Archana and Aarathi with B. Ganapathiraman on the mridangam, S. Hari Kishore on the kanjira and Bombay Madhavan on the violin.
| Photo Credit: Velankanni Raj B.
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.
