Tamil all the way

CHENNAI: They used to be sung after the main song, as tukkadas' towards the end of a concert. But Tamil songs have come of age in the Carnatic music circuit with a few dedicated festivals featuring these kritis now becoming an intrinsic part of the season.
At the Rajah Annamalai Mandram in Esplanade, the Tamil Isai Sangam music festival has been on since 1943, says sabha president PR Gokulakrishnan."The region's music is ancient. The festival was started by Rajah Annamalai Chettiar, actively encouraged by C Rajagopalachari and writer Kalki R Krishnamurthy, to popularise Tamil music," says Gokulakrishnan.
The idea behind a Tamil music festival, he says, is to make people understand the lyrics of the songs. "The sangam is not against Thyagaraja or the other composers who composed mostly in Telugu and Sanskrit. We just highlight the songs written in praise of God by composers like Manickavasagar, Thirugnanasambandar, Oothukadu Venkatasubbaiyer and Bharathiyar," he says.
A similar movement has been on at the Jawahar Vidyalaya senior secondary school premises in Ashok Nagar. Sri Muralidhara Swamy has been organising the Deiva Tamil Isai Vizha for the last four years. The festival has a daily theme and artistes sing songs composed by a particular author, says secretary Bhagyanathan. "This year we had Bharathiyar as the theme on the opening day. There will also be discussions on Tamil hymns such as thevaram, thiruvasakam and divyaprabandham," he says.
Many prominent musicians, who perform at these sabhas, make it a point to select exclusive pieces to present thematic concerts. Themes chosen by vocalist TN Seshagopalan, who has been singing Tamil songs since the 1970s, include pieces from kambha ramayanam, thiruvasakam and divya prabandham. "This year's theme is Andal. I also sing songs composed by poet Kannadasan. Many know him only for his film songs but I sing devotional songs written by the poet," he says.
Now Seshagopalan says he take these songs to other concert venues as well. "I sing them as the main songs, especially kritis like Alai Payuthe' by Ootthukkadu Venkatasubbaiyer. The audience response has been tremendous."
Tamil songs were sung only in the last or as a thukkada for long, says Gokulakrishnan. "The trend has changed. At music festivals in the last few years, even established musicians take Tamil compositions as the main song for ragam-thanam-pallavi exposition," he says.
The prominence given to Tamil songs have found favour with a section of audience like P Lakshmanan. "My interest in Carnatic music started with listening to film songs in the 1950s," says this veteran rasika. Soon he wanted to listen to a full raga delineation and started visiting the Tamil Isai Sangam festival every year. "Though I go to other sabhas, I love listening to my favourite raga in songs sung in Tamil as I understand the meaning too," he says.