Though Tamil Nadu is experiencing one of the worst political uncertainties of the recent past and the State has come to a standstill following an indefinite agitation launched by the employees of the Road Transport Corporation demanding wage hike, Thiruvaiyaru in Thanjavur district provided a soothing touch to the people on Saturday.
The annual Thyagaraja Aaradhana held on the banks of River Cauvery on the 171st anniversary of the 18th century composer Sage Thyagaraja saw thousands of Carnatic musicians from all over the globe reciting the Pancharathnakritis (Sanskrit for five gems) written and composed by the Sage himself in praise of Lord Rama. The picturesque banks of Cauvery resonated with devotion as the assembled musicians which included the crème de la crème of Carnatic music ,rendered the kritis (songs) in unison to the accompaniments of mridangas, violins and ghatams.
Special poojas were performed on the house where the Sage lived . The kritis were rendered at the temple where the presiding deity is the composer himself. While the musicians rendered the five famous songs in unison, the priests performed various homams and showered the deity with milk and saffron.
Umayalpuram Sivaraman, the mridangam maestro, Sirkazhi Sivachidambaram, OS Arun, Sudha Raghunathan, Papanasam Asokramani were the leading lights of the hour- long Aradhana. The rendering of the kritis came to a close with Endharo Mahanu Bhaavulu, a composition in Telugu in which Thygaraja salutes all the great saints and musicians down the ages.
“A musician’s music becomes meaningful only after rendering the Pancharathnakriti at the Thygaraja Aradhana at Thiryvaiyaru. One may skip any music concerts or programmes but not this,” said Sivachidambaram after the concert. All musicians who assembled at Thiruvaiyaru on Saturday had come from their camp at Chennai where they are participating in the month long Margazhi Music and Dance Festival.