Sangita Kala Acharya Vidwan S. R. Janakiraman, my good friend Mr. R. Krishnaswami, good friend N. V. S., Mythili Ramadurai, distinguished speakers here, ladies and gentlemen. At the outset, let me congratulate Vidwan Janakiraman on getting the Kalaimamani award this year. When we honoured him with Sangita Kala Acharya in ’97, and in ’98 he has earned this title also. He has been associated with the Music Academy as a research scholar for more than five years.  He had a brilliant career as the distinguished head of the Department of Musicology in Shri Venkateshwara College of Music at Tirupati, and been noted as a leading musicologist, he has prepared a lot of papers, disc recordings, and he had the good fortune of training under stalwarts like Alathur Venkatesha Iyer, Sathur Krishna Iyengar, Tiger Varadachariya, and Boodalur Krishnamoorthy Sastrigal, and studied musicology under P. K. Rajagopal Iyer and Professor Sambamoorthy.  And its very nice of his students to arrange this felicitation function to honour him for his contribution to Carnatic music and musicology.  Let me, on behalf of all of you, wish him good health, long life, and continued contribution to South Indian Carnatic Music. There are many speakers here today, I wish Sangita Kala Acharya Janakiraman all the good luck.  Thank you.

Shri R. Krishnaswami
President, Narada Gana Sabha, Chennai

Shri T.T. Vasu, Shri Janikaraman, N.V.S., and Mythili.  After Vasu’s speech, there’s nothing left to say about the academic excellence of Shri Janikaraman. Whenever he comes for a speech, he comes very much prepared, and then prepared, so that it is very difficult for the speakers who come later to say anything or not repeat it. Now I will give one new information about the honour that Mr. Janikaraman is going to receive this month on 20th of August. Already Vasu mentioned to you about his Kalaimamani this year. He is receiving the Sangita Acharya award from Swami Haridas Giri’s Gnananda Sangita Sembala on 20th of August. Long before this function, nearly about two months before, his name was suggested, and he has also accepted to come and grace the occasion and receive the award. So this accords congratulations to him. Then about this Janakiraman as you know him, he’s a multi-faceted personality in music. He’s not only a musician, a performing musician.  He’s a choreographer, he’s a composer, he’s a lecturer, and what not in music. And he has had a very strenuous training in music in Annamalai University and thereafter, he had been in the academic field as a professor of music for quite a long time, as mentioned by Shri Vasu. Previously, you could see musicians only as performing musicians, and not as academicians. And people who are in the academic side will not be available in the performing side. But he’s a combination of both. I used to call, the music retire, as SRJ and TRS. Both have grown together… in music. I have heard many of his lecture demonstrations in this auditorium, thanks to Shri N.V.S., who always brings about new things in the rest of Carnatic music and his lecture demonstrations are not only instructive, same time to be inspiring for the audience who are in the program.  Even a layman could understand the purport of his lecture and how he puts it before the audience.  He is sincere to music and sincere to himself.  I pray Almighty God to bless him with more days of music – or more years of music.  Thank you.

T. K. Sethuraman
Felicitations Convenor and Disciple

Felcitiation address presented by the students and disciples to their beloved teacher Sangita Kala Acharya Kalaimaamani Sangita Siromani Sangita Vidwan Professor S. R. Janikaraman on Wednesday, the twelfth of August, nineteen ninety-eight, at Narada Gana Sabha, Mini Hall, Chennai-18.

Respected sir,
Born on 12/7/1928 in Lalgudi Tiruchy District, Tamil Nadu, as the son of Shri T. Rangaswamy Iyer and Smt. Allar Gouriammal, you started learning Carnatic music from 1938 onwards, getting training and adding to your musical repertoire under several great masters even during your schooling.  The year 1945 started the era of your sitting at the feet of great master Tiger Varadachariyar, Boodalur Krishnamoorthy Sastrigal, T.K. Ramasami Iyengar, Kalapakam Swaminathan in Kalakshetra, and further under Musiri Subramania Iyer, Tirupambaram Swaminathapillai, Mayavaram V.V. Krishnaiyer and Smt. T. Brinda, in the great State Central College of Carnatic Music.  You got the Sangita Siromani and Sangita Vidwan titles with first class and distinction.  In musicology, you had all initiation from Prof. P. Sambamoorthy and Prf. P. Balakrishnaiyer and Mrs. Parvarthi Narayanan.  Brahmashri P. K. Rajagopal Iyer  had been your receptor and adashekar  for musicology and you have, no doubt, imbibed not only his great knowledge and learning, but also the style of presentation with a powerful delivery, expression, and diction as characteristics of Shri Rajagopal Iyer. You carry his views on the method of analysing any original treatise, reading in between the lines, and evolving your own ideals and concepts, having all practical bearing on the subject.  As a teacher, you have put in nearly thirty-three years of teaching musicology at various levels, titled and advance titled courses, graduate and post-graduate courses. Incidentally, you have also taught practical vocal univo courses you have also guided research.

Qualities and ideals

A hard taskmaster and disciplinarian, but never lost sight of cardinal human’s conception of an ideal teacher in enthusing a correct sense of taste.  Your teaching was not merely imparting instructions in music and musicology, but also shaping students to obtain a high degree of musical culture. You always differentiated between musical teaching and learning, and obtaining a high degree of musical culture. Your motto was that “a musician is the all virtuous, devoid of any wiles.  You have always held performed musicians need not be performed musicologists, but a sound musicologist must, and should be, a musician of a fairly high order.  You maintained music and musicology go together, are not two water-tight compartments.  You have always held the view that musical conventions and traditions must be respected and must be explored in all righteous ways.  You disdained from protecting and safeguarding erroneous renderings and expressions, under the cover of convention and tradition, however great they may be. You have always aimed perfection at any cost, from any student, no compromise.  You stand out as a model of the exemplification of the truth of the statement, “example is better than fissure.”  Certain of your views are highly laudable and adorable.  You have asserted that “Music is praised blessed. It’s blessed him that gives, and him that takes.”  You never believed in the supremacy of “Gurukula” training over the institutionalized training.  According to you, it’s making much ado about nothing.  No distinction line could be drawn between the merits and demerits of one against the other, inasmuch as you have reaped the benefits in full of both the systems of training while you were a student before you joined Kalakshetra, and during your studying at Kalakshetra and the Central College of Carnatic Music.  “It’s only the mind that makes heaven or hell of things you observe.”  There have been great and great musicians, there have been stalwart musicologists.  But you are a rare phenomenon of a musician and musicologist rolled into one.  Such instances are few and far between.
 

Professional experience in the field of music and musicology

Though even during schooling you had been giving performances in various places, your professional career of performing commenced from 1954, when you sang for the first time for the Music Academy.  In the midst of your productive avocation, you could have a fairly busy musical career. Your performances under the prospects of different mighty organisations have left a deep impression in the minds of the listening public for chastity of conviction and tradition.  You have never belonged to the cosmopolitan community of the listening public.  You were listeners for choice view.  Your lecture-demonstrations on many an aspect of musicology have drawn august audiences.  They have been enlightening, lively, and educative, enlivening boundless interests in both the students of music and lay connoisseurs.  You have been an integral part in many learned and scholarly seminars, not only in India, but also abroad.

Titles and Honours

You have annexed several titles in music. To mention a few, are Sangita Kala Jyoti, Ganamrutha Kala Ratna, Isai Kalai Chelvar, and at the top, Kalaimamani of Tamil Nadu State.  The Music Academy has honoured with the TTK Memorial Award, and recently, the title of Sangita Kala Acharya.  The Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer Trust and Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer Golden Jubilee trust have honoured you in addition to the Telugu Academy, Chennai, and Andrapradesh Sangita Natya Academy for all your distinctions.  Above all, the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam has honoured you as Asthana Vidwan.

It’s a fact too well known that you are one of the top-ranking vocal artists of the All India Radio and Doordarshan.  During the long span of your professional service, you had connections with many an Indian University, in different capacities as visiting professor, Chairman of the Paper Setter and Examining Boards, Member of the Technical Experts of the Selection Panel, Member of the Board of Studies in Music, etc.  In the years 1992 and 1993, you were invited by Shri Venkateshwara Temple of Pittsburgh on teaching assignments.  During your visits to USA, you had lucrative tour of concerts and lec-dems in several places like New Jersey, Philadelphia, Detroit, Buffalo, best of yet, Los Angeles, Washington, Austin, San Francisco, etc.

Videos and Cassettes

The Saraswati Vagyeyakara Trust has brought out a 14-16 hour video cassette on the theme of the 72 melakartha melaragamalika of Maha Vaidyanatha Sivan.  You have done the marathon work in singing the ragamalika in full, with highly though-provocative elucidations on the theme. The Vagyeyakara Trust has also brought out a three hour video cassette on the Varna through ages.  The Music Academy has brought out a cassette on “Ekekakriti ragas.” The Kalavardhini has released a cassette of Anamacharya Sankirtanas as rendered by you.

Anamacharya Project

Your work for the Anamacharya project is something surpassing.  As seniors in 1978, you had produced before the Experts Conference of the Music Academy, the “Deshchilaadi of Anamacharya”, along with the expositions of some two rare ragas, Samantham and Saranganata met with profusely the Anamacharya Sankirtanas.  You have almost obliged the Metropolis of Chennai with your heavily prophet students learning the Sankirtanas for the Andrakavita Pitamaha Anamacharya, in the TTD Information Centre, T. Nagar, Chennai, since April 1997. You are a regular invitee for the Anamacharya Vardanti, and Jayanti celebrations of the TTD Anamacharya Project, Tirupati.

Publications

During your short but ever-lasting service as a research officer in the Music Academy, Chennai, some publications of a perennial value have been published by the Academy under your authorship. Of course, even a decade ago, you had to your credit the Sangita Sastra Saramu, volumes one and two, in Telugu, published by the TTD, Tirupati.  These volumes, needless to say, are in the hands of each and every one of the music students of not only Andhra Universities, Shri Venkateshwara University, Nagarjuna Univeristy, and Telugu Univeristy, but also the University of Madras.

We pray to the Almighty to shower all His choicest grade on you, for a long span of life, with robust health, enabling you to serve further more, for the cause of classical Carnatic music and musicology.

We remain,
Yours Affectionately,
Students and Disciples

N. V. Subramaniam
Managing Trustee, Saraswati Vagyeyakara Trust

Shri Vasu, Shri Janakiraman, Shri Krishnaswami, Miss Mythili, music lovers, ladies and gentlemen, I think Mr. Sethuraman’s citation has made the work on felicitation easy.  We have all been saying that SRJ is a musicologist, a performing musician, a person who has adorned many panels on music and musicology.  With great benefit to the people who are on the panel, a person who is almost a walking encyclopaedia on Carnatic music. I thought now (of course, the word has acquired sufficient distaste, even so), I would add that Janakiraman is not merely a musicologist, or a musician, but he is an authority. Not that I got refreshened by this word, by what has happened in the past few days over Kaveri, but I have always been mentioning that to many who have approached me with regard to various matters concerning Carnatic music, especially the science of music. I have said, “Look, if you want to have an authoritative opinion on this, you must consult SRJ.”  In fact, when I have arranged the lecture-demonstrations of SRJ, which he has been kind enough to take all the pains to give in a handsome manner, I have looked upon what he was saying as an authoritative opinion on what he’s rendering as lecture-demonstration.  He could lecture, he could demonstrate, but what he does there is something which others can take as an example and say “Look, SRJ sang like this,” or “SRJ mentioned like this, and therefore, this is how we go.”  This, I have been singularly fortunate to bring in SRJ as much as I can, and a very lengthy marathon sitting in Mr. V. V. Sundaram’s house where he gave the recitation on the melaragas.  Maha Vaidyanatha Sivan, he has taken and expanded and expounded the melakartha scheme.  You see, the way in which he approached Vaidyanatha Sivan, I thought that probably Vaidyanatha Sivan got his acclaim only now, and that, too, through SRJ.  And it was a very difficult task. And then, the admirable aspect of that recitation, which ran for many days, is that it was totally extempore.  Now, to give something for about 16-18 hours extempore is not an easy task, unless the person is very, very well informed, unless the person is “soaked,” so to say, in all aspects concerning music. Because he is not dicussing a small thing, but a 72 melakartha scheme, the history of it, the analysis of it, the science of it.  And the growth after the scheme has come to woke.  Now, that’s something which I thought the music world as a whole would cherish in rightful honour to Shri SRJ.

Another aspect that I have liked in SRJ is the humanity.  When he takes a subject for a lecture-demonstration, he does not as if he is authoritative in his approach.  He, all the time, views with awe as to how such things have come to pass, and how, throughout the centuries, our classical music has been built so well, and how we must revere and pay obeisance to that art and those who have done Yeomen’s work in the field of music.

Musicology, I think is now growing less in numbers.  That’s not a very good sign.  Probably, some organisation or some effort has to be taken to, in fact, encourage people to take to musicology, not the dry type.  But then if musicology doesn’t go along with music, then the thought process on music will come to a standstill.  Many people today, for example, take pride in saying how GNB sang or Ariyakudi sang, or Semmangudi sang, etc.  But unless we have an authenticated version of how they did it, we will certainly not know.  In fact, the danger is, some people will try to misinterpret saying “this is how they sang,” or  “this is how they talked about.”  Considering that fact, I feel that, with people like SRJ being available, we should continue the line on musicology, and I would beseech the institutions like the Academy to give a thought to this aspect, and see that we encourage musicology, with a special emphasis on the practical side of music.

Janakiraman has given certain very delightful programs under the auspices of Vagyeyakara Trust.  I would recall the three gems which he gave here, on this very platform.  It’s a very memorable program which he had given, and the way in which he expounded the raga Udayaravichandrika under the Dikshitar scheme in Sastri Hall on matters which musicians, especially those who say that they have good for the platform, should come and listen and learn from him.  Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen quite often. Be that as it may, I wish Janakiraman many more years.  In fact, I feel he is the correct international representative for our classical Carnatic music, and I wish him many more years of such fruitful service.  Its not that he’s going to acquire knowledge now.  What he has acquired is sufficient to continue for many, many years.  And, I wish him all these years of good life, and service to the cause of Carnatic music, if nothing else, from a selfish interest that occasionally, I could organise something worthwhile in Saraswati Vagyeyakara Trust.  I thank the students of Shri SRJ who gave me this opportunity, and I hope that many more honours will come to SRJ and that SRJ will be a happy man, looking into how music grows, musicology grows, and how he has played his own unique part in that growth.  Thank you.