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Condensed epic set to tune 
http://www.hindu.com/fr/2008/01/04/stories/2008010451380600.htm




SUGANTHY KRISHNAMACHARI 

Vasundhara sang Peria Vachan Pillai?s Paasurapadi
Ramayanam as Velukkudi Krishnan provided erudite
comments. 

Photo: N.Sridharan 
 
LEC-DEM: Velukkudi U.Ve.Krishnan (left) commenting as
Vasundhara Rajagopal (right) renders a musical
presentation. 


Vyaakhyaana Chakravarthi Peria Vachan Pillai, the only
commentator to have written commentaries on all 4,000
verses of the Divya Prabandham, has also written
?Pasurappadi Ramayanam.? He has strung together words
from the Azhwars? pa surams to give us the whole
Ramayana story in just 180 lines. And the beauty of
his work is that he has retained the original words of
the Azhwars, making only minimal changes in the
vibhakthi or lingam, said Velukkudi Krishnan. Or a
word or two might have been added, to maintain
continuity.

On Sunday last at the Parthasarathy Swami Sabha,
Vasundhara Rajagopal rendered Paasurappadi Ramayanam
giving the lines musical shape ? she had roped in 33
ragas for the purpose ? with Velukkudi Krishnan coming
up with appropriate comments. 

Extensive work by azhwars 


The Azhwars have written extensively on the vibhava
and archa forms of the Lord. Tirumangai Azhvar, for
example, sums up the Dasavatara in the verse,
?Meenodaamai, kezhal ari kuralaai...? Of the ten
avataras, Rama and Krishna are considered complete
(poorna) avataras. References to Rama lie scattered
through the prabandhas, making it difficult for a
reader to zero in on them. Pasurappadi Ramayanam is
therefore a boon to Rama Bhaktas. 

Peria Vachan Pillai begins with the words from
Tirumangai Azhwar?s Peria Tirumozhi ? ?Tirumadandai
Manmadandai iru paalum tigazha?? He (Rama) came as the
scion of the Surya vamsam ? Venkadiron kulathukkor
vilakkaai. Peria Vachan Pillai has added the words
nadandu to the words from the Divya Prabandham.

It might be apt to recall an article of D. Ramaswamy
Iyengar. While writing about the Tiruneermalai temple,
he says that the ?Nadandaaan? in Tirumangai Azhwar?s
pasuram relating to that temple could not be a
reference to Trivikrama, but instead pointed to Rama.
After all, Trivikrama took three giant steps, and that
was it. But Rama walked miles and miles in the forest.

Velukkudi Swami spoke of how the Lord at
Tirukkannamangai redeemed his promise to Tirumangai
Azhwar, when the latter was born as Nampillai under
the star Karthikai, in the month of Karthikai. The
Lord himself appeared as Peria Vachan Pillai in the
month of Avani under the star Rohini, and studied
under Nampillai.

Why is Sundara Kandam so called? According to
Velukkudi Swami because Sita, Rama, Hanuman and the
other principal characters in it are beautiful, and
because we become beautiful too when we read it!

Velukkudi Swami?s lecture was brilliant, with many
references to other works. His erudite and absorbing
comments with a dash of humour, left one yearning for
more.

It was an admirable effort on the part of Vasundhara.
?I sang the Rama Nataka kritis at the TTD centre, T.
Nagar. Srinivasan of the centre then suggested that I
should set to tune the Pasurappadi Ramayanam too and
gave me the text. I then asked
M.V.Anantapadmanabhachariar to explain the work to
me,? said Vasundara. 

?Getting the meter to fit into a tune was difficult. I
had to ensure that the beauty of the sahityam was
highlighted. I felt it would be ideal to have a
lec-dem. So I requested Velukkudi Swami to talk on the
Pasurappadi Ramayanam.? One hopes she will include
portions of the ?Pasurappadi Ramayanam? in her regular
concerts. 

Vasundhara was accompanied by Usha Rajagopalan on the
violin, Nellai Balaji on the mridangam, and
Madippakkam Murali on the ghatam. Usha?s rendering,
especially of ragas Varali, Kedaragowla, Saveri and
Sahana, was very good. A Thanjavur painting of Rama
Pattabhishekam on the dais added an artistic touch to
the programme. 





      
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