A centuries-old musical tradition called Tarangam, born in Guntur district, is on a downward spiral into oblivion in an age of rapid globalisation.
The Tarangam traces its origins to the 17th Century saint-composer Siva Narayana Teertha, a native of Kaza village in Guntur district. The art form in ‘Yakshagana Bhajan Samparadaya’ was popularised in and around Singarakonda, the abode of Lord Lakshmi Narasimha and Prasanna Anjaneya Swamy in Prakasam district during the Bhakti movement.
Sri Narayana Teertha later migrated to Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu, like many other musicians of his time, to propagate his compositions — a combination of music, dance, drama and spiritualism.
Ghorakavi Srikrishna Sampath Kumar, a resident of Ongole, teaches the Tarangam to a class of young musicians in an effort to ensure that the art form is handed down across generations. However, interest in the art form is waning over the years.
Going down memory lane, Mr. Sampathkumar recalled the olden days when the Tarangam songs used to be sung through the night during religious festivals, with the group performances going on into the early hours of the following day.
“I learnt the musical tradition in my school days from my father Veeraraghava Rao, whose grandfather was a direct disciple of Sri Narayana Teertha, who had composed Tarangam in 12 cantos from Maha Bhavata Dasama Skandam,” the Sanskrit scholar told The Hindu .
Rich legacy
The Ghorakavi family was one of 60 families that imbibed the musical tradition directly from the Vaggeyakara himself. The songs were based on, among other popular ragas, Khambodi, Saurashtram and Madhyamavati, as also lesser known Mangala Kapi, Useni, Khamas and Poorvikalyani.
“The performance of Kalyanatarangam should be made part of the Srinivasa Kalyanam organised in different parts of the state and elsewhere by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, the Kanakadurga Devasthanam and other religious bodies to preserve the glorious tradition of Sri Narayana Theertha, who popularised it in the South including Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu,” the septuagenarian musician said.
