A quaint beautiful Rama Mandira amidst the hustle bustle of Malleshwaram . A well ventilated concert hall with good acoustics and well behaved mikes. A 'sound ' system indeed. Full House ,Wonderful audience, who didn't drag chairs , or sing along (Sometimes I wonder whose concert did I come for .sigh .)
oh , yes ! No lengthy speeches before or in the middle of the concert !
Peace generating , soul stirring rendition by Varmaji . Life couldn't get better ! That was the concert yesterday at Vyalikaval Rama Mandira !
The concert started with the brisk viriboni ata thala varnam by Pacchimiriam Adiyappaya , setting the stage to invoke lord Ganesha with a refreshing version of Vatapi ganapatim bhajeham .
Saveri ! Barayya venkataramana -a Purandaradasa kriti which mentions the Dasavatars . Varmaji on a lighter note said how apt the name Saveri is as ‘Sa’ is very close to ‘Ri’ in this raga unlike say Mayamalavagowla .. which he briefly illustrated . When said in Tamil it becomes Sa ‘ve ‘ ri !
Then came ..Raminsuvarevarura … This lilting melody was further nourished by Dr Balamuralikrishna’s chittaswarams neatly rendered by Varmaji . True to its name it was indeed a Su-poshini !
The multilingual mélange had the MDR fame Hariyum Haranum ..in Atana with typical MDR touches here and there ..especially at ‘Palitharulvan “!
Then came the magnum opus , Gangeya vasana dhara ..It was a beautiful ,coherent conversation by the foursome in Hamir Kalyani . The raga alaap and swara prastharams were stupendous leaving the entire place resonating Hamir kalyani .
Particularly enjoyed the ‘ Thani ‘ by Shri Harikumar and Shri Giridhar Udupa . Fireworks that caused no smoke or fumes but just colourful glittering sparks !
Shri Avaneeswaram Vinu was as usual at his best and rightfully earned the title ‘mysore mallige ‘ from Varmaji yesterday !
Rama rama ena rada brought us back to reality to be followed by Shri Rama namam maruvam maruvam ..The audience were literally spellbound by Varmaji’s “mounam, mounam “ ! where he and his team mates went totally silent . There was however a song in the air !
The concert ended with the evergreen thrillana in Kadanakuduhalam by Dr Balamuralikrishna and the lovely yadukula kambhoji Mangalam !
It was truly a WOW moment when I came out looking for the help who drove us to this place . He came from the concert hall and grinned sheepishly saying “ I like Balamuralikrishna avaru sangeetham , madam so I sat thru this concert !
That speaks volumes about Varmaji's music .
