You've got to save the best for last, goes the popular dictum. It's hard to say who the best in this festival is, but it's very easy to say that it's going to be a great climax to your weekend.
Sri Lakshmi Nrisimha Swamy Seva Samithi (SLNSSS) is organising a musical festival from 23rd to 27th May, at the Keyes Girls High School. Carnatic vocal by Sanjay Subramanyam, T M Krishna and Alladi Aishwarya, and film music by Anooradha Sriram and Abbaswaram Ramjhi & troupe, form part of the 5-day bonanza. Today, the final day, classical and light music singer Anooradha Sriram will sing a few of her Tamil film songs.
Anuradha Sriram is a talented singer, well-versed and accomplished in singing in many styles of music. She is the wife of another talented musician, Dr. Sriram Parsuram. She has been trained by many respected gurus, such as Padmasri Tanjavur S Kalyanaraman, Sangeetha Kalanidhi T Brinda and Dr. T Viswanathan in the Carnatic style, and under Pandit Manikbua Thakurdas in the Hindustani style.
She is a gold medalist in both BA and MA in music from the Madras University. She was given a fellowship to do her Masters in World Music from Wesleyan University, USA. She has performed in Indonesian and West-African music concerts. The President of India Gold Medal in 1987 for Carnatic and Light Classical Music, and the Central Government Senior Fellowship in 1989, add to her list of many achievements.
She reached new heights of popularity with her film hits under highly talented musicians like A R Rahman and Ilayaraja. She was awarded a Platinum disc for record sales for her song Phenk Hawa, composed by Anu Malik. She has sung for more than 2,500 film songs in many Indian languages.
SLNSSS was formed in the year 2000, with the devotional and noble thought of reconstructing the centuries old temple of Lord Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy, which is in a dilapidated and neglected state, at Nala Bazaar, R P Road, Secunderabad. The uniqueness of this temple is that Lord Narasimha Swamy is in a standing posture with the Aahwana Mudra Hastam, giving an appearance of inviting devotees for blessings.
The skeletal work of the temple has been done by the samithi, with the help of donations from devotees. Further construction activities on the Sanctum Sanctorium, Upa Sannidhis, Dwajasthambam, Gopuram and Sthapati are being started to enable the reinstallation of deities in the Maha Aalayam.
To fulfill these activities, the samithi intends to organise fund-raising cultural activities, and the music fest from 23rd to 27th May is a part of this. The donations and contributions made to the samithi will be utilised only for the construction of the Lord's temple.
The donor passes to the music fest are Rs. 500 for all the five days, or Rs. 200 and Rs. 100 per day per head. For further details, please contact A S Mohan at 98481-47344 or N T Seshadri at 93470-67467 or Sounderajan at 98483-72972.