 President, PM hail Ilayaraja's work
 No praise can be too high for maestro Ilayaraja's contribution as a music director. None can be higher in lavishing praise on him than the President of India. Or the Prime Minister. In this case, Isaignani Ilayaraja has had the rare, good fortune of both President Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, giving him an audience in the space of a few hours, listening to some portions of his forthcoming album 'Thiruvasagam by Ilayaraja - Classical Crossover' and spending some time with the maestro at separate sessions in New Delhi recently.
Ilayaraja, who has composed the music and also sung the verses from Manickavasagar's Thiruvasagam, was accompanied by Tamil Maiyam's Dr Jegath Gaspar Raj, Fr Vincent Chinnadurai, and Akila Srinivasan of Sriram Investments, which is one of the several organisations which have helped Tamil Maiyam produce the album at an estimated cost of nearly Rs 1
crore.
The Prime Minister is said to have congratulated Ilayaraja on his effort and remarked that the culture of the country was precious. Thiruvasagam is one of India's treasures both in terms of spirituality and literary values. He was glad to note that Ilayaraja and Tamil Maiyam had helped take the significance and relevance of Thiruvasagam overseas.
The President is said to have spent over 30 minutes in conversation with Ilayaraja, after listening to some portions of the album which will be released in Chennai on June 30, 2005. Dr Abdul Kalam is said to have lavished praise on the maestro and described listening to the album as a great spiritual experience by itself. He described Thiruvasagam as a monumental, spiritual work, and hailed the efforts of the maestro and Tamil Maiyam in taking it to the youth and abroad in a format which would reach out to Western audiences as well.
Chennaionline.com has offered exclusive, 10 per cent discount on booking of orders of the album's CDs, cassettes and DVDs till June 29.
R Rangaraj
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