On SV Narayanaswamy Rao and the Sree Ramaseva Mandali’s tryst with melody

SV Narayanaswamy Rao and the Sree Ramaseva Mandali’s tryst with melody

Way back in 1962, Flute Mahalingam (Mali) had to grace the stage during aS Sree Rama Seva Mandali’s Ramanavami concert, but some miscommunication led to the flautist not travelling to Bengaluru on that date. Organiser SV Narayanaswamy Rao’s (SVN) commitment to the artiste and the assembled gathering saw him zoom to Chennai by car to personally pick up Flute Mali.

“The 7pm concert started only at 10pm, and the audience adamantly stayed put until they heard maestro Mali’s magic on the bamboo reed pour forth. Those were the times when music connoisseurs and organisers saw an intimate engagement towards classical melodies. My father celebrated the spirit of music, unconditionally,” says SV Narayanaswamy’s son, SN Varadaraj swho is now helming the Ramanavami musical jamboree at Chamarajpet Fort High School grounds, after his father’s demise in 2000.

Varadaraj says, “Those days when journeys were time-consuming and arranging train travel and accommodation for visiting musicians was laborious, Narayanaswamy personally took it up as his responsibility. Treasuring all spheres of classical melody and acknowledging every performer, his secular make-up was apparent when artistes as Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, KJ Yesudas, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar, Sarod maestro Ali Akbar Khan, Shehnai virtuoso Bismillah Khan, Parveen Sultana or Nadaswara vidwans such as Sheik Chinna Moulana and Karaikuruchi Arunachalam not only performed for Ramanavami, but also relished the divine prasaada served at the fest.”

If there is one man whose contributions to the changing cultural landscape of Karnataka made a statement with music, it was Narayanaswamy Rao, whose efforts saw the Mandali grow substantially. The Mandali’s 75th year was marked with a stamp release, commemorating its cultural status in the city. 

Eminent dignitaries of the times such as Mirza Ismail, Sir M Visvesvarayya, PV Rajamannar, VV Giri and R Venkataraman have inaugurated the Ramanavami Festivals at various editions of the Sree Ramaseva Mandali. Most noteworthy occasions were in 1955 and 1957 when Mysore Royal Jayachamaraja Wadiyar, a musicologist and composer, inaugurated the celebrations along with C Rajagopalachari. “When Dr. S Radhakrishnan, the then President of India, couldn’t make it to the inaugurals in 1959, his taped speech was flown down from Delhi in time for the festival,” recollects Varadaraj.

In 1937, 13-year-old Narayanaswamy witnessed a young patriot fall to the ground injured while participating in a freedom movement protest at Bengaluru’s City Market. This was during the British rule and police forces had opened fire to quell the uprising. The sight of the bleeding man calling on the Almighty whilst writhing in pain was haunted Narayanaswamy for a long while; eventually, he resolved to work towards cultural unity through bhakthi, and ingrain harmony in people through melody.  

Fondly recollecting SVN’s dauntless determination, Varadaraj says his father had often said this incident at City Market was a turning point in his life. Festival congregations, he thought, would provide people with the right platform for prayer along with cultural proceedings for a commonality of purpose. The rationale was not just for religious outpourings, but to have a sense of reason and principle towards the propagation of our culture and music for a united India.