Personality Of The Week

Arunagirinathar, the composer of Thiruppugazh in 15th century, prayed in Kandhar Anuboothi: “Bless me with the avocation of ever singing your glory (Padum paniye paniyai arulvai).” That has become the mission of 53-year-old N.V.Vaidyanathan, an employee of a private company, who expects nothing in return. Interestingly, even after involving himself in singing Thiruppugazh and teaching the same in several parts of Tamil Nadu for the last more than a decade, he struggles to write Tamil.

“I am from Nemmara, Palakkad district, and never had studied Tamil. I know Malaylam, Sanskrit, Hindi and English. Of course, I can speak Tamil. But I know more than 300 Thiruppugazh songs by heart because I have listened to each song more than 50 times,” he tells G.Satyamurty. Coimbatore, known for its industry all over the country, has now become the hub of Thiruppugazh activity, thanks to the dedication of Mr.Vaidyanathan.

“Thiruppugazh is the essence of Vedas and Upanishads. It does not discriminate between Saivism and Vaishanvism and the Gods that it mentions include Muruga, Ambal, Narayana, Krishna and Rama. I learnt Vedas and Upanishads and also Gita from my father, a priest. I had some basic carnatic lessons for five years and learnt Thiruppugazh from G.Balsubramaniam of Mumbai for six years. The raga-thala-bhava of Thiruppugazh has been set by my guru A.S.Raghavan, president of the Thiruppugazh Anbargal. Of about 1,300 Thiruppugazh songs available, my guru has provided the tune for about 500 covering 100 ragas.”

V.S.Krishnan, an ardent devotee of Thiruppugazh, who has now virtually become the Boswell of Vaidyanathan, points out that while most of the devotional works were meant to be rendered as hymns, some like Arunagirinathar and Thyagaraja composed their works with the intent of rendering them in music. Arunagirinathar composed his works in “chandam” style (lyrics conforming to the beats or rhythm).

Thiruppugazh is known as Thala Maligai because every verse in it is in concordance with thala, taking care that the verses never exceeded the time measure or the beats of rhythm. “It was Mr.Raghavan who has set Thiruppugazh songs to music in a very systematic manner. He gave each song a distinct identity of raga, a distinct style of thala and rendered it in Bhava and Bhakti (involvement and devotion). Thanks to him, Thiruppugazh has become a powerful movement in the country and also abroad.”

Mr. Vaidyanathan, who was attracted to the Thiruppugazh movement, which has now centres in various parts of the country including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, and Thiruvananthapuram, says he was deeply moved by the power of Thiruppugazh. He took voluntary retirement from a pharmaceutical company in Mumbai and made Coimbatore his home in 1994. “I found Coimbatore as an ideal place to pursue my interest. Here people have a taste for music, devotion and for all good things in life. I now find a new meaning and purpose to my life. I feel I’m really blessed to be able to impart such a powerful form of prayer to all interested”.

Come Saturday, the Annapurneswari Temple at RS.Puram gears up to receive hundreds of Thiruppugazh Anbargal, men, women, young and old, to join Vaidyanathan in ‘Thiruppugazh Isai Vazhipadu’ (prayer). “The voice of Vaidyanathan has become the voice of Thiruppugazh in Coimbatore,” says Mr. Krishnan.

Thiruppugazh is increasingly becoming popular in this part of the country. With three classes and an average of a recital a week, Vaidyanthan remains deeply committed to this avocation. While his recital is held on almost all auspicious occasions connected with Lord Muruga, he is sought after whenever there is an occasion at home as well. He has performed in important temples such as Palani, Tiruchendur and Tiru Avinangudi and conducted Bhajanothsavam in Thrissur, Palakad, Erode and Bangalore.

Mr. Krishnan describes his performance thus: Be it Thiruppugazh , Kandhar Alangaram or Kandhar Anubhoothi, Vaidyanathan sings them all with effortless ease. His songs kindle the light of devotion in our heart and elevate us to a new world of peace and harmony”. According to Mr. Vaidyanathan, the very objective of Thiruppugazh prayer sung by all uniformly with Bhakthi -Bhava is to “cultivate the habit of love and avoiding discord\hatred (avirodha).” His spouse Vijaya not only lends her vocal support but also every assistance required for his musical pursuit.

Apart from releasing CDs, he has also had opportunities to sing the glory of Thiruppugazh on the AIR. His classes, which started with hardly a half a dozen students initially, are attracting more than 400 now. They gather wherever he performs - be it at Annapurneswari Temple or Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan or Suburban Matriculation School or Kovaipudur. He takes classes even at Palani and Udumalpet once a month. He gets invitations from various parts of the State for conducting bhajans and classes. “But my current employment and health do not permit much.” He also teaches Abhirami Andhadhi and Abhirami Pathikam. “The response from the public has been very good and I would love to teach more children as they are the future,” he concludes.

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