A villupattu recital titled ‘Bhoomiye Saami’ (Earth is God) was presented by Bharathi Thirumagan, daughter of villuppaattu exponent Subbu Arumugam, as part of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s ‘Vazhiya Vaiyagam’ series. Bharathi pointed out that the tip of the villu pointed upwards to God’s abode, and the other downwards, with the bowstring bridging the gap between the two. Thus, the villu shows us the connection between God and Earth.
Bharathi’s son Kalaimagan, a trained classical musician, presented his grandfather’s song — ‘Rama kaavyam, Janaki maayam’. It praised the various manifestations of Shakti — as Visalatchi, Kamatchi and Meenatchi — and concluded that ultimately it was Vayalatchi (agriculture) that brought prosperity to the world. Bharathi posed the question — who is a permanent hero on Earth? The answer? The farmer.
She warned against indiscriminate felling of trees, and spoke of how Tataka, the demoness, who would go on to be killed by Rama, tore up trees. Villupattu exponent Subbu Arumugam | Photo Credit: R. Shivaji Rao Subbu Arumugam wrote a song ‘Vayale Vaazhgave’ in Nattai raga, using the mettu of the first, third and ninth charanams of Tyagaraja’s ‘Jagadanandakaraka’.
He presented the song in the 145th Tyagaraja aradhana. He later used the verses in a villupattu recital for Doordarshan’s rural programme ‘Vayalum Vazhvum’. When asked about the relevance of ‘Jagadanandakaraka’ to a rural programme, Arumugan apparently re.
