Swadeshi Indology Conference on Carnatic Music

[parivadini]

https://carnaticmusicreview.wordpress.c ... tic-music/

[rshankar]

Thank you. Interesting presentations, but I am trying hard to find a cohesive thread that links the presentations or understand if the participants were able to articulate a final unifying conclusion based on facts. Somehow, I am not able to shake off a vibe of 'engAttukArarum kutcherikku pOnar' from this whole event.

[Sachi_R]

Don't presume. It will be published as videos and also in book form.
I am an ordinary rasika of course with a keen interest. At the end of the day I had gained MANY insights:
1. Prof Nagaswamy and Mahamahopadhyaya Subramaniam and Sumathi Krishnan gave lucid powerpoint-based presentations on the continuity of thought, meaning and context from Vedas and PaNNs to the music of the Trinity.
2.Gayathri, Sathyavathi and others gave great examples of how Sahitya, Sangita, together create a unified rasa/bhava of Bhakti. In the works of great Vaggeyakaras.
3. Prasad and Arati directly addressed TMK's writings and statements.
4. Jataayu gave a graphic presentation on Christianisation of Carnatic music and its effects.
5. Dr Deepti Navaratna and Mohandas Pai made extremely lucid and telling points.

Wait for the publication.

[Sivaramakrishnan]

Is it the first time the conference is happening or that different themes are chosen each year?

[Sachi_R]

SRK,
Swadeshi Indology is a new initiative by Infinity Foundation with subject experts from India driving different themes. They have covered different topics earlier. Based on inputs from many CM domain experts, the present one was conducted.

[rajeshnat]

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Few questions on this conference
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1. Is this conference held as a rebuttal for the usual TMK and his conferences sponsored by his clan of supporting persona

2. If our carnatic music itself is struggling with mindshare where an overdrive of other popular arts/sports championed by Television is cannibalising with an overwhelming mindshare, could we avoid possibly bringing in this template of swadeshi to carnatic music

3. While personally I am in the camp of identifying carnatic music as divine and it certainly has reached this level of depth as it was under patronage of erstwhile maharajas/swamijis / popular sabha seceretaries , but as world moves on in another dimension should we not keep marketing (?y)our dear CM with that kind of life happenings and box the performance in line with what is prevalent in society.

4. When that vidwan TM Krishna himself is not in the conference should there be a separate discussion on him and his writings. I personally feel no fuel should be given at all if in general there is a vehement disagreement but why should there be significant sessions on him

5. Can CM stay outside of political arena and can a new rasika who is just taking up now ,just start with a spectrum of ananda bhairavi to bhairavi just find himself immersed in that oceanic experience of CM to start with. At a core level only the muse and sound is what I want should be that new new rasikas motto. This conference appears from outside as a counter of one political party opposing another political party.

6.Most importantly is my friend lalitharam invited to take an opposing stand and is he mistaken purposely to give counter viewpoints for other learned participants to give their views . Lalitaram to the best of my knowledge takes stand with every issue on an atomic basis but he is mistaken that he is possibly approximated to the other camp is my best guess.

7. All said if you are wondering why the hell rajesh wrote all the above points . I have no answer to that , my wife and my mom tell me what are you going to do after retirement when you listen/talk so much of CM now . O gosh nowadays atleast for the last few weeks not finding time to even listen to any carnatic music post my last week stint of graha bhala memi in revagupti of TRS mama. Fuel from TRS just got dry and I am about to go to youtube to listen and take a baby step to listen to lalitharam's and TRS's HERO (GNB)singing dhavala roopa saraswati in ananda bhairavi and if i have bit more time head towards TNR playing upacharamu in bhairavi .

Thank you lalitharam for your writeup in post At a core level this dhavalaroopa and upacharamu is my motto for the muse and sound of CM as of April 05,2019.

[shankarank]

2. If our carnatic music itself is struggling with mindshare where an overdrive of other popular arts/sports championed by Television is cannibalising with an overwhelming mindshare, could we avoid possibly bringing in this template of swadeshi to carnatic music

I don't think Carnatic music is struggling for the mind share of people, especially competing with other popular pass time activities. People whom otherwise will not have anything else are captured by these popular activities. You should consider them representative of those in Villages from the past who never were near any music or arts, or even if they were, they were tone deaf people, and they were overwhelming majority!. I don't think carnatic music ever lost anything to other activities. It might have gained slightly.

The conference target audience is likely those who are disconnected information wise from traditional heritage arts, but now realizing that the latter need to be given prominence based on "current happenings in society" as you say. The target audience are people whose heart beats for a bit for traditional knowledge in general and in this instance arts in particular.

Who knows it may bring additional sabha secretaries who may still continue to be know-nothings of music or competition holders! Good thing you would think?

This is propaganda in positive sense. Chomsky the dissenter, critiqued propaganda as the one which was invented by U.S Government before first world war to manufacture consent etc. If the whole world is under that spell and operates as such ( as you say happenings in society!) , especially if it is critiqued by a leftist, then I say it is a positive word for us!

For you and me ordinary rasikas we are inside the black hole event horizon, into another universe of Carnatic music! Probably what was discussed, is yeah we already know these stuff, kind of things!

identifying carnatic music as divine and it certainly has reached this level of depth as it was under patronage of erstwhile maharajas/swamijis / popular sabha secretaries.

So you think, Carnatic music got it's divinity from these people? A well known swamiji shunned maharajahs. Sabha secrataries are just community leaders, and it is difficult to say if they lead the first step. In many cases, except may be Music Academy, where national leadership had influence, like the Congress party meet etc, a community of people wanted to prolong tradition, and then these leaders showed up.

As to why these people wanted to prolong tradition, not because the sAhitya is "religious content", but because music itself is sacred and divine! In many cases they don't even bother to understand sAhitya, whether it is Sanskrit or Telugu. Then sAhitya bhava argument falls flat. "rasa" theory also falls apart!

As regards the role of ASI and temples, as SrI Krishna prEmi said, sollalum , kallalum kaTTinArkal kOvilai. ippozhutu angE enna naDakkiratu enru ellOrukkum teriyum!

sila iDangaLil kalluku chAyam poosa varuvAn ASI. UNSECO atai phoTTO eDukka Al kUTTi varuvan!

sollu is music! Not it's meaning by the way.