Our Gurus

Prince Rama Varma, a member of the Royal Family of Travancore, is a direct descendant of Maharaja Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma and Raja Ravi Varma. Born on the 13th of August 1968, Prince Varma fell in love with music in general, and with the music of M. D. Ramanathan (in the Carnatic style) and Kishore Kumar (in the universal style) in particular, when he was still a toddler. He grew up listening to the music of the various great maestros who performed regularly at the Navarathri Mandapam in Thiruvananthapuram, and to the constantly updated collection of LP records of Hindi film music belonging to his father and sister.

He started formal lessons in music in 1982 from Prof. Vechoor Hariharasubramania Iyer, a senior disciple of Dr. Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, who continued to teach him until his demise in 1994. He also studied the Saraswathi Veena under Trivandrum R. Venkataraman for five years and later under Sangeetha Kalanidhi Prof. K. S. Narayanaswamy. He went on to train under Sangeetha Kalanidhi Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna and became one of his foremost disciples, having had the rare privilege not only of singing in unison with his legendary guru but also of having Dr. Balamuralikrishna accompany him on the violin when he sang. In his rendering there is an irresistible combination of tenderness and melody. A post graduate in Commerce, Prince Varma started giving public concerts in 1990, mainly due to the encouragement and support he received from Prof. T. V. Gopalakrishnan, who helped him break free from the royal fetters and perform in public. He has a repertoire of Swathi compositions that is unmatched even by the great masters. From the rare Khamas Varna (Saa Vaama Rusha) to the popular Paahi Sreepathe (Hamsadhwani Keerthana), Varma adds a fresh touch of surprise and grandeur that has become his hallmark.

Among his own favourite Swathi compositions is Aaj Aaye Shyaam Mohan, the Hindustani bhajan popularised by the great Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna in a rare shade of Pahadi. P. Ravikumar, an authority in Carnatic music and the author of a book on the eminent musician M. D. Ramanathan, says: “Unlike the present generation, Rama Varma follows a slow tempo in his music, which is devoid of gimmicks. His idol is Ramanathan and it is no wonder that he follows a path of shuddh sangeeth. Certainly Rama Varma is the most exciting prospect to emerge from Kerala in Carnatic music in this period. More significantly, his talent on the veena is exemplary, taking music lovers to a soothing realm.”

Prince Varma has given concerts all over India and in other countries including the USA, UK, France, Germany, Kuwait, Dubai and The Netherlands. His first CD was released at The Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, and he has performed at some of the most prestigious venues in Europe.

Fluent in Malayalam, English, Hindi, Tamil and French, Varma is well read, has travelled widely, and draws on walks of life other than music to enrich his art. His music is noted for its strict adherence to tradition coupled with his own charming brand of creativity. He specialises in taking classes and giving lecture demonstrations about various aspects of music, to much appreciation and delight from his students and from members of the public. He believes in making his lectures entertaining and his concerts informative.

He has also proved himself an organiser of merit by conducting a week-long festival of South Indian and North Indian classical music, open to the public, at the palace of his ancestor Maharaja Swathi Thirunal in Trivandrum from the 6th till the 12th of January every year. The festival continues to attract a large number of listeners from various parts of the world year after year. He had the privilege of honouring two living legends — Shri Manna Dey, who turned 85, and Dr. Balamuralikrishna, who turned 75 in 2005 — with concerts by the legends themselves, held in Trivandrum in November 2005.

He proved his dynamism as an organiser and visionary yet again by spearheading the move to allow women inside the Navarathri Mandapam, both as performers and as listeners, breaking more than three centuries of that tradition. He handpicked the octogenarian veteran Parasala Ponnammal to be the first woman to enter the Navarathri Mandapam, thus coaxing her out of a mostly retired life and reintroducing her glorious artistry to the music loving public of Kerala. He was invited to perform at the Rashtrapathi Bhavan by His Excellency the President of India, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, who calls himself Prince Varma’s fan after listening to his CD, ‘Thaanam — The Pulse Of The Veena.’

His college address book describes him aptly as someone who “Entertains us with his classical music and less classical jokes.” He is striving to be a worthy descendant of his illustrious predecessor Maharaja Swathi Thirunal, who is described as the “Prince among musicians and a Musician among princes”.

Prince Rama Varma inaugurated the Narayaneeyam Music Campus at Ballapadavu in 2010. He has kindly consented to teach and direct the Muraleeravam camps organised there, a series conducted exclusively by him and recorded and telecast by the SVBC channel of Hyderabad.

Prof. K. Venkataramanan was born to Kannarayn Krishna Shastri and his wife Bhageerathi in Padubidri village of Udupi taluk on 04-02-1936. He was a professor in the Swathi Thirunal Sangeetha College and resides in Thiruvananthapuram.

After completing his general primary education in Karnataka he shifted to Thiruvananthapuram to begin his early lessons in Carnatic music. He successfully completed his course in 1958 and obtained the Ganabhushanam diploma and the post diploma in Sangeetha Vidwan with 1st Class. He developed his talents in this art as the primary disciple of the famous Vidwan Nellai T. V. Krishnamoorthy, retired Principal of the aforesaid Sangeetha College and son of the celebrated musical genius Sri Muthayya Bhagavatar. In 1966 he added a feather in his cap by receiving the Presidential Award and Medal from the President Sri Rajendra Prasad, standing 1st in the music competition conducted under the auspices of All India Radio Thiruvananthapuram. He had a brilliant career as a music teacher in high schools in the Kerala Government Service during 1960–71. He was then elevated to the Sangeetha College in 1972. He completed a meritorious and unbroken service of 31 years and retired in 1991. He is renowned not only in Kerala but also in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. In the meantime he received the blessings and awards of Jagadguru His Holiness Sri Sankaracharya of Sringeri. He is also honoured by Jagadguru His Holiness Sri Sankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam as ‘Asthana Vidwan’. He has to his credit brilliant musical concerts by himself and along with Nellai T. V. Krishnamoorthy, and he is an artist appearing frequently on All India Radio and Doordarshan.

Another remarkable feature that deserves mention in this context is that he tuned about 200 ‘Krithis’ of Haridas Lakshminarayanappaya of Paavanja in South Karnataka, in a well arranged system, to convert them into Keerthanas. He has also given appropriate notations to the songs in Thulu prevalent in Karnataka. He has a wide circle of disciples and has been giving admirable performances on All India Radio at Thiruvananthapuram, Trissur, Kozhikode, Mangalore, Madras, New Delhi, Trichinapalli, Vijayawada and Hyderabad, among others. He has also rendered a music concert at the Navarathri Mantapam, Thiruvananthapuram.

His family consists of his wife, two sons and two daughters. Even in the evening of his life he continues his musical performances as a Tapasya, besides teaching a number of disciples and inculcating in them the beauty, depth and glory of this great art, Carnatic music.

At Veenavadini he is one of the artists who teach the Ganamadhuryam orientation camps — presently returning every four months to teach the compositions of Tyagaraja, Muttuswami Dikshitar, Shyama Shastri and other composers — and he is among the major artists whose concerts have graced the Veenavadini Sangeethothsavam.

Being the beloved disciples of this great guru, we hereby render our heartfelt tributes at his feet.

Ganapraveena Yogeesha Sharma Ballapadavu was born on 13-10-1972 to Sri Ballapadavu Radhakrishna Bhat and Smt. Sathyavathi. He primarily studied music under Sri Ballapadavu Madhava Upadhyaya and later under Sri Vellikoth Vishnu Bhat. He is the disciple of Prof. Mavelikkara Velukutti Nair in mridangam and of Prof. K. Venkatramanan in Carnatic classical vocal at the Swathi Thirunal Music College, Thiruvananthapuram. He is the Ganapraveena awardee from the Swathi Thirunal Music College, with 1st Rank at Kerala State level.

Yogeesha Sharma has rendered excellent music concerts at the Kuwait Carnatic Music Forum and in major music sabhas of India including Kalpakam Sangeetha Sabha Chennai, Nadopasana Sangeetha Sabha Mumbai, Vashi Fine Arts Mumbai, Ayyappa Swamy Temple Bhilai (Madhya Pradesh), Chennakeshava Temple Belur, Prashanthi Nilayam Puttaparthi, Orissa, West Bengal and almost all the sangeetha sabhas of Kerala and Karnataka, where musicians, music lovers, artists and critics have admired and appreciated his concerts.

He is a Graded Artist of All India Radio Mangalore. His concerts and programmes have been telecast on Doordarshan, Amritha TV and Asianet, among other channels. He has successfully performed a Kathakali Padam and Carnatic music jugalbandi, has given a 12-hour continuous music programme three times, and has conducted a music therapy demonstration.

He has compiled and published ‘Sangeetha Patamalika’, a textbook for students of Carnatic classical music that has become a reference book for many music teachers and aspirants. ‘Mridanga Margadarshika’ (Kannada) is another textbook published by him, very useful to students who learn mridangam. He has rendered and released the CDs ‘Ragasudha’ (Carnatic classical music), ‘Gems of Purandaradasa — Part I’, ‘Gems of Purandaradasa — Part II’ (tuned and sung), ‘Chottanikara Bhagavathisthavam’ (devotional — tuned and sung), ‘Bhavabindu’ (bhavageethe — tuned and sung), ‘Ayyanadigalalli’ (Ayyappa devotional songs — tuned and sung) and ‘Sri Madhuru Siddhivinayaka Suprabhatham’. He has composed music for many Purandaradasa keerthanas and bhavageethas. Ten Christian songs in Malayalam have been tuned and sung by him for telecast on the Athmeeya Yathra channel, and a shlokam of the Quran has also been tuned by him and telecast on Doordarshan during the festival days of the Islamic religion. Thus, as he sees it, music can cross religious boundaries and has to reach people of all religions.

With the plan of bringing good Carnatic classical music to his small village and its environs, Sri Yogeesha Sharma started a trust called BSNUS Sangeetha Prathishtanam (R.), Ubrangala, at his native place. He started Veenavadini Sangeetha Vidyapeetam at Perla in Kasaragod district, Kerala, in 2005, and later founded a unique campus named ‘Narayaneeyam’, where Veenavadini Sangeetha Vidyapeetam (to spread Carnatic classical music in its purity and ecstasy) and the Vaidic-Thanthric Vidyapeetam (established by him for popularising the ancient Vedas, thanthra, manthra, jyothishyam and Sanskrit) now function together with their own aims and dreams ahead. His Sangeetha Vidyapeetam has three branches as well. His two Vidyapeetams enable students to acquire knowledge from other renowned artists and scholars too, through special programmes, camps and workshops. The legend of Carnatic classical music, Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna, has visited the Narayaneeyam Music Campus thrice and has taken class for the students of Veenavadini Sangeetha Vidyapeetam.

Yogeesha Sharma has been honoured with many awards for his work and performance, including the “KALAKA” award from Kadri Lions Club Mangaluru (2016), the title “Kanchi Kamakoti Aasthana Vidwan” from Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam (2012), the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy endowment award (2001), the Prathibha Puraskar award from Sri Mahadeva Temple, Ubrangala — Kasaragod (2001) and the Trivandrum Rashtra Raksha Sanchalanam Prathibha Puraskar award (2006).

Disregarding all personal fame, he has put a large effort into developing pure music and popularising the Vedas and thanthra in their original form from this small village. He is the leading power and the struggling person behind the whole institution.