2000 Vainikaas playing during Naadotsav 2016.
2000 artists from the five southern states captivate the audiences
Bengaluru, March 19, 2016: Bengaluru got a taste of the musical extravaganza that enthralled millions at the World Culture Festival in New Delhi earlier this month with The Art of Living bringing together an ensemble of 2000 veenas at its International Centre in Bengaluru on Saturday.
As part of its celebrations to mark the 35 years of service to humanity, The Art of Living hosted Naadotsav. The event saw 2000 Vainikaas (Veena maestros and artistes) from across the five Southern states of Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka captivate the crowd in presence of Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
The event witnessed eminent dignitaries including Shri D. H Shankarmurthy, Chairman of the Karnataka Legislative council; Sri Padmanabha Acharya, Governor of Nagaland; Mr. G Hassan Abdel Khalek, Ambassador of Lebanon; Maha Mandaleshwar of Junagadh Akhada and Sri T Somashekar, MLA Yeshwantpur constituency.
Reputed Veena exponents including Revathi Sadashivam, Anuradha Madhusudhan, Shanti Rao, and Vidwan R.K Padmanabha from Karnataka; Vidvan Puddukotai Krishnamurthygaru, Vidwan Ayyagari Syamasundaram, and Vidushi ‘Veena Paani’ Eemani Kalayani from Andhra Pradesh and Telengana; Uma Maheshwari, Karaikkudi Shanthi Mahesh and Ramani Dharamaraja from Tamil Nadu; and Professor S. Balambal from Kerala played at the event.
Dr. Srivathsa holds a Ph.D. in Veena and is seen playing a 175 year-old veena.
The evening saw some very interesting instruments such as:
- The Mayura Veena, which can be totally dismantled and packed in a small box.
- A 175 year-old Veena being played by Dr. Srivathsa.
The spectacular 2000 member veena performance had veena players as young as 10 years, going up to over 80 years.
“To have 2000 veenas playing together at a time like this is almost impossible; it is incredible that Gurudev has taken up such an incredible feat. We have been preparing to play at the event for over six months now. Such events bring in so much enthusiasm among artists and students. The concert has brought veena to the world,” said Prof. S. Balambal.
“Bengaluru very well replicated the enthusiasm seen at the World Culture Festival - Delhi which saw over 36,000 artists from all over the world. This is in sync with Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s vision of uniting people through culture,” said Dinesh Ghodke, Spokesperson, The Art of Living.
The World Culture Festival in Delhi earlier this month had performances from around the world by over 36,000 artistes including a symphony of 8500 musicians playing over 50 instruments. The festival which was inaugurated by Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, was attended by over 172 leaders from around the world including Sherry Rehman, Member of Parliament, Pakistan; Katherine Clarke, Hon. Congresswoman, House of Representatives, United States of America; Nirj Deva, Hon. Member of the European Parliament; Jo Leinen, Hon. Member of the European Parliament and Tatyana Poronova, Hon. Deputy Governor of Murmansk, Russia.