar is putting to great purpose, his immense musical knowledge and interest in allied spheres like religion and Sanskrit. His Muthuswamy Dikshitar affinity is also well known from his research on works like ‘Sangita Sampradaya Pradarshini.’
He presented to a packed audience for Naada Inbam, the amazing confluence of music, religion, mythology and Sanskrit in the context of how Dikshitar has composed kritis on Lord Ganesha. We are familiar with the rich interpretations and weaving of specific temple information in the lyrics of these compositions. But Shriram Kumar has gone a few steps further to decode sub-phrases, link them to dhyana slokas and to the highlights of temples and their tales.
Virtual travel
With a range of examples that included ‘Vatapi Ganapathim’ (Hamsadhwani), ‘Sree Mahaganapathi ravatumam’ (Gowlai), ‘Sveta Ganapatim Vande’ (Ragachudamani), ‘Hastivadanaya’ (Navroj) and ‘Panchamatanga mukha’ (Malahari), Shriram delineated the kshetra puranam, the significance of Lord Ganesha in the temple, the lyrics that describe the story or the import and how the lyrics align with the dhyana slokas. That’s a lot of passionate labour into uncovering the disguised linkages and a virtual travel into the composer’s mood. The Ragachudamani piece, for instance, is on the Lord at Tiruvalanchuzhi, where the deity is in white colour, symbolising the milk froth of the ‘churning,’ considered to be its origin.
In the Navroj kriti, Shriram alluded to the charanam, where all the items held by the Lord in his hands or presented for obeisance are individually described. The deity is the one in Tiruvarur and in Dikshitar’s inimitable style, the name of the raga is woven into the phrase “samana vara ojase.” The narrative of each kriti was rich, scholarly and incisive. Shriram’s at-ease presentation style endears him to the audience. Sandeep Ramachandran and Arun Prakash provided accompaniment support as Shriram sang the songs. How little we understand our treasures.
