The Sri Purandara Dasa day celebration held at the New England Hindu Temple (NEHTI), Ashland, MA organized by Mandaara, New England Kannda Koota (NEKK) on Feb 13^th 2011, was a musical treat for all those who attended.  The celebration of this great poet and carnatic music vidvaan was brought to life in the rendering of songs and playing of musical instruments by children ranging from 5-15 years of age and adults alike.  The day started off with the colorful confluence of women in brightly colored saris and men in their finest kurtas and children in traditional pavadais and lehengas.

The basement of NEHTI, where the program was held, was abuzz with a frenzy of activity with the organizers busy with setting-up chairs, carpets and the music system.  One could not but help feel the energy and eagerness of all gathered to commemorate the great saint Purandara Dasa the best way they could.  The puja began with Anjali (prayer) offered to Sri Purandara Dasa as well as to Lord Vishnu performed by NEHTI’s own Sri Krishna Battar, who has been serving the temple for nearly two decades.

The program began with an Instrumental music competition, the brainchild of The Youth Culture and Education Committee (YCEC), an organization that is a part of NEHTI, whose primary charter is to promote the Hindu culture among youngsters of the Indian community in the area.  This year the YCEC set-up annual scholarships for high school seniors who have persevered in learning Indian instrument, in the Carnatic style.  Competing for this scholarship were students, Kaustubh Garimella and Meghna two of Ms. Durga Krishnan’s students, a renowned and sought after Veena teacher living in the greater Boston area.  Both artists showed great talent and mastery of the Veena and certainly did their teacher proud.  There were no losers in this competition, the reward having the opportunity to showcase their skill to an audience.  We are very grateful to teachers like Ms. Durga Krishnan who bring passion for carnatic music to the area and we continue to look forward to be enthralled by more performances by her students.

Ullas Rao, was felicitated with the Student Community service award for his dedicated work in the community giving of his time and energy.  Congrats Ullas!The musical program was inaugurated by a group of women led by Mrs. Renuka Rao into melodious bhajans sang with bhakti and verve.  The beautiful women who all wore hues of blue were as the waves of the ocean rising and falling to create beauty and music all at once.

The morning continued with children and adults performing in solo and in groups, compositions of Purandara Dasa.  What a treat and what a delight to hear these youngsters persevering in learning carnatic music, vocal and instruments like the saxophone, mridangam, tabla and violin.  They delighted the audience with popular compositions such as Jagado Dharana, Bhagyada Laxmi Baramma and Raagi tandeerya.   The children are under the tutelage of area teachers such as Bhuvana Ganesh, Roopa Iyengar, Sudev Warrior, Ashwini Samaga, Uma Naresh, Tara Anand Bangalore, Shobha Hiremath, Vasantha Ramanujam, Mohan Samlal, Rekha Nagaraj and Prashanthi Punnamaraju.  Thanks to all these area teachers for bringing the richness of our culture and heritage through their music.  A special thanks to all the performers for their time and effort to bring to life Saint Purandara Dasa’s compositions and creating “bhakti bhaava” through their rendering of these songs.  The organizers kept the attendees entertained with the carnatic music as well as with mouthwatering dishes made in the South Indian style served for breakfast and lunch while the program was underway.  Where else would we have our appetite for culture, tradition, music and our taste buds all satisfied in the same venue…absolutely brilliant!

The Program came to a crescendo with a superb Carnatic vocal performance by Anand Subramony of Lexington, accompanied on the violin by Krishnan Parameshwaran and on the mridangam by Mahalinga Santhanakrishnan (Malli).  An absolute treat!  I first had the great pleasure of hearing Anand sing at a concert in Lexington a few months back and have been enthralled by his voice as well as his perseverance in spite of his commitments to family, career and community, a tough juggling act I am sure!  I am looking forward to following his musical career and expect to hear him move and thrill audiences with his many performances.  Anand’s melodious voice was followed by a brilliant flute performance by young Prayuth Naduthota, a junior in high school, who was accompanied by Karthik Balachandaran on the violin and Varun Chandramouli on the mridangam.  Prayuth played the flute flawlessly and displayed great skill and an easy style with this difficult wind instrument.  We are all looking forward to a jugalbandhi between Anand and Prayuth in the near future!

Raagas such as Hamsadwani, Kapi, Madhayamavati, Mohanam, Sindhu Bhairavi and Karapriya resonating in their hearts, the audience left, humming the tunes of bhakti and taking with them a delicious piece of the musical heritage and richness of carnatic music.  Many thanks to the organizers, NEKK as well as NEHTI and the bevy of volunteers, too many to name here, for their relentless work in making this program a grand success.

Hema Gopalan is a freelance writer and lives in Lexington, MA

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