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Lucy Duran follows World Routes Academy protege Hari Sivanesan and his mentor Aruna Sairam as they visit the Indian city of Thanjavur to discover the roots of Carnatic music.

As part of the 2011 World Routes Academy, British born veena player Hari Sivanesan travels around Tamil Nadu in South India, to learn more about the classical music of South India that he has grown up playing. Together with his mentor, acclaimed South Indian vocalist Aruna Sairam, and presenter Lucy Duran, they embark on a journey of musical and emotional discovery.

Around the ancient city of Thanjavur, known as the land of temples, they visit the the shrine of Saint Thyagaraja, the venerated South Indian composer, and perform an intimate session in the confines of the shrine. They attend a Sampradaya Bhajan session of devotional singing by a Brahmin community in Aruna Sairam's ancestral village, and eat a traditional South Indian meal from a banana leaf on the floor. They discover folk music from the other end of the social scale at a village temple deep in the countryside, performed by a troupe of folk drummers and dancers, and Hari makes a pilgrimage to the world's only temple devoted to the Hindu Goddess of knowledge, music and the arts, Saraswati, to pay tribute to his late teacher, Smt Kalpakkam Swaminathan.

The World Routes Academy is a 大象传媒 Radio 3 initiative which aims to support and inspire young UK based world music artists by bringing them together with an internationally renowned artist in the same field and belonging to the same tradition.

Available now

1 hour

Music Played

  • Hari Vrndavn Sivanesan

    Nattai Ragam (extract)

  • Aruna Sairam

    Ksheera Saagara Vihaa

    • 大象传媒 Location Recording.
    • Thyagaraja Samadhi in Thiruvaiyaru, Tamil Nadu.
  • Aruna Sairam

    Samaja Vara Gamana

    Performers: Aruna Sairam (voice) Hari Vrndavn Sivanesan (veena)

    • 大象传媒 Location Recording.
    • Thyagaraja Samadhi in Thiruvaiyaru, Tamil Nadu.
  • Bhajana Madam Ashram Group

    Sampradaya Bhajan (excerpt)

    Performers: Ananda Rao (voice, harmonium) Srinivasan (voice) Hopal (kanjbbra) Sudarsan (voice) Vijayan (mridangam) Sriraman (clarinet))

    • 大象传媒 Location Recording.
    • Bhajana Madam Ashram, Sirugamani, Tamil Nadu.
  • Bhajana Madam Ashram Group

    Sampradaya Bhajan (excerpt)

    Performers: Ananda Rao (voice, harmonium) Srinivasan (voice) Hopal (kanjbbra) Sudarsan (voice) Vijayan (mridangam) Sriraman (clarinet))

    • 大象传媒 Location Recording.
    • Bhajana Madam Ashram, Sirugamani, Tamil Nadu.
  • Monks of Sirugamani

    Vedic recitation

    • 大象传媒 Location Recording.
    • Sirugamani, Tamil Nadu.
  • Ae Gowri Amman Temple Group

    Karagam

    Performers: Inbaraj (nadaswaram) Murugesan (nadaswaram) Rajendran (tavil) Chellia (tavil) Pandi (urumi)

    • 大象传媒 Location Recording.
    • Ae Gowri Amman Temple, Vallam, Tamil Nadu.
  • Ae Gowri Amman Temple Group

    Themmangu

    Performers: Ms Gunavathi (voice) Inbaraj (nadaswaram) Murugesan (nadaswaram) Rajendran (tavil) Chellia (tavil) Pandi (urumi)

    • 大象传媒 Location Recording.
    • Ae Gowri Amman Temple, Vallam, Tamil Nadu.
  • Hari Vrndavn Sivanesan

    Sri Maha Ganapathim

    • 大象传媒 Location Recording.
    • Saraswati Temple, Koothanor, Tamil Nadu.

Broadcast

  • Sat 16 Jul 2011 15:00

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