On the Dikshitar trail

As Carnatic musician G. Ravi Kiran strolls through the courtyard of the Bhaktavatsala Perumal Kshetra in Tirukkannamangai near Tiruvarur, he is engaged in a discussion with art historian Madhusudhanan Kalaichelvan. Punctuated only by the sounds of nature, their conversation is one of shared passion and common appreciation for the work of Muthuswami Dikshitar.

It’s this foundation that brought the two together, leading Ravi Kiran to expand the work of his Guruguhaamrta Trust, and record what they call ‘Dikshita Kshetra Darshanam.’

“I was delighted when Ravi told me about this project. I’ve always been interested in Dikshitar’s works, from the kshetras where they were composed to the way they came to life. While I’ve only scratched the surface with certain pieces on my heritage tours, this project delves into how his kritis represent certain features,” says Madhusudhan.

According to Ravi, Guruguhaamrta was launched in 2009 to focus on Dikshitar’s works. He has hosted many annual day celebrations, an annual aradhana at Dikshitar’s samadhi in Ettayapuram, and international choirs and competitions celebrating the composer’s works.

“I was inspired by my gurus, R.K. Srikantan and T.M. Krishna, and their personal journeys with Dikshitar’s works,” says Ravi.

The series will be launched on March 24, Dikshitar’s 247th birth anniversary and is designed to appeal to music lovers, learners and heritage enthusiasts.

The first season features six episodes that will be released every month and will be available for viewing, for free, on Guruguhaamrta’s YouTube Channel. The first episode features the Bhaktavatsala Perumal Kshetra and is supported by Indic Academy. The music for the trailer has been composed by mridangam exponent K. Arun Prakash.

“Dikshitar’s descriptions of the kshetras or temples and the deities leave much to the imagination, both aurally and visually. Here, we’re attempting to bridge that gap, so to speak. As many of the compositions we’ve chosen are rare, we hope that people will enjoy listening to them being sung in temples,” says Madhusudhan .

“Each track comes with immense production values, from the audio quality to the visual experience: we want viewers, especially students, to experience both the location and the music. Dikshitar constructs a musical edifice with each kriti, from the description to the musicality. Our first episode, for example, is set in raga Vamshavathi, one of the 72 raagaanga ragas. These ragas came to life in Dikshitar’s works — as far as we know, there were no compositions in this raga before Dikshitar composed in it,” says Ravi Kiran, who hopes to explore many more finer nuances of the music through the series.

The freelance journalist writes on art and culture.