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"Endaro Mahanubhavulu, Andariki Vandanamulu" said Sri Thyagaraja.

Mahanubhavulu or great people are those who achieve amidst odds, Mahanubhavulu are those who keep safe the values and traditions of a rich culture intact across continents and oceans. And Indu Krishnamurthy is one of them. Solely because of her and her small group of music enthusiasts, started 25 years ago, the now immensely popular Thyagaraja Aradhana in Houston. What started in Indu maami's house moved to local school auditoriums and now is befittingly hosted in the grand Meenakshi temple in Pearland.

This year was a very successful celebration that marked the 25th year of the Utsavam in this very diverse cultured city. The 3-day extravaganza could surely boast itself as the 'Season' of Texas! Prabha Bala and Nalini Mukhopadyay were the co-chairs for the event this year and everything was meticulously arranged by the both of them.

The most heart warming aspect of the whole event being the amazing number of young enthusiasts. Artists from about age of 5 showcased their immense potential. Noteworthy being that most of them probably haven't been to India at all or have just visited India once or twice!

Varied concerts and events were held through the 3-day aradhana featuring both Houston based and Indian visiting artists in the sprawling campus of the Meenakshi Temple.

Friday, March 28th, the first day of the aradhana had Houston based vocalist R. Rama Krishnan and the Chennai based vocal-duo Ranjani Gayathri performing. Both the concerts were well received. A special note about Rama Krishnan is that he's largely self taught with very little professional training. The Houston aradhana in 1990 rekindled his interest in Carnatic Music and from then on he hasn't looked back. He graduated to a 'full-scale' 3 hour kutcheri in the Cleveland aradhana (by far the biggest in the US) in 1999.

As they have been in India, Ranjani-Gayathri duo was extremely good on this day too. They were well appreciated for the bhavam in their rendering. They set the perfect stage for the grand events to come in the next two days.

On the morning of Saturday, March 29th, a traditional 'Unchaviriti' in the true Thyagaraja style marked the beginning. This was followed by an invocation and the group rendering of the Pancharathna krithis which is the essence of any Thyagaraja Aradhana held around the world.

Unfortunately, senior musician T.K.Govinda Rao who was supposed to be the keynote speaker could not attend the function but his address was read out. The mayor of Sugarland, David Wallace attended this inaugural function of the aradhana.

Shubashree Ramachandran was the next artist to perform with a short concert. That too was well appreciated by the very enthusiastic music loving 'Indian' population that had gathered. She was accompanied ably by Mysore Srikanth Venkatraman on the violin and P.K. Swaminathan on the mridangam.

This was followed by a short programme by Austin based artistes, Shanti Aradhyula and Swati Dokka on the veena, Vishaal Sapuram, D B Ashvin, Ravi Srinivasan(vocal). Houston is the hub as far as Carnatic Music in this area is concerned. Thus is the natural platform for all artistes in the nearby areas.

What followed next was a 2 1/2 hour dance drama 'Prahalada Bhakti Vijayam' by Houston based artists. This was based on Thyagaraja's original Geya Nataka and was wonderfully produced, directed and choreographed. A group of 12 dancers and a crew of supporting musicians gave us a grand fete which was comparable and on par with any Indian production. The best part of a venture like this is that, unlike India, none of the dancers have the same guru, which just means their schools of dance are different. But the way it was all put together in a grand effort was amazing. The producer of this show, Nalini Mukhopadhyay does deserve credit for this.

As the evening was falling in, enthusiastic music lovers braved the chilly March evening to listen to Houston artiste Ram Ganesan who gave a mini concert in the Rama sannidhi of the temple.

The next event, 'Sands of Thiruvaiyaaru, a multimedia presentation of song-dance-dialog of the story of Thyagaraja was truly a treat to the eye and ear. Wonderfully coordinated and conceptualized by Indu Mami as she's called by all here.
For a creation like this in India, one would probably just go down the Mada streets of Mylapore, to Shanthi tailors and the likes and rent off the shelf the costumes... Be it for Narada or Saraswati or Thyagaraja or anybody! But here in the US it is a totally different ball game. Everything has to be made. From the backdrop on the stage, which could be a brahmin house 250 years ago or the magnificent temple of Thiruvayaaru or a forest! Everything has to be sewn from bits and pieces. And so innovation is at its peak. Obviously, 'Necessity' is the mother of invention. When skin-color stockings could be used as the 'front bald head' of the typical brahmin get up! Even the orchestra was with a difference-other than the violin, the veena and the mridangam, an electronic guitar was also part of the ensemble! The dialogues in between the song sequences were in English. Little Chinmayee Venkatraman does deserve praise. She played little Thyagaraja and was just amazing. She sang beautifuly and befitted the role of 'Thyagaraja'.

For a not-so-American like me, I was filled with awe. Because the dialogues were rendered in a totally accented English - in the typical American style. Saraswathi was Sazhaswatee with the rolling 'r's. So what, the essence still remains. The faith still remains. The tradition still remains.
Artistes for this performance were from both Houston and Dallas (that's about 5 hours drive from Houston). And most of the performers could practise only on weekends which just underline the immense effort that had gone in. And artistes don't just remain artistes, they have to double up as stage setters, make up artists, you name it!

The Indian Consul General in Houston, S.R.Tayal and his wife were among the spellbound audience.

Sunday was the grand finale. Again what was most impressive was the orchestra of 35 odd kids in the morning. Indu mami had got them all together for an astounding performance. Western instruments like Bells, keyboards, viola, clarinet, saxophone found their place amidst the traditional veenas, flutes and the mridangams.

Charumati Ramachandran and Chitra Dharmarajan then gave lecture demonstrations with their immense expertise.

After this, followed the open concerts wherein all interested persons who had signed up could render a kriti or two. There were 70 sign-ups in all!! This made the organizers split the venue to accommodate all the performers. Notably again, kids and youth were a sizeable lot in them and had to be given the bigger podium! A truly encouraging sign for our classical art and tradition.

Befitting the grandeur in terms of the music that the aradhana had set till then, the final concert was the icing on the cake. Aruna Sayeeram, like she's always been, was at her musical best. A 3-hour long kutcheri held the audience captive till late into the chilly evening. She was accompanied by B.V. Raghavendra Rao on the violin and J.Vaidyanathan on the mridangam.

In his note to the organizers of the event, the former president of India, R. Venkatraman had said "The celebration of the saint's day should be undertaken wherever Indians live so that the younger generation may not lose the cultural base of their life". True to that remark, this aradhana had rekindled many a soul and enthused quite a few toward the classical arts of India.

Contact: Prabha: 281-242-4914, E-mail: PrabhaBala@aol.com
If you wish to write to the author of this article, Maheshwari Ramachandran, you can e-mail her at : m220677@hotmail.com

If you attended this festival in Houston, share your experiences with us. We can post them here.
Mail us at editor@kutcheribuzz.com

This year, Houston audiences had an opportunity to listen to Aruna Sairam’s vocal concert on March 30.

Starting with a Varnam in the Sri raga (Sami nine), Aruna continued singing Tyagaraja’s pancharatna kriti 'Dhuduka gala' in Gowla raga. Following an alapana in Sahana raga, Vandanamu Raghunandana was rendered. After singing Dikshitar’s Ananda mritha varshini (Amrithavarshini), Sabapathiku Samana(Abhogi), Nee Daya Radha (Vasantha Bhiravi), Aruna Chose to perform Eti Janma Midhi (Varali) as the main piece. The main piece featured a thani avartanam by Vaidhyanathan.

In the second half of the concert, Aruna chose to present kritis on Lord Krishna. She sang Adathu Asangathau Va kanna, Purandaradasar kriti Pillam Gopiya Chelva Krishna(Mohanam), Marathi abhang 'Bhaaje Mrudanga Tala' , Guruvayoor ambalatil (a Malayalam composition, which came as a listener’s request) and a Kalinga nartana tillana. She concluded the concert with the managalam. B.V Raghavendra Rao gave good overall support. On the whole, it was a satisfying performance.

- Mahalakshmi Balagurunathan,
  Houston