Music matters, but so do the many Margazhi collaborations
Margazhi, or 'The Season', in our land, is no longer confined to the pious ritual of singing the Thiruppavai, or following the Pavai vow (vratham or ritual) throughout a month. We had long translated the month into one that celebrates music as an art form — more specifically Carnatic music, as that was the closest to the divinity of the Pavai that we could get. But now, specifically, with this season, it seems to have become a month that celebrates our contemporary lifestyle, and the love for all things Epicurean, therein. And so,
Margazhi is now 'in association' with food, art, car rides, competitions, win free passes, the works! And as money makes music (or is it the other way round), and the purists are choking purple and wondering what happened to the music, the others, including the artistes, are lapping up the opportunities this sudden burgeoning of the season has afforded.
Food for song?
"It was quite interesting," says Maharajapuram Ganesh Viswanathan, who performed live at the Thaligai, where music lovers can have that extra more, packaged in the form of a high tea, buffet dinner, and an interaction with the artiste. "The raga of the day when we performed was Mohanam, and so, we sang the main piece in that raga. The food had a pentatonic variety — there was Panchamurtham, Pancha keerai soup, five types of ilai adai, five vegetables-mixed pakodas... and so on. So, we sang two songs in Mohanam — the Varnam as well as the main piece was Gopika Manoharam, a composition of Dikshitar. It worked very well for us, as our Bhani is known for Mohanam rendition, and for this particular song, which was popularised by my grandfather (Maharajapuram Santhanam)." Adds Nalina Kannan, proprietor, Thaligai, "Our forte is food, so we have one raga as a theme for each day, and make some foods around the raga. So, when we had Raga Amritavarshini, we used honey as the main ingredient, and had salad with honey dressing, payasam with honey as the sweetner, and when we had Raga Keeravani —greens were used a lot. I inform the artiste regarding the theme, and they choose what to sing."
Read more at:
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com...gazhi-collaborations/articleshow/62190096.cms