Sixty percent of currenly performing Carnatic musicians in Kannada hail from this village 164 kms from Bangalore called Rudrapatna near Arkalgudu. Situated on the banks of river Cauvery is Ramanathapura – geographically 25 kms from Holenarsipura. It is country roads all the way once you deviate from Channarayapatna. This place can be reached from Coorg too – Kushalnagar & Somarpet are just 25 kms and Madikeri is 46 kms away. Mandya is 85 kms. Chickmagalur is about 94 kms away. This geographically accessible place closer to all important destination town was once upon a time famous for music, yoga and Vedas. . . A spiritually rich place!
Six hundred years ago Sanketi Iyers from Shenkottai in Tirunelveli (Tamilnadu) migrated, one group settled down on the banks of river Cauvery at Hyagreevapura (now Rudrapatna) and continued their tryst with music. Another group calling themselves ‘Dikshitars’ settled at Koushika near Hassan and continued the spiritual path of Yoga & Vedas. The ‘Surya Namaskara’ was taught and promoted along with poojas & other rituals. Thus Rudrapatna became a Sangeetagrama – a village of music. Even to this day there’s a annual music festival which lasts for two days and the deep rooted musicians take part in this festival. The dates this year are May 23 & 24th. These activities are spearheaded by a self-help group called ‘Rudrapatna Sangeetotsava Samiti Pratistgana’
This village was abandoned due to the out-break of plague! Even to this day a lot of musicians places are seen in a dilapidated condition. Today most of the people have migrated to cities & other parts of the world to alternative career paths. But music binds them. One will be surprised to see a 70 foot structure in shape of an Indian music instrument – ‘Rudra Veena’. This is a monument of love, respect & dedication to music!
This mamoth structure houses divine God’s of music – Ganesha & Saraswati along with the doyens of Carnatic music – Purandaradasa, Vadiraja, Kanakadasa, Tyagaraja, Muthuswamy Dikshitar & Shyama Shastry. When any person crosses the entrance threshold he begins to hear the strains of Veena melodiously strumned. At the feet of every great musicians there’s a button installed. On pressing the button, a synopsis of the great artist bellows out the audio history amplified to the benefit of the gathered audience. This structure is beside an old Chola temple which dates back to a thousand years.
Ramanathapura has river Cauvery flowing with a lot of temples on its banks. The soil is fertile and there’s lot of greenery to qualify it. Rudrapatna – Sangeetagrama is a eyeopener to bring back music into life. The collective efforts of the village people touches a chord in one’s life. . . for music is some one’s life! It’s sad to say that this village nor it’s people received any royal patronage! Now is the time to put Rudrapatna – Sangeetagrama: The Music Village on to the world map of Carnatic Music! Deliberately I am not mentioning names from this place… I don’t want to honour or insult anybody! Too many greats are involved in this movement of preservation. The energy of this place is astounding.
Jagdeesh Laxman Singh
aka Jugie Singh
Text & Photography
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