A small town in the Cauvery delta comes alive in January each year. Carnatic musicians and rasikas all over the world turn their focus to Thiruvaiyaru (city of five rivers) in the Tanjavur district of »
Tyagaraja was a prolific carnatic composer. As he travelled to different places around Thanjavur he composed songs praising the deities of the local temples. When he visited Lalgudi, he composed five songs collectively known as »
“Did you see how she did that?” I was lucky enough to attend numerous concerts, most often at the Bangalore Gayana Samaja, with my late guru Seethalakshmi Venkatesan. In every concert, we had attended together, »
A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops. Henry Adams Sripadaraya (1422-1480) is believed to have laid the foundation of the Haridasa movement in Karnataka. He was a teacher of the »
Minstrels and troubadours were travelling musicians of the medieval age. Their songs and ballads reflected themes of love and chivalry. The performance was usually a single voice with a single instrument like the harp or »
When British entrepreneur William Seighart founded National Poetry Day his intention was to promote poetry and recognize the works of talented poets. In his words,”They (poets) shouldn’t be embarrassed about reading their work out aloud. I »
It’s almost like a switch is turned on and two things happen. People get up from their seats and head towards the doors in two different directions. Most of them make a beeline towards the »
When three women – a flautist, a violinist and a vainika – got together to give a Carnatic concert a couple of years ago it was the beginning of a new journey. The venu-violin-veena concert »
In the recent Marathi film Katyar Kaljat Ghusali the song “Ghei Chand Makarand” is sung by two singers in distinctive styles.The song which originally featured in a Marathi musical play or Natyageet was popularized by »
The excitement around the upcoming Bangalore Literary Festival has been marred by controversy. Writers threatening to boycott the festival and founding director Vikram Sampath stepping down has raised many questions in the minds of Bangaloreans. »