Scores of musicians and instrumentalists rendered the pancharatna kritis in unison at the samadhi of Sri Thyagaraja on the banks of the Cauvery at Tiruvaiyaru on Tuesday, marking the high point of the 174th aradhana celebrations of the saint composer.
The event commenced with ‘mangala isai’ by the Nadaswaram artistes at around 8.30 a.m., followed by a brief musical tribute to the ‘Nadhabrahmam’ by flute artists.
The main event , rendering of pancharatna kritis by vocalists supported by flute, veena, mridangam, ghatam, ganjira, morsing and violin artistes, went on for about an hour coinciding with the maha arathi at the Adhishtanam when the vocalists were rendering the ‘Endaro Mahanubhavulu’ song composed by the saint composer.
Earlier, the vocalists recited ‘Jagadanandakaraka’, ‘dudukugala’, ‘sadhinchene’ and ‘kanakanaruchira’ which are the other four kritis forming part of the pancharatna kritis. Musicians such as Sudha Raghunathan, Mahathi and Vishaka Hari participated.
The aradhana, organised by Sri Thyagabrahma Mahotsava Sabha, Tiruvaiyaru, was curtailed to a two-day event this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the absence of several popular musicians, the platform to offer a musical tribute on the ‘Bahula panchami’ day to the Thyagabrahmam this year amidst the pandemic was grabbed by many young and upcoming vocalists.
