The Hindu Temple of Massachusetts, Acton, MA, observed the birthday of the great 18^th-19^th century Carnatic music composer Sri Thyagaraja Swamy (born May 4, 1767) on the evening of Sunday, April 26^th with a Carnatic music recital by youth from Acton.

Sri Thyagaraja Swamy

Sri Thyagaraja Swamy, also known as Thyagabrahmam, Thyagayya (Telugu) and Thyagarajar (Tamil), is revered as a great saint, and was deeply devoted to the Hindu deity Sri Rama.  Sri Thyagaraja Swamy, considered the doyen among the musical trinity of Carnatic music, composed a prolific number of popular songs mostly on Sri Rama. Some popular estimates claim that he may have composed up to 24000 songs, though according to this web site (www.thyagaraja.org) there are only 729 documented compositions. Sri Thyagaraja Swamy’s life is depicted in the 1946 Telugu biopic starring the late Nagayya, and a 1981 Telugu biopic starring the late Somayajulu, both with the title “Thyagayya”. In January  of each year, a commemorative music festival called “Thyagaraja Aradhana” is held in Thiruvayaru, India (where Sri Thyagaraja Swamy composed some of his greatest works), in which a multitude of musicians, including the greatest among contemporary musicians, get together to sing this great composer’s works in chorus. 

It is interesting to know that, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 1976, named an impact crater in planet Mercury for Sri Thyagaraja Swamy. The name (“Tyagaraja”) of this crater, which was identified based on images returned by NASA’s Mariner 10 spacecraft, recognizes Sri Thyagraja Swamy’s fundamental contributions to the field of music.

Thyagabrahma Jayanthi

The birthday celebrations in the Hindu Temple of Massachusetts, featured a Carnatic music recital by talented young Carnatic music students from the town of Acton. The children, Ansh Viswanathan, Divyasri Krishnan, Varsha Jawahar, Kirtana Krishnakumar and Amrita Krishnakumar learn Carnatic music under Smt. Bhuvaneswari Chandrasekar. Smt. Bhuvaneswari teaches 90 students spread over India and various countries abroad from her base in Coimbatore, India, thanks to the wonder of modern Internet technology.  Smt. Bhuvaneswari is the daughter and disciple of Sri K.V. Nataraja Bhagavathar whose musical lineage is noteworthy. Sri Nataraja Bhagavathar is in the third generation of Sri Thyagaraja’s  shishya parampara (musical lineage), starting with his Guru Sri Umayaalpuram Swamynatha Iyer (under whom he learned music along with Sri Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer), leading up to Sri Maha Vaidyanatha Sivan, and then to Sri Thyagaraja Swamy himself! When the children who performed at this celebration commemorating Sri Thyagaraja Swamy’s birthday grow and blossom into seasoned musicians, the Town of Acton can lay claim to have had a part in nurturing some of the members of the 5^th generation of musicians in the direct musical lineage of Sri Thyagaraja Swamy himself!

 Ansh kicked off the recital with the lively “Nadha Thanumanisham”, a composition in praise of Lord Shiva as the Lord of music, in raga Chita Ranjani. He followed this  with “Yochana Kamala Lochana” in raga Darbar, and then concluded his portion of the concert with “Samaja Vara Gamana”, in raga Hindolam, which became popular among the masses in the 1980’s, thanks to the Telugu film “Sankarabharanam”. Varsha sang “Sri Rama Padama” in raga Amritavahini, followed by “Kalaharana” in raga Shuddha Saveri. Divyasri sang “Thulasi Dalamulache” in raga Maayaamalava Gowla, and “Narayana Hari” in raga Yamuna Kalyani. The duo of Amrita and Kirtana, the senior-most students in this group, entertained the audience of about 40 people with “Saadinchine” (raga Aarabhi), “Aadamodi Galade” (raga Charukesi), “Bhuvini Dasudane” (raga Sri Ranjani), “Karuna Jaladhe” (raga Nadanamakriya), and “Nagumomu Galavani” (raga Aabheri), before concluding the recital with “Mangalam Koshalendraya.”

Hindu Temple of Massachusetts

The Hindu Temple of Massachusetts, located at 271, Great Road, Acton, MA (next to the Monsoon Indian Bistro) commenced services in the second half of 2014. The Temple, also known as “Vishnu Durga Temple”, was founded by Pandit Lakshmana Sastry, a Dwivedi (proficient in two Vedas – Rig Veda and Yajur Veda) with an advanced degree (M. Phil) in Sanskrit. The Temple is currently open for services from 6:30PM to 8:30PM Thursdays through Sundays, and plans to extends its days and hours of service, as well as space, as the base of devotees expands.

The Temple has held special events to celebrate important festivals such as Navaratri, Deepavali, Ugadi, Sri Rama Navami, Sankara Jayanthi, Ramanuja Jayanthi, Tyagabrahma Jayanthi, and Narasimha Jayanthi. It has also hosted music concerts by both seasoned musicians and upcoming young musicians in the Boston area including Smt. Aparna Thyagarajan (vocal), her students Amrita Pai and Mahati Athreya (vocal), accompanied by Sahana Srinivasan (violin) and Tarun Bangalore (mridangam), and Smt. Smitha Krishnan (violin) accompanied by Mahalingam Santhanakrishnan (mridangam). A weekly event that draws many people to the Temple is an excellent satsang focused on “Srimad Bhagavatam” and “Nama Sankirtan”. This guided study that is offered free every Friday from 7:15 PM to 8:15 PM, is conducted by Sri Narayanan Sathiamoorthy, who is well-versed in “Srimad Bhagavatam”, and who is a disciple of Sri Sri Muralidhara Swamyji.

The Hindu Temple of Massachusetts, Acton, MA is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Pandit Lakshmana Sastry seeks your generous monetary support for the Temple and your sponsorship of Temple events, your active participation in services, and your enthusiastic involvement in its activities, to enable the Temple to serve the community well. The Temple also welcomes donations in kind such as flowers, fruits, dairy items and rice for prasad, and seeks volunteers to support various Temple sustenance tasks. For more information about the Temple, please contact Sri Lakshmana Sastry at laxman_sastry@yahoo.com or visit the Temple web site at http://www.mahindutemple.org/.

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