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The Harikatha avatar
 An announcement of Krishna Gana Sabha read - Feb 15th 04 - Harikatha on Tyagaraja Charitram by
T N Seshagopalan. The blurb evoked curiosity but not surprise for Seshagoplan is known to have a penchant for presenting surprises even in his routine music concerts.
Of course, many are aware that TNS is a multi-faceted artiste with a talent for many a thing but performing a Harikatha is a difficult task even for an expert musician. The art by definition demands an adequate knowledge of a few languages like Sanskrit, Telugu and Tamil, a sound knowledge of Puranic lore, a good voice, knowledge of music and most important, an ability to present a story eloquently.
In Maharashtra, that is spoken of as Bhakti land, an art form evolved in the latter part of the 16th century wherein songs were combined with story-telling. A new art form called 'kirtan' slowly started taking shape. Sant Namdev is considered to be the earliest 'kirtankar'. When the Marathas came to Tanjavur in 1675 AD, they brought their art form with them. This art flourished during the reigns of Serfoji-II (1798-1832) and his successor Shivaji (1833-1855).
In the 19th century a reputed kirtankar visited Thanjavur. He was Ramachandra Bava from Gwalior, also known as Morkar Bava. This Pandit inspired Venkatadasa, also called 'Periyanna', and Tanjore Krishna Bhagavatar (1843-1903) to formulate the Tamil
Harikatha on the model of the Marathi
kirthan.
 Harikatha had its golden period between 1850 and 1950 when it attracted stalwarts like Tiruppazhanam Panchapakesa Sastri,
Mangudi Chidambara Bhagavatar, Soolamangalam Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar,
Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavatar, Embar Srirangacharya and several others. The art flourished and prospered. However, today the art has very few takers. And it in this scenario that Seshagoplan has come in like a whiff of fresh air.
February 15, 6 p.m. - T N Seshagopalan stands on stage dressed in a brocade veshti and angavastram. He holds a 'chipla' in his hand. Behind him are his accompanists,
R K Shriramkumar on the violin and
Umayalpuram Mali on the mridangam. The tambura and harmonium are also part of his entourage. He looks every inch a Harikatha performer.
Within a few minutes of his commencing the recital, his performance communicates to the audience that here is a singer who is equally qualified to meet the demands of a Harikatha recital too. The evening’s programme, to put it in short, was a delectable blend of Tyagaraja’s songs with a narration that was at the same time racy and relevant.
The presentation of this programme had a touch of individuality. Right at the beginning,
Seshagopalan chose to tread a different path. The performance, he said, would concentrate more on the messages of Tyagaraja’s songs rather than on a mere narration of the incidents of his life. With these few words as a preamble, TNS embarked on a three- hour journey that traversed through various songs of Tyagaraja. Individual songs, framed in story lent an effect of continuity to the narration. Seshagopalan brought into focus several aspects of Tyagaraja’s kritis. A few of those are detailed below.
 The utsava sampradaya kirthanais like uyyAla, hEccarikA gA rA rA and others portray an all-encompassing emotional relationship between the composer and his God Rama. Tyagaraja, though an ardent devotee of Rama, shared a relationship with Him that went far beyond that.
While in the vasanta kriti, sItamma mAyamma, Tyagaraja states, "Rama is my father and Sita my mother," in the kAmbOji kriti, mA jAnaki he stresses upon the uniqueness of Sita. The kalyANi kriti, nidhicAla sukhama, is full of rhetorical questions as to what in this world gives real happiness to man. Tyagaraja himself provides the answers to these in other kritis like smaraNE sukhamu in janaranjani and sukhi EvvarO in kAnaDa that it is the recitation and meditation of Rama’s name alone that brings eternal happiness.
But, what is the significance of the name Rama to the exclusion of others? Seshagopalan pointed out that the answer to that lies in the dEvAmrtavarShiNi kriti Evvarani, wherein he says that in the Siva pancAkshara mantra, it is the letter ‘ma’ which is the most significant for when one removes the ‘ma’ namashivAya would read as ‘nashivaya.’ So also in the aShtakshara Narayana mantra, if the letter ‘ra’ is removed then Narayanaya would read as na-ayana. A combination of these two pertinent letters formed the life-giving mantra - Rama. The pancaratna kriti jagadAnandakAraka was a lesson in rAga delineation and svara singing amongst several other things.
It was thus that several pertinent messages of the kritis of Tyagaraja were highlighted. The messages were co-related with quotes from Kamba Ramayana, Tiruarutpa, Tirukkural, Soundarya Lahiri and other texts proving that Seshagopalan is indeed a Harikatha performer in the complete sense of the term. It is interesting that Seshagopalan has also been an actor and a Harikatha performer from his childhood.
Seshagopalan reveals that even in the 1990s his guru Sankara Sivam had prophesied that TNS would one day also emerge as a successful Harikatha performer in the manner of his grand guru - Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavatar. Truer words could not have been spoken for Seshagopalan’s diary is today filled with as many commitments for Harikatha performances as for his vocal and other recitals. Undoubtedly, yet another colourful feather in TNS’ cap!
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