Date:
3rd Dec 2019 / 17:00 Hrs
Venue:
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mylapore\
Team:
Dushyant Sridhar, Anahita and Apoorva
It is clear from the thronging crowd that Dushyant Sridhar has become
quite the cult figure. This lad, from BITS Pilani, has chosen this line of
discourse / Harikatha as his true calling. As he himself once said, one must appreciate
his family for allowing him to indulge in this field. To be fair, this is akin
to any performing arts and it can be lucrative too.
Being the first discourse of the season, Dushyant explained that he
would, over the next one month, cover all the Alwars. For this session, he took
the first 3 – Poigaialwar, Bhoothalwar and Peyalwar followed by Thirumazhisaiyalwar.
Anahita and Apoorva accompanied him. Of late, Dushyant Sridhar intersperses his
discourse with full songs from leading singers. I saw him last time with
Carnatica brothers. This time, he has sessions with them as well as the sisters
– Anahita and Apoorva. Thankfully, like some other discourses, the singers do
not indulge in fully-fledged RTP!
The three have closer association with Mylapore. They were born in the
same year on consecutive days – Tiruvonam, Avittam and Sadayam and are avatars
of Panchajanya (Vishnu’s conch), Kaumodaki (vishnu’s mace) and Nandaka
(Vishnu’s sword) respectively. Each of the three composed 100 verses that are
labelled as first, second and third Thiruvandhadhi. Thirumazhisaialwar represents
Sudharshana Chakra and is almost a contemporary of the triumvirate.
Sridhar, in his own style, elaborated the famous episode where the
three, after getting darshan of Tirukovilur, got into a resting place. That
could accommodate one person in sleeping posture, two in sitting and three in
standing. When all the three were standing, they felt the presence of the
fourth and realized it was none other than Vishnu.
Some beautiful pasurams were sung by Anahita and Apoorva sisters. The
good thing was the music didn’t dominate the discourse.
It is worth noting that Tirumazhisaialwar tried out Buddhism, Jainism
and then became a Shiva Bhakta. Shiva appeared to him as Dakshinamoorthy and
blessed him. In order to seek “Moksha”, he took up Viashnavism. Dushyant
recalled a fantastic episode where the Alwar went to Kumbakonam. There Perumal
and he exchanged their names. Perumal became Aravamutha Alwar; Alwar became
Thirumazhisai Piran! Dushyant also rued the fact today almost everyone doesn't pronounce these names correctly!
There was this incident in Kanchipuram when Thirumazhisaialwar was
staying with his disciple Kanikannan. He happened to displease Pallava King for
not allowing him to see the Alwar in order to restore his youth. The king
banished him from his kingdom. So, the Alwar too left along with his disciple.
He sang the following song to instruct the God Yathoktakari too follow him.
கணிகண்ணன் போகின்றான் காமரு பூங் கச்சி
மணிவண்ணா! நீ கிடக்க வேண்டா
செந்நாப் புலவனும் போகின்றேன் நீயும் உன்றன்
பை நாகப்பாயை சுருட்டிக் கொள்
மணிவண்ணா! நீ கிடக்க வேண்டா
செந்நாப் புலவனும் போகின்றேன் நீயும் உன்றன்
பை நாகப்பாயை சுருட்டிக் கொள்
To enjoy Nalayira Divya Prabhandam, knowledge of Tamil is a must. A
vocalist, typically, doesn’t need to know the language in order to sing. But
if, in a discourse, the nectar of Alwars is to be enjoyed, clear pronunciation
and understanding should be the key. The sisters demonstrated that to ample
effect.
Dushyant, as is his wont, tried to enliven the proceedings by engaging
with the audience in a witty repertoire. He also conducts various pilgrimage
tours along with discourses and is on social media. I am sure he would find
ways and means to cover new and interesting topics.
Ambience: *
Presenter: **
Accompanying artists: **
Overall: **
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