More than 500 professional musicians, including instrumentalists, paid musical homage to Saint Thyagaraja, one of the members of the Trinity of Carnatic music, at Thiruvaiyaru, on the
banks of River Cauvery on Friday in connection with the 171st anniversary of the Samadhi of the musical genius who composed hundreds of ‘kritis’ known for their devotion and divinity.
Described as the world’s largest musical tributes, the Thyagaraja Aaradhana saw most of the leading “superstars” of Carnatic music assembling at the Thyagaraja Temple early Friday morning to take part in the poojas held as a mark of respect to the all time great of music and recited the Pancha Ratna Kriti (the five gems of Carnatic music) which elevated the temple town to hitherto unexperienced heights of music.
TV Goplakrishnan, Sudha Raghunathan, Mahati, Shobhana Vignesh, Binny Krishnakumar, Papanasam Asok Ramani, Gayathri were some of the leading stars who were seen singing the kirtans inn unison with more than 5,000 devotees who had gathered on the banks of Cauvery. Senior BJP leader L Ganeshan, veteran scribe R Rangaraj and connoisseurs of music made it a point to be there at Thiruvaiyaru to pay homage to the Saint who lived between 1767 and 1847.
“This is a thanks giving day to our great guru (teacher) because there can never be a Carnatic concert without Thyagaraja’s compositions. We survive only because of his compositions and this is an occasion when we should show our gratitude to the Saint for giving us our daily food,” said Thiruvizha Jayashankar, the legendary Nadaswaram player who makes it a point to attend the Aaradhana without fail.
For Vijayalakshmi Sivasubramanian, it turned out to be a disappointing day. This Tamil scholar who has many books to her credit could not make it to Thiruvaiyaru from Chennai. “My ancestral home is near the temple, and I grew up listening to the Thyagaraja composition, particularly the Pancharatna kritis. I was relocated to Chennai after marriage and could not travel to Thiruvaiyaru all alone because of old age. But I watched the event in television and sang along with the ensemble,” said Vijayalakshmi.
She has decided to be on the banks of Cauvery next year for the Aatadhana. “For a Thiruvaiyaru born person, nothing is great than the tributes to Saint Thyagaraja. It is a great feeling,’ said Rangaraj.