WAH-ga-deeswa-RI

Smt Ranjani Smt Gayatri - Adyar Anantha Padmanabhaswamy Temple concert

It can't be better a way to begin the week than by listening to the famous sisters, Smt Ranjani Smt Gayatri better known in the carnatic fraternity as RaGa sisters. The last day of the annual Brahmotsavam concert at Adyar Anantha Padmanabhaswamy temple began with "Ongi ulagaLandha" in Aarabhi, paasuram #3 of AanDaaL. Aarabhi is known to infuse energy and fill with enthusiasm. The next krithi in the line was in Purvi Kalyani raagam, "Iniyaagilum ninai" by Smt Ambujam Krishna. This gave way to the next ragam Hindolam. Smt Ranjani presented a beautiful sketch of Hindolam to render "Padmanabha Pahi", a gem of Swati Tirunal.

Subbaraya Sastri's magnum krithi in Hamir Kalyani came next - "Venkata Shaila" in slow tempo was a parama sowkhyam.

A quick and a vibrant krithi followed in the form of "Parama purusham Hrudaya" in Lalitha Panchamam. This is a rare ragam and both the composers have mentioned the raga mudra in their composition.(Other being Muthuswami Dikshitar's Brahadeeswaram). Here, the Prince mentions the ragam in the Anupallavi line "muRaLinAda vivrta tarapara lalitha panchamam". And an ideal choice to precede the main krithi.

The central piece for the evening was in the ragam Vaagadeeswari.Smt Gayatri's aalapaana of Vaagadeeswari was truly out of the world. "Paramathmudu" was the chosen kirthanam. This has a special mention as this is claimed to be one of the rare / new raagams in which Saint composed and did it in the later stages of his life. According to the Saint, he stresses on the universality of GOD in everything - the animate and inanimate or by whatever name we call HIM. He highlights this further in the charanam lines. The neraval and swaram in the charanam lines "gaganAnIla tEjO jAla". The neat and mellifluous rendition by the sisters made the raagam sound so soothing. The vivaditwam of Vaagadeeswari makes it difficult to handle. The sisters rendered with ease!. The swarams that followed was a treat to the fully packed house. It certainly was a WAH-ga-deeswa-RI.

A small note to this krithi - In the entire Anu pallavi, he uses an informal tone with rhythmic "ata" appearing in almost every word. In charanam, he switches to more a Sanskrit laden Telugu to convey the wonder of the whole presence. He says, Good or bad - both are manifestations of God and everything is Parabrahmam and nothing is outside of it. Everything is inside. The tail piece of the concert had a virutham followed by "Aravindha Pada malar" in Kaapi of Smt Ambujam Krishna composition.

The evening's accompaniments were Shris BU Ganesh Prasad on the violin and Patri Satish Kumar on the Mridangam and KV Gopalakrishnan on the Kanjira.

PS: I am not a reviewer/critic. The above are my personal experiences of every concert that I attend to.