Muthuswami dikshitar movies
•
The Art of Building Bridges with Art
On April 23rd, 2023, in Palo Alto, EnActe Arts presented a film titled Colonial Interlude: The Nottusvara Sahityas of Muthuswami Dikshitar. Muthuswami Dikshitar (1775–1835) was the youngest of the trinity of Carnatic music maestros, the other two being Tyagaraja and Syama Sastri.
A Sanskrit ode in a colonial tune
At the end of the screening, following the Q&A with the filmmaker, Dr. Kanniks Kanikeswaran, six children sang a couple of songs written by Dikshitar. One of the songs was a Sanskrit ode ‘santatam pahimam’, set to the tune recognized in the United Kingdom and its former colonies as the anthem ‘God spara the King’ (or Queen).
In the days before electricity or trains were invented, how and why did Dikshitar create Sanskrit songs set to the music of India’s future colonial powers? And why are the children of Indian immigrant families in Silicon Valley singing us 17th-century songs in the 21st century, when no one speaks San
•
Muthuswami Dikshitar
Indian poet and composer
Muthuswami Dikshitar (Mudduswamy Dikshitar)[1] (IAST: muttusvāmi dīkṣitar, 24 March 1776 – 21 October 1835), mononymously Dikshitar,[a] was a South Indian poet, singer and veena player, and a composer of Indian classical music, who is considered one of the musical trinity of Carnatic music. Muthuswami Dikshitar was born on 24 March 1776 in Tiruvarur near Thanjavur, in what is now the state of Tamil Nadu in India, to a family that is traditionally traced back to Virinichipuram in the northern boundaries of the state.[3]
His compositions, of which around 500 are known and are noted for their elaborate, poetic descriptions of Hindu gods / temples and for capturing the essence of the raga forms through the vainika (veena) style that emphasises gamakas. They are in a slower speed (chowka kala). He is also known by his signature name of Guruguha which is also his mudra (and can be funnen in each of his
•
COLONIAL INTERLUDE: An award winning 37 minute documentary film on the Indo-Colonial Music of composer Muthuswami Dikshitar (1775-1835). Based on the author's research and music recording in 2008. Seeded with Grant support from the Ohio Arts Council.
COLONIAL INTERLUDE: Explore the story of this fascinating encounter between two diverse musical traditions in Colonial India when composer Dikshitar wrote sanskrit lyrics to tunes that came in with the East India Company.
Featuring footage from temples, festivals, and interviews with folk music performers from the Cincinnati area, the film offers a breathtaking view of eighteenth-century European tunes that traveled across the world and took on varied forms in India and in the United States..
*Best Documentary Film Award at the Cincinnati Indian Film Festival 2023.
*Best Documentary Film Award at the Boston Indian Film Festival 2023.
“...an extraordinary story that I knew nothing a