File photo of Carnatic singer Sudha Raghunathan.
Photo: K.V. Srinivasan
| Photo Credit: K_V_SRINIVASAN
As many as 100 musicians will grace the ‘46th Utsav 2023’ of the SGBS-Unnati Trust’s Gokulashtami cultural specials from August 19 to September 10. Featuring a total of 23 programmes, the event will include 15 classical Carnatic concerts, three days of bhajan renditions and four devotional discourses at the Odukkathur Mutt in Ulsoor. Connoisseurs of Carnatic music have already started participating in Unnati’s Facebook Quiz since the winner gets to dine with their favourite musician!
These concerts have always been free to the public. Music and spiritual fervour is the star attraction during Gokulashtami where one gets to see star artistes perform every year. Ramesh Swamy, Lead Trustee, SGBS-Unnati Trust, says, “Over the years, artistes have come to recognise that the organisation strives to democratise art and appreciate its intrinsic features. We have built a rasika-cum-donor base over the years, whose contributions help us.”
“Bengaluru is a great place to perform and the artistes help bring in a divine bonding with melody,” says vocalist Sudha Raghunathan who will be performing on September 4.
Some of the other well-known performers in Unnati’s line up this year include TM Krishna, Vishaka Hari, Abhishek Raghuram, OS Arun, Priya Sisters, Malladi Brothers, Chitraveena Ravikiran, Saketharaman, Ramakrishnan Murthy, Bangalore Brothers — MB Hariharan and S Ashok. Music students and connoisseurs alike can look forward to musicologist Dr. TS Sathyavathi’s lec-dem on, ‘Compositions of Muthuswamy Dikshithar and Mysore Vasudevacharya,’ scheduled to be held on August 27.
Currently, the SGBS Trust runs three focussed programmes; Shiksha provides primary education for the under-privileged, Unnati gives vocational training for the unemployed, Utsav is their art and culture series. Ramesh explains that the Trust has effectively used the collective strength of art lovers during Gokulashtami culturals to channelise resources and manpower for social causes. “Unnati has been in the Employability and Skilling arena for over 20 years touching lives of 80,000 youth. .”
As vocalist TM Krishna put it, “Ideas are always there, but to take them to the next level, make them creative and stay relevant is the challenge, and that is where Unnati is today. The organisation, spread across India, is offering vocational training and employment to the underprivileged. That is why it’s been an honour to be a part of their concerts in the Gokulashtami series over the past few decades.”
It is interesting to know how SGBS started its classical art and culture wing, Utsav. Says Ramesh, “In the late 70s, a dozen like-minded people came together for bhajans and discourses at Sri Guruvayurappan Bhajan Samaj (SGBS). In a few years time prominent artistes of Carnatic music started participating along with bhajans and discourse. This saw the flowering of a new chapter in classical melody with concerts happening at the same Odakkathur Mutt in Ulsoor.”
Gokulashtami Utsav by SGBS-Unnati will be on from Aug 19 – Sept 10, Mahan Shree Odukkathur Mutt, No. 13, Gangadhara Chetty Road, Ulsoor. Call 25567990 / www.unnatiblr.org