To pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi on his birth anniversary, Veena Navarathri will be conducted across the globe on October 2. Organised by the Bharat Veenalaya of the Veena Foundation, the veena will reverberate in carnage-hit Oslo and riot-hit London. In Oslo, Jayanthi Kumaresh will perform, while Sivasakti Sivanesan will play in London. In Melbourne, the Iyer Brothers Ramnath and Gopinath, will perform, while Malathi Nagarajan will perform in Sydney. Yuko Matobha will play in Tokyo. Besides Singapore and Malaysia, the veena will also be played in various cities in the U.S. including San Francisco, Chicago, New Jersey and Los Angeles.
In Chennai, maestros from the North and the South will perform either individually or in duet during a nine-day festival titled ‘Harmony of Strings for Human Harmony' from October 2, at Sri Krishna Gana Sabha. This will be organised by Veena Mahotsava in association with Sri Krishna Gana Sabha under the chairmanship of Justice M.N. Venkatachaliah, head of the Bharat Veenalaya of Veena Foundation. On the first day, there will be Mangala Nagaswara Isai, Vedic chants and invocation by Ranjani and Gayatri. There will be recitals by Neyveli Santhanagopalan and S. Sowmya, Padmavati Ananthagopalan, Suma Sudhindra, Ustad Bahauddin Dagar (Rudra Veena) and Saraswathi Rajagopalan (Saraswathi Veena) in duet. Hari Katha exponent Visaka Hari, will conduct a prayer for peace at the Krishna Temple at Paranur.
Describing the veena as an ancient musical instrument of the country, V. Raghurama Ayyar of Bharat Veenalaya says the Veena Navarathri will be a unique celebration of the ancient acoustic innovation.
