MITHAS will go down in Carnatic music history as an organization that presented a concert of a lifetime.Sangeetha Kalanidi T.N Seshagopalan encapsulated the audience with his enchanting music in a marathon concert which went for 5 hours.  Accompanied by Mullaivasal G. Chandramouli on the violin and Tanjore K. Murugaboopathi on the mridangam, Seshagoplan delivered a concert of life time. The concert started with "Entho Prema", the Surati varnam of Vennai Kuppair followed by swaras in two speeds ( vilamba kalam and duritha kalam). This was followed by neat Hamsadwani alapana and the kriti "Gam Ganapathe", a composition of Harikeshanallur Muthiah Bhagavathar which was concluded with mind boggling swara kalpana involving intricate calculations.  Then Nayaki was presented in all its grandeur and subtlety aptly followed by Chandramouli on the violin and the stage was set for Dikshitar's master piece "Ranganayakam" which was exquisitely presented soaked in bhavam. Following this was a short and sweet Nilambari , "Mamava Madavadeva", a composition of  Narayana Theerthar .

      Seshagopalan bedazzled the audience with a rare asampurna vivadi ragam ,Santana Manjari. The alapana which probed the depth of the raga, briefly residing on the vivadi notes was very thrilling. This was followed by Dikshitar's  "Santana Manjari "composed in praise of the residing deity at Brihannayaki at Tanjavur's Brahadeeswara Temple. The audience who were lost in trance where brought back by a rapid Atana, "Madura Madura" by Oothukadu Venkata Kavi.

      Then unfolded the majestic Shankarabaranam ,with the raga established in two seconds, Seshagopalan  effortlessly and melodiously traversed the scale , yielding dazzling  sancharas with quantum jumps from the madhyama stayi  to the tara stayi with great ease and an imaginative Graha bedam from Shankarabaranam to Todi (  g3 m1 p d2 n3 s r2  -> s r1 g2 m1 p d1 n2)  in between. Chandramouli faithfully complimented the standard set, but did not take the detour to Todi. Befitting the grand alapana, the composition that followed was yet another master piece of Dikshitar, "Akshaya Linga  Viboh" composed in praise of the residing deity at Kizhvelur, near Thiruvarur.  The legend has it that the locked doors to the temple magically opened when Dikshitar sang this song and so did the flood gates of Shankarabaranam with neraval  at" Badari vana" followed by elaborate swara kalpana involving complex patterns. The tani avartanam by Murugaboopathi was elegant, graceful and captured the essence of fine patterns without redundant displays.  At this stage Seshagopalan announced a ten minute break and little did the audience realize that the best is yet to come.

     The second part of this epic started with Muthiah Bhagavathar's  "Vanchathonu" in the ragam  Karnaranjani. Following this was the piece de resistance of the concert, a RTP in the ragam Hameer kalyani. The ragam was rendered with full splendor with brigas gliding with felicity and elegance. The tanam was sparkling capturing the essence of the raga and the pallavi was "Maa Mayan Madhavan Vaikunthan Sriman Narayanan" a verse from Thirupavai. The swara kalpana not only involved the usual complex rhythmic patterns but a flurry of ragams, about twenty to twenty-five (including Revati, Neelambari,  Bowli, Kuntalavarali, Kalyana Vasantham, Nattai, Gowla, Arabhi, Varali, Sri, Kapi, Devamanohari, Vasantha, Kathanakathuhalam) rendered in rapid succession.

    Can it get any better? Yes indeed said the Manji, a rare padam "Mohanavalli" by  Kavi Kunjara Bharati which melted every last soul in the hall. Seshagopalan then might have realized that there were a few more ragas left, that he has not presented. How about a ragamalika virutam encompassing about 20 and more ragas.  With RTP, padams and virutam aptly presented, the javali felt left out. But Seshagopalan did justice by singing Dharmapuri Subbarayar's "Marubari" in the ragam Khamas which resides at the zenith in this genre of music.

    Talking of the different compositional forms was the Thiruppugazh omitted? May be not, replied Seshagopalan with "Neeraimathi" in the ragam hamsanandi with graha bedam to hindolam (r1 g3 m2 d2 n3 r1 -> s g2 m1 d1 n2 s). Last but the not the least ,this memorable evening/night came to an end with mangalam in sourashtram and a slokam in the ragam sri. It was a herculean concert and an evening etched in memory of the MITHASians for a long time to come.

Due thanks to Aravind Thiagarajan who remembered this huge song list from the concert.

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