Pancharathna Kritis reverberated around the Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao College of Music and Dance here as Carnatic singers and musicians converged to pay musical homage to composer Tyagaraja on Tuesday.
The calendar event organised by the city-based Sangeeta Sanmandali was attended by a large number of music lovers. Sublime performances by the musicians enthralled the visitors.
The celebrations began with a ‘nagara sankeertan’. The artistes took out a procession from the music college carrying idols of Anjaneya Swamy and Tyagaraja. This was followed by a musical tribute to Tyagaraja. Both vocalists and instrumentalists paid their tributes in an hour-long ‘brindagaanam’ as part of the ‘Sadguru Sri Tyagaraja Swamivari Aaradhana Sangeethotsavam’.
The vocalists performed an ensemble of Pancharatna Kritis composed by Tyagaraja that are considered to be the five crowning jewels of Carnatic music.
‘Jagadanandakaaraka’ in Naata Raga, ‘Dudukugala Nanne’ (Gowla Raga), ‘Saadhinchane’ (Aarabhi Raga), ‘Kanakanaruchira’ (Varali Raga) and ‘Endaro Mahanubhavulu’ (Sri Raga) captivated the audience. The vocalists began rendition of Tyagaraja’s pancharatna keertanas in unison with artistes playing mridangam, morsing, violin, veena and gatam. It was a rare musical treat for music buffs as the college environs reverberated with songs hailing the Almighty. The performances drew widespread applause from the audience.
This was followed up by a vocal concert by noted vocalist Malladi Suribabu, who hailed Tyagaraja for taking Carnatic music to new heights. “Even the raagas wished to be sanctified through the saint-poet. We owe much of the joy we experience in Carnatic music to the saint-poet,” he said.
C.V.P. Sastry, Popuri Gowrinath, Ganduri Srinivas and others of the Sanmandali, college principal K.S. Varadarajan and others took part in the celebrations.
