SPECIAL FEATURE
B.M. SUNDARAM Beautiful contributions to music and dance A. Sambandam
“Invited Audience” programmes in many towns. While serving in AIR-Pondicherry, he organised several music recitals on the sixth day of the Natyanjali Festival after five days of dance programmes at the Chidambaram Nataraja temple. For as long as he was in AIR, these programmes were an annual feature. He was a guest lecturer of Indian Music at Wheaton University, Massachusetts, U.S.A. Though he wrote monologues and submitted papers on various aspects of music, he first authored Palai Azhi (on the ascents and descents of more than 4000 raga scales). Most of his works were written and published only after he retired from All India Radio. He might have collected the details and information for these books even while he was in service but the books were printed later. His writings can be classified broadly into two categories – musicological and historical. Books such as Palai Azhi, Tala Sangraha and Tana Varna Tarangini are writings on the grammar of music. In Tala Sangraha, he has given the details of some 1100 talas, while Tana Varna Tarangini deals with 880 varnams (with all available pathantara variations). BMS himself has composed 22 tana varnams. M. Sundaram is hailed as a multilinguist, research scholar, In the second category, he wrote books containing hundreds of Bmusicologist, writer, composer and brief biographies. At that time, details about vidwans who lived an eloquent speaker. On 27 March 2016, in smaller towns and villages in Tamil Nadu were known only to students of Vani Sangeetha Vidya Gurukulam a few. His first work in this category, Mangala Isai Mannargal, where he teaches music, organised a function consisted of details biographical, and of the musical lineage and to celebrate the 81st birthday of the unique expertise of 126 nagaswaram and tavil maestros. He also octogenarian. listed a similar number of vidwans who lived in the 17th and 18th centuries. Bala Meenakshisundaram Sundaram – popularly known as BMS – derives his name His next book, in 2003, was on dancers Marabu Tantha Manickangal from his mother Balambal and his father (Jewels of Tradition). It covered the biographical details of 121 Meenakshisundaram Pillai, the great tavil dancers mostly of those belonging to the devadasi tradition. To maestro from Needamangalam. He was complete the folio, Marabu Vazhi Natya Peraasaangal (Great born on 10 October 1934. He was the first Masters of the Dance Tradition), covering the lives and achievements disciple to learn music in gurukulavasam from of nattuvanars was published. Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna. He has a Two incidents during the process of collecting details will reveal M.A. in Music and Ph.D in Musicology. how arduous the task was. BMS went with a friend from place to He served All India Radio, Pondicherry, as place for three days to find the house of Tiruvidaimarudur Music Composer and Music Producer for over Rajalakshmi. After the Devadasi Abolition Act many dancers left a decade. It provided him opportunities to their place of origin, fearing social stigma, and were shy about come in contact with the great musicians of his revealing their identity to even their neighbours. If the search for one time. During his tenure he arranged for several person took so many days, you can imagine how many days were
28 l SRUTI October 2016 spent in collecting the information about all the artists covered in the book. On another occasion BMS had to Some awards and honours go to Tirunelveli to collect details about the gurus and dancers who hailed from that area. During such a visit, he Kala Bharati (Gwalior) - 1954, Sangeeta Sastra Kovida suffered from food poisoning and on return to Tanjavur, (Salem) - 1965, Kalaimamani (Eyal Isai Nataka Manram, had to be hospitalised for more than ten days. But for his Tamil Nadu) - 1996, Isaikkalai Chelvar (Ramalingar Pani Manram), ITC Sangeet Research Academy Award dedication and passion for his work, the book could never (Mumbai), Sangeeta Kalabhignya (Percussive Arts have been completed. Centre, Bengaluru), Best Musicologist Award (Music Academy, Chennai), Central Sangeet Natak Akademi’s It was as ‘Gurudakshina’ that BMS wrote the biography Tagore Samman for Overall Scholarship in Performing of his guru maestro M. Balamuralikrishna – Splendour Arts - 2012, Vidvat Choodamani (Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, of Swaras. There are several other papers presented Chennai), Musicologist Award (Narada Gana Sabha, in seminars and conferences which if published may Chennai) - 2015. run to several more volumes covering music and the history of musical geniuses.
BMS has edited several works like Varna Swarajati, Nakshatrabhinaya Lakshanam, Tala Lakshanam and Rasika Jana Manollasini and is translating King Tulaja’s Sangeeta Saramritam.
Two recent and important contributions are worth mentioning. BMS was associated with the Natyanjali festival at Chidambaram organised by the Chidambaram Natyanjali Trust. For more than two decades he used to compere the programmes, explaining the finer details of the dance style, the dancer, the items presented and the meaning of the songs. It helped the rural rasikas attending in large numbers to easily connect with the BMS receiving an award from his guru M. Balamuralikrishna performances. However, a persistent problem was that R. Vedavalli and V. Shankar felicitating B.M. Sundaram most performers chose to present only certain items like on his 81st birthday Bho Sambho and Sami naan unthan adimai, which led to repetition and boredom. We were perplexed, and it was then, that BMS compiled an index for 7093 songs on Lord Siva-Nataraja, to help performers to identify and perform new items. The work covered 895 songs from Panniru Tirumurai, 1304 from Tiru Arutpa, 3094 of various composers, 831 in other languages and 994 lyrics set to music. The book titled Chidambarappattu was published by the Chidambaram Natyanjali Trust. Tamil scholars and Nataraja devotees were astonished by the information given in the book.
BMS has also played a pivotal role in the documentation of the nagaswaram tradition in temples during daily worship and during festivals. Most temples had a unique repertoire which is sadly fading into oblivion. However, with technological advancement there is great scope for preserving our musical traditions. A project in Achalapuram Chinnatambi Pillai (asthana vidwan of was initiated to record the tradition in practice at the the Chidambaram Temple and a disciple of the doyen Chidambaram Nataraja Temple. BMS willingly took on Chidambaram Radhakrishna Pillai) the recording was the role of the resource person, and with the help of done at a temple in Neivasal village near Chidambaram. a sponsor, a DVD recording was arranged. By roping Processions of the deities were arranged to make it a
29 l SRUTI October 2016 With the students of Vani Sangeetha Gurukulam live show and the entire 10-day festival tradition was BMS has devoted several decades of his life to the recorded. The DVD titled Nathamum Nathanum was pursuit of sangeetam. Even today, at 82, he continues later released at the Chidambaram temple. It has to write, present lecdems and teach music. He is the documented the tradition for posterity and will enable to director of Vani Sangeetha Gurukulam in Chennai. keep it alive. Whether a classical music, Lavani, bhajans or musicology, BMS was a great friend of Sruti founder-editor they are all musical and beautiful like his name N. Pattabhi Raman. He has been a part of the experts “Sundaram”. group for Sruti’s projects, and continues to contribute (The author is a connoisseur of arts and secretary of Chidambaram scholarly articles from time to time. Natyanjali) Chronicler of many parts You must have grown up in an atmosphere of music and dance? I was born and brought up in Tanjavur. My ancestors on the maternal side were nagaswara vidwans, and those on the paternal side were tavil vidwans. Our home used to be bustling with daily visitors like mridanga vidwans Vaidyanatha Iyer, Mahalingam Pillai (father of T.M. Thyagarajan) and Bhairavan Pillai. Other great musicians like the Tiruveezhimizhalai Brothers, Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavatar, Mazhavai Subbarama Bhagavatar and Papa Venkataramaiah often caledl on us. There were always discussions on music and musicians. However, not a single woman in my family was connected with Bharatanatyam.
How did you become a sishya of vidwan Balamuralikrishna? Could you share some interesting facts about your gurukulavasam. I was actually prohibited by my father to even talk about music. He wanted me to become an expert in Sanskrit and also serve as district collector. It was only after his demise in February 1949 that my mother permitted me to learn music. My first guru was Melattoor Narayanasvami Iyer (a student of Bharatam Natesa Iyer). I then learnt from Tanjavur Rama Iyer and from T.M. Thyagarajan as well. B.M. Sundaram One day I happened to listen to a radio concert by M. Balamuralikrishna and I was totally mesmerised by his music. I wrote a letter to him care in conversation with of All India Radio, and he was kind enough to reply inviting me to meet S. Janaki him. I wanted to improve my musical skill and in spite of my mother’s stiff
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