‘Mahaa maaya’ is yet another milestone in mridangam maestro Umayalpuram Sivaraman’s artistic journey. A fitting homage to the Mother Goddess during Navaratri, the musical presentation premiered at Sri Krishna Gana Sabha.
Eminent Tamil scholar Professor Va Ve Su (Dr. V. V. Subramanian) compered the programme, offering valuable insights into the concepts that powered the compilation.
“Since time immemorial, novel creativity in art has been communicated to the public through discourses, visionary treatises or hereditary conveyance of ideas. As a result, we have a treasure trove of such creative works in our midst. In my career spanning 68 years, I have devoted much time to research, exploring rather unusual avenues in my chosen field, mridangam, and the panoramic beauty of its nada. The deeper one explores, the more one realises that there is one religion, one music and one mankind, a realisation that has instilled in me the quintessence of the advaita bhava in this art form,” explains the virtuoso. “With the blessings of my father, I have a two-fold mission. First, to coax the most exquisite tonal beauties emanating from the mridangam’s two faces. Second, to reproduce the melodic quality present in vocal music, so that the listener says ‘Here, his mridangam sings’.”
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“Mahaamaaya springs from these thought processes. Based on tandava-lasya, one of the finest aspects of Bharatanatyam, I have conceived a programme to bridge tradition and novelty and showcase a unique mridangam solo. With the participation of dedicated musicians such as Sikkil Gurucharan (vocal), Anil Srinivasan (piano) and my students Muralikrishnan, Anirudh and Hariharan, I have been able to take the creative process forward.”
The first segment features the following compositions. ‘Maathey’ (Khamas, Muthiah Bhagavathar), ‘Naan Oru Vilayattu Bommaiya’ (Navarasa Kannada, Papanasam Sivan),’ Kamalasana’ (Sankarabharanam, Note swaram, Muthuswami Dikshitar ), ‘Arulavendum Thaaye’ (Saramathi, Dandapani Desikar) and ‘Nee Varadhirundhal’ (Ragamalika Viruttam) from ‘Kanthimathi Pillai Thamizh’ in Sindhu Bhairavi, Purvikalyani, Kalyanavasantam, Neelambari and Madhyamavathi, with a lilting piano prelude and ‘Himero Raate’ (Rabindranath Tagore).
Says Sivaraman, “I accompany the vocals and piano in all pieces, where the emotional and devotional content shines through. The highlight is the ragamalika, where each raga is followed by a pause during which I paint the contours of that raga through aesthetic tonal variations in mridangam strokes.”
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In segment two, a confluence of metaphysical concepts – Aham Brahmasmi, Advaita bhava and Ardhanari bhava, the theme the tandava-lasya of Siva-Parvati in Kailasa, witnessed in bliss by the Devas and other inhabitants of the heavenly abode.
The maestro has sought to recreate the divinity of Kailasa through ambient sounds – the swirling rush of the Ganga fanned by the whoosh of the chill wind, the nada of the damaru, then the Om Namah Shivaya chant and vigorous piano strains heralding Lord Siva, followed by the Om Shakti Parashakti chant and mellifluous piano strains announcing Goddess Parvati capped with the firm clang of Kerala’s ela talam (giant cymbals) contrasting with the jingle of salangai.
The vidwan describes how he has juxtaposed the contrasting yet complementary masculine and feminine divine energies. “In this sound scape, my mridangam solo encompasses six speeds in arithmetical progression starting with the ati vilamba kala. During the alternating masculine and feminine sections, the tandava portions are illuminated by a white spotlight signifying Siva and the lasya portions by a green spotlight representing Parvathi, until they finally merge as one. My aim is to make laymen and connoisseurs alike, experience in their mind’s eye tandava-lasya as a Bharatanatyam visual through mridangam nada. And inspire dancers to respond to the nada by spontaneously launching into dance”.
The third segment includes light pieces – verses from the Abirami Andadi, Srichakraraja Simhasaneswari (ragamalika kriti) and a thillana in Dharmavati.
Did the viewers like it? “I was moved by the tremendous audience response. A standing ovation, after which dancers Roja Kannan and Priya Murle ascended the dais with a special request to dance then and there to my six-speed solo to which I gladly assented.”
With the day being Pradosham and the rasikas being transported to a heavenly realm, what more could one possibly aspire for?