Mesmerising Madhuvanti by Tanjore S Kalyanaraman

2009 December Season

Quite a bit of time has passed since the end of December 2009 season. December was hectic with travel and social plans that consumed quite a bit of time. Nonetheless, I landed on Dec 5th and made it to Sanjay Subrahmanyan's Jaya TV concert. This year's theme centered around Mayavaram Viswanatha Sastrigal's compositions. Sanjay was brilliant throughout. I managed to attend most of his concerts (with the exception of a few that I missed due to prior commitments and travel). The last concert I attended during this season was Sanjay's at Parthasaarathi Swaami Sabhaa. The Kaambhoji (followed by Koniyadina Napai) that was rendered there on that day was supernatural and it possessed me for many weeks. Literally it was weeks before it stopped resonating in my ears and mind. Or should I say that its still there and I just got used to it... What followed was a mesmeric Sumanesa Ranjani RTP. Other Sanjay highlights of the season to name a few:
Naatakurunji RTP at Nungambaakam Cultural Academy
An interesting Rasaali RTP at Krishna Ghaana Sabha
Saamaa main piece followed by an adorable Varamu RTP at Indian Fine Arts
Scintillating Begadaa RTP at NGS
Tilang RTP followed by a lovely Ninayee Rathi in Bhageshree at Karthik Fine Arts

An Interesting Photograph

Here is an interesting photograph of my grandfather with the Veena. I will post a high resolution version in the next few days.

Ramalinga Swamigal Compositions

The following compositions are by Ramalinga Swamigal. The first 2 were set to tune by Maha Vaidhyanatha Sivan in the presence of Kodavaganallur Sundara Swamigal, Ramaswami Sivan (Maha Vaidhyanatha Sivan's elder brother) and Thozhuvoor Vellayutha Mudhaliar. This event happened in the year 1874 on the eve of "Thiruvadirai Utsavam".

The 4th and 5th are set to tune by V.S. Gomathisankara Iyer.

Aanaiyaa Composition - Maanam Vaithu Arul

Anaiyaa composition "mAnam vaithu arul thA sundari" in Sankarabharanam is a lovely piece. I have heard this sung by my grandfather on a few occasions.

Aanaiyaa Composition - Paruvam Paarka Nyayamaa

Biographical Notes on Aanaiyaa

The following essay is freely translated from V. S. Gomathisankara Iyer's collection of anecdotes on Aanaiyaa. The details, as told by Ramaswami Sivan to Pallavi Subbiah Bhagavatar, were in turn narrated by the later to his son V.S Gomatisankara Iyer.

Aanai: 1776 to 1850

Aiyaa: 1778 to 1857

Aanaiyaa hailed from Vaiyacheri, a small village in Tanjore district in TamilNadu. The village temple hosts the shrine of "Mangalaambigai" and "Agasteeswarar". Although, the name Aanaiyaa can seem to refer to an individual, in reality it refers to two; Aanai and Aiyaa. Also, many have thought of Aanai and Aiyaa to be brothers by birth. This is not the case.

Pranadhathiharar, a resident of Vaiyacheri was a great scholar and an authority in the four Vedas. Pranadhathiharar was married to Dharmambal. His younger sister Madurambal was married to Viswanaatha Iyer, who also was a native of Vaiyacheri. In 1776, the Pranadhathiharar Dharmabal couple were blessed with a boy child who was named Aanai. In 1778, Viswanatha Iyer and Madhurambal were blessed with a boy who was named Aiyaa. Thus, Aanai was Aiyaa's maternal uncle's son and Aiyaa was Aanai's paternal aunt's son, which made them cousin brothers.

With under 2 years separating them and being next door to each other, Anaiyaa grew up together and were inseparable "like" brothers. It was very uncommon to see one without the other. Aanai, the elder of the two grew up to be a natural and gifted musician. Aiyaa, though not born a musical genius, was still very proficient in the art form. From a very young age, Aiyaa showed a lot of interest in literature and poetry and grew up to be a scholar with remarkable command over Tamil, Telegu and Sanskrit languages.

Their daily routines included 3 to 4 hours of Rudhram recital followed by an in-depth Veda learning session with Pranadhathiharar. Later in the afternoon, the two were often seen sitting in the "thinnai" discussing various aspects of carnatic music. Aiyaa was especially fond of reading and gathering information pertaining to theory of music from early literary works on carnatic music. Aanai was a brilliant singer with a gifted voice and an ability to compose songs at will. Even at a fairly young age the Aaniyaa duo started composing. Aiyaa meticulously set these compositions to appropriate tunes.

Every evening around 5:00 PM, Aanaiyaa would go to the "Agasteeswarar - Mangalaambigai" temple to offer evening prayers. It was customary for the duo to sing in front of both the shrines of the temple. On days of auspicious significance, the singing session would last for a few hours. Such occasions would witness the gathering of people who came from Vaiyacheri, the nearby villages of Thirunageswaram, Upiliappan Kovil, Thittai, Aiyampettai, Pasupathi Kovil and sometimes even from the town of Tanjore.

When singing together, Aaniyaa's voices would blend in seamlessly and result in a Divine resonance that would spell bind the audience. Their vocal signatures were so close to each other that it was impossible to tell which one of the two was singing; unless one was directly looking at them or grasping their body movements. Their command over language, their ability to weave the verses into a well thought out tune and their improvisation skills awed even the brightest of the musical minds.