How would Saint Thyagaraja have liked his Aradhana to be conducted?

[Sachi_R]

Just thinking aloud. Would the Saint have liked, instead of the mega televised group festivities with a significant noise factor and eye-candy curiosity, a more enjoyable musical and devotional celebration?

1. Create AIR/Madrasana quality of audio broadcast quality and in a comfortable setting and cosy space with each group of artistes coming and performing in short sessions which of course can be viewed and heard by the large crowd outside but the predominant global audience as well as the Saint get to hear pristine chamber quality of music?
2. Make Pancharatna singing on a stage as well set as the 2020 Music Academy Stage, with that level of audio and video? And each kriti is performed by not more than 15 artistes including instrumentalists which will be prearranged and rehearsed?
3. Have group kriti singing (non-pancharatna) and nagaswaram events in temple settings outdoors to capture the mood that the Saint himself would have experienced in his time?
4. Avoid ALL commercials and banners and hoardings, let the government foot the bill?
5. Have studio interactions with musicians and musicologists like the 2019 MA lecdem sessions so audiences would understand the magnitude and meaning of Thyagaraja's contribution to CM?
6. Have a moderated interactive session where audiences can ask questions? That can be thematic and run over a few sessions?

I am just thinking aloud. The way we are beginning to enjoy music should be reflected in the Aradhana too. The quality should rule over quantity. The newbie audiences globally should find the experience attractive.

What do you say, rasikas?

[Nick H]

I know so little about Thyagaraja, that I am definitely ill-qualified to make suggestions. But, just as another person taking that fictional step into his shoes...

--- I wonder if he would want to see massed performances of his music.

--- I wonder if he would have wanted to see the same five songs performed every time.

Just shots in the dark.

[SrinathK]

He wouldn't like the mic created apaswara mayam cacaphony that the aradhana program is increasingly becoming. Honestly a group of well trained kids can do infinitely better as a group. Yes yes, everyone's feelings matter, but then so do my ears. Honestly let them just put only the tambura's on the mic. A group of singers can be heard without a mic. And get a proper conductor to conduct it all.

He would really be shocked at what happened to kana kana ruchira since all the charanams are completely changed.

He would wonder why chetulara is being sung in mAnji and called as bhairavi rather than kharaharapriya.

Let's not get to the rest of the repertoire shall we? The music has changed a lot in 175 years for better or worse. But I am sure he would recognize that many songs and ragas aren't remotely the way he had composed them.

He would muse about how the meanings of many of his songs are actually descriptions of us.

The whole mass public event thing would not interest him in the first place, knowing his principles.

But let's look at it another way. Many incidents have happened at that place since he attained siddhi by his grace, and I am sure if he really wants something to happen, his presence will inspire it one way or another.

Thyagaraja Swamigal has kept Carnatic Music itself alive and thriving to this day by his immense contributions to the art. If he can inspire the discovery of his hundreds and thousands of kritis his disciples have spoken about, that would be the greatest enrichment to CM.

[ramamatya]

Saint Thyagarajar would rather have Lord Rama's Aradhana to be conducted than his own.

[Sachi_R]

Yes!

But the word Aradhana here means the Samadhi day of Thyagaraja I imagine the Saint would have graciously allowed that.

[shankarank]

Was the thread opened with a premonition what had already happened?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SyBBjVfjps. Some of the renditions seem to reach the high standard.

Particularly by the sisters Anahita and Apoorva. What a poise filled kriti handling!
https://youtu.be/7SyBBjVfjps?t=4164

SrI nAdabramhAnanda ( Aradhana is done only to yatis) would have liked this especially:

https://youtu.be/7SyBBjVfjps?t=4559

advAitamu being taken with a verve and atItam to the arudhi! I observed Bharat Sundar doing this as well in another venue!

[Sachi_R]

Thanks Shankaran
I didn't know about this MA series when I wrote.

I will listen.

[ramamatya]

I imagine the Saint would have graciously allowed that.

After attaining Moksha, why would a saint want it to be celebrated every year?

Aradhana is for us lesser mortals who want to remind ourselves at least once a year that we need to make efforts towards spirituality, look inwards and try beating our grand egos down.

Saint Thyagaraja will not be having any viruppu/veruppu as he has attained Moksha. We can say how we will like the Aradhana to be conducted, not involve the poor saint.

[RSR]

' Remembering Thyagaraja Swami- and paying homage to him' - may be a liberal translation of the phrase.

Thyagaraja belonged to Namasankeerthanam tradition and movement and as such would be thrilled to hear group singing by thousands of singers and devotees as his compositions were about his Lord Ramachandra. He would not have minded if there were defects in technical aspects and imperfect renderings. though he would have frowned at commercial hoardings . He may not have liked the event to be televised at all. but may have approved audio broadcast. It is a holy spot and not a tourist spot.

If thousands of devotees sing in near-unison of the pancharathan kruthis, or any one of his other compositions, that would make him bless the people on behalf of Lord Rama. --for by singing his kruthis, we are actually praising the Lord.

Pandaripuram Yathra groups come to my mind. Something like a National Anthem being sung by lakhs of people in an occasion . It would be soul-lifting for everyone. .

[shankarank]

He may not have liked the event to be televised at all.

A video broadcast without doing the closeups is fine to experience the ambience for viewers. Different sections of singers and audience can be captured, but not any close shots on celebrities! That is not going to distract us from the music!

[sankark]

May be he would have just stopped being a vAg gEya kArA to stop the whole enchilada and been a mouna-saint

[RSR]

p-11
====
[ Manasollasa (also called Abhjilashitarta Chintamani) ascribed to the Kalyana Chalukya King Someshwara III (1127-1139 AD) is an encyclopedic work, written in Sanskrit, covering a wide range of subjects. Its Chapter Three: Prakirnaka: deals with topics such as: Guna–Dosha (merits and demerits) of Vak-geya-kara (composers who set songs to music). The text grades the composers (Vak-geya-kara) into three classes. According to its classification, the lowest is the lyricist; the second is one who sets to tune the songs written by others; and, the highest is one who is the Dhatu Mathu Kriyakari – who writes the lyrics (Mathu), sets them to music (Dhatu) and ably presents (Kriyakari) his compositions
===================================
vak-geya-kara.

[Sachi_R]

Here is a wonderful example of group singing of a Pancharatna kriti!

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_ ... 1069807161

[shankarank]

the second is one who sets to tune the songs written by others; and, the highest is one who is the Dhatu Mathu Kriyakari – who writes the lyrics (Mathu), sets them to music (Dhatu) and ably presents (Kriyakari) his compositions

A state of the "art" survey around 2010, in Sruti magazine interviewed many musicians, some of whom ( of YACM era) opined that some of the composers like SrI Purandaradasa and Sri AnnamacArya are not (mainstream) popular on Carnatic stage because their "original" tunes were lost!

But then lifetime practicing musicians who already spent and established their lives as musicians , MLV, her mother, MSS with SrI Kadayanallur Venkataraman , Dr. PinakapANi, Sri Nedunuri, Sri Voleti and others retuned these compositions and sung them as well. What if we were to consider the fact that the said vAggEyakAras themselves came and inspired these musicians, in their thoughts and dreams. Do we not consider it in light of Atmic principle (reincarnation ) , but get stuck in physical historicity?

So lets say the copper plates had tunes and some of form of notation? Would that have solved the problem?

Really the only benefit of having the "original" "tunes" is , not the originality of the tunes themselves, but lets say it had a continued listening / performing tradition as well to go with! That would have kept alive people with taste for it and also kept it alive as a genre , even if the tri-mUrtis were to show up later and add their work. May be if those tunes were alive, it would have impacted tri-MUrtis work in different ways - who knows?

We should not be stuck in such historicity!

[RSR]

P-14
---@shankarank
I gave that quotation from srinivasaraos blog on Thyagaraja just to point out that it is VAK-geya-kara and not VAG-geya
(did you note the post number at the beginning of my comment?)

-------------------------------------------------
Appreciation of Carnatic music depends on many factors. 1) The theme (2) lyrics (3) tune (4) rhythm (5) above all, the rendering artiste.
I have consistently held that CM as defined by the Trinity and Dasa composers is rooted in the Bhakthi tradition. and not just art-for-art sake or for the literary aspect.
I do agree with you that just because some of the songs have been re-tuned as the original tunes were lost, they do not lose their value. However, theme and lyrics are entirely distinct from the musical composition and rendering by a vocalist.
When I hear a song like 'daasana maadiko enne' ( naadhanaamakriya) sung by Smt.MS, I do not even ask in my mind, things like the language, lyrics and meaning or who composed it and when.
Historicity has absolutely no relevance in appreciation of the tune. The theme is a bonus. Even if the song lyrics were not of Purandaradasa, the lyrics ' message is still valuable.

Still, it does help, in better appreciation of the composition if we know about the historical context and if it is the original or re-tuned version, and if re-tuned, by whom.
Each composition, rendered by a vocalist, is to be considered in its totality, but primarily by the way in which it is rendered (bhaavam) which depends on the theme of the composition
Most often ' Ignorance ' is bliss in such matters. but appreciation of 'jagadhoddhaarana' ( Purandhara dhaasa- Piloo-MSS) does not and should not make any difference, even if it was not written by Purandaradasa or was not tuned by him. What matters is the theme, its poetic beauty and lovely tune and blissful rendition.
Even the biography of the composer / tunesmith / vocalist is not of any concern.
However, that makes a difference to the appreciation by a rasika rooted in our cultural ambience and by a foreigner who more likely does it more out of pretended artistic appreciation ( many critics who wrote about the UN concert of Smt.MS). What could they have known about the incidents in Balakrushna in Bhagavatham ?
Mere cultural snobbery.
if our main concern is about the ragam, and rhythm and then very importantly in vocal music, about the cultural and literary excellence of the lyrics, nothing else matters.
Do we value Purandaradasa for his lyrics or for the music?
This topic has already been discussed in this forum a few years back. The best thing is that the tune-smith should come out openly and not hide behind the sacred reputation of the lyrics-composer.
How many of Swathi ThiruNaaL were tuned by him? or the songs of Sadasiva Brammendram? Without knowing anything about Thamizh , when one goes ga-ga about MS ragamalika of Aaychiyar Kuravai
( vadavaraiyai ) , it makes very little sense. The credit should go entirely to the tune-smith SVVenkatarama and Smt.MS . I would even add that it should go the artiste, entirely. Only someone with familiarity with Thamizh literature and Vaishnava orientation, can really appreciate the glory of the song rendition in full.
I think we agree on many points about CM though my pre-occupation is with tune and yours with prosody and layam.

[Sachi_R]

RSR,
I know you are studying Sanskrit deeply. so I want to clarify the Sandhi rule here:

वाक्+गेय+कारः = वाग्+गेय+कारः =वाग्गेयकारः

The change from क् to ग् is caused by जश्त्वसंधिः

This Sandhi occurs in many Indian languages which are called "daughters" of Sanskrit - eg. Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi, Gujarati, Hindi, Bengali etc. I am not sure about Tamil. Another example is
जगत्+जननी =जगज्जननी (Here श्चुत्व occurs before जश्त्व)

[RSR]

p-16

@Sachi_R
Sir, True. Such words do not find a place in Thamizh language.
It is better to separate the words as suggested by srinivasaraos
jagath has a specific meaning. - jagadh does not convey it? IMHO
( jaganNaathan, jagath(dh?)rakshakan, jagath uddhaaraNaa, jagath eesan (jagadeesan?). In Thamizh, k can never follow g
Drawback. How do we spell and write - pankajam? In Thamizh, we always write as pan'ga'jam . Even if the rule is pplicable in other Indian languages, we can write that in Thamizh only as 'vaakkeyakaarar'!

[Sachi_R]

Sir,
remember you are dealing with perhaps the world's most perfect language called Sanskrit. The Sandhi rules have a lot of design behind them and you need to study Siddhanta Kaumudi for understanding that.

Jagannatha in Sanskrit comes from
Jagat+natha. This Sandhi is called Anunaasika Sandhi.

[shankarank]

Tamizh ending consonants are allowed to be only restricted to l, L, m, y, r , n, N( from memory - so might have missed one or two) - so tamizh does not have even root words ending with other consonants ! Makes it much easier and sandhi rules mostly can be deduced intuitively, based on natural palatal continuity.

[sankark]

remember you are dealing with perhaps the world's most perfect language called Sanskrit. The Sandhi rules have a lot of design behind them and you need to study Siddhanta Kaumudi for understanding that.

Let's pose a question then: why require so many rules - I would expect a 'most perfect language' to have less rules and intuitive human grasp. I am being an unabashed devils advocate and hope someone takes this to justify this 'most perfect' thing - is that an article of belief or some sort of objective measure (on what dimensions/parameters). One day I would have pick up study of sanskrit (and the philosophy behind the same).

Somewhere else in this board I had already raised this question too: why does a language need aspirated consonants which I believe are totally 'unnatural' sounds and 'conditioned to be accepted as better'.

PS: totally unrelated/tangential to the topic.

[Sachi_R]

Tangential yes.

The science of phonetics explores the different ways a human being with normal vocal chords, teeth, tongue and breathing apparatus can produce a sound. Sanskrit vocabulary uses this range. This adds to phonetic beauty and scope for vocabulary building. (Arguably Sanskrit has the widest scope for vocabulary. Panini himself defined 2000 verbs.)

This is the basis of the structure of Sanskrit phonetics. Devil's advocate or otherwise, the first step is to study Sanskrit.

Sanskrit rules are defined based on the way the words were already in usage. Remember Ramayana and Mahabharata predate Paninian grammar which is the compendium of rules in code form.

I am already feeling very stupid holding a candle to the moon. Enough said.

[RSR]

reg_p21
@Sachi_R
Sir,
Sanskrit and all the Indian languages based on its phonetic system and many nouns and verb roots are indeed very ancient and meticulously defined. No second opinion on that.
These languages are very sweet in that they have a lot of words beginning with ga, ja, da, dha, ba, ra. Such words are not allowed in Thamizh.
Sanskrit allows consonant-combinations like English.
(treaty, dragon, crave,great, cradle, problem and such in the beginning of the word itself. So, far , so good.
But, as pointed out by sankark, the gha, Jha, pha, tha, variants are totally unnatural. Thamizh escaped that fate.
2) Nouns ending in 'ha' sound is another nightmare.
3) who ever introduced separate nouns and verbs for singular, dual and plural? Thamizh and English are more sensible . Small Mercy. The grammarian did not have nouns and verbs for singular, dual and three persons and then plural. !
4) What is so great about Vibakthi? Thamizh and English use that without much fuss, naturally.
5) We are told that 'zha' as in azhagu is a speciality and the same sound is present in French language. On that basis, Thamizh is considered to be a Mediteranean language.
-------
May be that MD kruthis though in Sanskrit avoid all the ungainly features of literary Sanskrit and make it sweet sounding. possibly becaue of South Indian usage of Sanskrit. bringing it nearer to Thamizh.
I feel that slight change in thamizh letters - for sounds like ga, ja, etc will make Thamizh and Sanskrit nearer still and adapting the simpler and better grammar for verbs and tense will lead to the evolution of the best language- ideal for transation and transliteration as well.
Thyagaraja Swami's Sanskrit kruthis numbering about 40, can be written in thamizh letters without much difficulty as very few words make use of kha, bha etc
The best language will avoid the unnatural harsh sounding second and fourth variants of consonants.
Is it kruthi or kritu?
Neither. It should be kru'thi. as in indru , andru ( kutrityalukaram)
According to 'Draavida sisu', Sambandar, Thamizh and AAryam are two eyes. Learning to use the sweeter forms in both the languages will immensely be useful to CM learners for most errors in pronunciation by native Thamizh speakers are caused by the second and fourth variants.
May I have your help in translation of a few Sanskrit krithis by Purandara dasa? We cannot pronounce jagath Nathan!(dha ?) hence jagannaathan.

[Sachi_R]

Sir, obviously you have a lot of opinions on all this . I respect that.

I will not be able to meet your expectations on translations. So kindly excuse.

[RSR]

ref: p-23
@Sachi_R
Sir,
You may find these glorious blogs on Yaska and PaaNini, very interesting. I did but found it formidable. It is not 'raamaha, raamou, raamaahaa' stuff.
https://sreenivasaraos.com/2019/12/31/y ... -part-one/
-
I used to be taught Vedic verses ('adhyayanam') and latter, prayers and literature in my school and college days. But then English took over.
A language is slaughtered not so much by lay-people, as by over-zealous grammarians. and words evolve in meaning over the centuries. These are not my ideas but of Durga.- a grammarian of yore.
There must be some web-resource for Purandharadasa's Sanskrit songs with Devanagari script, and word-by-word meaning. Will find out.
This thread, I do admit, is not meant for Sanskrit vs Thamizh debate. but only so far as it deals with Thyagaraja Aaraadhanaa.
Sanskrit scholars in this forum like @shankarank may be interested in the cited link.
https://sreenivasaraos.com/2019/12/31/y ... -part-one/

[shankarank]

Sir, I am not a Sanskrit scholar ( may be you were sarcastic - but just in case you meant it ). Only know the Sabda a bit! Hence my theory that language is music! It is not an attempt to find a place for my ignorance!

Only way people, who are not fully learnt can connect with this music, which may be in a language that they don't speak , or in the sUtra or ceyyuL form ( translated as literary dialect) of their own language, is to regard sounds handed down as sacred and divine forms!

And musical treatises are fully replete with such references on the sacredness of aksharams, svarams as evidenced by what Dr SrI HarikESanallUR Muthiah BhAgavatar has written in his sangIta kalpadRma!

If anything I believe that is the first meaning ( or meta meaning!) anyone should absorb before delving into artha. Without "meta"-data, even AI cannot make sense of data - sort of a light "meta"-phor there

[shankarank]

Sri Karaikudi Mani in between his Sruti Laya program on Jaya TV, when it was being recorded as the live session in 2001/02, made a special mention of Pancharatnam rendition by Smt. Sulochana Pattabhiraman and her students ( IIRC she was present in that audience that day!) . That was then telecast in Doordarshan around that time. He was critical of what was happening in Thiruvaiyaru as well.

A recording ( may not be same) is here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWqR0a5JIaU

GurulEka itself brings goose bumps on how the sangatis are treated!

[RSR]

p-25
@shankarank
I was not being sarcastic. 'Scholar' also means ' a serious learner. (eg) 'scholarship granted to students doing research.
----------------------------
grammar is tricky. " for people who are not learnt..', .it should be 'who have not learnt'. If it is read as 'who are not 'learned', that would be offensive, affront indeed. though I am sure that you don't mean that.
-----------
I like to quote myself! " mere words cannot be music". The essence of music is 'tune'. Rhyming prose or poetry is just literature. Only when it is sung or played with tune, it becomes music.
----------------
Sans the tune, many of Thyagaraja Swami's songs lack the 'literary' features one finds in MD compositions.
But, the theme , music and spontaneity of Thyagaraja makes him the foremost among CM composers.
Where is music in venkatesa suprabhatham?

[shankarank]

Now that is what they call as "munaivar" - the person who is still trying to be - and use it for a full doctorate awardee. Some tamizh scholars have pointed out the word takkAr in tamizh (- not the temple wealth looter!), translated as "fit person" may be cognate with "doctor" in Latin.

from Old French doctour and directly from Medieval Latin doctor "religious teacher, adviser, scholar," in classical Latin "teacher," agent noun from docere "to show, teach, cause to know," originally "make to appear right," causative of decere "be seemly, fitting" (from PIE root *dek- "to take, accept")

Sorry - will take it to lounge from here on!

[shankarank]

2. Make Pancharatna singing on a stage as well set as the 2020 Music Academy Stage, with that level of audio and video? And each kriti is performed by not more than 15 artistes including instrumentalists which will be prearranged and rehearsed?

https://youtu.be/_ORCuoow6vY?t=832 - Sri TKM says in those days vidvAns used to sing separately even the pancaratnams.

Another article here on it's history : https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/ ... 576547.ece

A possible way out could be to give opportunity to sets of Sishyakulams of Gurus who have trained significant number of them after some audition. 3 schools could be selected to perform SrI Ganapati nI and the 5 items - 2 songs each. This will allow for a possibility that in case a group is unable to perform, you have 2 others to take over the remaining songs if needed. That way they are all of the same sampradAyam!

Collective singing like how it happens now mixes up many sampradayas which is not ideal.

They can accommodate, different states and rotate every year to various Gurus. Rest of them can sing along without Mic.

Or else take away the individual Mic. and replace them with a ceiling hung condenser ones to pickup everybody who is in the front.

[RSR]

reg-p-28
@shankarank
'munaivar' in Thamizh is used to denote a person who has already obtained his doctorate. and not for a person who is doing research for his doctorate.
'thakkaar' in Thamizh is used for the old 'dharmakartha' or trustee of temples and mutts. Not a good substitute for the original term.
'doctor' leads to lot of confusion...Medical or Academic? add to misuse, as many are conferred doctorates- sometimes even for payment! and other favours.
We did have very famous Universities as in Taxila -and in Bihar , Mostly Monasteries. Even Kanchipuram had a university in 600 AD.
We do not know what happened to such academic centers of learning and excellence after 1750- the entry of East India Company. Did the Trinity have any doctorate?
Doctorates have lost their halo these days in Tamil country.
-------------------------
All the 'technical' arrangements suggested, can be done in any place and any time. In no way, they would be a homage to Thyagaraja Swami unless it is a congregation at his sacred spot.

[Sachi_R]

Shankaran,
I am glad you are taking forward the idea.

I paid a visit to the Samadhi about 7 years ago. I came away a most disillusioned man. Poor upkeep. Some servant was the caretaker of the place. Interestingly there were many Samadhi stones in a small area of a few square feet. The caretaker said this was a popular burial place during Thyagaraja's time. He also sold me some pirated CD collection of Thyagaraja songs.

The Samadhi of Bengaluru Nagaratnamma looked dilapidated and uncleaned.

Then someone suggested we visit the home of the Sadguru. That was a modern monstrosity. I came away convinced we have no respect for the dead especially Thyagaraja.

[shankarank]

I would appeal to you not to be beholden to structures. Treat the kshEtra like a tIrtha or a puNya nadi tIram. We go every year and erect a thatched roof pandal , with a panda kaal (the main sthamba!) placed with a pUja, just like it is done for a yagna or vivAha! And once yagna is concluded we do a visaRjan and return the river bed to it's original state!

Not sure if there are permanent asbestos structures there now! Which is banned in the US, lots of cases and dollars changed hands and lawyers pocketed money!

There is a lot of controversy about "history" whether SrI tyAgarAja remained a gRhastha or embraced sanyAsa. Even if he was the former, his asthi(Bone ashes) would have been dissolved in that river! - you see , we transcend "history" and you are covered

Again I am not trying to do a PR for the people involved today and project a lofty intention on their part! We have to realize all of this is rolling based on a cultural force that was unleashed eons back! That is one reason why upkeep of traditions is important.

We have to realize, none of us have any true agency or power or capability to do this. Heck, they couldn't even remain united and have to call a village baron to act as a madyastha!

The best way to honor the sadhguru is to honour Gurus who have produced lot of Sishyas and allow them to perform his pancaratnam according to "their" sampradAyam!

If you start erecting structures, then you will get frustrated on the first visit to grAma adhikAri. SrI tyAgarAja did not go asking for such favors! And our rishis have shown how a yagna ( now remove the "original" form and import the philosophy) can be done. Once reason I hate the word "original"!

With a temporary structure, it is a continuing tradition and you are more likely to have less interference! In short shed the museum perspective ( that projects a dead history!) and celebrate the living Guru-Sishya tradition and make it more vibrant!

And I say this having not visited the site even once in my lifetime! And I only lived for the entire part of my upbringing some 150 miles away from it! It doesn't still seem too far away for me (philosophically speaking ), forget my physical distance now

enga Urla (mauraila) koNDADAta tyAgarAja utsavamA ivarkAl koNDADiDa muDiyum ?( what more could they celebrate, that we couldn't in our local place in Madurai at the temple?!!). My mother used to take a receipt book from the local organizer(also a Woman), as she was one of the few employed Women in the area, in a govt. service and raise money from people unconnected and unconcerned with our local utsavam.

[RSR]

https://sriramv.wordpress.com/2021/01/2 ... -tyagaraja

Poochi Srinivasa Iengar and Mysore Vasudevcharya have composed and sung on Thyagaraja Swami. In the link cited above, SriramV has mentioned a few more. May be apt to have that group-singing . Sriram says, it has been done before
.
2) Pilgrimage to Thiruvaiyaaru and congregation should be essential part of Thyagaraja Araadhanaa.
It is not the same as singing in one's own place, in perhaps air-conditioned comfort.

3) Thyagaraj was against all the Vedic stuff. He was a product of Bhakthi movement . All this Vedic ritual would be an insult to him.

4) The day, when hundreds of buses bring thousands of devotees to the place to pay their homage and participate in the congregation, will be holy day.

[shankarank]

That Bhakti movement is against vEdic dharma has been popular vibe spread by many. nAmasankIrtana is only a continuation of the same. nAmasiddhanta emerged from vEdic tradition through sahasranAma. A narrative is being created as though, bhakti movement is a falsifier of vEdas like "religions" generally are. That is a false narrative.

While bhakti movement is a pan-bharat movement, it is tyagarAja parampara musicians who were decrying the use of tamizh as a musical language ignoring the huge corpus of bhakti tradition in tamizh. If the movement did have a sound siddhanta , it was not put to use to analyze counterparts in areas of the country it moved into.

The vijayanagar subjects didn't even study a local tradition which has so much drawn from pan bharat tradition and include it. How do we expect them to figure out colonizing traders?

While namasankIrtana and bhakti may draw one to pay their homage to Sri tyAgarAja, it is vEda and smritis that are a guide to deal with complexities of conduct of a program and resolve conundrums and contradictions that arise with external world.

And bhakti is a very generic attribute present in all sampradayas and not to be anthropologized into an attribute of certain group or cult and made a force of opposition or protest! This is all fashionable political discourse, but has no basis!

What I wrote is actually in SIksha valli which is recited there in the sannidhi during the Aradhana and calls for Acharyas to create many students. Even if it was said in the context of vEdic instruction, it can be as a principle extended to musical instruction.

There is much fanfare and dignitaries involved now-a-days! But why have, any of that power structure not moved to create what in their view would be, an appropriate arrangement. As much as we decry the rituals, it is in that mold, that Aradhana has continued and the involvement of vEdic purOhitas to invoke sanctity to the occasion has some how endured.

But my post was not about the conduct of rituals in the sannidhi. It was more about how the age old traditions which are extension of yagna tradition of vEdas, that could give us guidance in the conduct of the music itself. If you don't pay heed to this, then the National Green tribunal will tell you through the prodding of various nefarious actors, the same thing!

If there are alternate path ways, why none of it has shown up to take any action? Anybody stopping?

Now don't bring the Bangalore Nagaratnamma episode. We know what happened there as intervention of powers (likely backed by religious dogma) were invoked against that!

[RSR]

p-34
=====
@shankarank
Upanishads make a clear departure from the Vedic practices of propitiating the 'devathas' with animal sacrifices , including slaughtered cows being offered to the 'gods' through the medium of Agni. (Jaathaveda)

Upanishads are the forerunner for Buddhism and Jainism and perhaps to Early Christianity and the emergence of Vasudeva cult
.
Valmiki RamaayaNam is an epic and inspiration for Thyagaraja

Mahabaratham is the second most important epic with great many additions over the centuries.

Bhagavath Gita occurs in Mahabaaratha and is considered by many great scholars and patriots as the sole and best guide to individual and social ethics. It enjoins Bhathi maragam as the best to mystic realization of unity of creation.

The sahasranaaam , especially Vishnu SahasraNamam occurs not in any Vedic texts but in Mahabaaratham only.

To this day, the three main branches of Hindu Philosophy namely Advaitham ( Sankara)( 600 AD), Visishtaadhviatham ( Ramanuja) (1100 AD) and Dvaitham ( Maadhvacharya) (1300 AD), show the gradual jettisoning of Vedic rituals and adoption and assimilation of Thamizh's Gods of the Mountains ( Kurinji) (Lord Subramanya), pastoral lands ( Mullai) ( Lord Krushna) , Paalai ( dry lands) ( Durga) , Delta regions ( Marudham) ( not specified - possibly Lord Siva) and finally the neythal ( seacoast ) of Indra .

Tamils migrated from the Mathsya desam ( Pandyan) and Surasena janapadha ( just adjoining) ( both in ganga -Yamuna region).
to the far-south around 700 BC.

The Vedic brahmins basing their life more on Smruthi and laws ( like Aapasthamba Suthram) stuck to their old way of life till very late upto 700 AD. It was only after Sankara managed to reconcile the Vedic way and the Hindu way of life,( possibly as a reaction to Islam's arrival in Northern KeraLa) that smarthas adpted Hindu pantheon.

Ramanuja strongly asserted anti-casteism and condemned Untouchability. Madhvaxcharya took it further and clearly demarcated the self and Divine.

It is noteworthy, that all the three great Acharyas , begin their theoretical exposition with their own Gita Bhashyam. and the three belong to the South! ( Sankara- KeraLa, Ramaanuja-Kanchi and Maadhva - Udippi- coastal Karnataka).
Historical perspective does help to understand the essence.
-----
Why have the cultivating communities kept away from Thagaraja Aaaradhana? Language. How wonderfully different is the Varkari movement in Maharashtra , all the leading saint-poets belonging to depressed sections of social order! Point to ponder.

The vidwans can learn a lot of progressive social principles from the songs of Purandaradasa and Kanakadasa.

Thyagaraja Swami venerated Purandaradasa. and Kanakadasa.
So, Smartha Brahinism should not claim Thyagaraja as their own.

[shankarank]

I am saying smArthas should not claim even vEdic tradition as their own. They had only a role in that tradition which is larger than themselves. And should smArthAs if they stuck to their "original" ways, be in music? You have to focus on substance not on form. ellatulEyum sArattai eDuttukoLLavENDum!

Cultivating communities are there in many ways listening to it! Isai vELLalars are performing. And there is a tavil finale program as well, thanks to youtube I can watch it. Granted there was some friction whether Thiru Rajaratinam PillaivAL should sit or stand , but that was all resolved right? We still have people harping on it!

Look we alone cannot be asking such questions. People there should ask and see what they can do. They want to get themselves to train and sing they can make an effort! One day there will be a Guru-Sishya group from many such communities who may be able to sing.

They can have a tamizh moovar vizha in Chidambaram, if language is a barrier! Essentially the same yati-viSrama principle is there ( I have shown few examples) in the kritis.

So we cannot resolve all people questions.

[rajeshnat]

There is already yearly thamizh moovar festival near mayavaram or vaideeshwaran kovil

Rsr
Your last post is great especially you tagging gods of worship to places is well written.

All,
With respect to aradhana.We are all excessively criticizing and not participating . Very few musicians go do their yearly obeisance most of them skip. We are preserving ok though I wish semmangudi to be the lead singer . Can someone bring in ssi atleast for kanakana ruching ra in varali.

All my worries right now is how to bring my third standard kid to atleast hear half entharO so that over next 25 years the kid knows atleast 25 mahanubhavulus starting with A say Abhishek Raghuram and Amrutha Venkatesh where the kid says I have heard both of these sing once Entharo in tiruvayaru way back in 2021.That is Rajesh vision 2046.

[RSR]

@rajeshnat
Thank you.

[RSR]

p-36
@shankarank
1) Isai VaeLalar, community that Is giving us so many wonderful Nagaswaram and other instrumentalists, is not cultivating agricultural community.

2) There is a very sizeable telugu-knowing population in Tamilnadu , especially in Chennai and western ghat districts of the state. It also so happens that they are all Vaishnavite in religious belief. Just wondering why they are not learning CM and participating in Thyagaraja Aaraadhanai.

3) As for the native Thamizh speaking peasant communities, both land-owning and landless, it has never been easy to learn the rudiments of Carnatic compositions of Thyagaraja for the last 150 years.
Karnataka celebrates Purandhradasa festival and common people participate with enthusiasm as there is no language barrier.
Likewise, I believe there is a festival in Badrachalam to venerate Badrachalam Raamadaasu.- inspiration for Thyagaraja Swami.

Perhaps there is a festival in Thiruppathi for Annamaacharya kruthis.

Swathi ThiruNaaL festival in Trivandrum -KERALA is well known.
Chembai music festival in Guruvayoor- KERAlA is famous.

4) Unfortunately, though there are Thamizh compositions, they do not measure up to the quality of the compositions of Thyagaraja Swami and Shyaama Saastry.

5) Why not organize a festival for Gopalakrushna Barathy- a near junior contemporary of Thyagaraja swami? in Chithambaram? All his compositions are in Thamizh.
======================================
The only way is to include Carnatic music as a compulsory subject and Telugu as another language in school syllabus .

No examinations in these two. Just exposure.
and teaching of instrumental music to students. like Flute, Violin, Harmonium, and Nagaswaram. The government can give grant to each school for getting the instruments
.
When music Is compulsorily taught in all the schools of the state, it gives employment opportunity to thousands of musicians young and old , as government employees with all the social security it provides. Let us not worry about 'quality'.
Soon , there will be a dialectical transformation of quantity into quality.
-Hegel

There is a fine short-story by THI.Jaanakiraaman 'Isaippayirchi'. It speaks about the social ostracism of a brahmin musician / music teacher when he attempts to teach a talented farm-hand who has in-born taste for classical music.
https://www.valaitamil.com/music-practice_9055.html

@parivadini
@sankark - request for translation
Even today, it is not easy.

Learning classical music is not a lucrative occupation. any more and everything is being done to stifle the talent People like Chembai Swami and SSI being rare exceptions.

And 'vidwans' singing MD kritis in 'kuppams' add to the farce. !

How many of the cm wizards of younger generation participate in Thyagaraja Aaraadhanaai? Do they have the required mindset?

[shankarank]

We are preserving ok though I wish semmangudi to be the lead singer . Can someone bring in ssi atleast for kanakana ruching ra in varali.

koTTanguccikku oru kural (scratchy). mUkkupoDikku oru kural (nasal). You can find a couple of YACM legends of the first gen and make them tango to get an SSI! Now you turned me into a subbudu

Look! Even after his passing the tragedy is we still vie for him. At least after PSN's passing , can we not bring the siShya kulam of PSN under that banner! - may include leading concert musicians, plus unknown ones and young teen voices too learning in that tradition.

In fact PSN students recording is being cited by those ( in Whats App Universe) as the standard to follow to make things right , after this years performance.

And then you have a long list of "Parampara" who have been featured in the "Parampara" series. Even if Guru is not in form as a voice, Sishyas will augment and take it high - ain't that one of SSI formulae?

[shankarank]

p-35 @RSR

Now SrI VaishNavam had to compromise on music ( give up full melodic expression and limit it to chant) to gain followers , as it was not in favor during cOzha period following SrI RAmAnujar ! At least that is the thesis of some musicians, observing the metrical structure of the verses , making them conclude that these were sung with full rAgA like expression.

Not everybody vies to be a sculptor, or a potter, or any other artisans. Music was also like that once.

All these writers write some utopia and they are not fully right even in the era it was written.
You have Thiruvaiyaru Panchu Iyer teaching DhanammAL, ThirukODikAval krishNa Iyer teaching Rajaratnam Pillai. etc.

Good for a movie script Greek tragedy scene. Otherwise has it had any impact? None! People espousing such values are there in all other forms of entertainment. What is their musical genre and how is it impacting anybody? It is still a Saindavi who is trained in classical basics who is going there as well! And then she recounts later, they mock her as a Carnatic musician who cannot sing high pitch and she had to work at it!

Don't take it to extremes. People beyond a point had their own insecurities, social and economic. smArthas and vaiShNavas took to music only after the common wealth started evaporating. SrI tyAgarAja was not a practicing professional musician!

All this equality stuff - yeah it is in cosmetic display as musicians well known and unknown vie for a front row seating and they cannot spread even their laps out there! Local musicians who have been coming there want their place , but local organizers want the celebrity of Chennai on display at the same time! And then national integration with a sprinkling of other state musicians. Good for a doordarshan show. May be the AIR grade has some weight there.

With an AIR udyOgam, we as a community of rasikas ( forgetting our denominations for a moment) threw them at the wolves! AIR needed them as producers! Later on they had performing restrictions. But they got their security. Now AIR grade is a credential point to be listed in their resumes! Now if AIR cannot get Ad. ratings will it continue to support this music?

Give up this facade of equality and give the Guru-parampara it's due respect! I say due , not deserving, because it is a duty!

[RSR]

p-41
@shankarank
Not relevant. Incorrect perception

1) VeeNa DhanammAL and Rajarathnam were from Isai Vellalar community, the traditional custodians of music along with temple Oathuvars. before the arrival of Telugu under Vijayanagara rule and possibly in Later Imperial Chozha period (Kuloatthungan was of Vengi lineage- Vengi is the name for coastal Andhra ),

Though, the renowned musicologists arrived from Karnataka, in Naik kingdom of Tanjore, they were Sanskritic .The migration of Telugu scholars from today's Telengana and coastal Andhra might have begun very early around 1100 AD. Patronage to brqhmin scholars was nothing new in Imperial Chozha rule. Aniruddha BrammaDI rajar was the chief minister even under Raja Raja (First).


Even earlier than that, the early Pallavas were ruling for centuries in the southern coastal Andhra. after the breakup of Saathavahana Empire ( 200BC - 200 AD). which straddled both today's Karnataka and Andhra and was actually known as Andhra dynasty.

Later it came under Gupta rule and as we know, it was the Golden Age of Sanskrit and Arts. The Bakthi movement took off in Thamizh areas with vigour under Gupta influence in 600 AD ( Mahendra Pallavan)who was a musicologist and musician himself. His reign extended south to include the present day Puthukkottai areas in ThamizhNaadu.


So the blending of Sanskritic musicology and that of Thamizh arts must be an old tradition centuries earlier to the Naiks and Trinity.

It is a sacrilege to consider classical music as a 'profession' like those of 'sculptors' / potters' and traditional craftsmen.

Far from truth
It was ever part of daily life - like paaraayaNam and pooja. Even 100 years back, all the 'Agraharam ' families -especially womenfolk knew claasical music. - albeit- religious.

Janakiraman was a trained musician of concert caliber. though he never performed in concerts. He was not AIR artiste either.He just worked in Delhi AIR . You will like his Moha muLL' as it is mostly about classical music in Tanjore.

As for your condescending tone about cultivating communities, it would be beneficial to learn about Kanakadasa ( a contemporary of Purandara das) and a soldier by profession. He was a bitter critic of ritualism and caste inequality. It is a pity that his comositions do not find a place in Chennai concert circuits.

[RSR]

2)
All through these centuries, the actual laboring communities like peasant cultivators and farmhands were denied opportunity to learn the fine arts- especially, classical music .

The CM tradition is very closely tied up with Telugu. That may be the reason why even the latter-day composers like Poochi Iengaar of Ramnad ( a born Tamil) and Vaasudevaacharya ( born Kannadika) composed in Telugu. CM then can be Telugu music!

To correct this imbalance, CM gains if Telugu is made a compulsory language in schools right from elementary schoos. ( without examination and through telegu keerthanaams. ) .

As great many communities and even political leaders of many parties are telugu themselves, there may be less resistance. Andhra and Tamilnadu were one unified state under British rule!( Circar province)

With that step, all the youngsters irrespective of caste and occupation will know Telugu and will not feel CM kru'this alien .

Unlike Sanskrit, Telugu is not associated with 'manuvaadhins' in popular mind.

It will enable the coming generations to understand and venerate Thyagaraja Swami in his native district. He will become the people's composer. That was the aim of Naama Sankeerthanam group of Sridhara IyerwaaL . The center of CM should shift back to Thiruvaaror.

[shankarank]

As for your condescending tone about cultivating communities,

You cannot redefine my positions on the issue and you should let me explain those. My condescension is only towards progressive writers and thinkers who blow up things to the extreme, instead of highlighting harmony and improve things by building on that. They feed the politics of the time which thrives on conflict.

The issue is not a language issue or barrier. Issue is of cultural decay. Unless we recognize that , we will never solve this. We seem to give just the literacy, human intelligence and thinking aspect alone too much weight. As if , if they "understood" the "lyrics" they could connect. They only need to be "literate" to do this? This is false! This is the pathetic thesis of the progressive thinkers!

I understand the demand of the times, the anxiety about lack of education and empowerment it confers. If they really feel connected to what is underneath, they will not feel alien to any other "Indian" language. Music here transcends language barriers - as the cliché goes - only because of underlying integral unity of bharatiya culture - so applies only to bharatiya bhAshas.

Sadly, we need to be educated in English and be exposed to world at large to see this. People actually dwelling the space of the languages know this in subtle metaphysical inner awareness, but they never tap into it. Due to their insecurity, they fall prey to divisiveness, even in appreciating the music!

[RSR]

p-44
-----
Pure music, be of CM or HM, does not need lyrics. However, we should not forget that CM from the days of Purandara Dasa and Kanakadasa had a specific purpose- that of devotional music and taking the great ideals of social equality and ethics to the common people. That is why they composed in the people's language. and not Sanskrit. Their basic tenet was that all human beings are dear to the Divine and the path of devotion, kills our ego-centric concerns and 'liberates'- the Self in mystic flashes of bliss. All of us have experienced it for brief moments in our life. They decried rituals and astrology and thanthric pratices. ( MD may be an exception). But Thyagaraja Swami explicitly spoke against mere knowledge of Music without devotion to the almighty and personal ethics and good conduct. ( 'sangeet gnaanamu, 'entha nerchinaa)

Musicologists , from Govinda Dheekshithar onwards, do not seem to have mixed up the 'science and art of CM with the theme of Devotional music.

But the composers upto the Trinity and immediate disciples mainly created their compositions on the devotional theme.

Subsequently, CM split into two three sub-streams. One stream laid more stress to 'manodharma ' sangeeth. giving very much less importance to the lyrics and their message. This was not the spirit of Thyagaraja Swami. Else, why should Shyama Sastry and Thyagaraaja Swami creared nearly a thousand kru'this?

Another stream misused the art of CM as laid down by the great musicologists, to amorous lyrics and 'Narasthuthi' of their patrons.

The so-called 'progressive' proponents belittle the theme and focus only on manodharma music. that too in a language not understood by even educated people of Thamizh country. be it Sanskrit or telugu or kannada. Gopalakrishna Barathy showed the way. He composed in Thamizh with great Reformist message.

(to be continued)

[RSR]

p-44
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@shankarank rightly says that the problem is not with language but lack of cultural foundation even among the traditional custodians, the forward communities. The trend among the youth is less and less interest in CM and lesser even to its devotional 'sampradhaaya'. How can there be any 'bhaavam' if the singer does not believe in the theme and message?

Any classical art, should be spread far and wide if it is to survive against the onslaught of technology. and 'popular'music. Music schools do exist and are doing good work. So, do a few famous artistes aware of the need to take the Best CM to the common and laboring communities in rural ThamizHadu But, there are limits to what they can do. Students of music schools are said to think of music education as a possible step for profession. only

Only when Classical music is made a compulsory subject right from the primary school, it is ensured that it will reach crores of the children. And Thyagaraja Swami kruthis are not mere music but they also educate on spiritual and ethical way of life

It is like spreading basic knowledge of science, technology, languages, civics, health and hygiene and ethics to all the school children. Such compulsory education does create some amazing inventions from very under-privileged people. The pages of Industrial revolution are replete with such instances.

We never know how many geniuses and child-prodigies we have lost because of our restrictive practices of teaching classical music. The peasant communities, landless labour and unorganized poor labour and other depressed communities , may have many if only we open the closed system to them
.
The following link may be relevant.
https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/india/de ... -dhp-feeds

[RSR]

repeated due to network glitch and hence deleted..

[shankarank]

p-44
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Pure music, be of CM or HM, does not need lyrics.

Pure music itself is grounded on many fundamentals like sound production, nAbhi / hrit / kanTa , nAsatula and such principles. You can adopt the HM way of training in pure Akara sound, or CM way training using aksharas. But Indian tradition is not to erase anything and include and then add to it. So kritis are part of our music. Kritis themselves bring laya which is music ( very shortly - there is much more - but very quickly saying it).

HM also has bandIsh - if lyrics are not needed why do they sing them at all? Don't say it is just one line! Doesn't matter if it is line or a word or single akshara consonant. Why don't they just stop at Alap? What will the tabla do, just accompany their rhythmic Akarams? Let them try it. Just ask them give up that line!

However, we should not forget that CM from the days of Purandara Dasa and Kanakadasa had a specific purpose- that of devotional music and taking the great ideals of social equality and ethics to the common people. That is why they composed in the people's language. and not Sanskrit. Their basic tenet was that all human beings are dear to the Divine and the path of devotion, kills our ego-centric concerns and 'liberates'- the Self in mystic flashes of bliss.

This is there since bhagavata purANA which itself is in samskRta. Sri Krishna hridayam discourse by BrahmSri Sundarkumar @ KGS in 1992 or so captured the dialogue between uddhava and vidura. Both of them were not brahmanAs. Kalidasa in Gupta period was not a bramhaNa. You cannot take medieval period and weave narratives. The country was under attack.

All of us have experienced it for brief moments in our life. They decried rituals and astrology and thanthric pratices. ( MD may be an exception).

Critique of extremes in vEdic practice is there since SrI Bhagavatpada's time, and BhagavatpAda criticizes rituals and kalpita karma khANDa more than buddhism - Sri paramacharya in deivattin kural. But it was also recognized that people will need continuing traditions and bharatavarSha is a compendium of many streams and faculties including materialism and these practices endure till today!

But Thyagaraja Swami explicitly spoke about mere knowledge of Music without devotion to the almighty and personal ethics and good conduct. ( 'sangeet gnaanamu, 'entha nerchinaa)

Sri TSP does not translate like that. It is sangIta gnAnam and Bhakti , without both of these - it is not former without later.

Musicologists , from Govinda Dheekshithar onwards, do not seem to have mixed up the 'science and art of CM with the theme of Devotional music.

It seems there is still doubt whether even their musicology served the art well.
https://youtu.be/jxoX-ZQt7Wo?t=211

There goes Govinda dIkshitar. I will wait for all the analysis of rAgAnga ragas.

But the composers upto the Trinity and immediate disciples mainly created their compositions on the devotional theme.

This "devotional" theme sub category itself is problematic. The pursuit of music as a SAstra itself needs to have "bhakti" inbuilt. Devotion as an English word cannot capture the essence of that. I will leave it at that.

Subsequently, CM split into two three sub-streams. One stream laid more stress to 'manodharma ' sangeeth. giving very much less importance to the lyrics and their message.

Manodharma is bahulatva expansion and "lyrics" not seperate from music. The seperation is a convenience for pedagogical discourse. At some point pallavi singing went out of vogue due to the time constraints and necessity to appeal to larger audience. And the musical weight of kritis were used in their place. True some of the sangati enunciation is counter to actual mood of the song. But sangati development is quite algorithmic and analytics and many times now dubbed as "kalpita" sangItam anyways. That is no longer manOdharma. The golden era which sets a high standard for the whole of music, is also left with many conundrums, with severe constraints on what a musician could do in kutchery stage. That is many times limited by circumstances. So lets not build a narrative of this ancient music only based on that.

Manodharma is also not a selling point. Real manOdharma sangItam did not guarantee popularity or success. The latter is due to many factors.

Another stream misused the art of CM as laid down by the great musicologists, to amorous lyrics and 'Narasthuthi' of their patrons.

This is not misuse. This is people expressing their feelings. This has been discussed at length in many threads. Colonial mentalities and our so called education and educated etc., their ignorance clouds any discussion.

The so-called 'progressive' proponents belittle the theme and focus only on manodharma music. that too in a
language not understood by even educated people of Thamizh country. be it Sanskrit or telugu or kannada.

This is again an aberration and people's colonial attitudes of viewing things as "art". These interim false narratives need to be dealt with. Ravi Varma's paintings are/were part of pooja daily - if you got my drift! For example all caraNams of tyAgarAja kritis are not sung in concerts. But you need to understand the circumstances of concert platform and patronage. Plenty of people devote their time and sometimes money and expect variety. So the need to accommodate quite a sizeable repertoire, means some pragmatism is due. But I think overtime the kritis have gained back the respect due to them - for the part of them being sung.

Gopalakrishna Barathy showed the way. He composed in Thamizh with great Reformist message.
(to be continued)

Criticism of vEdic rituals is to be viewed in the context of real surrender to the lord - which not many people can do that easily. tIyil neyyai corivAvnEn ( what use is showering ghee into the fire) etc. were part of tamizh moovar's compositions as well.

This reform and all that is your imagination. Good for NCERT history material. They expressed their yearning and it is for others to take what is good for them!

[RSR]

p-48
------
This thread is not about the concert format at all. It is about the best way to pay homage to Thyagaraja Swami. Naturally, any such function should comprise of singing his compositions plainly as created by him.
That rules out 'Manodharma' sangeetham in the fubction's platform.
True homage is 'group singing'. even including Instrumentalists participation.
I believe that Thyagaraja Swami 's compositions are a combination of Music as an art and lyrics as a guide to personal ethics and anti-casteism, . The Nama Sankeerthanam movement never discriminated against any community.
Naaraayana Guru is a good example of using Sanskrit and Spiritualism as a means of uplift of down-trodden people in IeraLa.
I cannot understand why anyone should object to the idea of teaching classical music to the agricultural community through the simple compositions of Thyagaraja Swami.
If thousands if not lakhs of children, youth and elders of the agricultural community of the area, irrespective of their caste , participate not just as onlookers but as performers of Swami's compositions in group singing, and if we can make it happen in a decade, there can be no better homage.
----------
I am basing myself on Sri.V.Govindan's translation only for the meaning of 'Sangeetha gnyanamu. ' There is no music and devotion meaning there. It clearly means, music without devotion'.
-----
Typical revisionism to suit one's caste and class approach.
Nothing whatever to do with the great idealists and seers.

[sankark]

The best way to pay homage is to not have a circus. Or a spectacle. But continue keeping his kritis alive according to each ones patantharam. Where is the clamor for homage to MD or SS. Or other greats - we have lost quite a lot of corpus of others! Keep them alive and pay homage in every performance, training session or at home.