Madhuravageeswari -A Divine Lullaby | Gayathri Venkataraghavan | Divya Ravi | Upasana Govindarajan

Pillazhtamizh- Here is a Divine Lullaby. As you know Pillaitamizh is a form of Tamizh poetry where the divine is treated as a child. There are different stages in which the child is celebrated. In this poem, she is a naughty child refusing to sleep. We present a very special one by Sri Kavi Arasu Natesa Gounder. I love it for various reasons. Here is the gist of each line. “We called you Madhura vaageeshvari and hence you keep on talking your baby talk- non stop. Can you please sleep now my baby!” “We also called you as one with the eyes that resemble the ever-wandering fish and you also don’t seem to sleep during day and night (like those fish). Here the reference is to Meenakshi :)” Hence Upasana has chosen to draw Menadevi trying to make little Parvati sleep. Don’t miss little Parvati’s Toys! A touch of creative genius there :) “We love calling you Kuvalaikkannal (a flower that grows in the pond) , so you don’t close your eyes to sleep!” “You are certainly the lotus-eyed one but this is night and so please close your eyes like the lotus which has closed its petals and go to sleep. Sleep quietly in the silken sling I have made for you, my little one !” Finally , the mother says- “you are Maamookeswari residing in Kollur where she is silent and in penance. Can you please remember that and sleep! “ The exasperated mother somehow wants to make her sleep :) Finally, the poet says “O Queen of Sirgazhi where all the four vedas reside, go to sleep; you who gave the milk of wisdom to child Gnanasambandar, please go to sleep. Thalelo! Thalelo! “ We are eternally grateful to The Shakthi who blessed us to work on this amazing piece. Meenakshi Balganesh Akka who first gave me this poetry to tune explained this so beautifully that Madhuravaageeswari became the baby of my heart. I have chosen to sing this in Abheri, Amritavarshini , Kaapi and Neelambari. The style I have adopted is very leisurely and soft as we are trying to make the baby sleep :) When the amazingly talented Divya Ravi and Upasana Govindarajan celebrated her through their art, she became a baby in all our lives. We present this naughty little one, bringing joy and happiness to all our lives- She is also the most powerful Shakthi nurturing us and enriching our lives with strength and wisdom . In a way the poet has depicted the power that a woman exemplifies! Hence we present Her to you on women’s day. Let Her protect each one of us and may we as a society learn to treat the ladies in our lives with love and respect, nurture and protect them. We are extremely thankful to Anagha Nadig for helping in making this dream come true. Akshata Gokhale for helping shoot this piece. Smt Sandhya Venkat and Sri Venkat Aiyadurai for so graciously letting us use their most aesthetic house for this recording. Rakeesh and Sahrdhya Studios for the recording. #carnaticmusic #lullaby #music #dance #illustration #Pillazhthamizh #gv #gayathrivenkataraghavan #divyaravi #Upasanagovindarajan #soothing