RK Srikantan Trust to release monograph on Dikshitar’s Navagraha works during Sankranti festival

This year marks the 250th birth anniversary of Muthuswami Dikshitar, the youngest of the Carnatic music triumvirate along with Tyagaraja and Syama Sastri. To commemorate the occasion, the RK Srikantan Trust is releasing a monograph on Dikshitar’s Navagraha works.

These are a set of nine compositions that the composer dedicated to celestial bodies, each with a distinctive raga and tala. The monograph will be released during the annual Sankranti Sangeet Festival of the RK Srikantan Trust which is celebrating its 30th^th Anniversary this year.

According to singer Ramakant Srikantan, managing trustee and son of RK Srikantan, “We are celebrating three milestones this year: The 106th birth anniversary of my father RK Srikantan.^th Jayanti, Dikshitar’s 250^th Jayanti and Trust turn 30.

“In these Navagraha works there is special reference to the composer Vaggeykara Tatva (poet-composer who combines music and words) and is the highlight of this year’s inaugural event. RK Srikantan used to teach these works on Akashvani during his show ‘Gaana Vihar’ in the 70s. It became very popular among classical music lovers and continued to be broadcast for two decades.

The monograph will be released on January 14 by S Ahalya, Vice Chancellor of Karnataka Sanskrit University, in the presence of His Holiness Swayamprakash Sachchidananda Saraswati Mahaswamiji of Hariharpura.

The four-day Sankranti annual music festival will include 15 musical programs and a Harikatha programme. Two annual awards will also be given by the Trust on that day. Srikanth Shankar Award to 82 year old violinist V. Veda.

award winners

Ramakant says, “My father and I enjoyed VV Subramaniam’s violin accompaniment and cherished the musical synergy that extended beyond the stage. The maestro has worked across generations with stalwarts like Chembai, Ariyakudi, Semmangudi and MS Subbulakshmi, as well as with current musicians.”

Dhali Narasimha Bhatt Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Subramaniam, who was born in Wadakkanchery near Kochi in Kerala, moved to Chennai at the age of 15 and is today known for his Hindustani. Shayli To present a musical programme. “He accompanied MS Subbulakshmi as a violinist during the United Nations Day celebrations in New York in 1966,” says Ramakant.

Subrahmanyam founded Nadabrahamam, a center for research and teaching, where he is still active.

yajurveda The expert, Dhali Narasimha Bhatt, was born in Bengaluru in 1927 into a family of Vedic pundits, and was taught by his father and guru Dhali Bhima Bhattaru. Both Bhattaru and his brother were Vedic scholars who served as Asthana Vidwans of the Mysore Palace during the rule of Krishnaraja Wadiyar.

Narasimha Bhatt, now settled in Hosakerehalli, is teaching Veda for the last seven decades and many of his books are part of the curriculum in many Sanskrit universities in India. This Karnataka Rajyotsava and Veda Vyasa Prashasti awardee has collected and preserved ancient manuscripts of Vedic literature and still teaches students.

The festival will have music by Ashok Kumar on nadaswar and singer Vaishnavi Ramdas on January 14; Singers Archana Murali, Jayamangala Krishnan, Kanchana Sisters, Maharajpuram Srinivasan and veena player Prashant Iyengar will perform on January 15; There will be singing by S Shankar and a Harikatha performance by Mohan Kumar on January 16, and singers Abhijeet and Sriram Shastri and flautist Vamshidhar will perform on January 17.

Sankranti Music Festival by RK Srikantan Trust will be held from January 14 to 17 at Seva Sadan, Malleshwaram. Entry fee. For program details call 94484 68192