The homage by artists will be showcased on Sat 23 (8:30am -9pm) and Sunday 24 April (8:30am to 9pm) 2026. Background: Dr Selvendra and Smt Marnie Selevendra (who migrated to Melbourne in 1974) provided information about the origins of the St Tyagaraja aradhana in Melbourne. The couple were committed to hosting the aradhana since 1975 in their house for some years. They recalled that the Melbourne-
based Smt Chandra Srinivasan, Smt Mani Krishnamoorthi (sp?), a few Melbourne-based carnatic music enthusiasts and the visiting nagaswaram troupe from Sri-lanka were significant contributors to the aradhana in the early years. Ravichandhira emigrated from London to Melbourne. Sri Kalyan, and his wife Smt Radha (who currently live in Canberra) confirmed that they attended the Melbourne Aradhana, a public performance in 1985 at the Prahran Migrant Resource Centre in Melbourne. Gopinath Iyer, Rama Rao, Vasumathi Subramanian, Sivakami Sekhar and Ravi. M Ravichandhira were those took part in the 1985 Aradhana which was led by Radha Kalyan. Further, R. A Shankar, owner of Sruti International Sounds, a recording company from Adelaide traveled all the way to Melbourne and recorded the Pancharatna Kritis ( five gems of St Tyagaraja) in 1985 and published an album. The Academy of Indian Music, Aust was formed in 1986, and formally registered as an incorporated body in 1988. Tanjore Sri S Kalyanaraman and his wife Smt Bushani, formally inaugurated the Academy of Indian Music and Cultural Studies, Aust in Melbourne. In the Academy's faculty, among others Smt Vasumathi Subramanian, Smt Rama Rao and Ramnath Iyer had been the key contributors to teaching their fields of expertise until they set up their respective teaching institutions. In the successive years, all these artists have continued to enrich the Aradhana. Mr Charles Walker could remember that he was first commissioned to do the audio technical work in 1989, as the group of musicians grew in Melbourne! Over the years, the Aradhana has evolved as an iconic festival of Melbourne with the contribution of many home grown talented artists and qualified artists who have migrated to Australia. A cross section of senior artists and visiting artists have volunteered on a rotational basis to coordinate and conduct the Aradhana Ensemble, Talented Musicians Ensemble (TYME), instrumental ensembles and mentored special dance presentations. To name a few artists: Iyer brothers (Ramnath and Gopinath), Rama Rao, Vasumathi Subramanian, Jayshree Ramachandran, Shobha Sekhar, Murali Kumar, Sridhar Chari, Balasri Rasiah, Uthra Vijayaraghavan, Sundari Saripalle, Narmatha Ravichandhira, Suresh Babu, Sikkil Gurucharan, Chandrabhanu, Ambika Dorchetry, Shanthy Rajendran and Roja Kannan. To make this Festival accessible to wider audiences, the Academy has showcased the festival at many prestigious venues, including the State National Gallery, places of worship and Monash University. It should be noted that the festival has never been reliant on any grants from council, state and federal governments. In 2008, the festival worked with Spirit of India and offered entry tickets at subsidized rates for audiences to a feature concert of Dr N Ramani held at the Playhouse,Victorian Arts Centre. On the advice of Bombay sisters and Guru Kaaraikkudi Mani, the festival was renamed: MumMoorthigal Festival in May 2005. Guru Mani requested the festival to incorporate a segment, paying homage to Nandikeshwarar in the last three years. In the recent years, the festival with great pride has seen many home grown artists featured in solo and ensemble performances. In the challenging times ahead, we need to reflect on how perhaps over 1000 graduates of music and dance that Melbourne has produced, could come forward to show their gratitude once a year by attending this festival in large numbers. Music being integral part of dance, the festival provides a fertile ground for dancers to further develop their interests. We invite information and corrections ( if any), pertaining to the evolution of the festival. PS Any one who has photos or video clips or links to Utube of the festival proceedings, kindly share or upload them.
