Revisiting Sivan Brothers’ Kandapuranam songs

Among the many compositional legacies rescued from the margins of music history are the kritis by Brahmasri Ramaswami Sivan and his brother that are concise versions of Kacchiyappa Sivacharya’s Kandapuranam verses. The Sivan Brothers, who lived and composed in the 19th century, were musicians of exceptional learning. Fluent in Tamil, Sanskrit and Telugu, they were also renowned for their literary scholarship. Both adopted ‘Guhadasa’ as their mudra, composing extensively across devotional and literary themes. Only a small portion of the kritis, one of the most significant works of the Sivan Brothers, survive — with around 40 of them published by Annamalai University. These forty songs formed the basis of the Sri Guhadasa Trust’s thematic concert series, presented annually in honour of Maha Vaidyanatha Sivan. A five-part session that began at the 178th jayanti, concluded at the 182nd celebrated recently at the Arkay Convention Centre. On the occasion, the final seven kritis were performed by Bhavya Hari, Vidya Kalyanaraman and Brindha Manickavasakan, who were accompanied by Ananthakrishnan on the violin, Guru Ragavendra on the mridangam and Trichy K. Murali on the ghatam.