9th Jan 2011 ~ was a
great evening providing a remarkable experience thanks to SANSKAR.
Thiruvallikkeni (Triplicane)
is perhaps more ancient than the city of Madras .
The city has been celebrating its birthday in the recent few years.
Triplicane has a glorious past,
a tradition and culture still existent and surviving in the present and has
great hopes of sustenance in future.
This is the place located strategically closer (less than half a km) from the Marina beach off the Bay of Bengal . It owes its It owes its its name to the sacred Lily pond (Thiru alli (lily) keni (pond) of Sri Parthasarathi Swami Temple, a great Vaishnavaite centre – brundaranya kshetram of the puranic scriptures.
It has had great personalities
and contributed to the freedom struggle – Dheerar Sathyamurthi, Mahakavi
Subramaniya Barathiyar lived here.
Thilagar Thidal was the place where great leaders like Subhrahmanya
Siva, Bharathiyar, VOC, Nethaji and Gandhiji had all delivered lectures. It had produced Mathematics genius S Ramanujam , Writer Sujatha, Cricketers, MJ Gopalan, WV
Raman. MJ Gopalan was a double
international, representing India
in Hockey and Cricket. In 1935, he
toured Newzealand with Hockey team and was selected for the Berlin Olympics but
chose to play cricket in England . Nobel Laureate Subrahmanyam Chandrasekhar had
attended Hindu High School . There are many great temples around this
place each fostering the great tradition, art and culture of the Nation.
SANSKAR Cultural Organisation –
thought it fit to celebrate the spirit of Triplicane with tagline “
Thiruvallikkeni Thiruvizha – Namma Thiruvizha”. The event was greatly organised by the
Committee headed by the effervescent Vittal Narayanan, Project Director of
SANSKAR. Soundarya Rathnamala Volunteers
were at hand, as usual in helping the event a success.
There were stalls – there was
competition for drawing kolam on the streets – a procession highlighting the
culture and SANSKAR chose to honour some who had brought laurels to
Triplicane. A thoughtfully decorated podium
was erected in front of the Sri
Parthasarathi Swami temple . On the podium were : Mr Jayaraman,
Dy commissioner of Sri
Parthasarathi Swami temple ,
S ve Sekhar, Vikku Vinayakram – the gadam vidwan, Dr. MA Venkatakrishnan, DGP R Natraj, the great tamil scholar Vaidyanatha
Iyer, Mrs Ranganayaki Jayaraman of
Saraswathi Gana Nilayam, Vizha vendhan NKT Muthu (patron of tamil drama) and
myself representing SYMA.
Though it would not require a
lengthier introduction, here is something on those who were honoured and the
Chief Guests.
Thetakudi Harihara Vinayakram
(1942] also known as Vikku Vinayakram is
a Grammy award winning Indian percussionist.
He started playing Ghatam from his young age of 13 and
has accompanied many famous vocalists in Carnatic music at the time, including
Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna, G. N. Balasubramaniam, Madurai Mani Iyer,
Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, M. S. Subbulakshmi and Maharajapuram Santhanam. He has been conferred many awards including :
Hafiz Ali Khan Award for “unmatched contribution in the field of music”
in the year 2000.
Saraswati Gana Nilayam, is
the prestigious institution dedicated to
Bharatanatyam, Veena and classical music
founded in 1939. Mrs Ranganayaki
Jayaraman is upholding the high traditions for over 50 years now.
Mr Vaidyanatha Iyer is 93 now
and still retains his extraordinary memory.
A great tamil scholar, he taught and guided many triplicanites for many
decades at NKT Insitutions, having learnt tamil from Tamil thatha U.V. Swaminatha Iyer.
Mr. Muthu is fondly known as
Vizha vendhan NKT Muthu and is a known patron of Arts, especially the Stage dramas at NKT Kalai
arangam.
Dr MA Venkatakrishnan is so well
known in Triplicane as Upanyasakar and
Adhyapakar of Sri Parthasarathi Swami
temple. Born in 1954, he is a descendant
of Anandalwan, a disciple of Swami Ramanuja.
Dr MAV worked as Asst Prof of Sanskrit in Vivekananda
College , did his
M.Phil & Ph.D and is presently with the Department of Sri
Vaishnavism at Madras University . He is an erudite scholar in Sanskrit and
Tamil and has been running a Srivaishnava
monthly journal “Geethacharyan” for over 3 decades. He has written many books. I had the
fortune of learning "Nalayira Divyaprabandham' from him alongwith
scores of others.
Sattanathapuram Venkataraman
Shekher (S Ve Shekher) is a Tamil playwright and film actor known
best for his slapstick humor and for his public welfare initiatives. Presently he represents Mylapore
constituency. He was born in Triplicane
Shri R Nataraj DGP Fire and Rescue Services Department of
the Government of Tamil Nadu is a
sincere and dedicated Officer known for his endeavours in uplifting and setting
high benchmarks wherever he has worked.
A great writer, he studied in Hindu
High School
Alongside, these great and
eminent persons, Srinivas Youngmens Association (SYMA) was also recognized for
their unstinting role in social service from 1977. It was a great honour and a proud moment for
me, to represent SYMA as its Secretary and receive the award on the
podium. A significant moment in my life.
After the celebrations, there
was a performance by the students of
Vikku Vinayakram. Students of
Saraswathi Gana Nilayam performed a dance drama. Then there was a great
rendition of devotional songs by Raghu better known as “Veeramani Dhasan”. Hundreds heard him with rapt attention
chanting the name of God and joining his troupe in singing devotional
songs. To conclude there was a great
dance drama of Bhagavatham in a traditional way by the troupe from
‘Uthiraamerur’. A great day for
Triplicane itself.
Kudos to Vittal Narayanan, his
group and SANSKAR Cultural Organisation
for this wonderful show and in recognizing those who had made significant
contributions to Triplicane.
With regards
S. Sampathkumar
Secretary- SYMA
PS:
Electorally, Triplicane is affected by the notification of Delimitation
commission of India and is now ‘Chepauk-
Thiruvallikkeni’ constituency consisting of ward nos.79, 81 to 93, 95 and
111. It is now form part of Chennai Central Parliamentary constituency as
against the South
Madras earlier. We
can draw solace from the fact that the name still lingers on and interestingly;
the Commission has mentioned the name as Tiruvallikkeni (in Tamil) and not
as Triplicane.
thanks sampath for this article. Kudos to Vittal Naryanan for organising 'Namma vizha' year after year. he plays an important role in preserving triplicane's heritage and culture.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to office-bearers and members of SYMA for this deserving award.
look forward to articles on kulakarai kutcheris and forthcoming chennai sangamam -kannan
Nice one Sampath - Raghu
ReplyDeletehappy to read about Thiruvallikkeni, where I lived many decades ago - kudos to the organisers highlighting the performers - Shankar mahadevan
ReplyDelete