Applause for Amrita’s description of Chidambaram temple
Amritha Murali performing a vocal concert at Ragapriya Music Chamber in Madurai.
| Photo Credit: R. ASHOK
On the third day of the 55th anniversary of Ragapriya Music Chamber, vocalist Amrita Murali began the concert with Guruashtagam ‘sadguru gajasya vani’ and sung the Varnam “sarasIruhasana priye amba” by Puliyoor Shree Duraiswami Aiyar, in naattai, a very melodious song on Saraswathi, the goddess of knowledge.
The multifaceted violinist, R.K. Shriramkumar’s ‘Nidhamum un padam paniven’ in Jayamanohari on Goddess Meenakshi followed with a brief alapana and the nuances were brought out well by the violinist.
Beautiful description of Chidambaram temple and its environs in the period of Muthu Thandavar through ‘kanamal vanile kaalam kazhitthome’ in ragam Khambhoji was well applauded by the rasikas.
Shyama Shastry’s ‘Nannu Brovu’ in Lalitha was rendered with a good alapana and was sung describing Goddess Meenakshi as mother resident (nilaye) in the centre (madhya) of sumeru!.
The vocalist then took the audience to Nagapattinam through ‘Soundara Raajam Ashraye’ in Brindavana Saranga by Muthuswami Dikshitar, in which Dikshitar seeks the refuge (Ashraye) in Soundara Raja, who protected the Gajendra (gaja) in the forest of elephants (brindavana saranga) in granting boons (varada). He is the darling son (“nandana”) of Nanda, he is the ruler (“raajam”) of Naagapattana.
In quick succession, she went on to sing ‘sarasa sama dana bheda danda’ in kaapi naaraayani, by saint Thyagaraja. In this song, Thyagaraja says how Lord Rama used the methods at appropriate times. The rendering generated a mix of peaceful and serious note and also stimulated the sentiment for “kaarthikeya gaangeya” by Paapanasam Sivan in todi, a popular song of Madurai Mani Iyer. Due attention was given to lyrics and accent as she described the six abodes of Lord Muruga.
She concluded with a song in praise of Tamil language by Bharathiar ‘Vazhga nirantharam Vazhiya tamizh mozhi – Ragamalika, Saint Dukkaram’s Abang on Lord Narasimha, tuned by Sriramkumar, the violinist.
Throughout the concert, the raga bhava was prominent, raga alapana for the songs which showcased her inbuilt talent and the compositions by the violinist showed his versatility. The Tani by Manoj Siva on Mridangam was well used by him and won applause from the rasikas.
S Padmanabhan
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