A Tribute to Balamurali

A homage to Late Dr Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna was organised by KBC Arts  on 23^rd  Nov in the auspicious venue of Mahalakshmi Temple, Eastham ,London. Dr Balamuralikrishna, the Doyen of Indian Carnatic Classical Music, left for his heavenly abode on the 22^nd November,2016. He left behind the legacy of around 400 compositions and his booming voice in the form of thousands of songs sung by him during his glorious musical life of 78 years. He won many awards and accolades during this blessed journey of life.

The event was inaugurated with lamp lighting, and a short introductory speech by Smt Geetha Kaza.It was followed by traditional Lord Ganesha prayer song ‘Pirai Aniyum Perumal’ and a song ‘Parakela o Parambika’ by Ms Vaishnavi Dokka. A varnam ‘Omkara Pranava’ was sung by Ms Tanvi Sattiraju. Later, Tanvi sang a keertana ‘Hanuma anauma’ composed by Balamurali to mark hanuman Jayanti. These 2 young talents set the perfect stage for other performances. Bhadrachala Ramadasa composition ‘Garuda Gamana Ra ra’sung by Balamurali was danced upon by the students of Abhinaya School of Dance. This was followed by another song of Bhadrachala Ramadasa, sung on stage by the students of Smt Padmini Karamcheti.

Smt Padmini, Granddaughter of  the internationally reputed Veena player Mr Emani Shankara Shastri,  played ‘Girijapate’ , a Balamurali composition and ‘Ekla Chalo’, Gurudev Ravindranath Tagore’s  composition. This was followed by a Bharatanatyam recital by Mrs Lavanya Rao, on one of the most famous and unique composition of the maestro ‘Omkara Karaini’. Smt Veena Pani,one of the highly talented Carnatic classical vocal musicians in London,presented  ‘Smaranam kuru’ in Neetimati ragam,

Balamurali composed Thillanas, the rhythmic complex fast beat compostions, which are performed by very skilful Indian classical dancers. Here, two thillanas ‘Kathana kutuhalam’ and ‘Kuntala varali’ were performed by Mrs Shalini ShivShankar and her students, namely – Ms Piya Verma,  Ms Nandana Rajeevan, Ms Sanya Narayanan,  Ms Daniella Zak Varghese, MsNiranshana Suresh , Ms Rani Shinoy. Mrs Shalini,a senior and seasoned Bharatanatyam expert is the founder and Principal of ‘Upahaar School of Dance’. Another Thillana, ‘Brindavani Thillana’, was performed by Smt Sridevi Sribhashyam, a highly talented ‘Natya Mayuri’ awardee Kuchipudi dancer.

Mr Pramod Rudrapatna, one of the famous Rudrapatna Veena brothers, gave a scintillating and stunning Veena performance. He played ‘Hariye Gati’ and ‘Garudadhvani Thillana’ and left the audience spellbound

Balamurali has always admired Gurudev Ravindranath tagore and sang some of his compositions. Mr Sukant, a talented musician, sang ‘Anandaloke Mongalaloke’ inBalamurali style and impressed the audience. Balamurali’s versatility, well exploited exploring nature which brought  freshness to Carnatic world, was given a perfect tribute by Ms Dhivya SK and Ms Ffion Campbell- Davies. Ms Dhivya played a varnam  ‘Amma Ananda Dayini’ and ‘Brindavani Thillana’ on Violin; and, to these tunes,Ms Ffion,a trained Contemporary dancer presented a  unique freestyle dance interpreting the Compositions which left the audience awe-struck.

A group of very young, but very talented ,children gave the programme a beautiful ending. They along with their guru, Smt Veena Pani, sang ‘Ramanams amrutham’ and a Mangalam ‘Bala Tripura Sundari’. These two  songs are the compositions of  Sri Prayaga Rangadasa, maternal grandfather of the Balamurali. The singers were accompanied by Ms SK Dhivya on violin and Mr Gurunathan on Tabla.

The programmes was enjoyed by a very good, cheerful audience which included people of high repute. The event was managed and hosted by Dr Bhanu Sistla ;photographed and videographed  by Mr Aaditya Kaza. The organiser, Mr Prabhakar Kaza of Kaza Business Consultants Ltd, thanked the artistes, the audience, the temple authorities for venue and the sponsors HDFC and State Bank of India.

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