The musicians of Tiruchi congregated at Kailasapuram Township at BHEL for the felicitation function, which was organised by Saraswathi Vidyalayam Music School for it’s principal, Maharajapuram K. Nagarajan.
The octogenarian Nagarajan comes from the illustrious Maharajapuram family and has been the principal of the music school for more than 25 years. In the Tiruchi music scene, he is like a colossus as his connection with it covers over 60 years.
The Invocation song at the event was a kriti on Saint of Kanchi, Sri Chandrasekahrendra Saraswathi, composed by Nagarajan and rendered by his students.
Those who felicitated Nagarajan for his lifetime achievements and performances include his contemporaries and the younger generation such as J. Venkataraman, V.Srinivasan, former Station Director, All India Radio, Karaikudi M.S. Mani, Mythili Jagannathan, Tiruchi K. Ramesh, mridangam vidwan S. Rengarajan, K. Narayanan, former General Manager, BHEL, P. Suriyanarayanan , former AGM, BHEL.
All the speakers appreciated his deep knowledge and his captivating rendering of the kritis in the Maharajapuram style. Respected for his simplicity, he is popular among the rasikas and students for his friendliness and accessibility. The speakers narrated stories about him that highlighted his sense of humour.
S. Shanmugam, AGM/BHEL and vice president, a long time disciple, recounted to what length his guru could go to impart the various facets of music to his disciples.
A citation was presented to Nagarajan by V. Vasudevan, General Manager, Planning and Development, BHEL.
In his acceptance speech, Nagarajan recollected his association with the stalwarts of Carnatic music and the immense affection each one of them had for him. His speech was packed with humorous anecdotes. He also narrated his experiences with his disciples and colleagues.
