Divine Rhapsody

Divine Rhapsody
For 70 years, the Rama Navami Music Festival has been the centre of Bangalore’s cultural landscape. Prashanth G N remembers the legends and events that have made it one of the foremost music festivals in the country
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: The history of the city’s famed Sree Rama Navami Music Festival is filled with many memorable events. But one stands out: Gangubai Hangal, the only legend who hasn’t performed at the event, showed up one day. The thrilled organizers, however, discovered that she had come not to enthral the audience but to be part of it, watching Bismillah Khan perform.
To this day, in the 70th year of Bangalore’s most-awaited music festival, it is a matter of regret for the Rama Seva Mandali that Hangal hasn’t performed. “This is sheer coincidence. When she came once, decades ago, we hoped she would sing. We didn’t know she only wanted to watch Bismillah Khan. The next time we invited her, it coincided with her tours. When we tried again, she was not well, and then her health deteriorated. Even two minutes of her time would mean everything to us,” said Mandali and festival convener Ramprasad.
Gangubai Hangal’s absence notwithstanding, many legends have performed at the festival — from Bade Ghulam Ali Khan to M S Subbulakshmi, Bismillah Khan to T Chowdiah, Alla Rakha to T R Mahalingam, Kumar Gandharva to Chembai Vaidyanath Bhagavathar, Ali Akbar Khan to Papa Venkatarama Iyer, Maharajapuram Vishwanath Iyer, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar, Chittoor Subramaniam Pillai, Bhimsen Joshi, Mallikarjun Mansur, Basavaraj Rajguru...
All these artistes, regardless of their stature, received an advance of just Rs 20 from Ramprasad’s father S V Narayanswamy, who initiated the Mandali and the festival. It was not the value of the payment, but the gesture that mattered. “I am told Yesudas has preserved all the Rs 20 notes that my father presented to him over 29 years,” says Ramprasad.
Yesudas, he adds, also performs for free at only three venues in the country: two are in Kerala and the third is the Rama Navami festival in Chamarajpet. Yesudas also postponed a trip to the US once to perform at the festival. Another time, he ensured that he returned in time for it.
Interestingly, the dates of all concerts during the month-long festival would be fixed only after securing the date from M S Subbulakshmi for her concert. “Her date was precious because people waited for days to listen to her. We travelled to Chennai every year to get it. Once she confirmed, we would fix her concert for the last day of the festival, and then fix the dates of the other concerts. Her concert was a fitting finale to the festival,” says Ramprasad.
Subbulakshmi performed at the festival for a record 31 years with just one break, when she was unwell. No other musician has performed over such a long period.
Two other incidents are also worth recalling. Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, the Hindustani legend from Pakistan’s Punjab, made it to Chamarajpet in 1956. Just as his concert was to begin, there was heavy rain, which continued for over seven days. The Mandali did not have proper roofing for the artistes and audience. Khan agreed to wait through the whole week in Bangalore. How the organisers convinced the doyen to stay back for such a long time remains a mystery.
Legendary flautist T R Mahalingam was in Salem when he got a call to perform at the festival. Narayanswamy sent a car to pick him up. “He was woken up in an inebriated state. He slept in the car throughout the journey to Bangalore. After reaching the city, he took a hot bath while a crowd of 6,000 waited for him. By the time he started, it was 11 pm. Mahalingam performed for two-and-a-half hours nonstop. The place was jampacked.”
From 1947 till his death in 1998, Veena Doreswamy Iyengar performed at the festival. The festival was also attended by the Mysore Maharaja, Jayachamaraja Wadiyar, in 1955 and 1957, as well as Rajaji.
How it all began
A V Anand, mridangam artiste, who has seen the festival for over 50 years, says S N Narayanswamy, a music enthusiast, but not a musician, traditionally celebrated Rama Navami with friends. He started Ramotsava with concerts at the Rameshwara temple on 3rd Main Road, Chamarajpet, in the late 1930s. Then the festival moved to the house of Rudraiah, a businessman, where Ramotsava was organised around an arali mara (banyan tree) in the 1940s. Later, it was held at the BCCB bank hall, before it came to the City Institute compound near Makkala Koota and Fort High School grounds.
Anand recalls Narayanswamy’s efforts. “He gave importance to the religious side of Ramotsava. He would organize pravachanaas by scholars, Sahasranama, invite a c h a r y a s and s w a m i s home, perform n a i v e d y a and prepare food for artistes every night. He was very sincere in whatever he did.”
Legends at the festival
Maharajapuram Vishwanath Iyer Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar GNB Alathur brothers Musiri Subramanya Iyer Madurai Mani Iyer Chitoor Subramanya Pillai T R Mahalingam T Chowdiah Chembai Bhagavathar Rajamanickam Pillai Papa Venkatarama Iyer Karaikurchi Arunachalam Rajaratnam Pillai A L C Natarajan K V Narayanswamy, T K Rangachari Salem Deshikan D K Jayaraman Prabha Atre D K Pattamal Radha Jayalakshmi K B Sunderammal Bismillah Khan Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Alla Rakha Shanta Prasad Ali Akbar Khan Alla Rakha Gangubai Hangal Basavaraj Rajguru Mallikarjun Mansur Kumar Gandharva