Vijayalakshmi Subrahmaniam at the Chakkamkulangara temple

Female vocalists attained a status on par with men because of the unstinted efforts by the late M.L.Vasanthakumari. Spurred on by her beloved mentor GNB, she happened to be the first woman vocalist to present ragam- thanam- pallavi which was till then considered a taboo for female singers. Vijayalakshmi Subrahmaniam (Chennai), who presented a vocal recital at the Chakkamkulangara temple at Tripunithura recently, displayed a deep insight in the Lakshya and Lakshana aspects. She had her initial training from K. Padmanabhan from Swathi Thirunal College of Music in Thiruvanathapuram and later was taught by K.Krishnaswamy.

Her early days spent in Delhi were advantageous in imbibing the intricacies of Carnatic music from T.R. Subrahmaniam. V. K. Krishnan and S. Rajam have also given her advanced lessons. A post- graduate in Economics from Delhi (1983) and Punjab University, she has passed Sangeeth Siromani and Sangeeth Alankar exams from Delhi. A widely travelled Vijayalakshmi, has stayed in Newzealand to propagate Carnatic music. She has also conducted lec-dems and workshops abroad. Vijayalakshmi is adept in portraying ragas making their edifices clear at the very beginning and renders the compositions doing justice to their message and score.

The concert in Tripunithura began with a varnam in Vasantha, ‘Ninne kori’, by Thachur Singaracharlu, a desciple of Subbaraya Sasthri. Vandeham in Hamsadhwani was followed by Vidajaladura (Janaranjini ) in which Tyagaraja reveals himself as a constant devotee of the Lord. Santhanagopala by Deekshithar in Khamas and Sreevalli in Natabhairavi by P. Sivan served as a preamble to a detailed Panthuvarali which amply reflected the ‘Vidwath’ of the vocalist. Siva siva siva had an engaging niraval and swaras. Kailasanathane (Deekshithar) in Kambhoji and RTP in Simhendramadhyamam were the other major items. Attukal Balasubramanian gave a fine accompaniment with the violin. Chertala Jayadevan (mridangam) and Alappuzha Gopinatha Prabhu on the ghatom provided a steady percussion.

By Courtesy The Hindu (Kochi) March 29-02