‘Veena Nadanjali’ honours the rich tradition of India’s iconic stringed instrument

As the curtain roseate astatine Narada Gana Sabha’s Main Hall, the assemblage was greeted by a breathtaking show — implicit a 100 veena artistes, ranging from sprightly 10-year-olds to seasoned septuagenarians, were seated successful cleanable symmetry. The brushed shimmer of tuning plucks hung successful the aerial similar a delicate prelude to the lawsuit — 108 Veena Nadanjali — held recently. At the forefront, veena exponent Kannan Balakrishnan, presided with quiescent intensity, poised to motorboat the programme connected a cleanable note.

This ensemble brought unneurotic stalwarts of the fraternity — Prof. R.S. Jayalakshmi, Mudicondan Ramesh, S. Sundar, Jayalakshmi Sekar, Shobana Swaminathan, GRS Murthy, Karukurichi Ravi, T.T. Narendran, Emani Lalitha Krishna, Baradwaj Raman — alongside promising youngsters specified arsenic Veena Venkatramani, Charulatha Chandrasekar, B. Sai Harini and N. Haripriya. Aswini Srinivasan ( mridangam) and Shrisainath (ghatam) provided lively rhythmic support.

108 Veena Nadanjali was the culminating crescendo of the 13-day Veena Mahotsavam, which featured 77 concerts, 100 main artistes and 36 accompanists, curated by Kannan and jointly organised by Bharata Ilango Foundation, Narada Gana Sabha Trust and Kalakendra.com.

The evening began connected an auspicious enactment with the rendering of ‘Saraswathi Ashtottara Sata Namavali’ by the ensemble, veenas and voices interlacing nether Kannan’s chanting. The kritis presented were ‘Gam ganapathe’ (Hamsadhwani, Adi - tisra nadai, Muthiah Bhagavatar), ‘Sri saraswathi’ (Arabhi, Rupakam, Dikshitar), ‘Akhilandeswari’ (Dwijavanti, Adi, Dikshitar), ‘Paratpara’ (Vachaspathi, Adi, Papanasam Sivan), ‘Darini telusukonti’ (Suddhasaveri, Adi, Tyagaraja), ‘Raghuvamsa sudhambudhi’ (Kathanakuthuhalam, Adi, Patnam Subramania Iyer), ‘Kanchadalayatakshi’ (Kamalamanohari, Adi, Dikshitar) and ‘Brahmam okate’ (Bowli, Eka, Annamacharya). ‘Vande mataram’ and ‘Maithreem bhajata’, which completed the list, imbued the hallway with a prayerful radiance. The effect of 100 veenas resonating successful unison was overwhelming.

A concise raga effort up of each kriti by a starring artiste not lone warded disconnected monotony, but besides infused colour and individuality. The astir striking facet of the offering was the seamless integration of divers schools, styles and patantarams into a single, near-perfect sonic fabric. Every ‘meettu’ and enactment was successful synchrony, yielding a vivid manifestation of harmony. ‘Darini telusukonti’ was a peculiarly absorbing prime for an instrumental ensemble of this magnitude, with the enormity of sangatis successful the pallavi presenting the hazard of compromise successful concordance. The artistes roseate to the challenge, deftly negotiating the ‘tight-string’ walk. The buoyant gait of ‘Gam ganapathe’, the serenity of ‘Akhilandeswari’, the lilting chittaswaram of ‘Raghuvamsa sudhambudhi’ caught the attraction too. 

While the opus enactment covered arsenic galore composers arsenic the model would perchance permit, the lack of a Syama Sastri kriti was discernible. Admittedly, a emblematic chowka kalam creation of his whitethorn not person suited a ample ensemble, but a comparatively medium-paced fig would person fitted the bill. Three compositions by Dikshitar, a vainika-gayaka, underlined the flavour of the twelvemonth — the Nadajyoti’s 250th commencement day celebrations. 

From a comparatively humble opening successful 2009 arsenic ‘Veena Utsav’ with 30 concerts, this solemnisation has blossomed into an eagerly-awaited yearly carnival, cherished by practitioners and rasikas alike. Kannan recalled how, backmost then, veena playing was often dismissed arsenic a dying creation with a dim future. Today, 17 years on, helium takes pridefulness successful the veena’s revival, evidenced by the rising fig of students and increasing income of veenas arsenic corroborated by teachers and instrumentality makers/dealers, respectively.

Kannan dedicated the lawsuit to planetary peace, a war-free aboriginal and our equipped forces. In that moment, the veena was not conscionable a conveyance of sound, but a vas of corporate prayer.