Soorasamharam Harikatha of Sri.T.N.Seshagopalan

Event: Soorasamharam Harikatha
Artiste: Sri.T.N.Seshagopalan
Venue: Sri Siva Vishnu Temple, Maryland
Date: Nov 11, 2007, 3pm


Someone had told me that the maestro's voice is fading these days and that's why he is performing harikathas instead of kutcheris. I thought this could be the last opportunity for me to listen to my most favorite artiste, for the venue is close and I have time to attend too. I was very angry at myself when I got stuck in the Walmart queue. I didn't know whether to go or not. Jay somehow convinced and took me to the temple. We reached there at 3:30pm while the concert was scheduled for 3pm. We went straight to the sannidhanam instead of the auditorium and I had decided that there is no point going so late, having to pay $15. Jay went downstairs and forced me to go down with him to auditorium. The concert hadn't begun yet!!!! There was the artiste standing in the stage in his harikatha costumes and someone expressing apologies for the delay over the mike!!!!! I quickly bought the ticket and entered the hall, not knowing how enough to thank Jay.


Then came the bliss....the golden voice sprouting ragas majestically one after the other. I was totally mesmerized like others and allowed him to take us all into a trance. The artiste was standing at the center below the raised dais while the mridangist and the violinist were to either of his sides. TNS was wearing a beautiful red and green அங்கவஸ்திரம் with a silk golden jari around his neck, and a similar one around his waist, wearing his Thirunamam in full and a while garland. He was radiating in tejas and would be the Lord Venkatesha himself if not for the சப்லகட்டை. It was a while before I came out of the trance as he passed a little bit to give the intro speech of the harikatha. Kedara Gowlai seemed to dominate, while every instance of Kalyani, Sankarabaranam, Bairavi, Ananda Bairavi, Kedaram, Subhapantuvarali, Todi kept flowing and merging like the auspicious Ganges rushing down the Himalayas. " When one pint of the tonic is sufficient to cure the diseased, why need a bottle of it?" . This is TNS style, only the very essence of ragas be presented as an undiluted elixir.


While the artiste is truly a grand master of raga nuances, he was stuck for words all the time during the katha. Abrupt stops! He later explained that this is the first time he is presenting a katha on Lord Muruga while his past experiences are all in Rama and Krishna Katha. No wonder he actually narrated Ramayana and Mahabharata to strike an analogy with Kandhapuranam through out. After 2 hours of Rama and Tyagaraja, he seemed to get in track suddenly and sang plenty of Thirupugaz. I could not stay till the end of the program as it started dragging. He told himself he does not know what to say and what to omit and simply didn't know how to conclude, even after looking at his watch many times.

He compensated his lack of coherence with the harikatha by infusing humorous narrations of day-to-day activities and intentional pun on verses of Andal Thiruppavai. Most unforgettable ones were "Ninna kathai, Utkandha Kutcheri" and "Ongi Ulagalandha Utthaman Bare Body"!!! Some of them were desperate humor though.

All the way, I enjoyed the music and the jokes for those treasured two hours. No misgivings.

To summarize with sarcasm: கதை சொன்னார் என்பதை விட கதை அடித்தார் என்பதே பொருந்தும்.