Ramana Balachandhran: Ragam Chandrajyothi

The astonishing veena player Ramana Balachandhran was the opening artiste at the Mumbai edition of the FEA-curated CROSSROADS concerts.
He began his recital with Bagayanayya, a Thyagaraja composition in Ragam Chandrajyothi. He was accompanied by the always tasteful Patri Satish Kumar on mridangam.

[@yeshprab]

The most obvious and impressive quality of Sri Ramana Balachandran's veena playing is the sowkhya bhaava it exudes, and the sukham one feels, almost instantaneously, when one hears it, sometimes even from the first two or three notes. By giving adequate vishraanti between melodious sangathis, he gives ample time for the melody to linger, and the beauty of the sangathis to sink, in the rasikas' minds. The winning combination of melody and sweetness characterizes his music. Chandrajyothi is a rather rare raaga: there are only a few krithis in this raaga; of them Sri Thyagaraja's Baagaayanayya is the most famous. Its janaka raaga, Paavani, is itself a very rare raaga. Even though I have heard this krithi sung by several vocalists, I can not remember when was the last time I heard Paavani raga: it is that rare. This is a very soothing, soulful rendition indeed. Yesh Prabhu, Bushkill, Pennsylvania

[@yeshprab]

Thank you very much, Haran Sivasambu. Yesh

[@raghugopalan6139]

@@yeshprab, there is a full RTP on Paavani Raga by Veena B Kannan. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eGesdoVjptl4Z5o. Starts around 1 hr 3 min.

[@yeshprab]

Thank you, Raghu Gopalan, for the information. I watched the video and listened to his Paavani. Sri Ramana Balachandran's music is soulful and sowkhya-inducing. I did not feel the presence of any soul in Sri B Kannan's veena playing, but I did find plenty of gimmicks and showmanship, however. (For example, playing veena with only one hand for a very long time, and trying to coax sound out of the veena by pressing very hard on the string even after the string stopped vibrating a while ago: I call it torturing the veena!) Only when the music flows from the heart, will it sound soulful; the reason for this is that our jeeva resides in our heart, and when music flows from the heart it will have the essence or flavor of the soul which, our scriptures say is Sacchidaananda. There are vocalists who sing just from the throat, and there are vocalists who sing from the heart; listeners can easily feel the difference. The same with veena playing, too. When a rasika says, "His singing did not touch me", what he actually says is that he found the vocalist's music soulless. Thank you very much for your comment.

[@guppi277]

As we listen to this performance, the feel of Soukhya bhava and the vishraanthi, douse us into a feel of tranquility. That's when we realise we are struggling to articulate that feeling to ourselves. Scrolling through the comments, reading this comment is the ultimate feeling. Of being liberated from that struggle, of 'how-to-name-it' That feeling, of, knowing the answer for the riddle but it got stuck in the throat, and there's help is at hand. You couldn't have said more succinctly. 👌

[@KaushikY1]

When Maa Saraswati HERSELF is present on your FINGERS and your TONGUE ....... what can be the next word.... just THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

[@GS-dz4ik]

Very well said 🙏

[@sierra1bravo]

The whole series of compositions of Ramana and Patri Satish Kumar is mind boggling...incredible music! Chandrajyoti is a marginal raga and a vivadi raga to boot...but this was really envisioned very well...looking forward to more. And Patri has been low-key but greatly enhanced the experience.

[@MoniVHS]

Goddess Saraswathi has Blessed Master Ramana both for the Vocal, and for playing Her Veena , in the most melodious way. He does not play the Veena just as an Instrument, but with utmost respect , which expresses his inner SELF

[@guppi277]

Very well said. It's explicitly seen in his play.

[@GS-dz4ik]

Yes yogic approach 🙏

[@lakshmiprasanna2292]

I keep listening to this rendition... soul stirring 🙏🙏🙏

[@krishnamurthynarasipur2556]

Very rare mridangam accompanieing veena so soothingly and softly. Listening to Ramana is a blissful experience.

[@guppi277]

The bliss is only amplified by the non-invsasive percussion from Patri ... In this day and age, Patri sets a bad example whereby discerning listeners are disappointed with other performers of this instrument. It could be just me or its him being so. Great going Patri. There's this Mrudangam percussion and then there's Patri's percussion.

[@RamyaKrishnamurthyRK]

Talented Vainika and talented mridangist!! Such a treat!!

[@thanusmom]

Spell bound. My deepest gratitude to Bhagwan we are even able to hear this divine music . No words. His music melts us completely

[@ramprasad-ju7fq]

Fully blessed by bhagavan himself

[@rangavembar]

A divine instrument!

[@vidyagireesh9378]

Pure melody.....excellent video and audio recording.......finest sophisticated first quality audio system...great 👍

[@manjulamn186]

I heard him first time. You are a gifted musician. God be with you.

[@radhikaramanujan1006]

Sowkyam and want to come back and listen to it more...

[@drk.premalatha6497]

Aaaahaa, blessed to be listening to this divine rendering by both great artistes!❤👏🙏🙏

[@ACDCisNiCe]

Bliss of Carnatic music. Enjoying it more and more.

[@Mt.Pentathol]

Haunting ! Thanks for the clean upload !

[@TheVenkyswamy]

superb Ramana! en chelleme! Chrinajeevi bhava!

[@suntharaponnambalam2767]

Briliant soothing performance. Thanks to Ramana and Patri Satish.

[@savithrividyasaghar4179]

So nice. Thank you so much Ramana&Pathri sir🙏🙏💐

[@peddannavistali9683]

Excellent rendition. Both voice and instrument are extraordinary, as if the meaning of the krithi explained. God bless you. 🙏🙏

[@jvsuryanarayana]

Impeccable manodharma.

[@puduhari1]

bAgAyanayya nI mAya lentO; brahmakaina koniyADa taramA (bAgAya) I gAradamunu yonarincucunu nE gAdanucu balkuTayu (bAgAya) alanAdu kauravula naNaca mana yalari dOsamanu naruni jUci, pApa phalamu nIku danaku lEdani cakkaga pAlanamu sEya lEdA? tyAgarAjanuta? (bAgAya) Meaning: AyyA! Your little miraculous tricks are so amazing, no one, not even Brahma, can understand and describe and praise them adequately. After creating all the maaya (illusion), you then claim you had nothing to do with them! Once upon a time, when you asked Arjuna, a human, to destroy the Kauravas, he agonized saying it would be a sin. You, NaaraayaNaa assured him that the effects of that destruction would not be a sin that would adversely affect him, and you gave him salvation. Source Credit: www.karnatik.com/c1284.shtml

[@GS-dz4ik]

It takes me to eternal world... Koti koti namaskaram 🙏

[@gavarrajudevaguptapu1559]

V good cluster of sensitive art congrats

[@ramanipalle-swaraamrutham7229]

Wonderful rendition!

[@vallakipriya1947]

Soulful rendition 👌👌👌

[@sankarasadasivan237]

Thank you sir for enlightenng me

[@GS-dz4ik]

Yes path to enlightenment 🙏

[@sudhamuralidharan6574]

Superb renditions. I m listening to all your musical uploads Very promising Bless you💖💖💖

[@sankarasadasivan237]

Enjoyed it.My knowledge of carnatic music is very limited.Ithink this resmbles Chakravaha (Pandu reethi) etc.Again let me say the perfomance is soulful

[@yeshprab]

Hi Sankara Sadasivan. Thyagaraja's kriti Bantu reethi kolu is in Hamsanaada raga. In Chakravaka raga he has composed Etula brotuvo teliya and sugunamule jeppu konti. In the beginning, every one knows only very little or almost nothing at all. It is only after years of listening and learning that one acquires some knowledge (even then a small amount, really) of ragas and kritis. Even Sangeetha Kalanidhis know very little compared to the vast ocean of knowledge out there. So don't be discouraged! At least you are blessed with the ability to enjoy good music, and when you hear good, soulful music you know it is good. There are many who have neither the ability nor inclination to appreciate and enjoy soulful music. So consider yourself lucky.

[@SamA-jw1pb]

Yesh Prabhu you are absolutely correct, I have been listening to Carnatic Music with passion for several decades-and always consider lucky that I have the ability to enjoy and appreciate the art, even if I can’t sing Alapana or swara prasthara etc

[@musicandsrividya]

Melting music!

[@SonalDiwanjiMusicInstitute]

Very good

[@GS-dz4ik]

Soulful 🙏

[@swarseva3092]

Grt combi,perfect match

[@ramsundaram4615]

Amazing master. Love it.

[@rupanagudikondaiah1480]

Awesome

[@subrukk]

Perfect..

[@rveeramuthu6815]

நன்றி 💐🙏

[@Darshantunes]

Suuuúuuper🙏

[@iamyouu]

Does this artist have a Facebook page to follow hes amazing

[@balavenu1]

Please check out facebook.com/ramanabalachandhran.

[@karthikv1906]

Bliss

[@kanikusruti5928]

♥️

[@srividhyaprasanna5384]

Very nice

[@govindaramesh1248]

Bhajare manasa

[@krishnakumarg6838]

Why patri s kumar perform with low class veena kacheri

[@sreeharimeledam1152]

Who the hell are you,

[@chakravarthivrangarajan9616]

Elevating music from the young Veena artist

[@altclut]

Crawl back under a stone! ❤

[@krishnakumarg6838]

@@altclut under the under wear???

[@particlecloud]

Maybe he hears something you are deaf to. I enjoyed and gave it the thumbs up.

[@factelservices3514]

Very nice

[@krishnanjay354]

very nice