Musical tribute to Annamacharya

Annamacharya Cultural Centre of Mumbai celebrated its silver jubilee with two days of dance, music and discussions, coinciding it with the composer’s Jayanthi. A seminar on Annamacharya’s works covered a range of topics including poetic expressions, depiction of nayika, Annamayya as a social reformer and ideas taken by him from the Gita.

‘Nrityabharathi’, an ensemble of six classical dance forms, Bharatanatyam by Anand Satchidanandan, Kathak by Ruchi Sharma, Kuchipudi by MSR Murthy and Battu Savita, Manipuri by Latasana Devi, Odissi by Ankur Ballal and Mohiniyattom by Sujatha Nair, portrayed the compositions of Annamacharya. The audience applauded the depictions of four stories in a small kirtana, ‘Govinda Govinda yani koluvare.’

Dawn to dusk event

“Nrityabharathi established that art has no language or regional boundaries,” said Vishnupriya Krishnamurthy, singer and devotee.

The Annamacharya Jayanthi started in the morning with Nagarasankeerthanam, where the idol of Annamacharya was taken in a procession around the premises of Swami Narayan Temple in Garodianagar, Ghatkopar, with devotees singing in a chorus. Then there was group rendering of Saptagiri songs of the composer by musicians accompanied by mridangam and ghatam. A Saptaveena Tarangini came next.

Solo renditions and group singing by many devotees was scheduled through the day. Seven year old Nidhi captivated the audience with her soulful singing.

Lec-dems of folk songs of Annamacharya by Rama Jayanthi, lectures on nayaka nayaki bhava by Surendranath and on laya aspects by Padmavathi Thyagaraju were interesting and informative.

Teachers of Mumbai rendered songs in praise of Lord Narasimha composed by Annamacharya to celebrate Narasimha Jayanthi. The day concluded with Dolothsavam and Mangala Harati.