How Purandaradasa defined MLV’s musical journey

The connection between Sangita Pitamaha Purandaradasa and the Aiyaswamy–Lalithangi–M.L. Vasanthakumari family seems to have been preordained. How else can one explain the arrival in Madras in the 1930s of a wandering minstrel, Narasimha Dasa, and his chance encounter with the Aiyaswamys when they were earnestly seeking to learn and popularise Purandaradasa’s compositions?

One afternoon, Aiyaswamy hurried to catch a bus, humming a tune as was his wont, when he heard a soulful voice singing in praise of Vittala to the accompaniment of cymbals. Drawn by the music, he went up to the singer and said: “I am Aiyaswamy Iyer from Koothanoor”.

‘’I am Narasimha Dasa, from Karnataka,‘’ said the singer in Kannada. Aiyaswamy took him home and introduced him to Lalithangi. They welcomed him into their home and expressed their desire to learn Dasar padas from him.

Young Vasanthi (MLV), who was already learning Carnatic music, would sit listening to the songs, while her parents wrote the notations. Their goal was to propagate Purandaradasa’s compositions in their authentic tunes.

Soon, their home on Chennai’s Edward Elliot’s Road echoed with Dasa sahitya — ’Dayamado ranga’ in raga Kalyani, ‘’Gajavadana beduvey’ in Dhanyasi, ‘Laalisi dhalu magana’ in Arabhi, ‘Yaare rangana’ in Hindolam, ‘Yenu dhanyalo lakumi’ in Thodi, ‘Nandathanaya govindhana’ in Bhimpalas, ‘Venkatachala nilayam’ in Sindhubhairavi and many more.

Aiyaswamy introduced Narasimha Dasa to his close friends Parur Sundaram Iyer, Mudicondan Venkatrama Iyer and Rangaramanuja Iyengar. At an impromptu gathering, they enjoyed the rare compositions he sang and engaged in discussions with him on Purandaradasa’s life and music. The conversations also touched upon the Dasakoota tradition and the emergence of Kanakadasa, the illustrious disciple of Purandaradasa. They traced the link between Hindustani music and Dasa compositions to Karnataka’s proximity to Maharashtra and its long-standing cultural exchanges with the region.

The first edition of Sri Purandara Manimalaiwas released in 1941. It features  51 songs with lyrics and swara notations.

Aiyaswamy later compiled Sri Purandara Manimaalai featuring a biographical sketch of the composer and 51 songs with lyrics and swara notations. To finance this venture, he sold his ancestral land in his native village.

Their daughter and disciple, the child prodigy M.L. Vasanthakumari, imbibed the same values as her illustrious musician-parents — dedication to music, selfless service to the art and teaching without charging a fee.

The first edition of Sri Purandara Manimaalaiwas released in 1941. After some years, MLV brought out another set of copies in memory of her parents, carrying notations fine-tuned by vidwan T.K. Govinda Rao.

The crowning moment came when MLV was awarded an honorary doctorate by Mysore University in recognition of her efforts, as a renowned performer, to take Dasa compositions to a wider audience.

(The writer is a well-known Carnatic musician)