100th episode of Kanyakumari’s ekaika raga series

In December 2019, violinist A. Kanyakumari began showcasing Tyagaraja’s ekaika raga kritis (only a single kriti in the raga) on the violin, releasing one every Friday on her Facebook handle.

Originally intended for that year’s December season, she continued exploring and launching these kritis every week. Recently, a ticketed online programme, ‘Shatha ekaika raga vaibhavam’, organised by Singapore-based organisations Chethas and Apsaras Arts Dance Company, celebrated the rendition of the 100th kriti.

Says Bombay Anand of Chethas, who is a disciple of Kanyakumari and the curator of the programme, “I was in Chennai when my guru released the 75th kriti and she felt that a concert featuring these kritis should be organised. We planned one featuring her students from across the globe.”

There were 90 performers of whom 58 were direct students, 17 were disciples of her students, and seven were from Singapore and had taken a masterclass with Kanyakumari. Eight percussion artistes enhanced the concert’s appeal. Besides the violin, the veena, keyboard and guitar also made appearances.

The performance was professionally recorded in six locations — Maryland, Singapore, Chennai, California and Cochin. Despite the number of artistes and the multiple venues, Anand says it was not difficult to curate since every participant supported the venture wholeheartedly.

The concert began with ‘Giriraja Suta’ in raga Bangala, a piece dear to Kanyakumari, being the first one taught to her. It was the only song which was not an ekaika raga kriti. The 100th kriti, the highlight of the event, was ‘Nagumomu’ in Abheri, elaborately rendered with alapana and tanam and ragamalika swaras by Kanyakumari and her senior India-based students and performers — Embar Kannan, V. Sanjeev, Nishanth Chandran, L. Ramakrishnan and Vittal Rangan.

Interesting interludes

Each kriti was separated from the next by capsules from Kanyakumari’s interview by Jayanthi Iyengar. These brief and succinct interludes were informative, where the violinist explained how she carefully researches and understands the lyrics of each composition to ensure that her playing accurately reflects the essence of the sahitya. Kanyakumari had intended the series for students, particularly those learning instruments.

She shared some lesser-known aspects of the kritis. Though Kiravani is a popular raga, Tyagaraja has composed only one song in it. In Gowlai, the gana raga pancharatnam is the sole known kriti of the vaggeyakara. There are at least two ekaika raga kritis in which the name of the raga (Ganamurti and Amritavarshini) is incorporated — a feature found more in Muthuswami Dikshitar’s compositions. Tyagaraja has also composed in rare ragas like Dakka, Bhairavam and Senchu Kamboji.

The concert also underscored Kanyakumari’s excellence in the art of teaching. Few prolific musicians of her level have trained as many competent performers and not just violinists. Many of today’s young accompanying violinists are her students, each of whom holds her in great respect.

The Chennai-based author writes on

art and culture.