Indian classical music comes to Danbury

The city of Danbury resonated with melodious harmonies from the great musical traditions

Professor Balu, Smt. Meena Malladi, Smt. Kamakshi Srinivasan singing Pancharathna Krithis of the Indian sub-continent. The event called Thyagaraja Aaradhana (paying respect) was held on Saturday, February 20.

The Indian Association of Western CT (IAWCT) organized the event to celebrate Saint Thygaraja’s contribution to music. Saint Thyagaraja was one of the greatest composers of Indian classical music.

He lived between 1767 and 1847 in the south of India and is known to have composed over 10,000 pieces, of which only about 2,500 are available today.

He led a very simple life, with the single goal of serving God and becoming one with Him. His ability to combine rich poetry with his incredible musical abilities created masterpieces full of emotion that delivered a powerful message to humanity.A very highly talented team of musicians from the tri-state area were brought together to perform what is called the Pancharatna Krithis (the five gems) of Thyagaraja.

From L: Praveen Pandikaran, Kanakapriya Chelladurai, Lasyapriya Vadlamani, Adeethyia Shankar, Ananya Deshpande, Subatra Chelladurai, Vara Siva Balam, Ahjeetha Shankar on piano, Varisht Nellicherry on guitar, Karthik Kanamalla on saxophone, Rahul Malayappan on violin These five compositions are arguably his greatest, in which the Saint’s poetic and musical abilities shine at their highest level.

The Pancharatna Krithis were followed by several performances by children and adults from the greater Danbury area, who are undergoing training in Indian classical music.

Notable performances included a flute recital by Mr. Murthy Mamidana and an electric guitar recital by Mr. Vignesh Pandikaran, who has adapted the instrument for playing Indian classical music.The event closed with a performance by Ms. Meena Malladi from Poughkeepsie NY, Ms. Kamakshi Srinivasan from Hartford, CT and Professor Balu from Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT.

From L-R: Saroja Kolluru, Divya Sriram, Deepti Boddapati singing Sakala Graha Bala Percussion accompaniments were provided by Mr. Dhamodaran on the Mridhangam and Mr. Ravi Subramaniam on the Ghatam. They were also accompanied by Mr. Kalyan Gopalakrishnan on the violin. These renowned musicians from the tri-state area were also part of the team that performed the Pancharatna Krithis.This is the first time Thyagaraja Aradhana has been held in the Danbury area.

The local Indian community is hoping to make it an annual event, similar to those held in Cleveland, New York, Chicago, Washington DC and the San Francisco Bay area.