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Thyagaraja's Pancharatna Keerthane In Dance FormIf you thought that Thyagaraja's music was to be savoured with the eyes closed, you were absolutely right. In recent years, the annual Tiruvarur Thyagaraja Aradhana has seen the urban echo, with musicians and dancers paying homage to this saint-composer (1767-1847) in Chennai. His popularity can be gauged from the fact that the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan was overflowing that evening. Kala Pradarshini and the Bhavan had jointly organized 5 well known dancers to present the krithis. But the most crucial musical aspect was a let down. On television we saw people in Tiruvarur standing in the rain with folded hands paying homage to the great Saint during the singing of the pancharatna keerthane. Unfortunately none of that humility was in evidence in Chennai that evening.Priyadarshini Govind commenced with the Nattai composition 'Jagadanandakaraka' in Adi talam in praise of Rama. Scintillating nritta and a fleeting glimpse of the charanas marked her presentation. Sushanth, the vocalist, was too subdued and inaudible for the most part. Girija Ramaswamy did a fairly good job of 'Duduku gala' in Gowli ragam, Adi talam for which Parvathi Ravi Ghantasala was the performer. Thyagaraja laments his ignorance in his youth, of Rama's omnipresence in this piece. The dancer was lucid in her abhinaya. An interesting piece of choreography saw the swarams adapted to highlight the composer's seeming misdemeanors, but the arudi did not fit in at times.
Urmila Satyanarayana was the final presenter with 'Endaro mahanubhavulu' in Sri ragam, Adi talam. Her young accompanist, S.K.Suresh combines vidwat with humility. Therein lies his appeal. Thyagaraja's salutation to the evolved sages down the ages, who could perceive Rama's divinity, was peppered with the clean lines of nritta. Even so, the dancer was a shade less vivacious than usual. The dancers made a sincere effort to communicate what they understood from the pancha rathna krithis, but it seemed futile because the intensity of bhakthi could not be duplicated. Is it the fault of the visual art form or the artists? |
'Sadinchane' in Arabhi ragam, Adi talam had a dignified dancer Jayanthi Subramaniam supported by an erratic singer Vanathi Raghuraman. Jayanthi gave a good account of Krishna's antics, and his dubious ways of achieving His objective. She was fluid in her expressions, and at the same time gave off her best in the nritta dominated swaras. Revathi Ramachandran delineated the varali 'rathnam' in Adi talam, 'Kanakana ruchira''. Sashidharan is a good vocalist, but spoils the effect with his mannerisms. The dancer's araimandi' when present, was awkward, but her interplay of percussion was effective. Her entrance in shudha nrittam merits attention. She came in as Thyagaraja, and depicted Rama, Sita, Lakshman and Hanuman in a tableau using the kanjira and mridangam to good effect.
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