Saturday, February 09, 2008

Thyagaraja Aradhana - Adyar, Chennai

I am personally amused by the idea of paying tribute to Thyagaraja, one of the great composers of Carnatic music on every Sunday after the aradhana at his Samadhi in Tiruvaiyaru is over.
(Leave alone the aradhana or the tribute at Tiruvaiyaru that has become a show off these days and displays no sanctity.)

This continues till April and travels to the USA and Australia.

I see the musicians hopping across to all the sabhas hosting the aradhana week after week. Some even sit for one Pancharatna kriti in one sabha and move on to the other if there are more than one aradhana on the same day.
After all they have to show their faces and offer their namaskarams to the organisers more than paying tribute to the composer!



You are a lucky one if you had been to this place on a day other than the aradhana!

Sit on the cemented slabs on the banks of the river Cauvery, sit inside the mandapa where the composer's samadhi is situated, if you can, sing a song and pay your tribute, walk down the quiet streets of the village, have a look at the cement and mortar building that is coming up at the site where house of Thyagaraja once stood!

Tell me, if you make a trip after reading this post!

Picture caption: Aradhana held at the Karpaga Vinayakar temple in Karpagam Garden, Adyar on Fen. 3, 2008

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