On SV Narayanaswamy Rao and the Sree Ramaseva Mandali’s tryst with melody

Way again in 1962, Flute Mahalingam (Mali) needed to grace the stage throughout aS Sree Rama Seva Mandali’s Ramanavami live performance, however some miscommunication led to the flautist not travelling to Bengaluru on that date. Organiser SV Narayanaswamy Rao’s (SVN) dedication to the artiste and the assembled gathering noticed him zoom to Chennai by automotive to personally decide up Flute Mali.

“The 7pm concert started only at 10pm, and the audience adamantly stayed put until they heard maestro Mali’s magic on the bamboo reed pour forth. Those were the times when music connoisseurs and organisers saw an intimate engagement towards classical melodies. My father celebrated the spirit of music, unconditionally,” says SV Narayanaswamy’s son, SN Varadaraj swho is now helming the Ramanavami musical jamboree at Chamarajpet Fort High School grounds, after his father’s demise in 2000.

Varadaraj says, “Those days when journeys were time-consuming and arranging train travel and accommodation for visiting musicians was laborious, Narayanaswamy personally took it up as his responsibility. Treasuring all spheres of classical melody and acknowledging every performer, his secular make-up was apparent when artistes as Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, KJ Yesudas, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar, Sarod maestro Ali Akbar Khan, Shehnai virtuoso Bismillah Khan, Parveen Sultana or Nadaswara vidwans such as Sheik Chinna Moulana and Karaikuruchi Arunachalam not only performed for Ramanavami, but also relished the divine prasaada served at the fest.”

If there may be one man whose contributions to the altering cultural panorama of Karnataka made an announcement with music, it was Narayanaswamy Rao, whose efforts noticed the Mandali develop considerably. The Mandali’s 75^th 12 months was marked with a stamp launch, commemorating its cultural standing in the metropolis. 

Eminent dignitaries of the instances equivalent to Mirza Ismail, Sir M Visvesvarayya, PV Rajamannar, VV Giri and R Venkataraman have inaugurated the Ramanavami Festivals at varied editions of the Sree Ramaseva Mandali. Most noteworthy events have been in 1955 and 1957 when Mysore Royal Jayachamaraja Wadiyar, a musicologist and composer, inaugurated the celebrations alongside with C Rajagopalachari. “When Dr. S Radhakrishnan, the then President of India, couldn’t make it to the inaugurals in 1959, his taped speech was flown down from Delhi in time for the festival,” recollects Varadaraj.

A seed is sown

In 1937, 13-year-old Narayanaswamy witnessed a younger patriot fall to the floor injured whereas collaborating in a freedom motion protest at Bengaluru’s City Market. This was throughout the British rule and police forces had opened fireplace to quell the rebellion. The sight of the bleeding man calling on the Almighty while writhing in ache was haunted Narayanaswamy for a protracted whereas; ultimately, he resolved to work in direction of cultural unity by way of bhakthi, and ingrain concord in individuals by way of melody.  

Fondly recollecting SVN’s dauntless willpower, Varadaraj says his father had typically mentioned this incident at City Market was a turning level in his life. Festival congregations, he thought, would offer individuals with the proper platform for prayer alongside with cultural proceedings for a commonality of function. The rationale was not only for non secular outpourings, however to have a way of purpose and precept in direction of the propagation of our tradition and music for a united India. 

SVN Rao with actor Rajkumar
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

“My father conducted nearly ten Ramanavami Festivals during the British Raj, as he started the Ramothsava in 1939!”

Narayanaswamy — born on December 21, 1924 to Vasudev Rao of Shivarapatna and Janaki Bhai — was used to taking the lead whereas organising Holi and Ganesha competition celebrations. At the shut of one in all these festivals, the surplus cash accrued from collected funds pushed him into pondering how this quantity might be put to higher use. Eventually, a three-day competition to have fun Lord Rama by way of bhakthi and melody from ‘Balakara Sreerama Bhajana Seva’ took form in 1939. 

That was how the Mandali was flagged off from humble beginnings close to the Rameshwara Temple, on the third Main Road of Chamarajpet.

However, that didn’t satiate Narayanaswamy. As a pupil of the violin, his curiosity in classical genres noticed him invite Carnatic and Hindustani musicians for ensuing Ramanavami festivals. The modest Mandali grew with each passing 12 months — from platforms with bhajans and three-day live shows, to in the end turning into a grand affair full with religious discourses, youth contests, slots for budding musicians and the participation of stalwarts from each technology and style.

SVN Rao
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

A forerunner

Narayanaswamy Rao and ghata exponent KS Manjunath’s ardour to propagate significant music from the late 1930s proved to be an encouraging issue for a number of Ramaseva samitis and mandalis to take form in the metropolis. After Narayanaswamy Rao flagged it off in Chamarajpet, Bengaluru regularly noticed nearly each space in the metropolis echoing with music throughout Ramanavami, making it part of the metropolis’s music season.

That a mere occasion of celebrating the ‘Hero of the Ramayana’ in each nook and nook with kosambri and panaka slowly expanded to accommodate non secular discourses and classical arts, is a uncommon Bengaluru phenomenon.

In the early-1940s, Narayanaswamy was launched to legendary violinist T Chowdiah and Flute Mahalingam, each of whom developed an instantaneous affection for the Mandali and its function. Their technique to assist the Ramaseva Mandali banner fly excessive was easy — get artistes to carry out by providing them a bonus: Chowdiah would accompany them on the violin.

There have been particular periods when Flute Mali and Chowdiah carried out collectively for an enraptured viewers. It is claimed Chembai or his pupil Yesudas by no means accepted a pie, whereas vocalist Balamurali Krishna in the early 1960s was provided ₹12 for his efficiency! While Chowdiah and later, MS Subbulakshmi immediately donated no matter obtained throughout Ramanavami, Mandolin Shrinivas was recognized to solely settle for the blessings of the Divine.

SVN Rao with Begum Parveen Sultana
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Music that mattered

“Devotion through music was the only underlying current,” says Varadaraj. “Amjad Ali Khan too, who never accepted any fee, has been known to ask for his portion of holy water and prasaada before a concert.”

Narayanaswamy’s 5 youngsters have seen their father work for a public trigger in society, which in flip translated to unseen advantages. They say Saleh Ahmed, the furnishings sellers, equipped them with 10,000 chairs for a trifle. “During Ramanavami, the pandal was home to my father for two months. With the goodwill earned by him, we are now able to lock in programmes with top-rung musicians over the phone today.”

No marvel Bade Ghulam Ali Khan in 1956 is claimed to have waited for every week for the steady downpour to cease and sing for Ramaseva Mandali audiences thereafter.

“SVN was a people’s man and he had established a special rapport with musicians. He also believed in nurturing young talent. He took great effort in making both performers and rasikas realise the unfathomable value associated in pioneering a cultural identity for pre-independent India,” says Varadaraj.

(The panel dialogue on December 21 will happen between 5pm and 9.30pm at 21/1, SVN Rao Marg, 4^th Main, 2^nd Cross, Chamarajapet. It may also be stay streamed on www.fb.com/ SreeRamasevaMandali )