 Titles for Srivatsa, T P Vaidyanathan
The Charubala Mohan Trust conferred titles of 'Mahapandithar Siromani' and 'Sangeetha Kala Praveena' on musicologist Dr V V Srivatsa and Carnatic vocalist T P Vaidyanathan respectively at a function in Chennai recently.
Rasikas of Carnatic music were assembled on May 20, 2006, at the Dakshinamurthy Auditorium, Mylapore, when the two were honoured by the Charubala Mohan Trust. This year the trust decided to honour Dr Srivatsa and T P Vaidyanathan. The trust has been encouraging artistes for the past seven to eight years right from its inception on September 12, 1998. The trust, initiated by leading violin vidwan M Chandrasekaran in the name of his mother, encourages and honours knowledgeable artistes whose performances lend lustre to the field of Carnatic music.
The felicitation programme started with an invocation performed by one of the students of M
Chandrasekaran.
V Narayanan of the Asthika Samajam, Alwarpet, presented the awards to Srivatsa and Vaidyanathan. He pointed out that Chandrasekaran had the rare quality of identifying talented artistes and appreciating their work.
He said Srivatsa aptly deserved the title ‘Mahapandithar Siromani’. He is a qualified metullurgy engineer and has been working for an MNC, and is also active as a member of committees of apex associations of the steel industry. Having learnt music under gurus like Mannargudi Naganandha Iyer, K S Mahadeva Bagavathar, Parthasarthy of Thillaisthanam Parampara and D K Pattammal, he had a strong foundation in the basics of Carnatic music. Known as a good performer, excellent teacher, guide and musicologist, he has been helping many artistes today with several compositions. He has to his credit several compositions which are a blend of aesthetics and intellect. He also runs a trust called ‘Guruguhanjali’ which conducts concerts to encourage young artistes every year. His trust does not encourage donations.
The ‘Sangeetha Kala Praveena' title was conferred on T P Vaidyanathan. He began learning music right from the age of six and later continued to learn from Sangeetha Choodamani B K Padmanabha Rao, Mysore Vasudevacharya, Sadasiva Rao and Mayavaram Viswanatha Sastry. He showed ample evidence of his promise when he stood first in the Mysore government examinations for vocal music in 1948 and became a good vocalist. Well-known for his excellent pronunciation of Dasarpadams due to his excellent knowledge of Kannada, he is also the asthana vidwan of Kanchi Kamakoti
Peetam.
Replying to the felicitations, Srivatsa and Vaidyanathan said they were honoured to receive the titles from such a prestigious
organisation.
Dr Srivatsa conducted a demonstration while Vaidyanathan rendered a vocal performance on May 21.
Soumya Manivannan
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