R. Srinivasan: A Profile (Part 4)

Please see Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of this profile of my great-grandfather.

PART 4 

Prof. R. Srinivasan

(1887-1975)

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Promoter of Music

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Father was a Harikatha performer also. He had a close friend, named Rangu, I think, who used to sing quite well and Father used to say that he was his "first guru." Once, these two had attended a kathakalakshepam by someone in Srirangam. The performer committed some mistake and the boys had the audacity to laugh. The performer became very angry and retorted: "how dare you laugh? You would know the difficulty if you took the 'chipla' in your hands!" Father took this as a challenge and promised to do a Harikatha kalakshepam in the same place in a month's time. And he did! His friend gave him vocal support. This was the beginning. He was then 16 years old. After settling down in Tiruvanantapuram, he used to perform Harikatha regularly, especially during the Onam celebrations. He once performed Nandan Charitram for three days.

Father felt that Harikathas like Seetha Kalyanam, Rukmini Kalyanam, and Nandan Chritram were being repeated again and again. He also wanted to establish another point through his Harikathas, since some persons said that god showing himself to humans and working miracles all happened ages ago and only in stories and they were no longer relevant. Father believed that god is ever bestowing his blessings on his true bhaktas, So he was on the lookout for stories which would prove this. He selected some seven stories, developed them, composed songs for them and presented them in kathakalshepams. These were authentic stories which happened within the last 500 years.

• Story 1: "Senan" was Akbar's barber. Lord Krishna gave him darsan. And through him, to Akbar also.
• Story 2: Tulukka Nachiyar. She was a Muslim princess. When the Muslims invaded the area around Srirangam, there was an idol of Lord Ranganatha among their booty. Her nanny, a Hindu woman, told her many wonderful stories about the Lord. The princess was enamoured and woudl always play with this idol. When she attained marriageable age, her father arranged her wedding. But the princess announced that she was already wedded to Lord Ranganatha and would not marry anyone else. The father, taking this to be a mere child's prattle, went ahead with his preparations. At this, the princess, along with her nanny, left for Srirangam on horseback without anyone's knowledge. At the temple, she fell at the Lord's feet, saying, "I'm surrenderign myself to you, do what you will with me." And she became one with Him. [As evidence of this marriage, three practices associated with Muslims are in vogue at the temple even today. During abhisheka, a lungi is tied to the Moolavar [principal deity). The first neiveidyam in the morning is maida roti and butter. During the shodasopachara, when paan or betel leaf is offered to the Lord, the lime paste is applied on the smooth side as Muslims do, and not on the rough side, as done by the Hindus. Tulukka Nachiyar's sannidhi is in the first prakara, close to the main sanctum sanctorum, in precedence over the other consorts. In this first prakara, all the lamps are lit with ghee and not oil.]
• Story 3: The Madurantakm Miracle. There is a temple for Seeta Devi near Madurantakam, not too far from Madras. It was in a dilapidated condition. For Lionel Place, the Collector of Chengalpettu who had seen churches of great splendour in his native England, this temple appeared most unimpressive. An elderly man told him, "This is Seeta Devi's temple, she is a giver of boons." When the Colonel asked him if she would grant even his wish, the old man answered, "She will indeed, if you ask with true faith." The Colonel said that if she could guard the lake from bursting during the monsoon, he would himself renovate the temple. When the monsoon arrived and with it the floods, he went and stood in person to check the bund, when Rama and Lakshmana gave him darsan. And the bund did not break. The lake was full to the brim, but did not overflow. So, to fulfill his promise, he rebuilt the temple out of his own money. One can see on the foundation stone even today, the following inscription: "Col. Lionel Place's dharmam." Prof. Srinivasan once performed this story in the temple precincts itself. And he composed a song in English for his story.
• Story 4: At the Tirukoil in Kadirgamam in Sri Lanka (Subramania Swamy temple), a mother-daughter duo were doing the daily cleaning of the temple premises, getting flowers, etc. After the mother died, the girl continued this kainkaryam (service). She spent all her life there, and when she became very old, the trustees felt she should be given a pension and sent away and a new servant appointed. When she was informed of this, she could not bear that she would not be allowed to the work anymore. She appealed to the Lord: "I've been serving you since childhood. All I want is to serve you till I die. Is that too much to ask?" So crying, she fell unconscious at the Lord's feet. Next morning when she woke up, a miracle had taken place! She had regained the physical form of a 10-year old. She looked as she had when she first came to work at the temple. After which, of course, there was no question of retiring her due to old age, and she continued to serve her Lord. This incident was taken from a news item from a Ceylon newspaper, a cutting of which was sent to Father by a friend of his.
• Story 5: This was based on Gopalankutty's story in the Malayalam Standard II text book. A boy, who was scared to take a forest path on the way to school, was advised by his mother to call to his elder brother Gopalan, who would accompany him and guard him. In all innocence, the boy called out to Gopalan and Lord Krishna in the guise of a shepherd accompanied him in the forest path. This continued daily. And finally, Krishna appeared before his unbelieving parents too and blessed them!
• Story 6: There is a Sakshi Gopalan temple in Cuttack. A guru promised his daughter's hand in marriage to his disciple, with the Lord as their witness. Then the guru left on a long pilgrimage. On his return, the disciple reminded him of the promise. The guru tried to wriggle out of the promise, pretending not to remember. So the disciple called on god, who was their witness. God appeared in person and gave evidence that such a promise had indeed been made and got the guru's daughter married to the disciple.
• Story 7: This story concerned Sree Raghavendra of Mantralaya. The large tract of land belonging to the temple was lying waste. So the Government wanted to acquire it and develop it for some useful purpose. Governor Monroe went there to inspect the land. When he went to a remote part, a sanyasi appeared before him and said: "This is lying unused now. But in later times, this place will become very famous. So please don't make any change or disturb this land now." Saying this, he disappeared. Monroe alone had seen the vision, not the others who accompanied him and when they tried to look for the sanyasi, they could find no one!

These were the stories that Father developed for his kathakalakshepam. I should mention that he composed some songs in the Hindustani mode for his kalakshepam.

More in Part 5

R. Srinivasan: A Profile (Part 3)

Please see Part 1 and Part 2 of this profile of my great-grandfather.

PART 3
Prof. R. Srinivasan
(1887-1975)
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Patron & Promoter of Music
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The royal family of Travancore held Father in high esteem because of his sangeeta gnanam. He was often asked to assist the palace in arranging musical events.

When 16-year-old Chithira Tirunal ascended the throne, the cultural celebrations for the coronation function were all organised by Father. Kater, when the wedding of Kartigai Tirunal, Chithira Tiruanal's sister, took place over a periopd of seven or eight days, it was Father who organised all the concerts. Earlier, when the Regent Maharani was ruling the State, she presented Father, in recognition of his contributions, with a Veera Sanklai and a gold medal with the face of Chithira Tirunal embossed on it.

Father did a great deal for music and musicians, especially in Tiruvanantapuram. He was a good organiser and arranged performance opportunities for local musicians. He used to conduct an arts festival every year, spanning three or four days, at the Victoria Jubilee Town Hall. Featured in it were local talent as well as 'big' musicians from out of town, of Hindustani and Carnatic styles. Abdul Karim Khan performed one year. I remember he sang Kalaharana melara in Suddha Saveri. Also featured were dramas including English plays.

There was no connection between this arts festival and the temple concerts. It was after musicians had been appointed as Palace vidwans that they performed in the navaratri mandapam in the temple, during navaratri.

I can say that Father was a key figure in popularising music in Tiruvanantapuram. When he first arranged a concert with tickets in an auditorium, people asked: "Who will pay to listen to music?" With that beginning, if music has become so widely prevalent in Tiruvanantapuram, it was Father who was responsible.

On one occasion, the Palace authorities called Father and asked for his ideas to make Swati Tirunal's compositions popular. In Travancore, there were many schools, even in small villages in the interior, and music was a compulsory subject in the curriculum. Father's idea was to start a summer school in the capital, where all the music teachers from these schools would be taught Swati Tirunal's compositions so that they, in turn, teach the songs to the children in their schools. I don't remember the year. The principal of this summer school was Narayanan Kutty Bhagavatar, a violin vidwan. (He along with his two younger brothers -- flutist Padmanabha Iyer and Bhagavateeswaran, who played the mridangam and also the veena -- were known as the Tiruvanantapuram brothers. His daughter is the wife of mridanga chakravarti T.K. Murthy). The summer school was conducted for two years. But it was not successful. There was no follow-up to ascertain the results in the field. The Maharani was not satisfied. It was then that Father suggested that they start a regular school -- the Swati Tirunal Music Academy -- bring a renowned vidwan from outside as the Principal and appoint professors of music as well. The proposal was accepted and implemented by the Government. Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavatar came as the first Principal of the Academy at the personal request of Father. There were four professors: K.R. Kumaraswamy, N.V. Narayana Bhagavatar (a disciple of Muthiah Bhagavatar), N.G. Seetharaman (Musiri's disciple), and C.S. Krishna Iyer from Palakkad. After about four years, Muthiah Bhagavatar also worked hard to bring out a book of Swati Tirunal's compositions with notation. But he could not complete the work because he fell ill. Then Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer became the Principal. It was during his tenure that this book was published. Later, additional volumes were brought out. In this way Swati Tuirunal's compositions became popular. It helped a great deal that great musicians assisted in preparing the correct pathantara for the songs.

It was also on Father's suggestion that senior musicians were appointed as palace vidwans, Ariyakudi, Musiri, Semmangudi, Papa Venkataramaiah and Tanjavur Vaidyanatha Iyer were among those who were appointed.

A music festival began to be conducted during the nine days of the Navaratri, in a special place in the the Padmanabhaswamy Temple. Musicians would perform every evening in front of the deity. Swati Tirunal's Navaratri kritis were given prominence -- the particular composition of that day would be the main item -- in the place of ragam-tanam-pallavi. The Maharaja and the Maharani would themselves be present on those occasions. There was a separate enclosure for invitees. As a child, I attended many of these performances, The festival was the idea of the Maharani, a very shrewd and intelligent lady. Whatever suggestions she gave would be such that no one could argue about it.

These Navaratri concerts were another way of propogating Swati Tirunal's songs. Father had a part in organising these programmes also. During the festival period, he also arranged concerts in our own house in which local musicians participated.

All vidwans who visited Tiruvanantapuram would invariably stay in our house. And while staying with us, they sometimes used to give performances in the evening. Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar, Musiri Subrahmania Iyer, among others, have stayed with us and I got the opportunity to move closely with these stalwarts.

All the vidwans used to laugh and joke with us. Rajamanickam Pillai, especially, was very entertaining.

In playing host to the musicians, Father had the full support of my mother. Catering to the needs of all the guests was not an easy task! My mother used to make tinsful of sweets and savouries in preparation for their arrival. Father had given them so much liberty that they would arrive asking: "What have you made specially for us, Manni?" Their timings were erratic , and they themselves would have visitors, and we had to cater to them as well! Of course, we had a cook, but my mother needed immense patience to manage all this very well. For example, Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar preferred to have his dinner after his concert. In those days, concerts used to begin at eight in the evening and end at midnight, and he used to have his dinner at one o'clock in the morning! Such was the supportive role played by my mother, in allowing Father to entertain the musicians and give them the run of our house! Servants also used to be very cooperative in those days, which we cannot expect in today's world.

Father's love of music found expression in many ways. If anyone went by singing, even if it was a beggar, he would call him and give him, food, clothing, etc. One day, a husband-wife 'bairagi' duo came a-singing. Their songs were so good that Father learnt two of then by making the duo sing them three or four times. Not conversant with Hindi, he wrote lyrics in Sanskrit or Tamil to the same tunes.

Later, when we were in Madras, we used to hold bhajan singing sessions every Ekadasi day. Many friends used to attend. Papanasam Sivan too attended a number of these functions.

Father was fond of Hindustani music too. He had gramaphone records of some of the well-known singers of those days. He made me learn two of Bal Gandharva's songs, which were his favourites, and would listen to my singing them often. We didn't know Hindi or Marathi, but I just picked up the words as I heard them and sang, giving importance to the tune. The two songs were Malaa madan basey in Mand and Murthy manta in Bheempalasi. Then whenever I used to sing tukkadas in Mand raga, I used to incorporate the brigas I had learned from Bal Gandharva's songs.

[ continued in Part 4]