As part of Guruguhaamrta - my trust dedicated to Muttusvami Dikshitar - I had held a free workshop at Sringeri where I taught a bunch of 10 or so talented youngsters, few rare kritis of Dikshitar.
I had always been wanting to get this rolling because I believe that the only way you can propagate these kritis would be if you taught them in every corner of Carnatica!! (Carnatica includes any part of the world which patronizes Carnatic Music!!)
So the first in the series was at Sringeri - in the scenic surroundings of the Saradamba Temple under joint auspices of a local music school. This school at Sringeri is run by the enterprising Sri Prabhakar - a mridangam artist himself and a man singularly responsible for keeping the Carnatic flame burning in that part of Karnataka.
I had insisted that we open the workshop only to senior students of music because Dikshitar kritis are not easy to learn and one can do justice to it only after years of training. The bunch included a few really talented youngsters who learnt the kritis with utmost sincerity and dedication. It was heartwarming to see the kind of respect and dedication that they showed towards learning and practicing - truly inspiring.
The workshop itself comprised five intensive 3 hour sessions spanning two and a half days (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) during the course of which I taught them five rare kritis in ragas such as Devamanohari (Venkatamakhin Version), Ravikriya, Devaranji, Mohana and Narayana Gowla.
On the last day, the group even presented a few of these kritis - I was happy to hear the bunch render the kritis exactly as I had taught and with utmost sincerity.
The school had also organized a concert of mine the last evening under their own auspices where I presented an exclusive Dikshitar kritis concert - in which I elaborated Mohanam, Varali and Shankarabharana (Sadasivam Upasmahe).
Below are a few photos from the workshop.
