Vasanta Vani: Spring Symphony 

செல்வத்துட் செல்வஞ் செவிச்செல்வம் அச்செல்வம்
செல்வத்து ளெல்லாந் தலை (411)
“The wealth acquired through the ear is the supreme form of wealth” – Thirukkural

The Hindu Temple of New Hampshire was filled with the fragrance of music last weekend, which marked the official arrival of the spring season. The Temple along with its cultural school Bharati Vidyashram hosted a wonderful Carnatic vocal music concert by Vidwan Sri Delhi P. Sunder Rajan, accompanied on the violin by Smt. Smitha Krishnan, and on the mridangam by Sri Mahalingam Santhanakrishnan.

THE MUSIC

The concert opened with a vibrant varnam in Raga Sri, “Sami Ninne”, a prayer to the Lord of Kamakoti, composed by Sri Karur Devudu Iyer. This was followed by “Sobhillu Saptaswara”, a Thyagaraja krithi in Raga Jaganmohini that alludes to how music pervades the Vedas. The third and fourth songs were in praise of Lord Sri Venkateswara of Tirupati. The fourth song, the Dikshitar Krithi “Seshachala Nayakam” in Sanskrit in in Raga Varali featured an exquisite “niraval” of the  line “aravinda patra nayanam” by the vocalist, and expertly shadowed by the violinist, captured in this video clip. The next item (video clip) was a faster-paced Tamil song “Sevikkavendum Ayya” in Raga Andolika, composed by Sri Muthu Thandavar in praise of Lord Sri Nataraja of Chidambaram. This was followed by the beautiful Tamil composition of Sri Papanasam Shivan in Raga Thodi, “Thanigai Valar” in praise of Lord Muruga (video clip). The next item was in praise of another deity resident at the Temple, Lord Rama. This piece “Janaki Pathe” was again another composition by Sri Papanasam Shivan, this one in Sanskrit, and in the Raga Karaharapriya (video clip). The second major piece in the concert was the Thygaraja Krithi “Endukku Peddala” in Raga Shankarabharanam, a prayer to Lord Sri Rama for true wisdom. This piece included a foundational alapana, niraval of the pallavi line, kalpana swaram, and thani avarthanams on the violin by Smt. Smitha Krishnan and on the mridangam by Sri Mahalingam Santhankrishnan, all of which were a delight to the ears (video clips: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5). This was followed by another Papanasam Shivan composition in Tamil, “Idathu Padam Thhooki Aadum” in Raga Khamas, describing the cosmic dance of Lord Nataraja of Chidambaram (video clip). The song was preceded by a devotion-filled “virutham” – “Kunitha Puruvamum” (video clips: 1, 2). It is interesting to note that these lines from the “Thevaram” were popularized by Isai Gnani Padma Bhushan Sri Ilayaraja in a different tune in the Tamil movie “Thalapathi” starring Padma Vibhushan Sri Rajnikanth). The next number was a soulful rendering of the Swati Tirunal composition in Raga Sindhu Bhairavi on Lord Sri Rama, “Ramachandra Prabhu Tum Bin Pyare”, preceded by a shloka on Lord Hanuman (video clip). The final piece was the joyful Papanasam Shivam song in Tamil, “Enna Thavam Seydanai” in Raga Kapi on Lord Sri Krishna (video clip), followed by a Mangalam.

THE MUSICIANS

VIDWAN SRI DELHI P. SUNDER RAJAN hails from a family of musicians from Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu. He comes in the lineage of Flute Maestro Brahmasri Sarabha Sastrigal, and is a disciple of Sangeetha Bhushanam Sri V. Janakiraman. Recognized as a prodigy at a young age, he later on went to establish himself as a talented violinist as well as vocalist, who has performed all over the world. He is now one of the most sought after violinists in the field, and has the rare distinction of winning the Madras Music Academy’s prestigious award as the best accompanying violinist for three years in a row. Sri Sunder Rajan is featured regularly in TV and on the radio, in many cassettes and CD’s from major music houses.  He has been honored with the title “Vani Kala Sudhakara” by the prestigious Sri Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha, Chennai, India and the title “Rasika Kalaratna” by Rasikapriya, Sydney, Australia. He has been appointed as the “Asthana Vidwan” of the Hindu Temple of Dayton, Ohio.

SRI MAHALINGAM SANTHANAKRISHNAN (Mali) is a disciple of Sri P. Srinivasa Iyer of Madras. Mali hails from the prestigious Mridangam school of Padmashri Palghat Sri T.S. Mani Iyer. Sri Mali's forte is his seamless accompanying style that supports and embellishes the main artist's rendering of compositions and improvisations. He has also taken advanced lessons from Padmashri Palghat Sri R. Raghu, when Sri Raghu visited the US. Mali has accompanied several local artists as well as visiting artists from India like Sri T. R. Subramaniam, Sri R. K. Shrikantan, Smt. R. Vedavalli, Sri R. Prasannna, Alapuzha Sri Venkatasan, Sri. V. Subramaniam, Smt. Revathi Ramaswamy, Smt. Tara Anand, Sri V.K. Raman, Sri Vittal Ramamurthy to name a few. He has also performed in world music concerts notably with Sri Sandip Burman and Sri R. Prasanna. Mali works and teaches Mridangam in the Boston area.

SMT. SMITHA KRISHNAN began learning carnatic vocal music at the age of 7 from Smt. Simanthini Kauta. She later learned from Smt. Jayashree Varadarajan in California. Currently she is a under the tutelage of Ms. Padma Srinivasan and also has received advanced training for Sri. R K Shriramkumar. She began violin in 2004 under Sri Ananthakrishnan and gave her first concert performance as an accompanying artist just 3 months after her first class. Smt. Smitha currently learns from Sri. Delhi P. Sunderrajan. Smt. Smitha has competed and won in both Carnatic Music Association of North American and Cleveland Aradhana competitions. She was named the 2006 CMANA Junior Musician and was also awarded the T.A. Krishnamurthy Founders Award. Smt. Smitha has given concerts as both an accompanying artists and a soloist in Chennai during the December Music Festival, Bangalore, and in many places across the US. She has had the privilege of accompanying her guru Sri Delhi P. Sunderrajan for both is vocal and violin concerts. In addition, Smt. Smitha has accompanied many top artists like Smt. Nisha Rajagopalan, Sri Mahesh Vinayakaram, Smt. Kiranavali Vidyasankar, Smt. Sankari Krishnan, Sri DB Ashvin and others. Smt. Smitha gave her debut violin solo concert in Chennai during the summer of 2006. She also played during the December Music Festivals in Chennai in 2008. 

THE EVENT

The concert was organized by the Hindu Temple of New Hampshire and Bharati Vidyashram, the cultural school affiliated with the Temple. The free concert was held in the main prayer hall of the Temple. The great acoustics at the concert was the result of excellent audio engineering led by Karthik Srinivasan and Suresh Annamalai.  

The event started with an introduction by K. Arvind, and concluded with a vote of thanks by Sri Veeramani Ranganathan, founder of the Temple who arranged for the concert. Smt. Ranjani Saigal, Executive Director of Ekal vidyalaya, who was present at the concert, used the opportunity to introduce to the community, the great work of Ekal Vidyalaya and the opportunities it offers for youth in the community to participate in its service mission.

The event was followed by an Arathi and light dinner prepared by Temple volunteers.

THE TEMPLE

The Hindu Temple of New Hampshire, which has been serving the cultural and religious needs of the Hindu community in the Nashua and Greater Boston area, started its operations 8 years ago in a small rented space in a commercial plaza off the busy Daniel Webster Highway in Nashua, NH, and then expanded to a larger, relatively more sequestered rented space located at 1 Progress Avenue in Nashua, NH. The current premises were purchased by the Temple about 3 years ago to accommodate the growth of its devotee population and the increased scope of its service activities. During these 8 years of operation, the Temple has been visited, graced and blessed by many well-known spiritual leaders and scholars including the founder of the Art of Living movement Padma Vibhushan Guruji Sri Sri Ravishankar, the prolific and popular Vaishnavite scholar and exponent Sri U. Ve. Vellukudi Krishnan Swamy, the Dasa Sahitya expert Dr. Aralumallige Parthasarathy, who has been spreading awareness about Srimad Bhagavatham and Sri Vishnu Sahasranamam all over the world, Prof. Subrahmonia Iyer, former Dean of Academic Affairs, IIT Bombay, Shri Shenkottai Hari, the well-known Bhagavathar and expert in Divya Nama Sankeertana and Sampradaya Bhajans, Smt. Poornimaji and Sri Ramanujamji, senior disciples of HH Maharanyam Sri Muralidhara Swamiji, a proponent of Nama Sankeertana, and Sri Siddheswarananda Bharati Swamiji, Shankaracharya Paramahamsa of Courtallam Mutt. In addition to the religious and spiritual activities that form its core, the Temple has also been involved in various cultural and service activities to benefit the community, in conjunction with Bharati Vidyashram, the cultural arm of the Temple. The Temple in conjunction with Bharati Vidyashram has brought and hosted music and dance concerts, both by renowned artists such as Vidwan Sri Vittal Ramamurthy, as well as by upcoming talented youth in the area. Carnatic Music albums have been produced under the auspices of the Temple as part of the Dwell on Dharma initiative, and the most recent album by Smt. Aparna Balaji was kindly released by Sangeeta Choodamani Vidwan Sri O.S. Thiagarajan. For more information about the Temple, please contact Sri Veeramani Ranganathan at mailto:rveermani@gmail.com.

Video clips from the event available at: https://goo.gl/XoJEH0. Pictures and video clips by K. Arvind.

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