Many Carnatic ragas have their counterparts in western Music […] L.S.Ramesh, a Post Graduate from the reputed Indian Institute of Technology-I.I.T.Madras, has designed an Innovative Carnatic Music chakra (Sri Saraswathi 72 Melakarta chakra). […] This chakra requires no prior knowledge and has been appreciated by Music legends Dr. Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna,Prince Rama Varma, Shri. Garimella Balakrishna Prasad (Annamacharya project Director-Tirumala Tirupathi) and others.
Mr. Ramesh and his wife Mrs. Sridevi use the money generated from sale of this Sri Saraswathi 72 Melakarta chart to help underprivileged children through FACES (Food, Aid, Clothing, Education, Shelter); a Service started by this couple.
Aparna Karthikeyan, The Hindu, April 11, 2015 | To read the full story and view more photographs, click here >>
It takes many days to make a block of wood sing. And it takes exceptionally talented craftsmen to do it. The four families who still make the nadaswaram by hand in Narasingapettai (a village near Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu) are so skilled that they almost make it look simple. […]
Selvaraj tells me about his village’s long association with the wind instrument, without which no Tamilian wedding or temple procession is ever complete.
“Nadaswaram is a ‘mangala vaadhiyam’ (auspicious instrument). It originated in this area, in a village near Mayavaram. My great-grandfather, Govindasamy Achari, went there and learnt the craft. “ […]
Traditionally, nadaswarams are made with aacha maram (Hardwickia binate, Indian Blackwood). “But you can’t use fresh wood; it has to be at least 75-100 years old. Young wood will bend and bow. All this wood was once lintels and pillars of old houses.” He points to the pile in his backyard. “But we face trouble transporting the wood. We’re stopped at check-posts and asked for a bill; but which seller will give me a bill for old wood?” Even worse, they’re accused of smuggling sandalwood.
Their worries don’t end with procuring the wood. “You need three persons to make each piece. After deducting all the costs — wood, labour — we are left with Rs.1000-1500 per nadaswaram,” rues Selvaraj. […]
But every morning, they wake up with worries: will they find some acha maram, will their sons sit down and learn from them, will the government recognise their contribution to music…
Email: aparna.m.karthikeyan@gmail.com
This article is part of the series ‘Vanishing Livelihoods of Rural Tamil Nadu’ and is supported under NFI National Media Award 2015.
Listen to other eminent nagasvaram exponents on YouTube: Karukurichi Arunachalam, Sheik Chinna Moulana and his disciples Kalesha Bibi & Mahaboob Subhani
One of the earliest attempts to make the British appreciate Carnatic music was initiated by Gayan Samaj.
Had the Madras Jubilee Gayan Samaj been around, it would have been 125 this year, though it began at least four years earlier under a different name. That certainly makes it the mother of all Sabhas that have been documented in the 373 years of Chennai.
The Samaj came into existence at a time when the British were taking an active if short-lived interest in Indian music. Books were being written, some of the early works being ‘Hindu Music’ by Captain N.A. Willard, ‘Musical Modes of the Hindus’ by Sir William Jones, ‘Sangeet’ by Francis Gladwin and ‘Oriental Music’ by W.C. Stafford. The absence of any form of documentation and the native methods of notation proved to be a major deterrent. The educated Indians began to seriously work on reducing Indian music to the Western form of notation often referred to as Staff Notation. It was their view that getting their music written in the Western format would encourage the English to appreciate the art form. Among the earliest such attempts were made by the Poona Gayan Samaj, one of the early organised bodies to sponsor music performances. […]
The Samaj also reduced some of its songs to Staff Notation and had the Madras Philharmonic Orchestra render them for Europeans on yet another occasion. In addition, it had Tennyson’s Ode to Queen Victoria translated into Sanskrit, set to music and performed for the benefit of an invited audience. […]
The Samaj came into existence at a time when the British were taking an active if short-lived interest in Indian music.
Source: “The first Sabha of Madras”, The Hindu, 21 September 2012 Address : https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-fridayreview/article3920039.ece Date Visited: 22 September 2012
Many Carnatic ragas have their counterparts in western Music […] L.S.Ramesh, a Post Graduate from the reputed Indian Institute of Technology-I.I.T.Madras, has designed an Innovative Carnatic Music chakra (Sri Saraswathi 72 Melakarta chakra). […] This chakra requires no prior knowledge and has been appreciated by Music legends Dr. Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna,Prince Rama Varma, Shri. Garimella Balakrishna Prasad (Annamacharya project Director-Tirumala Tirupathi) and others.
