by Prof. A.V. Narasimha Murthy, former Head, Department of Ancient History & Archaeology, University of Mysore

Recently I received an email from Janaki Krishnamurthy through N. Ramanuja. Actually, she had forwarded a note on the Mandyam Iyengars. Janaki is known to Mysoreans at Gokulam by the famous Andal Mandiram of which she is the Trustee and practically its sustainer. She is also connected with Lakshmi Venkataramanaswamy temple at Vontikoppal and there also she is active in socio-religious fields.

In fact, I first met her some years ago when Mathoorji’s discourses were being held at this temple. She was taking a prominent part in making it a great success by giving enough publicity and making excellent arrangements. Thus she is a good leader and organiser.

Now, let me come back to the note regarding the Mandyam Iyengars. They belong to a group of the Iyengar community which has a history going back to the times of Sri Ramanujacharya who is said to have converted Hoysala king Bittideva from Jainism to Vishnuvardhana of Vaishnavism. Melkote or Melukote became a stronghold of Mandyam Iyengars who belonged to Bharadwaja Gotra. They lived happily by performing vedic rituals and worship in temples. It is said, they migrated in a group to Melkote. They all belonged to Thangalai group of Iyengar sect. They spoke Tamil in addition to Kannada.

It is desirable to know something about this place Melkote. Situated in Pandavapura taluk, Melkote is famous as one of the four places: the remaining three being Sriranga, Tirupati and Kanchipuram. Melkote has antiquity going back to mythological times wherein it was referred to as Narayanadri, Vedadri, Yadavadri etc. During the Treta Yuga, Lord Dattatreya performed vedic discourses and it became famous as Vedadri. In Dwapara Yuga, Sri Krishna lived here and hence it became famous as Yadavadri and in the Kali Yuga it became famous by the consecration of Vishnu temples. In inscriptions it is referred to as Thirunarayanapura and Vaikuntavardhana Kshetra. While writing these sentences, my mind went to almost a decade back.

Vidya Bhavan’s Chairman Justice E.S. Venkataramaiah, who belonged to this place Tonnur, used to take lot of interest in the development of this area and I went for the first time to Tonnur and Melkote in his company and got a VIP treatment. During his life-time he used to arrange a lunch for the whole village along with special guests and I had the good fortune of being a participant twice in these lunches. I have another reason to be grateful to him. It was he who appointed me as the Chief Editor of the publication of 25 volumes of History and Culture of the Indian People in Kannada which is hailed as an important landmark among the Indian History series, originally edited by Kulapathi K.M Munshi. This runs into 15 thousand pages. Venkataramaiah is the first Chief Justice from Karnataka to adorn that coveted position. Thus he made Karnataka proud.

The seeds of Melkote are found in antiquity. According to history, the Cholas were the rulers of Tamil Nadu and were champions of Saivism. They were not well disposed towards Ramanujacharya who propagated Vaishnavism. Fearing for life, Ramanujacharya is said to have left Tamil Nadu and came to Karnataka. First he came to Tonnur or Tondanur where some disciples joined him. Subsequently, he went to Melkote. It is believed that he stayed at Melkote for twelve years. The Cheluvanarayana Temple is the most important temple here. It is a huge temple with an enclosure of 290 feet with many Mantapas. The Navaranga in front of the garbhagriha has three entrances. It also has a shrine for Ramanujacharya and the image therein is said to have been consecrated by his disciples when Ramanujacharya left for Srirangam. It is of importance to note that rituals and worship are done here as per the regulations and rules as promulgated by Ramanujacharya himself.

During the 14th Century, Melkote suffered an attack by the Muslims. However, during the Vijayanagara period, Thimmanna Dandanayaka repaired and rebuilt temples. The story of Baby Nacchiyar is very interesting. The processional image of Cheluvapillai (Narayana) was in the possession of Delhi Sultan’s daughter. Ramanujacharya, on learning about this, went to Delhi and brought back that image. Unable to bear this separation, Sultan’s daughter also came to Melkote and finally merged in God Narayana. This traditional account is not supported by facts of history. In connection with this event, even now a day is reserved for Delhi Utsava (Delhi festival).

God Cheluvanarayana continued to be important during the later periods also. The kings of Vijayanagara patronised this temple and gave many grants to it. Mysore Wadiyars were great devotees of this God. Raja Wadiyar was a great patron and donated lands and jewels. Ornaments Rajamudi and Krishnamudi are very famous. Tipu Sultan also gave many grants. Shamaiah Iyengar allied himself with dowager queen Lakshmammanni and secretly corresponded with the British. Tirumala Iyengar also helped the British. Finding two Iyengars against him, Tipu thought of destroying the Iyengars who were living in Melkote. The day he selected for this was Naraka Chaturdashi. When all Mandyam Iyengars were immersed in Deepavali celebrations, Tipu’s men entered Melkote and massacred at least 800 persons. The survivors abandoned Melkote and ran away and the town became a ghost town. Friends and relatives of Tirumala Iyengar were killed in cold blood. Thus Naraka Chaturdashi became a day of Sraddha or death ceremony.

As it happened on a Deepavali day, the day is considered as mourning day in almost all the houses. That is why the Mandyam Iyengars of Melkote do not celebrate Deepavali. This practice continues even to this day.

As one historian aptly remarked, most historians write that Tipu killed a tiger though they never saw it, but do not write about the massacre of Mandyam Iyengars though they have seen it or heard of it from authentic sources. Just for information, one of the most important Mandyam Iyengars today is the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu J. Jayalalithaa.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home>  Feature Articles  /  Saturday , November 29th, 2014

Mysuru :

Chief Minister Siddharamaiah has said that the Government was for inclusive growth with equal emphasis on the development of all regions.

He was addressing the gathering at the valedictory of Platinum Jubilee celebrations of Mandya district, organised under the aegis of Mandya Zilla Balaga at Jaganmohan Palace in city yesterday.

Noting that Mysore and Mandya had been witnessing rapid development, Siddharamaiah sang paeans of the erstwhile ruler of Mysore, Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar and Dewan Sir M. Visvesvaraya for their untiring efforts in constructing the KRS dam across river Cauvery at Kannambadi in Srirangapatra taluk.

The CM also said that when works on the dam was launched, the then Madras Government had raised objections. However, the duo overcame all the hurdles and built the dam , he pointed out.

The district also has the credit of being home to Shimsha, where Asia’s first Hydel Power Project was successfully taken up by the Wadiyars, the rulers of Mysore province as Mandya was a part of it till it was separated, he said while lauding the contribution of Mandya district for giving great litterateurs and leaders of yester year’s like K.S. Narasimha Swamy, Pu.Thi. Narasimhachar, Narayanashetty (Sujana) and K.V. Shankaragowda, K. Puttaswamy, Kempegowda, B.C. Lingaiah among others.

Some of the renowned leaders of the later days too hailed from the same district, he said and called upon the people of the district to vow for making Mandya a model for the entire country.

Mysore District in-charge Minister V. Sreenivasa Prasad, in his address, said Mandya has a special name in the State.

Recalling the role of Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar in the construction of the Kannambadi dam, now called as KRS dam, Prasad stressed that the people of the district have the responsibility of successfully carrying the legacy of great leaders and eminent personalities from the district.

When Mandya Zilla Balaga decided to celebrate 75 years of Mandya District, it was keen on hosting the ceremony at Jaganmohan Palace in Mysore, as it was the same venue seven decades ago, the then Praja Pratinidhi Vidhayaka (People’s Representative Council) decided to carve Mandya out of Mysore district. With the formation of Mandya district, the then Mysore province with seven districts, became eight.

MLC Marithibbe Gowda, Srirangpatna MLA Ramesh Babu Bandi Siddegowda, Mysore City Corporation Mayor R. Lingappa, Mysore ZP Vice-President Madappa, Mandya Zilla Balaga President K.T. Veerappa, Secretary Keelara Jayaram and others were present.

History Professor Dr. M.S. Anitha, Udaya TV Hubli Bureau Chief Dr. N. Jagadish, theatrist Prof. H.S. Umesh and Prof. G.T. Veerappa were felicitated on teh occasion. Earlier in the day, Pramoda Devi Wadiyar inaugurated the celebrations.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General  News / Thursday, November 06th, 2014

by M.L. Krishnaswami

Naaham Vasami Vaikunte

Na Yogi Hridaye Ravou

Yatra Madbhaktaha Gayanthi

Tatra Thistami Narada

Thus spake Lord Krishna to Narada, the divine messenger who could walk/fly through all the three worlds, with his Tambura in hand. Narada was also acting as a common ambassador for all the three worlds of yore, the Earth, Devaloka, where the gods were supposed to live and the Pathala Loka, below the oceans, where mostly the demons lived. He had an open Visa (strange) to visit any part of the above three worlds and was welcome in all of them. This is aside our topic for the present. The meaning or translation of the above Sanskrit Sloka is:

“I (Krishna) do not live in the heaven

Nor do I dwell in the heart of

the yogi or sage

But I dwell or live there

and there alone

Where my devotees sing

and dance in my praise”

This preface becomes relevant for this article because of the preponderance of music in the social, philosophical and cultural aspects of our land. Music, in all its form — classical (both Karnatak and Hindustani), devotional (Dasa Sahitya and Vachana Gayana) and numerous other disciplines has become a part and parcel of our rich culture and in this cradle, many organisations and Sabhas have come up in Mysore in the last century and some of them have made tremendous progress in the royal city of Mysore.

Down the memory lane, five to six-and-a-half-decades ago, Mysore was a small town with barely less than a lakh of people and the royalty was ruling the Town and the State. Fortunately those who ruled Mysore State were very benevolent people and history has put them on a pedestal enumerating all the good deeds they have done during their rule. The Palace, that marvel of great architectural splendour, was the cynosure of all cultural and related activities and the Maharajas — more significantly — Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar and Jayachamaraja Wadiyar gave tremendous support to their citizens to perpetuate the art forms of their choice. This patronage helped people to start music and dance halls etc., in the city.

In the above context was established nearly a century ago, Sri Bidaram Krishnappa Sri Rama Mandira in Shivarampet area of Mysore. A compact hall with a squatting capacity of 500-600 rasikas or music connoisseurs with an additional seating capacity of 20-30 on the side verandahs, is what makes this beautiful auditorium with Lord Rama’s benevolent eyes falling on the performing artistes, exactly opposite, and the rasikas scattered in between on floor carpets.

The hall is divided into five enclosures or portions and the side walls decorated at top with wonderful photo-images of the Dasavatharas, five on each side in order. The photos are beautifully framed with Mahagony wood and lit at the top. Lower down, the walls display photos of eminent music composers and musicians of yore. Behind the stage where the artistes sit and perform is a photograph of the founder Sri Bidaram Krishnappa. It is a magnificent hall and such marvel and beauty are absent in any hall in the whole of South India.

Come Ramanavami, it is a major feast for the Hindus and all over the land music Sabhas celebrate this as a festival of music — some times for a week and sometimes for a fortnight. Bidaram Mandira has continued to celebrate this festival for a fortnight in a grand manner inviting leading musicians of the land to perform. Long back they also used to have a dance programme included in the itinerary.

It was in March-April 1944 that I was exposed first to a music concert in the above hall. A young lad of eleven summers, I was gifted a season ticket for the Ramanavami festival by my eldest brother who was a Life Member of that Sabha. Stalwarts performed during the festival and included Ariyakudi, Semmamgudi, Chembai, G.N.B. and Madurai Mani to name a few vocalists who were accompanied by leading violinists and percussionists of the day like T. Chowdaiah, Papa Venkataramaiah, Kumbakonam Raja Manikyam Pillai (all violin) and Madurai Mani Iyer, Palani Subramanya Pillai (a left handed percussionists of repute), Mugaiah (on mridangam). Solo violin concert by the legendary Dwaram Venkata Swamy Naidu was a highlighted programme. The concerts would start at 6 pm and go upto 10 pm and Madurai Mani would even go upto 11 pm and the connoisseurs would sit through till that late hour, when he would regale them with his drum like music. The lone lady Musician I heard then was D.K. Pattammal and later in the late 40s she was joined by M.L. Vasanthakumari, also giving a separate programme.

Artistes used to be brought from Madras to Bangalore on train and then to Mysore by Car. This would normally entail some delay in transit and there would be commotion among the audience some of whom would demand for a refund of their ticket value, by which time the main artiste would come and start singing. The opening programme would invariably be from Ariyakudi — who was called the Gayaka Samrat — accompanied by T. Chowdaiah and Mani Iyer. Ariyakudi and Chowdaiah used to wear diamond ear rings and would have a gold necklace hanging down the neck. In that beautiful illuminated hall, it was a pleasure to see the sparkling diamonds on the artistes.

The concerts were without the menace of loudspeakers and the whole hall would reverberate with the original voice of the artistes. The voices of female artistes like Pattammal and Vasantha Kumari would take a little time to reach the last row of people in the hall after a few seconds and the rasikas would know that the concert has started because of the sound of violin and the mridangam.

Apart from the above Bidaram, music concerts were arranged during Hanumanthotsava by Sri Devendrappa, down the same road in Srirampet and this was also a veritable dais for many local artistes of repute. Besides this in old Agrahara also there used to be concerts on Chavadi Street arranged by Sri Venkatesh Iyengar, father of legendary Veena Doreswamy Iyengar.

Thyagaraja Jayanthi used to be organised in all the Sabhas of Mysore and this programme is being continued even today. Another feature of the programmes of yore was the presence of many of the local musicians on all the days of the festival, which unfortunately is not seen today. In this connection I had the good fortune of seeing Sri K. Vasudevacharya and Rallapall Ananthakrishna Sharma in one of the programmes arranged in Sahakara Bhavana on Chamaraja Double Road by Saraswathi Sangeetha Samaja — an off shoot of Bidaram Krishnappa Ramamandira.

In addition to the above, an organisation by name “Sangeetha Kalabhivardhini Sabha” came into being under the leadership of Sri K. Vasudevacharya and Sri H. Yoganarasimham. This Sabha used to have concerts in the premises of the Sanskrit Patashala, opposite Palace Offices and went on for quite a few years before folding up.

Golden days they were really !

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / Sunday, November 02nd, 2014

In the late 40s, we moved to Bangalore having bought a house owned by a departing Britisher, a Charles Marsh and the house was called ‘The Marshes’. It literally lay in the marshes, all one acre of it, wedged between the two lakes, one of which when it overflowed ran over the bund that was our access road. There wasn’t much habitation as it lay in close proximity to two graveyards, one a huge Hindu one and the other a smaller Muslim one. Though the mud road that lay between the two graveyards connected our road to the Lalbagh, it was never used except to cart dead bodies. 

The City Corporation at some point in the early 50s decided to put life into that road and thought up an ingenious idea. Why not divide the road and mark out uniform sites on either side allowing for bigger sites in the corners? Well, of course, it had to be called ‘Double Road’, the first in town to carry that sobriquet. The grand day arrived for testing the waters. A man went round with a drum announcing the sale of sites for homes by auction on the following Sunday. The mud road, now divided into two mud roads, were cleared of the debris collected over years and in the middle, a platform was erected for the great occasion. The District Magistrate arrived with his minions, who set up a podium and chairs, as the drummers drummed louder and louder…nothing happened except for some grave diggers stirring out to see whether fresh bodies had arrived.

Realising that this is a no-go situation, the District Magistrate enquired whether there was any noted (monied) person living close by. His heart swelled with hope when my father was mentioned as the only money bag around. He knew him from excise auctions. Thus my father was summoned and addressed with great grace. My father’s generation treated these exalted gentlemen of the Government as next only to God. ‘Appane aaga beku’ (orders your grace), ‘Nodi, saukarre namma mana ulisa beku’ (you must save my honour) ‘ayyo yenubekadaru heli’ (anything you say) “ondu site adaru marde nanu hogoke agalla. Nimma hesaralli ondu 5 site nanu register madtini” (I can’t go without selling a single site. I will register five in your name). Thus my father had five sites, two on either side, and one larger one in the corner. Returning home, he called up his friends – a lowly bank manager, a retired Thasildar, a poor relative. On arrival, they were told they owned sites. As they demurred, he cut them short ‘Did I ask you for money?’ Watching the sites going at such a pace, mother could not but put in her bit. “I don’t have anything in my name”. So one went to her and the other to the quietest brother in the family. The purchase value of the sites? Rs 4,500 for the regular and Rs 6,500 for the corner.

Years passed. I went abroad and when I was there, my father had a stroke. Though he recovered, he was never the same again becoming increasingly immobile. A few years later he passed away. One morning, a man sat in our yard and wished to meet my mother. He spent a long time with her and did not have time enough to unburden his gratitude to us, particularly to father. When he retired from the bank, he had nothing much in terms of the severance pay but he had the burden of getting his daughter married. He had borrowed on pledging the site father had gifted. And then had settled into retirement that is, until a few months ago, he woke up to the fact that the piece of land he owned now was the prize of princes, for the Double Road had become the main arterial road to the burgeoning Bangalore South. Overnight, he was rich enough not only to buy a place but also build a comfortable two-storied bungalow that gave him permanent income from the renting of one floor and living in another… a place of his own. He had tears in his eyes as he recounted the tale. That patch of land, which made him a fortune, was now on Kengal Hanumanthaiah Road connecting downtown with a vast extension called Jayanagar and other extensions beyond.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Supplements> MetroLife / by M Bhaktavasala / DHNS – November 04th, 2014