Tuesday

Thirukkural in Music CD released in Chennai

Tamil Maiyam which produced remarkable music works like Thiurvasagam in Symphonic Oratorio and Mozart Meets India has brought out yet another significant creation “Thirukkural Isaithamizh” in partnership with the Central Institute of Classical Tamil. This was officially launched with a splendid dance performance by Avigna on June 18 at the Ethiraj College Auditorium, Chennai.

A lexicon on Tamil music written by Scholar N. Mammadu was also released on the same stage. This project was funded by Thiru Pal Pandyan from USA.

Fr. Jegath Gaspar Raj of Tamil Maiyam said Thirukkural Isai Thamizh’ project covered only 330 couplets, carefully selected by the scholars at the Central Institute of Classical Tamil based on secular values. The 330 couplets have been made in to 50 melody pieces. Underlining the importance of inclusivity and diversity various music streams like Carnatic classical, Thamizhisai, Light melody, Hindustani have been included in a balanced manner.

The prominent singers who have sung in this historic work are: Sutha Ragunathan, Aruna Sairam, Bombay Jayshree, Nityashree, O. S. Arun, Sowmya, T. L. Maharasan, Sikkil Gurucharan, Harish Ragavendra, Karthik, Srinivas, UnniMenon, Tippu, Harini, Manickavinayagam, Kalpana, Sainthavi, Airtel Super Singers, Sirgazhi Sivasithamparam, Sangeetha, Chinmayee, Mahathi, Anuradha Sriram, and Roshini. The music is scored composed by Nellai Jesuraj,

The second phase of the project which will begin by next month is to launch the album with interpretation in English and other Indian languages – Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi and Oriya to begin with. The main aim is to propagate the rich heritage of Thirukkural, particularly among the youth.

Many organisations are involved in popularising Thirukkural in unique ways. The relevance of Thirukkural to everyday life is now understood by the younger generation since the Kural couplets look like classical twitter. There are reports from Europe that youth in Hungary, Poland and Italy are sporting T Shirts printed with popular couplets of Poet Thiruvalluvar. These fashion T Shirts are priced at $1.50 only. Selected couplets on evergreen themes such as Love, Honesty, Hardwork etc are printed in English, Tamil and Local languages.

With Thirukkural taken to Music and Dance form and to Fashion industry this classical work is expected to inspire more and more people of both Tamil and Non Tamil origin.