For some years now, like the annual December music season in Chennai, the National Capital has been seeing a celebration of Carnatic music during winter. During this time of the year, whether it is a South Indian cultural or religious organisation, they host a Tyagaraja Aradhana festival to pay homage to the legendary saint composer of Carnatic music. Starting mid-January, these programmes go on till March. Say, in areas alike Sarojini Nagar, R.K. Puram, Vasundhara Enclave, Mayur Vihar, Rohini, Lodhi Road, neighbouring NOIDA, etc.
At some places, it is a day-long session where students of Carnatic music sing the compositions of Tyagaraja individually for a short duration, followed by group rendition of the famous Pancharatna (‘five gems’) kritis of Tyagaraja. These are “Jagadanadakaraka” (raga Nattai), “Dudukugala” (Gowla), “Sadhinchene” (Arabhi), “Kanakanaruchira” (Varali) and “Endaro Mahanubhavulu” (Sree). Sometimes, the events are spread over more than a day.
Born on May 4, 1767, at Tiruvarur in Tanjore district of Tamil Nadu, Tyagaraja belonged to a family of pious and scholarly Telugu Brahmins. A prolific composer, Tyagaraja composed thousands of compositions, mostly in praise of Lord Ram. For him, music was a means of salvation.
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Revered as a saint, Tyagaraja attained samadhi in Thiruvaiyaru (situated on the banks of river Kaveri) on January 6, 1847, on Pushya Bahula Panchami day of the lunar calendar. The saint composed some of his greatest works when he was in Thiruvaiyaru.
Hundreds of musicians and music lovers assemble on the day he attained samadhi to render his Pancharatna kritis.
This year, Pushya Bahula Panchami of this month falls on January 10. In the Capital, prominent among those who lead group singing on such a day are K. Vageesh, Vasanthy Krishna Rao, Chitra Gopalan and Guruvayur Manikandan. Another encouraging and heartening trend observed in the Capital is that young students of Carnatic music too are trained to render all the five Pancharatna kritis. Dressed colourfully in traditional clothes, the young singers accompany their gurus in a spirited manner.
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While some organisations in the Capital pay their homage to the composer on the actual death anniversary according to the traditional calendar, some make it a weekend affair. The Shanmukhananda Sangeetha Sabha organises an annual musical festival dedicated to the composer.
Organisations like the Delhi Tamil Sangam and the Karnataka Sangeetha Sabha rope in the maximum number of Delhi-based Carnatic musicians (vocalists and instrumentalists) for group rendition of the Pancharatna kritis and make it a mega event.