At a time when new musical texts are hard to come by, a collection of 51 ‘kritis’ must come as a major reason for celebration. In the State capital, on Sunday, such an occasion came when a collection of ‘kritis’ by scholar V.R. Prabodhachandran Nair was released by Pooyam Thirunal Parvathi Bai of the royal family of erstwhile Travancore.
Releasing the book, she said the book, titled ‘Prabodhasangeetham’, is a pilgrimage through the culture and heritage of the State. It turns out to be a perfect pilgrimage experience, taking the readers through the culture and heritage of the temples and places discussed. “Such texts provide lessons in music, literature, language and culture to the learners,” she said.
Receiving the ‘kritis’, set to music by Carnatic exponent and Brehath Sangeetha Kendram director Pushpa Krishnan, writer George Onakkoor said that unlike the other similar texts of classical music, Dr. Prabodhachandran Nair has brought into his work a sense of cultural heritage of the land.
Dr. Nair himself was happy that he could make a humble contribution to the cause of music with his kritis. “Music is a form of prayer,” he said. The function was followed by collective rendering of the ‘kritis’ by over 100 young and old singers.
