Homage to Annamacharya

The composer's 597th jayanthi was celebrated in Pondicherry Musicians from the Annamacharya Project of the TTD rendered keerthanas and harikathas

PONDICHERRY: Songs of Tallapaka Annamacharya reverberated through the Andhra Maha Sabha (AMS) premises in Pondicherry on December 8 and 9, as the sabha and the Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams (TTD) jointly celebrated the composer's 597th Jayanthi.

Musicians from the Annamacharya Project of the TTD paid homage to the 15th century composer who hailed from Tallapaka village in Andhra Pradesh, by singing his keerthanas and rendering harikatha.

Annamacharya project director Medhasani Mohan told The Hindu that a correspondence course on Annamacharya would soon be started so that even people living elsewhere could learn his songs. "We are encouraging more students to take up research on the composer and his music and are also bringing out CDs and cassettes with his songs," he added.

V. Nallam of AMS said the sabha would request the Annamacharya project to depute someone to teach music in Pondicherry. "They are teaching music free of cost to students in several places."

A musician of the Annamacharya Project and student of the legendary Ghantasala, K.S. Veeraraghavalu, explained that though Annamacharya had set to tune his 32,000 songs, most musicians changed the ragas according to their likings. "The accent in his songs is more on the sahitya (lyrics), and the songs are about Lord Venkateswara, human life and aspects of devotion, than the tunes that have a rustic charm about them," he added. The AMS secretary, S. Ranga Rao, said the sabha with around 500 members organised functions around festivals like Ugadi and Vijayadasami.

"We aim to have something related to preserving our culture and tradition and this Annamacharya mahotsavam is one such activity," he added.

Leela Krishna Reddy, senior assistant, Annamacharya project, said on every third Saturday musical and devotional programmes were being conducted at the TTD information centre on Nehru Street in Pondicherry and those interested may participate.

Courtesy: The Hindu