Verses of Great Solace

Sopanasangeetham

I met Njeralath Harigovind during his performance at Sri Thiruvangat Mahadeva Temple, Chelembra, for the first time.  I had heard much about him.  The picture I had formed about him was that of an angry, discontented young man.  He came there with Sri Ratheesh Bhas a Mizhav artist and his right hand Subramanyan Peringode, an Idaykka artist.  The trio came on to the stage and Hari began his music with an introductory speach.  The speech prior to and during his performance, made it clear that he is a good orator also.  The ability to talk in pure Malayalam without the improper bejeweling of the speech with words from some foreign languages, that too with an acceptable pronunciation and intonation style is a rare prowess, artists seldom possess.  To my knowledge even some university language teachers have dearth of this capability. His speech is content rich, idea embedded, and has the appearance of an able erudite orator.

When the trio started their performance the whole audience listened to it in pin-drop silence from beginning to end.  The prowess of these three temple artists to transport their listeners to a trance of tranquil contentment is peerless. 

Hari of course was angry with the social discrimination towards a noble profession of temple artists.  Anyone who could learn a form of art in a considerable good manner is a blessed soul and he can make others happy in their life by his performance.  What matters here is that he should be devoted to his profession.  So any professional like this is a blessed Brahmin, irrespective of the cast in which he is born to.  Talent is a blessing. Hari is a talented artist. 

Let these three blessed artists bring out more enjoyable, divinely pleasurable moments to us. Let the blessings of almighty be there with them always.  And by listening to their holy sangeetham, let god’s blessings be showered upon all of us too.

Njeralath Ramapoduval was a blessed artist.  When you watch him from a closer perspective you'll find a bit of asceticism, abstinence, and austerity in his lifestyle.  Like a vagabond nightingale he went from village to village, temple to temple singing "sopana" and making minds of thousands of devotees attain the ecstasy of divine “sameepya”.  He was a fully devoted traditional musician, expected nothing in return from this world; money, recognition, position or anything of that sort.  Even in his marriage he had shown this attitude towards life.  He kept nothing aside for his family members except the tradition of a rich musical culture, and an old idaykka.  His illustrious son Harigovind along with other children also expected nothing else from him.  Like his father, Hari also transports the listeners to some hitherto un-experienced horizons of divine enjoyment by his Sopanam recitals. 

Music is divine.  Divinity dwells on the lips from which music rains down.

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