‘Thrimshath Sambhrama’ festival in Mangaluru featured both time-tested and rare kritis

Rich fund of songs presented by musicians at ‘Thrimshath Sambhrama’ festival in Mangaluru

Sangeetha Parishath Mangalore recently organised its 30th anniversary celebration — ‘Thrimshath Sambhrama’, under the patronage of Karnataka Government’s Department of Kannada and Culture, in association with Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mangaluru. The five-day festival featured talented vocal and instrumental artistes.

On the first day, veteran veena artiste Geetha Ramanand from Bengaluru presented a pleasing recital. She was supported by her disciple V. Gopal.

Geetha began with the soft Behag varnam ‘Vanajaksha’ by T.R. Subramaniyam and moved on to the lively ‘Saraseeruhasana Priyae’ (Nattai), by Puliyur Duraiswamy Iyer, in praise of Saraswathi. ‘Venkateswara yettappa bhoopathim aashrayaeham’ (another alternative is ‘Yaadava bhoopathim’), the rare kriti by Muthuswami Dikshitar, in raga Megharanjani, was enjoyable.

After ‘Mayae tvam yaahi’ in Tarangini by Dikshitar, and ‘Jnanamosaga radha’ in Purvikalyani by Tyagaraja, Geetha presented an RTP in Thodi, with a leisurely alapana, tanam in ragamalika and a pallavi with interesting swaras. Gopal faithfully followed her like a shadow and proved to be a strong support.

The lighter session included a few popular songs such as Swati Tirunal’s ‘Kalayae sri kamala nayana charanae’, ‘Govinda ninna namavae chanda’ and ‘Kadagola thaarenna chinnavae’ (both by Purandaradasa) and a sprightly thillana in Misra Shivaranjani by Lalgudi G. Jayaraman.

Geetha’s son Adamya Ramanand, and Shamith S. Gowda enlivened the concert with their support on the mridangam and ghatam, respectively, and their sparkling tani.