"PURANDARA NAMANA-2008", a tribute to the Carnataka Sangeetha Pitamaha Shri Purandara Daasa organised by the Kannada Sangha on 17th February 2008 (Sunday) was a true homage to the great poet-composer-singer as we witnessed a wonderful congregation of music lovers from different parts of Singapore coming together to pay their respects to the pioneer through various forms of music & dance. The harmonious blend of Shruti-Laya in an ocean of beautiful compositions of Shri Purandara Daasa performed by Singannadigas and non-Kannadigas with equal fervour & enthusiasm underlined the famous saying "true music has no boundaries".

The programme started at 5:15 PM with the installation of Shri Purandara Daasa's photo to the accompaniment of nAdaswara & Dolu. After a short welcome speech by Kannada Sangha\'s President Shri B.K.Ramadas, Dr.Smt. Saroja Srinath & Dr.Smt. Siri Rama of Kanaka Sabha gave a brief glimpse into Purandara Daasa's life story in Kannada & English respectively and narrated how a miserly merchant Shrinivasa Naika became Shri Purandara Daasa and went onto become a pioneer in Indian Musical World. The enchanting musical evening soon began with the mass singing of pillAri GitegaLu, lead by our own Smt. Bhagya Murthy the well known vocalist in Singapore. The audience were immersed in "sangeeta / Bhakti rasa" for the next two & a half hours, with vocal, instrumental & dance performances by artists from different Arts Schools/Organisations as well as the Ladies Music group of our Kannada Sangha.

Unique feature of this year's ArAdhane was the enthusiastic participation from various Indian cultural groups/organisations like Kannada Sangha, Kanaka Sabha, GICC, Vamshidwani, Senpaga Vinayagar Temple, Dharma Muneeswaran Temple, Ranjani Jayasimha\'s Dance Troupe, Manu Multi-Arts and Vadapathira Kaliamman Temple. Smt. Vishalakshi Vaidya compered for the programme and Shri Vijaya Kumar presented the Vote of Thanks. "The evening ended on a high note with the melodious rendering of the devaranAma – "tambUri mITidava" in chorus, lead by Smt. Bhagya Murthy.

The programme was co-sponsored by Vadapathira Kaliamman Temple, Serangoon Road. With involvement of more than 10 organisations, 80 participants and about 300 audience, it was yet another memorable event organised by Kannada Sangha. Kannada Sangha also distributed its first ever Calendar as a New Year gift to all its 2008 members who were present for the programme.

vamdanegaLomdige

Kannada Sangha,
Singapore