In a grand musical extravaganza, nearly 500 Carnatic singers and musicians from across the state paid homage to saint composer Tyagaraja by singing his Pancharatna Kritis in chorus in front of the saint’s samadhi on the banks of the Cauvery during the 165th annual aradhana festival held at Tiruvaiyaru on Friday, the Pushya Bahula Panchami day when the saint-composer attained samadhi.

The singing began with the playing of the mellifluous flute and continued for an hour from 9 am. The Pancharatna Kritis sung by the musicians were Jagadanandakaraka in Naatai ragam, Dudukugala Nanne in Gowlai ragam, Sadinchine O Manasa in Aarabi ragam, Kanakana Ruchira in Varaali ragam and Endaro Mahanubavulu in Sri Ragam.
Aarthi was performed to the idol of Tyagaraja in the samadhi. Those who paid homage included artistes such as Sudha Ragunathan, Mahathi, Kadri Gopalnath, A.K.C. Natarajan, Mehaboob Subahani, Khalida Subahani, tavil exponent Haridwaramangalam A.K. Palanivel, among others. A number of violinists, mridangam, nagaswaram and tavil vidwans played their part.

The attendees at the aradhana included cine actress Sachu, film producer Pyramid Natarajan, Thyagabrahma Mahotsava Sabha president G.R.Moopanar, chairman and managing director of City Union Bank Balasubramanian, Canara Bank regional manager Vijayaraj, LIC regional manager Vijayakumar and district revenue officer Suresh Kumar. A large number of music-lovers and devotees of Tyagaraja, including foreigners, thronged the temple to witness the event organised by Sri Thyagabrahma Mahotsava Sabha.

Earlier in the day, Unchavrithi Bhajan, a practice where the disciples of saint Tyagaraja seek alms, usually rice, from the villagers of Tiruvaiyaru, was taken out from the saint’s house on Thirumanjana Veedhi to the samadhi.

-dc chn