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ISSN 0970 - 7816 VOLUME 27 ISSUE 9 SEPTEMBER 2020 ` 85 No. 36, North Usman Road, T.Nagar, Chennai - 600 017. Phone : 044 2814 3093 Chennai I Mumbai Shop Online at www.sundarisilks.com 2 l SRUTI September 2020 3 l SRUTI September 2020 Founder – Editor CONTENTS Vol. 27 Issue 9 September 2020 The late N. Pattabhi Raman Editor-in-Chief S. Janaki É 28128075 Senior Associates R. Vedavalli, Nandini Ramani, T.T. Narendran, Gowri Ramnarayan Critics/ Correspondents in India Bengaluru Sulochana Saralaya É (080) 23513444 Bhubaneswar Ileana Citaristi É (0674) 2433779 Chennai V. Karpagalakshmi, S. Sivaramakrishnan, Anjana Anand, C. Ramakrishnan Kolkata Tapati Chowdhurie É 09831071202 / 9830054247 Meena Banerjee É 09831262127 Nita Vidyarthi <[email protected]> Mumbai Gayathri Sundaresan <[email protected]> New Delhi Leela Venkataraman É (0124) 4058466 / 09810000259 Tiruvananthapuram K.K. Gopalakrishnan É (0487) 2381584 Roving Critic Sunil Kothari <[email protected]> Correspondents/ Representatives Abroad Melbourne Shobha Sekhar <[email protected]> U.S.A. Shankar Ramachandran <[email protected]>, P.N. Srikant <[email protected]> Sruti Staff & Services: Art Editor Sudha Narayanan Photography Akira Io, Hariharan Sankaran Accounts Kalpana Muralikrishnan Design S. Sathish Golden Jubilee (p. 37) Office: The Sruti Foundation No. 9, Cathedral Road, Chennai 600 086 É (044) 28128080-83 and 28128074-76 For subscription related queries and complaints < [email protected] > 5 Readers write For editorial related submissions and feedback < [email protected] > Sruti Internet Edition : http://www.sruti.com & srutimag.blogspot.com Sruti gratefully acknowledges the help rendered by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi, by way of a financial grant. 7 News & notes ……………………………………………………… The Sruti Foundation 14 Birthday calendar The publication of Sruti is one of the activities undertaken by The Sruti Foundation, a charitable trust which aims at promoting excellence, preserving valued traditions and encouraging innovation in regard to Indian music and dance. 16 Gayathri Venkataraghavan Board of Trustees N. Sankar, Chairman V. Vaidyanathan, Sukanya Sankar 26 The Indian diaspora v Ramya Harishankar Advisory Board N. Ramanathan, S. Janaki (ex officio) ……………………………………… Heritage sthalams v Kadambar Koil Printed by Mr P U Aravind and published by Mr P U Aravind on behalf of 34 The Sruti Foundation and printed at Lokavani Southern Printers (P) Ltd., No.122, Greams Road, Chennai 600 006, and published at No. 9, Cathedral Road, Chennai 600 086, Editor Ms S Janaki. 37 Organisation v Brahma Gana Sabha ……………………………………………………… SUBSCRIPTION DETAILS 40 News & notes v (continued) 1 Year Foreign - US $72 [including Airmail charges] - You can Subscribe / Renew ONLINE ONLY by logging on to www.sruti.com. 1 Year in India - `1020 (INR payments can be made by DD/Cheque (to be sent 44 S. Rajam’s paintings v Saptaswara devata: Ri by Speed Post only) or by Bank Transfer. Bank Transfer details is available on www.sruti.com under Contact Us. Please Note: INR Cheques, DDs to be drawn only in favour of 4 6 From the Editor THE SRUTI FOUNDATION. Visit www.sruti.com to subscribe online. All rights reserved. © September 2020 - All articles, photographs and materials appearing in this issue whether in whole or in part, in any form are exclusive copyright Front Cover: Gayathri Venkataraghavan of The Sruti Foundation and nothing may be reproduced in any form or stored in Ramya Harishankar (Photo by V.K. Rajamani) any electric or electronic storage retrievable format. The editors and publisher of SRUTI do their best to verify the information published, but do not take responsibility for No. 432 the absolute accuracy of the information. 4 l SRUTI September 2020 READERS WRITE Special tavil S. Sivaramakrishnan was always intrigued by what melam team but are engaged specially a ‘special tavil’ means—the during festival occasions for leading I term prefixed to the names nagasawara vidwans. This involved of tavildars of name and fame in much deliberation by the organisers concert announcements featuring and sponsors. nagaswaram artists of repute. Following the revelation that there During my boyhood days, the tavil was nothing ‘special’ about the tavil fascinated me no end. I waited for the vadyam, our focus entirely shifted to temple festivals, mainly for the arrival the tavildars—our matinee idols! The of the ‘special tavil’ maestros—my the courage to ask one among main concert during the procession heroes! The elders in our family the troupe about the special tavil. was eagerly awaited and we positioned were confident that the youngsters Though amused, he explained that the ourselves around the tavil vidwans to would ultimately learn to appreciate specialty was all about the vidwan and literally savour the beats. We were nagaswaram music through the tavil not the instrument. We were wonder- only too happy to run small errands and hence never prevented us from struck! The special tavil vidwans, he for them like fetching drinking water being around the melam all the time. explained, are not part of a regular and the towels they needed to wipe the We watched the tavildars—their body language, mannerisms, and the high- decibel output while they played. We went in the mornings to their camps in the village to see how they mended the instrument, how they prepared for Murali music the evening concerts, their enviable musicaL physique, and the extraordinarily obedient assistants who also prepared Pvt. ltd. for them the ‘paan box’ fondly called the “vettilai chellam”. The organisers gave top priority to their boarding We deal in all kinds of musical instruments, books and accessories. and lodging too. The tavil masters We also undertake repairs and service. were highly knowledgeable in music and were laya-giants. Many of them VISIT OUR STORE: were left handed—a common feature Shop no. 29/30, BBC Manor, among tavildars! 23, Doraiswamy Road, T. Nagar, Chennai - 600 017 We are open Monday to Saturday from 10:30 am - 8:00 pm In our endeavour to discover more about the special tavil, we used to +91 88844 99955 [email protected] 044-24345105 closely examine the instruments which appeared “seasoned and well- groomed”—much superior to the ones used by the local vidwans. We even used to figure out meaningful patterns on the hide on the playing side of the instrument and interpret them. We discovered that the ‘special tavils’ had a robust nada or timbre. Opinions differed among us to such an extent that once we mustered 5 l SRUTI September 2020 Nachiarkoil Raghava Pillai Valangaiman Shanmugasundaram sweat during high energy recitals. And they kept time (talam) and enjoyed the our achievement at the end would be intricate korvais with awe. Often, a that of having followed the ‘special local vidwan would take over from tavil’ throughout the concert! the ‘jalra time-keeper’ of the team to help him out during the complicated The tani avartanam in tavil would last passages in tani. They took pride in at least an hour in temple festivals exchanging pleasantries with members and none could resist comparing the of the special team—addressing talent of the second tavildar with that them as “Anney, Annachie” or “Ayya” of the special lead percussionist. The depending on their closeness or seniority. junior also had the task of literally facing the music when the special I have listened to old recordings tavildar happened to be his guru! of Nachiarkoil Raghava Pillai and There were instances when both the Needamangalam Meenakshisundaram tavildars were equally mighty and Pillai. Valayapatti Subramaniam, people looked forward to enchanting Valangaiman Shanmugasundaram, spectacles. Subtle competition would Haridwaramangalam Palanivel, and Denganikottai Mani are some set in, quite enjoyable as well as Valayapatti Subramaniam educative. of the titans who were in great demand for special tavil and were our Denganikottai Mani We used to wait for the exciting heroes. n kuraippu segment that led to a tumultuous finale and take-off point Haridwaramangalam Palanivel HEMAMALINI S. by the nagaswaram music. The ‘kole’ prayogam (use of the stick specially on the main side) would produce sounds of various hues—at times resembling fireworks. The final korvai would be as thrilling and exciting as the last over of an ODI cricket match! The tani slot would be used by the pipers to refresh themselves. The melam vidwans from the nearby areas would attend in large numbers, and we learnt a lot by observing how 6 l SRUTI September 2020 NEWS & NOTES A commendable re-creation of Raas aas: Tapestry of Love is a perfect sync both in nritta and in commendable collaboration abhinaya; the application of cross by senior disciples of Shree coordination in some frames with R th Bharatalaya which is in its 50 Krishna at the centre is interesting year. It brings back memories to watch. Towards the end, the of the vibrant and colourful raas visual effect of the gopis dancing choreographed by guru Sudharani around in circles has been well Raghupathy, which was performed achieved technically. The crisp on stage in Chennai, by students raas ends, leaving you wishing for from different dance schools way more. back in the early 1990s in the (Chennai), Aishwarya Ananth S. JANAKI dance production Krishnam Vande Karthik and Gayatri Ramaratnam Jagadgurum. The latest video, The making of Raas (Bengaluru), Mridula Anand premiered on YouTube, is a digital (Hyderabad), Anusha Venkatramani If you were to ask any of the reimagining of the much acclaimed (Houston), and Smruthi Jayasundar twelve senior students of Shree choreographic work to suit the digital (New Jersey City)—each one Bharatalaya who participated in space, weaving in performances performing at home. this lockdown collaboration as to by twelve senior disciples across how the Raas video was made, the distances, as a tribute to their guru There is not a dull moment in unanimous answer would be: “It and their dance school the video too as in the original just came together, seamlessly and in Chennai.