Archana and Aarathi presented songs on Kapaleeswarar and Parthasarathy temples

In Carnatic music, R.K. Shriramkumar is one of the foremost, and perhaps, the busiest gurus today. No surprise then that two of his disciples, Archana and Aarathi presented a well-curated concert. Titled ‘Music from the ancient twin towns — Mylapore and Triplicane’, the programme was organised under the auspices of Naada Inbam at Ragasudha Hall.

The sisters alternated between compositions in praise of Mylapore’s Kapaleeswarar and Triplicane’s Parthasarathy perumal. They began with a rare varnam ‘Kapaleeswaram bajeham’ by Ambi Dikshitar, followed by Thirugnanasambandar’s Tevaram verse, ‘Mattitta punnayankaanal’ (second Tirumurai) on Kapaleeswarar from the Poompavai Thiruppathikam, rendered in raga Mayamalavagowla, Misra Chapu.

The next two songs were on Lord Parthasarathi. Arathi offered an engaging alapana in Madhyamavati. Bombay Madhavan, on the violin, responded with an equally brilliant elucidation. They aptly chose Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar’s ‘Parthasarathi nannu palimpa’ (Rupakam) with niraval and swaras at the charanam line ‘Sarva dharma paripalaka’, popularised by D.K. Pattammal.

‘Ninnu sevinchina janulaku’ (Yadhukulakamboji in Misra Chapu tala) by Subbaraya Sastri was the next song. The swara sahityam and chittaswara segments make this rakti-raga kriti one of the masterpieces by this 19th-century composer.

Archana and Aarathi were backed by skilled accompanists.
| Photo Credit:
Velankanni Raj B.

This was followed by two kritis on the Mylapore temple, by Papanasam Sivan — ‘Karpakamanohara kaththarul kripakara’ in Malayamarutham (Khanda Chapu), and a rare kriti ‘Kadikkan nokki kaavaatadum yeno’ in Thodi. Archana and Aarathi shared the Thodi alapana with Archana setting the tone with an eloquent essay, which was brought to a seamless close by Aarathi. Their niraval at ‘Mayilappurikku iraiva’ was a nuanced paraphrase of the underlying emotion.

The accompaniment by Bombay Madhavan, B. Ganapathiraman (mridangam) and S. Hari Kishore (kanjira) was another highlight of the concert. Madhavan offered apt responses in alapana and swaras, strictly tailored to the vocal genre; similarly, Ganapathiraman and Hari Kishore followed the vocalists with sincerity.

The sisters then rendered 10 pasurams of Thirumangai Azhvar on Lord Parthasarathi tuned by their guru.

The concluding three songs were on the deities of the Mylapore Temple. The first one had a shloka and a song — both composed by R.K. Shriramkumar on Karpagambal in raga Desh. The second one was a Tiruppugazh on Lord Singaravelar tuned in Salaka Bhairavi also by Sriramkumar in Chandha tala; while ‘Karpakame kan paaraay’ in Madhyamavati by Papanasam Sivan, popularised by Madurai Mani Iyer, was the third and the concluding song.

The concert showed how the sisters had diligently researched and meticulously planned, and executed this thematic concert.