Srimatha writes on her concert experience

By Srimatha Ramanand

Ramanavami, the Bangalore’s own music season is the time of the year I have looked forward to since childhood.

As a child, Ramanavami music festivals consisted mainly of visits to the Seshadripuram Rama Seva Mandali and the Fort High School pendal. But the festival has grown in scale with the years, and today we have umpteen number of sabhas, temples and other organisations that conduct music festivals in the Ramanavami season.

One such temple is Vidyaganapathi temple, Vidyaranyapura.

Vidyaranyapura is a nice and green residential locality in the north Bangalore.

It also has an active music scene, with concerts happening at the famed Durgaparameshwari temple, and Sringara Sangeeta Sabha.

An addition to the list is the Vidyaganapathi temple where I got an opportunity to perform on 27th March 2012, as part of their week-long Ramanavami celebrations.

The temple is nestled in green surroundings in quite a big campus. This was the first time I sang in Vidyaranyapura and it was a lovely experience.

I had chosen most of the compositions that were on Rama, such as Brochevarevare (sriranjani), Seethapathe (Khamach), Raghuvara (Pantuvarali) etc.

Koushik (violin) and Suneel (mridangam) accompanied me with great enthusiasm, and we had a great time performing to an audience who sat through the performance (which is a rarity in temple concerts), enjoying both the manodharma and the devotional aspects of music.

Temple concerts have a beauty of their own, especially when you get to sing with the view of the diety. A senior who was helping with the audio system is himself a member of the local bhajan group, and helped me with a special 'feedback mike'!:) The people were so warm and hospitable, making me wanting to go back and sing there again.