Namaskaram! My name is Puvvada Thikkana Somayaji. Right now we are in the process of releasing the lovely dance videos of songs written by my ancestor Puvvada Sri Ramadasu. My mother’s name is Puvvada Anasuya Devi. She is from Vadlamannati lineage. She was not literate. But she had an amazing devotion towards God. She has always done “Parayana” of the ancient epics Ramayana, Bhagavatham and Mahabharata.
My Mother gave birth to seven children. Every Saturday she would make all of us sit together in the Puja Room and make us all sing. She would sing beautifully. What am I bringing this up: She is the reason why the 10 songs of Puvvada Sri Ramadasu are with us today. She wrote down 10 out of the 30 songs that were written in a book by my grandfather. And make us sing those every week!
Now what are the type of Keerthanas she selected? You have seen the 3 videos already released. “Rara Poadamu Krishna”, Dasaratha Rama Paraaka” and “Nandi Vahanudai”. So she selected and wrote 9 Keerthanas related to Rama, Krishna and Shiva. But then she started writing the 10th song “Balenta Raalanura Krishna”. And left it mid-way. This Keerthana has aspects of Sringara. Being a devout person, she stopped short and left it incomplete.
When I later met Padmasri Vedantam Satyanarayana Sarma Garu, the Kuchipudi doyen from Muvva Village area, I asked him about this Keerthana. I showed him the “Balenta Ralanura”. I asked him if this is likely written by Puvvada Sri Ramadasu or Kshettrayya? He categorically ruled out the possibility of this being written by Kshetrayya. He said it must be Puvvada Sri Ramadasu’s composition.
These beautiful Keerthanas are tuned by Vid. Srivatsa and choreographed and danced beautifully by Vid. Geeta Sirisha. The credit for protecting and preserving these ten Keerthanas goes to my dear Mother. Else these lilting words would have not seen the light at the end of the day. Pranams to my Mother late Smt. Puvvada Anasuya Devi and my father Late Sri ‘Kavipadusha’ Puvvada Seshagiri Rao!
15 сен 2024
