25 years of Sri Ramanavami music at Basaweshwaranagar

It is the silver jubilee year of the Sri Ramanavami music celebration of Vani Kala Kendra in Basaweshwaranagar. The central image of the tambura on the brochures and backdrop on stage sports the silver foils.

Curator Keshav says that the jubilee is a low-profile milestone; the focus being on the mix of the concerts on offer across 30 years.

He recalls the first edition of this fest when the stage was small and there were three concerts.

Today, at least 750 people of the area attend the concerts regularly.

Days when concerts went on till midnight!

Chennai-based vocalist Papanasam Ashok Ramani sang at the Vyalikaval Mandali on Sunday evening.

He had three back to back concerts in Bangalore and Mysore.

Ramani says he has sung at Vyalikaval when the Mandali used to put-up a stage in front of the temple and people used to be seated in the street beyond it.

"Concerts used to go on till 10.30 p.m. and people would stay on till the end. The audience would be big," Ashok recalls.

Golden jubilee. At Vyalikaval.

The Vyalikaval community in Malleswaram zone is lending its hand to celebrate the Sri Ramaseva Mandali's golden jubilee this year.

Fireworks and high profile events were not on the mind of the Mandali team. But the concerts will run for 30 days.

The man who curates the fest is Bhashyam. He has his connections across south India and does not stop from inviting artistes from other states.

The Mandali's small but well-designed hall has good acoustics and though now, only 70/100 people sit through a concert, the music on offer is easy on the ears.

The main street here is illuminated.

The community though will be looking forward to the temple's kumbhabishekam in late April ( the auditorium stands alongside the temple).

M S Sheela in concert; Basaweshwaranagar

M. S. Sheela in concert at Vani Kala Kendra campus, Basaweshwaranagar, Bangalore on Sunday evening. Alongside her as accompanists - Nalina Mohan on the violin, H S Sudhindra on mridangam and G Omkar Rao on ghatam

Music in Sriramapuram . . .

There are many sides to Bangalore. The old areas which live in the very past still survive.

On Saturday evening, we drove through chaos and heavy traffic to get to Sriramapuram. A neighborhood that lies in darkness in most parts, tonight the temples of Sri Anjaneya and Sri Rama were bathed in strings of illumination.

The Sri Rama Temple is a small one and has been recently reconstructed by the Trust that manages it affairs. Another Trust hosts the Sri Ramanavami celebrations. Music is a part of it.

One admires the tenacity and dedication of the hosts - to host music in a small, old hall where the music is drowned by peak-hour traffic on its two sides and passers-by stop for a few minutes to peep in and watch the concert in progress.

This hall, still bearing the old design strong and well was raised and owned by a local patron. This year, a Trust member funded its repairs and white-wash - so it looked clean and neat this weekend.

Some 30/40 people sit through the concerts; this is a no-frills kind of celebration. Simple. Easy. Friendly.

Inside this small hall is the large stage erected, plus space marked out for the audio controls and chairs for seniors. Nobody complains. People listen to the artistes. It does not matter who the artistes are - famous, talented, young. The music makes the celebration of the season.

At the end of the concert, prasadam ( made by a neighborhood family) and sweets are distributed to all those present.

Donors can drop off their contributions in small boxes.

This evening, the well-known percussionist Anoor Ananthakrishna Sarma and his team of young musicians are on stage. Sweat bathes them all. But they seem to enjoy their session.

Full house for Sanjay's concert

These images capture the mood of vocalist Sanjay Subrahmanyan at his concert on Saturday evening at Chamarajpet for Sree Ramaseva Mandali.
The Big Tent was packed - at least 2000 people attended this concert on Day Two of the festival here.

Debate about music festivals and star artistes . .

Does it make sense to host long music festivals like the Sri Ramanavami ones in Bangalore? Must we host top-rung artistes, mostly from Chennai when opportunities must be given to local artistes on stage?

These are questions and issues that pop up again in the media as the 2016 edition of the music festival is about to take off.

'The Hindu' newspaper's Art & Culture section has a feature devoted to this theme and it it posts the opinions of many arts promoters in this city.

Ananya's Dr. Raghavendra is against the long-drawn festivals. And he favours concert space for local artistes than the famed ones. One mandali host says that people are keen to listen to top-rung artistes and want the mandali to host them in their locality.

This debate is not new. And it will rage for sometime. Though the schedules of many mandalis does list many Karnataka artistes.

Is there more to this debate then? An undercurrent that is evident?