Guru’s Page

Kanchi Maha Periyava:

I humbly pay my tributes to the HOLY FEET of MAHAPERIYAVA, the Sage of Kanchi to whom I owe my entire life. Mahaperiyava guides me throughout my life and I pray Mahaperiyava to be with me and I seek HIS presence and blessings always.

Chittoor Appanna Bhagavathar:

Appanna Bhagavathar is my Guru for Carnatic music . He is my grand father and a stalvart in Carnatic music, both vocal and Violin. He learnt both vocal and violin from his father Vedachala Iyer. Belonging to a family of musicians that included his brothers Chittoor Gopalakrishnan, Chittoor Subramaniam and Chittoor Thiagarajan. Appanna Bhagavathar shifted to Chennai in 1958 and started teaching music, something he continued for almost 50 years. Man of dignity, he never clamoured for chances to play in concerts. He was a great admirer of Purandaradasar. He used to conduct a music festival every year in his memory. This was started in 1960 and went on till 1998. The festival culminated in a Tyagaraja akandam on the last two days. Many leading musicians used to participate in the festival. Appanna Bhagavatar was a graded Harikatha artist of All India Radio. He also notated kritis of Purandaradasar and published a book titled ‘Purandaradasar Kriti Mani Malai’ that went into many editions.
Recently, Sri Chittoor Appanna Bhagavathar’s centenary celebration was held on 21st June 2019 in a very grand manner at Ragasudha Hall, Mylapore Chennai

Shrimathi Bhavani Santhanam

Born in Poompuhar, Shrimathi Bhavani Santhanam Hails from a family of musicians. She started learning music from the age of six. She began her Carnatic training from the most renowned and a well known music Guru Shri. Neti Shrirama Sharma from Hyderabad. Her Guru was the most popular All India Radio Hyderabad artist during his days. Later, Bhavani Santhanam continued her training with Porur Ganesan who is a disciple of Maestro G.N.B.
After a few years. Bhavani Santhanam became a disciple of Shri Shri Bala Murali Krishna and continued to be so for a long time.
Known for being down to earth and versatility,her music reaches out to every individual in the audience.Her voice is so magnetic and her authenticity over Carnatic music and a smiling face are her strengths and she is truly an exemplary for many disciples of her.
She was the Winner of President Award for consecutive 3 years from YMCA Hyderabad from the hands of then Governor of Hyderabad.
Bhavani Santhanam has a busy schedule with concerts in almost all major cities including Vadodara, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad etc in addition to music training for her students in Chennai and online classes for overseas students.

Recently, Sri Chittoor Appanna Bhagavathar’s centenary celebration was held on 21st June 2019 in a very grand manner at Ragasudha Hall, Mylapore Chennai

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Excerpts from news article ( courtesy: newstodaynet.com)

Chennai: Carva Trust, Rajaji Street, is all set to celebrate the centenary birth celebrations of its founder, Chittoor Appanna Bhagavathar, on 21 June at Ragasudha Hall, Mylapore, with a range of concerts and presentation of awards.

Speaking on this, Carva Rajasekar, trustee and son of Appanna Bhagavathar, said, “Way back in the 1950s, my father began performing Purandaradasar utsavam and Thyagarajar aganda namam every year in Mahadevan Street, where our family resided.”

“For a week, concerts based on kritis of Purandaradasar and Thyagarajar were performed every day in our house and my father took special care in organising the concerts, that saw vidwans from various places coming in.”

Now, Rajasekhar too is organising similar programmes every year in Mambalam at Ayodhya Mandapam through Carva Trust and this time, the event is scheduled to be held on 29 and 30 June.
Sharing a few words about organising the event, Rajasekhar said, “Everytime I organise the event, I fondly remember my father who devoted and dedicated his whole life to music. I am delighted to celebrate his centenary year.”

The celebrations include awarding of ‘Satya Sangita Rasika Shiromani’ award to vocalist Bale S Sampath, also a longtime resident of West Mambalam, a press release said.