Tyagaraja Aradhana 2024

The Madras Music Academy conducted Tyagaraja Aradhana at the TTK Auditorium on Sunday 4th February 2024. The musical homage to the great vaggeyakara is observed every year thanks to an endowment instituted by late Obul Reddy and P. Gnanamba, co-sponsored by P. Seshadri, Managing Trustee, Thyagaraja Music Festival Trust.

The day’s proceedings commenced with puja at 9 am, and the playing of the Mangalavadyam Nagaswaram by M.K.S. Natarajan & S.N. Manikandan. This was followed by Goshti Gaanam of Tyagaraja’s ghana raga Pancharatna kritis by several renowned vidwans and vidushis who had congregated to pay musical homage to the saint-composer. Prasadam was distributed to all the musicians and rasikas as they stepped out of the hall after listening to a well coordinated befitting musical homage to Tyagaraja.

In the evening, the special Tyagaraja Aradhana concert — also part of the endowment instituted by late Obul Reddy and P. Gnanamba, co-sponsored by P. Seshadri, Managing Trustee, Thyagaraja Music Festival Trust, and supported by the Madras Music Academy — was presented by vidwan T.M. Krishna alongwith vidwans R.K. Shriramkumar (violin), K. Arun Prakash (mridangam) and N. Guruprasad (ghatam).

Famous writer, scholar and Indologist Dr. V. Raghavan has paid rich tribute to Tyagaraja in his very comprehensive Introductory Thesis which finds the pride of place in The Spiritual Heritage of Tyagaraja published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Madras (several copies of which are available for reference in the Library of the Music Academy). He writes that Tyagaraja’s “powerful genius comprehended the several and varied excellences of all, the early masters, the giants that immediately went before him, and his own brilliant contemporaries.” Commenting on Tyagaraja’s works Dr. Raghavan goes on to say, “From simple compositions set in metrical patterns to elaborate Pancharatnas which have long sentences, piled one upon another, we have in Tyagaraja a wide variety of song-types showing manifold architectonic experimentation, design and skill. This variety again is a speciality which marks Tyagaraja among his contemporaries… and has contributed to the wide appeal of his productions.”

Sangita Kalanidhi late vidwan T.K. Govinda Rao has described Tyagaraja thus in his Preface to the volume titled ‘Compositions of Tyagaraja’ compiled and edited by him: “Sri Tyagaraja was one such saint and singer whose music and spirituality provided an endearing alternative at a time when the country, after centuries of chaotic political and social strife enforcing a long period of subjugation and decline in faith, needed a vital link that would ensure continuity of culture, tradition and the revival of faith. ….Tyagaraja provided this link with apparent effortless ease. He did not resort to the traditional glitter of pedantic and scholarly word building exercise aimed to please only the elite, but rather, made use of the language, music, and folklore familiar to the common man and came up with compositions that are wrapped up in two rare human virtues — simplicity and humility.”

The above two books and more than 100 books on Tyagaraja are available for browsing and reference at the Madras Music Academy library.

Here we bring to you from the Academy archives — two Compositions on Tyagaraja (by vidwans Poochi Srinivasa Ayyangar and K. Vasudevachariar) and an article Titled “Tyagaraja — the supreme vaggeyakara of the emotions” by G. Seshachalam. All these were published in the 41st Conference and Tyagaraja Bicentenary Souvenir (1967).

S. JANAKI

Sangita Kalanidhi Sikkil Smt. Neela -- Our Deepest Condolences

Sikkil Neela, younger of the famous flute duo in Carnatic music — popularly known as the Sikkil Sisters, passed away on 17th September 2023, in Chennai. She was 85 and was ailing for some years.

Kunjumani and Neela were born to Sita and Azhiyur Natesa Iyer. The father was a reputed mridanga vidwan who initiated the children into music. Neela was born on 9th September 1938. The sisters learnt to play the flute from their uncle Azhiyur Narayanaswamy Iyer, but Neela’s principal mentor and guide was her sister Kunjumani. The sisters plunged heart and soul into their chosen field, they gave many concerts together for several decades. Playing the flute was their life-breath. Both Kunjumani and Neela were top grade artistes of All India Radio and Doordarshan.

Delicate delineation of the raga and exquisite swara volleys well within the rules of grammar, and a firm eschewal of populist trends in classical music were some of the attributes that made the music of the Sikkil Sisters — Kunjumani and Neela, a classical treat. The Sisters perfected the ’gayaki’ style of playing Carnatic music on the flute.

Recognition came in the form of several concert assignments in different parts of India and abroad, and awards too came aplenty. The earliest was the Venugana Praveena awarded to them as early as 1942, by the Mysore samasthanam. The Sikkil Sisters went on to receive several prestigious awards like the Padma Shri from the Government of India, the Sangita Kalanidhi from the Music Academy, Madras, and the Central Sangeet Natak Akademi award to name a few.

To quote from the article published in the Music Academy Souvenir – 2002 when the Sikkil Sisters were conferred the Sangita Kalanidhi birudu: “The Sangita Kalanidhi comes attached with several ‘firsts’ to the credit of the Sikkil Sisters. In the history of the Academy, it is the first time that women flautists are being honoured thus. Another noteworthy fact is that, in view of the platinum jubilee celebrations in the Academy, for the first time there are going to be two artists to be honoured simultaneously. This has never happened so far, not even in the case of the famed Alathur Brothers and others.”

The Music Academy mourns the passing away of veteran flute vidushi Smt. Sikkil Neela.