With great difficulty, Sruthi and I managed to reach the venue on time. The choice of organizing this in Dwarka was quite perplexing. Anyways, the Prince, with his typical wit, charm and humour took time to explain each piece. He sang for two hours accompanied by S.R. Vinu on the violin, B. Harikumar on the mridangam and S .Karthick on the ghatam.
- Amma Anandamayi, the pada varnam in Gambeera Nattai composed by BMK
- Mayatheetha Swaroopini in Mayamalawagowla, composed by Ponnaiah Pillai
- Raminchu Varevarura in Suposhini, composed by Thyagaraja
- A composition in Ganamoorti
- Hodi Nagari in Anandabhairavi, composed by Purandaradasa
- Saroruhasana in Pantuvarali, Swati Tirunal’s Navaratri krithi
- Karuna Cheyyan in Yadukula Khamboji. composed by Irayimman Thampi
- Thillana in Kuntalavarali
For me, Prince Rama Varma personifies the annual concerts that he organizes in the Kuthiramalika Palace right next to the Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Trivandrum, during the nine days of Navaratri. Each day, top notch performers sing Swati Tirunal’s compositions in front of the deity. When I lived in Trivandrum between 2005 and ’07, these concerts were definitely the most memorable experience.
Found this snippet uploaded by him. Notice the absence of electric lights in the venue:
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