L. Ramakrishnan, student of Kalpakam Teacher, and the former's student Srinivasaraghavan, play panchamAtanga mukha gaNapatinA paripAlito'ham of Mutthuswami DIkshitar in rAga malahari (rUpaka tAla) as part of Kalpakam Teacher's birth centenary celebrations on August 15, 2022, in Chennai.
Monday, August 22, 2022
Centenary tribute: Kamala Aswathama (speech)
Video recording of Smt. Kamala Aswathama's tribute to her guru Smt. Kalpakam Swaminathan, broadcast on the occasion of the latter's birth centenary function on August 15, 2022, in Chennai.
Centenary tribute: N Vijayalakshmi
As part of Smt. Kalpakam Swaminathan centenary celebrations, Smt. N Vijayalakshmi (retd. AIR Chennai), a senior disciple of Kalpakam Teacher, performed the Mysore Vasudevacharya composition Lambodaram avalambE in kAmbhOji, set to rUpaka tAla.
Guru Kalpakam Swaminathan will be remembered for her impeccable and vast patantharam
Nirmala Rajasekar remembers Kalpakam Teacher in her piece in the Friday Review of The Hindu, Aug 11, 2022. Chennai edition.
It was a sunny Sunday in July 1982, in Chennai, when my parents took me to meet my guru, vidushi Kalpakam Swaminathan, at her Raja Annamalaipuram residence.
We were asked to wait in the living room, where two beautiful veenas were placed on a paai (traditional mat). Kalpakam teacher came in, greeted us, looked at my mother (assuming she was the student) and asked her to play a bit of ragam, tanam, and a kriti. My mother, pointing at me said, “We are here for Nirmala. She will be blessed if you can accept her as your disciple”. Teacher gently smiled and looked at me: I played ragam, tanam and the kriti ‘Marivere dikkevaraiyya rama’, taught by my Bangalore-based gurus vidushis G. Chennamma and E.P. Alamelu. She next asked me to join on an auspicious day. Thus began my 29-year long journey with the veena doyenne, who was and continues to be my guiding spirit.
Read full article at
Sunday, August 21, 2022
Prof. Kalpakam Swaminathan Centenary: August 15, 2022
On Aug 15, 2022, students, family members, rasikas and other associates of Kalpakam Teacher came together at Arkay Convention Centre, Royapettah High Road, Mylapore, Chennai.
That she has trained legions of students spanning generations, starting from the great S.R.Janakiraman who learnt from Mami in the 1940s in Kalakshetra, Veena Gayathri's mother Smt.Kamala Ashwathama, Smt.Nirmala Rajasekar, etc. to young students who learnt from Mami in the 2000s, is no mean feat.
Below is a post on the event written on Facebook by Srinivasaraghavan who attended and participated in the event.
Aug 16, 2022:
The greatness of a guru is affirmed by the legacy that they have left behind in terms of how many lives they have transformed and changed by their transmission of knowledge. Sangeeta Kala Acharya Smt.Kalpakam Swaminathan indeed touched the lives of many who learnt from her, who listened to her music and even those who have spoken to her only once in their lifetime!
That she has trained legions of students spanning generations, starting from the great S.R.Janakiraman who learnt from Mami in the 1940s in Kalakshetra, Veena Gayathri's mother Smt.Kamala Ashwathama, Smt.Nirmala Rajasekar, etc. to young students who learnt from Mami in the 2000s, is no mean feat.
All her students who shared their experiences at the centenary event spoke about her warm personality and how she would encourage every student equally and would offer them several opportunities to grow.
Although it is quite well known that she focused equally on students belonging to all levels (there was no differentiation in her teaching between someone who came to her to learn the basics or an advanced stage student), it is important to note that she rarely said no to anyone who knocked her doors to learn even a few compositions, whether it be rare Muthuswamy Dikshitar kritis or Patnam Subramania Iyer pieces.
As her daughter-in-law Smt.Mangalam Shankar mentioned at the event, even during Mami's last days, after she had had a fall, she was worried about how she would be able to sit and play the Veena more than anything else. Such was her dedication even at the age of 89!
As Sri.Ramaswamy Narayanan mentioned, Mami preferred to be a teacher rather than a performer and dedicated her life towards teaching in which she found a greater purpose than performing. The fact that there are dozens of students around the world today who owe their Veena mastery to Mami stands testimony to her dedication in teaching and passing on the musical treasure that she obtained with a lot of effort in life. She continues to inspire many to take up Veena and learn the instrument for the sake of learning and propogation.
I would like to highlight the way this event was put together by her students KR Shrievats and L. Ramakrishnan . Any student/students of student of mami (or any rasika of mami) could offer a musical tribute to her either by attending the event in person or through a recording. The event was open to all and completely informal so that anyone could come forward and share their experiences about Mami.
As Ramaswamy Narayanan mama put it "instead of featuring a few marquee performers and reducing the centenary to just a few performances and in the process forgetting Mami, this event was jointly organised by all her students to remember her and offer their tributes."
This is how Mami would have wanted to be remembered. The event was a grand success with excellent attendance both in person and online.
The recordings obtained from various students and grand-students will also be featured on the Veena Vidhushi Smt Kalpakam Swaminathan page and the Kalpakataru blog space as a dynamic tribute across the next few months.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Gana Vana Mayuri
A tribute by Dr Asha (Sivasree) Gopalakrishnan
Strains of veena gently pervaded the tranquil and solemn atmosphere; the occasion being a musical homage to the veteran vidushi late Smt. Kalpakam Swaminathan by her students on Aug 15th, 201, at C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer Foundation auditorium, Chennai. Mami's presence was very much, felt not only in her august photograph placed near the stage, but also in every vibrating note played or sung by her students. As a silent and respectful participant, I experienced a flow of thoughts in my mind, much like the cascading swaras from her veena, which I would like to pen down.
Mami's was a unique personality, a combination of exceptional merit and mellifluence; an embodiment of grace, grandeur and graciousness. She represents a lifetime of unassuming, unpretentious, self-effacing, self-sacrificing devotion to veena, uncompromisingly upholding the pristine purity of the illustrious tradition she has been fortunate to inherit at a tender age.
Her playing touches the realm of the transcendent. It can (if at all) be inadequately described as sedate, stately, vintage, unsullied, meditative, sattvic, elevating, soul- stirring. Her music conjures up all that is grand, majestic, sacred, graceful and beautiful in nature: the lofty towering snow clad peaks of the Himalayas, the unfathomable depths of the mighty ocean, the vast expanse of the grand canyon, the majestic gait of an elephant, the stately repose of the lion-king, the graceful walk of a delicate swan, wave upon wave rising incessantly in the ocean, the ever-flowing, purifying, nourishing, sacred rivers of India, the gentle breeze rustling through tall trees, the gradual blossoming of flowers and tender shoots in spring, the towering gopurams of temples, the gently waving lamps of the arati before the deity, the rhythmic rise and fall of the breath of Lord Vishnu reclining on Adisesha which is the ultimate ajapaa-japa, known, only to yogis - yogi vidita ajapa natana rango, as Dikshitar puts it.
This nadopasana of hers has unquestionably sustained her through her personal and professional life. Let her be a beacon light and inspiration for us to sustain and carry forward this legacy, this tradition of music, and seek naada-brahma.
The author is a student of Smt. Kalpakam Swaminathan. She may be reached at ashass@live.com
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Strains of veena gently pervaded the tranquil and solemn atmosphere; the occasion being a musical homage to the veteran vidushi late Smt. Kalpakam Swaminathan by her students on Aug 15th, 201, at C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer Foundation auditorium, Chennai. Mami's presence was very much, felt not only in her august photograph placed near the stage, but also in every vibrating note played or sung by her students. As a silent and respectful participant, I experienced a flow of thoughts in my mind, much like the cascading swaras from her veena, which I would like to pen down.
Mami's was a unique personality, a combination of exceptional merit and mellifluence; an embodiment of grace, grandeur and graciousness. She represents a lifetime of unassuming, unpretentious, self-effacing, self-sacrificing devotion to veena, uncompromisingly upholding the pristine purity of the illustrious tradition she has been fortunate to inherit at a tender age.
Her playing touches the realm of the transcendent. It can (if at all) be inadequately described as sedate, stately, vintage, unsullied, meditative, sattvic, elevating, soul- stirring. Her music conjures up all that is grand, majestic, sacred, graceful and beautiful in nature: the lofty towering snow clad peaks of the Himalayas, the unfathomable depths of the mighty ocean, the vast expanse of the grand canyon, the majestic gait of an elephant, the stately repose of the lion-king, the graceful walk of a delicate swan, wave upon wave rising incessantly in the ocean, the ever-flowing, purifying, nourishing, sacred rivers of India, the gentle breeze rustling through tall trees, the gradual blossoming of flowers and tender shoots in spring, the towering gopurams of temples, the gently waving lamps of the arati before the deity, the rhythmic rise and fall of the breath of Lord Vishnu reclining on Adisesha which is the ultimate ajapaa-japa, known, only to yogis - yogi vidita ajapa natana rango, as Dikshitar puts it.
This nadopasana of hers has unquestionably sustained her through her personal and professional life. Let her be a beacon light and inspiration for us to sustain and carry forward this legacy, this tradition of music, and seek naada-brahma.
The author is a student of Smt. Kalpakam Swaminathan. She may be reached at ashass@live.com
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Monday, August 08, 2011
Composition list: Musical homage to Kalpakam teacher, Aug 15, 2011
Here is the list of participants who have confirmed participation in the Aug 15, 2011, program to be held in memory of Smt. Kalpakam Swaminathan. The event is being held from 3.30 - 7 pm at the second floor auditorium of CP Arts Centre, 1 Eldams Road, near the TTK Road intersection.
If you have been a student of Kalpakam teacher and would to present an item in this event, please email kalpakataru@gmail.com with details of the kriti. If you are singing/playing as part of a group of two or more individuals, please restrict your presentation to not more than two items.
The list below is arranged in alphabetical order of participants. If there is a change in the item you have proposed, please notify us as soon as possible.
If you have been a student of Kalpakam teacher and would to present an item in this event, please email kalpakataru@gmail.com with details of the kriti. If you are singing/playing as part of a group of two or more individuals, please restrict your presentation to not more than two items.
The list below is arranged in alphabetical order of participants. If there is a change in the item you have proposed, please notify us as soon as possible.
| No. | Name | Rendition | Kriti | Raga | Composer |
| 1 | Hemalatha Venkat | Veena | koluvaiyunnADE | bhairavI | Tyagaraja |
| 2 | Janaki Srinivasan (Bangalore) | Veena | to be announced | ||
| 3 | Nirupa Vinayagam | Veena | sItamma mAyamma | vasantA | Tyagaraja |
| 4 | Nithya, Vidya and Vijayalakshmi | Vocal | kRShNananda mukunda | gauLipantu | Muttuswami Dikshitar |
| 6 | Padmavathi and Radha | Veena | tyAgarAjAya namastE | bEGaDa | Muttuswami Dikshitar |
| 7 | Ramakrishnan, L | Veena | siddhIshvarAya namastE | nIlAmbarI | Muttuswami Dikshitar |
| 8 | Sahana Venugopal | Veena | marugElarA | jayantas'rI | Tyagaraja |
| 9 | Saindhavi Venugopal | Veena | baNTurItikoluviya | hamsanAdam | Tyagaraja |
| 10 | Sheela Venugopal | Veena | s'rI satyanArAyaNam | s'iva pantuvarALi | Muttuswami Dikshitar |
| 11 | Shrievats, KR | Veena | paramAtmuDu | vAgadhIs'varI | Tyagaraja |
| 12 | Sivashree Gopalakrishnan | Vocal | to be announced | ||
| 13 | Sujatha Thiagarajan (Bangalore) | Veena | mAmava paTTAbhirAma | maNirangu | Muttuswami Dikshitar |
| 14 | Vasumathi Desikan and Sankari Sathish Baradwaj | Vocal | abhayAMbA | kalyANI | Muttuswami Dikshitar |
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