One Fine Winter Evening...

One fine winter evening in January, Margaret Ridgewood of Cardiff, Wales, accidentally wandered into the premises of what looked like an old sprawling grandiose structure in Thiruvanthapuram. She drifted nonchalantly inside, drawn to the lilting music wafting through the pleasant air, least prepared for the emotional change that would overcome her in the next two hours. It was an exalting feeling that strengthened her resolve to return to the splendorous Kuthiramalika Palace during the same period every year. For her and for many other fortunate people like her, from India and from different parts of the Globe, it has been akin to a divine calling, an exhilarating musical bliss difficult to stay away from. Of course, little did she realise then, all those years back that she was in the midst of a musical event of a totally different kind staged at the elegant courtyard of a palace.

Every year between the 6th and 12th of January, the city of Thiruvanthapuram is blessed to be part of this fascinating musical experience where heaven and all of nature comes to a mesmerising standstill to pay homage to the genius of a great composer and musician Maharaja Swathi Thirunal. It is at the magnificent precincts of the Kuthiramalika Palace, also known as “Palace of the Horses”, built by the Maharaja himself that his dreams are realised year after year as his compositions are rendered in the most humble, poetic and devotional way by a handful of chosen musicians.

A unique feature of the festival is the impressive sound system, which as is the case with most concerts, do not have anyone fiddling with the installation from time to time. Owing to this, there is absolutely no disturbance to the music by the noises usually generated by the audio adjustments. The concerts are made freely accessible to the TV channels as long as their crew do not disturb the artists and the audience, again an unusual thing in these days of putting commercial telecasting first.

This divine festival of music like no other, comes absolutely free of cost to the music lovers and has so far managed to be unaffected by the scourge of commercialisation. There are no reserved seats or any inaugural functions and there is no chief guest either. The talking is strictly limited to a brief, but personal, highly knowledgeable and relevant introduction of the artists of the day.

It is from the upstairs ‘cabin’ of the Kuthiramalika Palace, known as ‘Ambarimukhappu’, since it resembles in shape to a howdah mounted on an elephant, that the Maharaja poured his heart out to his deity as he composed some of his finest pieces during his last days. Legend has it that he himself designed this structure with more than a hundred sculpted wooden horses all facing towards the south, symbolic of his last days on earth of which he was aware. In Hindu mythology a chariot pulled by the horses take one towards the next world, traditionally believed to be to the south.

The ethereal ambience, the dimly lit palace in the backdrop, the open-air seating, the soulful music that permeates the air are all in perfect synchronisation with one another, as if in a glorious conspiracy to fulfil the noble dreams of the composer Maharaja Swathi Thirunal, years after his passing away. What better tribute can there be to his genius and talent, one naturally wonders as one leaves the sanctified premises on the final day of the event.

The artists are all handpicked and are chosen for their competence, dedication and willingness to produce a memorable concert each time they perform. Also there is an effort to bring some of the best musicians from everywhere including those who work overseas.

Maharaja Swathi Thirunal remains the only musician till date who was equally competent in both schools of music, Carnatic and Hindustani. It is this unique versatility of the Maharaja’s, the festival aspires to celebrate.

Few of the doyens of Carnatic music who have delighted the audience at Swathi Sangeethotsavam are Dr. Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna, Dr. T.K. Govinda Rao, Prof. T.V. Gopalakrishnan, Smt. D.K. Pattamal, Shri Neyveli Santhanagopalan, Shri T.V. Shankaranarayan, Trichur.V. Ramachandran, Shri T.M. Krishna, Dr. N. Ramani, Shri Kudamaloor Janardhanan, Prof. K.S. Narayanaswami, Bombay Jayashri Ramnath, Shri Sanjay Subramanian, Prof. T.N. Krishnan, Shri Umayalpuram. K. Sivaraman, Shri Palakkad R. Raghu, Shri Karaikudi Mani, Dr.T.K. Murthy, Shri Thiruvaroor Bhakthavalsalam, Shri Tripunithura Radhakrishnan and Shri Udipi Sridhar.

The inimitable Shri N. Ravikiran with his chithraveena, Shri Kadri Gopalnath with his saxophone and Shri U. Srinivas with his mandolin also have left lasting impressions in the musical sensibilities of the listeners.

Accomplished stalwarts of Hindustani music like Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan, Pandit Jasraj, Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty, Smt. Kishori Amonkar,, Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, Ustad Bismillah Khan, Pandit Kishen Maharaj and Ustad Fasal Qureshi are only some of the names that have captivated the audience with their performance at Swathi Sangeethotsavam, over the years.

If travelling through the realms of an unforgettable musical journey is your idea of perfect relaxation and enlightenment, Swathi Sangeethotsavam is a never to be missed event. It is also conveniently timed in early January to coincide with the Chennai music season for the benefit of music lovers and artistes visiting the country from the world over.

Note: This is the extract of an article I wrote two years back.