Streaming Plan Sign Up: Join the Acharyanet Premium Subscription and get access to over 400 hundred video lessons taught by top gurus, to learn at your own pace. Obtain unlimited access to all lessons from basics to advanced including varishais, geethams, varnams, krithis and many more. | Pricing details >>
Sannidi Academy of Music and Arts, (SAMA) a nonprofit organaisation established in the year 2011 by carnatic musician T.R. Sundaresan. Sannidi, helps young talents to come together and also provides them a platform for team work, learning and performing. Sannidi Academy of Music and Arts welcome all like minded musicians and artists to come forward and be a part of its future endeavors.
The flute has played a key role in India’s artistic life since antiquity. This is evident from writings on dance-drama, mythology, sculptures and paintings. Its playing technique must have been highly developed for a very long time. Different names are used for it, for instance kuzhal (pronounced like “kulal” or “kural”) in Tamil speaking regions; and bansuri in northern India. In poetry, song lyrics, classical dance items and films, words like venu and murali evoke its association with Krishna, the ‘dark skinned’ cowherd and flute player. […] Tagore’s poetry reminds us of the fact that reed and bamboo flutes are the world’s most “democratic” to this very day, both literally and figuratively:
Tagore in Kalakshetra image by L. Pesch
Very often I think and feel that I am like a flute – the flute that cannot talk but when the breath is upon it, can sing. – Rabindranath Tagore whose pioneering institution Santiniketan inspired Kalakshetra | Read more >>
The writing in Sebastian and Sons introduces us to the storyteller in T M Krishna like never before. It’s a non-fictional work written with a novelist’s touch. It makes for a riveting read with the musician’s earnestness to absorb the stories of his subjects and his ability to look at the larger picture shining through. He concurs his approach was unique: “This book was very different writing for me; it was a new form for someone who has largely explored philosophical ideations driven by research (treatises), activism and self-introspection. This is the first time I wrote a book with the approach of a journalist. And it was other people’s stories, which I was trying to make sense of. I completely enjoyed the role of being an observer and a commentator.”
Excerpt from S. Gopalakrishnan’s “Another Listening” newsletter A much awaited book ‘Sebastian and Sons’ by TM Krishna on the evolution of the art of Mridangam making is going to be released on 2 February 2020. ‘The making process is an intellectually, aesthetically and physically taxing one. From acquiring the skins for the circular membranes and straps to the wood for the drum, from curing the material to the final construction, and at the end of it all, making sure that it has the tone that the mrdangam player wants, mrdangam-making is also a highly nuanced operation at every stage. This requires a highly tuned ear and an ability to translate abstract ideas expressed by musicians into the corporeal reality of a mrdangam. Yet, their contribution to the art of the mrdangam is dismissed as labour and repair—when it is spoken of at all.
There are legendary mrdangam players, yes; there are also distinguished mrdangam makers, many of them from Dalit Christian communities, who remain on the fringes of the Karnatik community. Sebastian and Sons explores the world of these artists, their history, lore and lived experience to arrive at a more organic and holistic understanding of the music that the mrdangam makes’.
As a dedication to all major Mridangam makers of the past I dedicate Mridangam solos of three all-time masters, Pazhani Subramania Pillai, Palakkad Mani Iyer and Ramanathapuram C S Murugabhoopathy
Subscribe to the “Another Listening”newsletter for daily Carnatic music recommendations and more: anotherlistening@gmail.com
There is not only myth, but also vocabulary. “In Tamil, ‘thol’ means ‘skin’ and ‘thattu’ means ‘plate’. Mridangam players will talk about thattu, but not about thol,” Krishna said. “These were all ways of distancing.”
T. M. Krishna (in MOPA “Notes to Myself”): Now here is a fascinating story of a musician born and bred in privilege by his own admission, who enjoyed a liberal, progressive environment both at home and at school that laid the foundations for a fearless, critical mind and outspoken tongue, enjoyed the best of teachers who fostered an abiding love for Carnatic music in his young heart and was one among the band of young musicians who took the Carnatic stage by storm in the 90s. […]
Book search (India)
List of sites covered by this Google custom search engine
Enter a book title, author’s name or any subject of special interest in the above search field.
Note: if the Google Custom Search window isn’t displayed on this page (on a tablet device and smartphone or any PC) – “Enable JavaScript” in the “Security” settings of your internet browser – Toggle to regular web view if you happen to use the “Reader” view
Sreevidhya Chandramouli and Chandramouli Narayanan are founding members of the non-profit organization Dhvani (www.dhvani.org) committed to the Education, Preservation and Dissemination of arts of India. | Learn more:
Vocal with vina accompaniment: Sreevidhya & Chandramouli (Karaikudi Bani)
Dr. Srinivasa Ayya Srinivasan, a dear friend of ours, and an Indologist at University of Hamburg, Germany, passed away on May 2nd, 2019. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Pia Srinivasan, who was a student of late Rajeswari Padmanabhan. We pay homage to his great soul with a few of his favorite compositions on voice and Veena.
To listen and view photos on youtube, click here >>
Find the lyrics* sung in the tribute by Dhvani in the search window seen below or click here >>
Dhvani was formed to Preserve, Explore & Disseminate Indian art and cultural heritage. As a grassroots organization devoted to expanding knowledge in our community, Dhvani fulfills the need to inculcate an integrated understanding of art in Indian culture as well as other cultures.
Compositions heard as part of the Karaikudi Voyage tribute
Paripalaya – Ritigaula – Adi tala – Tyagaraja
Ramapahi meghasyama – Kapi – Adi tala – Tyagaraja
Amba nilayatakshi – Nilambari – Adi tala – Muttusvami Dikshitar
Find song lyrics by typing any of the above in the search window:
Studies in the Rāma story : on the irretrievable loss of Vālmīki’s original and the operation of the received text as seen in some versions of the Vālin-Sugrīva episode http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/560465987
e.g. search for “Shodhganga Carnatic music”, “Shodhganga veena”, “Shodhganga bamboo flute”, “Shodhganga Indian music education”, “Shodhganga music bani”, “Shodhganga percussion instrument” in the search field below:
Track missing details for search results
To trace the source document of any separate chapter listed among the search results hosted on Shodhganga’s server, look for its “handle” number: e.g. “138940” from the URL (in search for more publishing details): http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/handle/10603/138940
Copy-paste the second part of this “handle” number (e.g. 138940) into the How to Cite window in order to trace the document’s publishing data on the Shodhganga website http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in.
e.g. “handle” number 138940 refers to “The influence of Nagaswaram on Karnataka classical vocal music”, Researcher: Radhika Balakrishnan, Guide: Sreelatha, R. N., University of Mysore, Completed Date: 2016, University of College Fine Arts
Browse and download any chapter from the Shodhganga server.
Note: search results appear without much delay. More patience is needed for consulting the Shodhganga website (waiting time varies depending on the hour of the day).
Merger of websites: The two sites www.musicresearch.in and www.musicresearchlibrary.net have now merged! We have closed www.musicresearch.in and moved its contents to www.musicresearchlibrary.net. In the ‘musicresearchlibrary.net’ site, a menu ‘musicresearch.in‘ has been created which will house some of the earlier contributions of senior scholars. Please like and follow our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Musicresearchlibraryadmin/ for latest news and updates.
Many Carnatic ragas have their counterparts in western Music […] L.S.Ramesh, a Post Graduate from the reputed Indian Institute of Technology-I.I.T.Madras, has designed an Innovative Carnatic Music chakra (Sri Saraswathi 72 Melakarta chakra). […] This chakra requires no prior knowledge and has been appreciated by Music legends Dr. Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna,Prince Rama Varma, Shri. Garimella Balakrishna Prasad (Annamacharya project Director-Tirumala Tirupathi) and others.
Mr. Ramesh and his wife Mrs. Sridevi use the money generated from sale of this Sri Saraswathi 72 Melakarta chart to help underprivileged children through FACES (Food, Aid, Clothing, Education, Shelter); a Service started by this couple.
