Vocalist TS Sathyavathi to receive Purandara Award

Vocalist, orator and Sanskrit scholar TS Sathyavathi will be conferred the Purandara Award by the Indiranagar Sangeeta Sabha on January 24

Five years ago when Carnatic vocalist TS Sathyavathi received a standing ovation at Chennai’s Music Academy, she spoke at length about her guru, RK Srikantan. Now, she follows in her guru’s footsteps receiving the first Purandara Award her guru received from the Indiranagar Sangeetha Sabha in Bengaluru about three decades ago.

“The Purandara Award is my guru’s blessings. Although every award is an honour, this one is special as it is in the name of our sangeeta pitamaha, Sri Purandaradasa. With events and awards that propagate the classical arts, the Indiranagar Sangeetha Sabha is doing great service to music connoisseurs and East Bangaloreans,” says Sathyavathi.

Much like her guru, the Dasa Sahitya holds a place close to Sathyavathi’s heart; she has released numerous albums and over four dozen dasara padagalu (hymns) in praise of Purandaradasa, a saint composer and Haridasa philosopher born in the 15th century.

“Almost every saint-composer was inspired by Purandaradasa — from Tyagaraja who penned Bhakthi-laden kritis and the Suladi talas of Dikshitar to Mysore royal, Jayachamaraja Wadiyar, who preferred a similar rhythmic structure in his compositions,” explains Sathyavathi.

Sathyavathi had a sterling start to a life of music, performing for the Maharani of Mysore as a two-year-old. She was born to TS Srinivasa Murthy and Rangalakshmi, a musician who revelled in Dasa Sahitya. She pursued a M.Phil degree in Sanskrit from Bangalore University and her thesis was on the ‘Contributions of Abhilashithartha Chintamani (Manasollasa) to Indian Music’. She later topped her Vidwat in Carnatic classical music too.

Playful but observant, “music came to me freely while growing up,” says Sathyavathi, recalling the strains of her mother’s Dasara Padas. Initially trained under her sisters, Vasantha Madhavi and Vasundhara, she received expert guidance under RK Srikantan.

Her first performance was at the Karnataka Ganakala Parishath as a 16-year-old. With an interest in the research-based study of music, she developed her skills under the guidance of musicologist BVK Sastry and her interest in Laya, made her study the mridanga under Bangalore K Venkataraman.