BrindaMukthi

03/06/2026

🌿 *Premiere Announcement* 🌿

Tomorrow at *10:00 AM IST*, BrindaMukthi premieres a special archival presentation:

🎶 *Begada in the Veena Dhanammal Tradition*

A curated musical journey through one of Carnatic music's most beloved rakti rāgas, featuring rare recordings from across the Dhanammal lineage. Spanning varṇam, kritis, padams, a jāvali, and a śloka, the compilation celebrates the depth and beauty of Begada through generations of musicians.

This presentation is lovingly dedicated to the memory of Smt Vardhini Prem, granddaughter of Smt T Muktha whose archival work helped preserve many of these invaluable recordings.

We warmly invite rasikas to join the premiere and experience this journey together.

⏰ Tomorrow | 10:00 AM
🔔 Premiere link below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kYte2YufL0

— Curated by BrindaMukthi

BrindaMukthi presents a special Begada Jukebox, tracing the journey...

29/05/2026

Over the past two months, BrindaMukthi has journeyed through a world of tillānās preserved within the artistic orbit of the Veena Dhanammal parampara across concert music, Bharatanatyam, nattuvangam, flute, voice, and intimate classroom recordings.

This anthology brings together nearly thirteen rare tillānās in one continuous jukebox featuring the music of the Tanjore Quartet, Ramnad Srinivasa Iyengar, Tiruppur Ponnuswami Pillai, Thirugokarnam Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar and others, rendered by luminaries such as Smt T Brinda, Smt T Muktha, Sri T Viswanathan, Sri Ramnad Krishnan, Smt Balasaraswati’s troupe, Sri K. Ramaiah, Sri Radhakrishna Naidu and more.

Far from being mere rhythmic finales, these tillānās reveal a tradition where rāga bhāva, gait, musical restraint, dance, and laya existed in deep continuity.
This compilation is offered as a humble archival space for rasikas, dancers, musicians, students, and lovers of the Veena Dhanammal bani and is a small effort towards preserving these precious musical inheritances for posterity.

https://youtu.be/tEayNJavo1g?si=Qjl0d4jQr-cAbwCU

Tillānā Anthology | Curated by BrindaMukthi

Over the past two months, BrindaMukthi has attempted to trace a quieter and often overlooked aspect of the Veena Dhanammal tradition; the place of the tillān...

22/05/2026

Day 13 — Tillanas in the Veena Dhanammal Bani. 🎶

The series concludes with another tillana in Behag—this time composed by the Tanjore Quartet.

Presented here in a classroom rendition of Sri T Viswanathan, alongside nattuvanar Sri K Ramaiah, this version reflects the more structured nritta orientation associated with the Sri Kandappa–Sri K Ganesan bani.

With this final curation, the series comes full circle tracing the many ways the tillana lived within the Veena Dhanammal tradition: as concert music, dance repertoire, classroom inheritance, and a living archive of rhythm and movement. 🎶

22/05/2026

On our Finale Day on Tillanas in the Veena Dhanammal Bani, we present a tillānā in Behag, set to Miśra Chāpu tāla composed by the Tanjore Quartet from the repertory of Smt T Balasaraswati.

This classroom recording by Sri T Viswanathan and Sri K Ramaiah carries particular historical and artistic significance. Thirupampuram Sri K Ramaiah, as a disciple of Sri K Ganesan—the son of Sri Kandappa Pillai, guru of Smt T Balasaraswati—represents a direct continuation of the shishya parampara linked to the Tanjore Quartet themselves.

It is perhaps fitting that BrindaMukthi concludes this two-month-long tillānā series curating nearly thirteen tillānās across concert, dance, vocal, and instrumental traditions with this composition. More than a finale, it stands as a tribute to the enduring aesthetic world of the Veena Dhanammal bani: a world where rhythm was never divorced from melody, where dance remained inseparable from music, and where tradition was preserved not through rigidity, but through lived artistic continuity.

https://youtu.be/boxX6w_u9nI?si=L6kSMgAgZCcoVXh5

Curated by BrindaMukthi

BrindaMukthi proudly presents " Tillanas in the Veena Dhanammal Bani" , a series aiming to curate and document the rendering of the musical song form known a...

19/05/2026

Day 12 — Tillanas in the Veena Dhanammal Bani. 🎶

A Behag tillana by Tiruppur Ponnuswami Pillai, heard here in the vocal rendition of T. Viswanathan.

Marked by its rare Misra gati prayogas, this tillana becomes a meeting point of rhythmic intricacy and the lilting melodic grace of Behag.

In this rendering, laya and rāga bhāva move together with remarkable ease—revealing the bani’s deep sensitivity to gait, melodic contour, and rhythmic nuance.

A rare archival glimpse where sweetness, movement, and rhythmic vitality become one. 🎶

19/05/2026

On Day 12, our penultimate in Tillanas in the Veena Dhanammal Bani, we present an unheard tillana from an unheard composer rendered by Sri T Viswanathan. This tillānā in Behag, set to Miśra Gati Eka Tāla and composed by Tiruppur Sri Ponnuswami Pillai, is a striking example of how a lighter, deshiya rāga can be shaped into a composition of both elegance and rhythmic vitality.

The use of Miśra Gati Eka Tāla—often compared in feel to Teentaal in the Hindustani system—further enhances this quality. Rather than imposing a heavy rhythmic structure, the tāla supports the natural swing of the composition, giving the tillānā a graceful forward momentum.

This is an abridged version where he renders the pallavi and anupallavi alone.

https://youtu.be/tUSvRRMm5so?si=RieWrmXVFGRVSFAP

Curated by BrindaMukthi

16/05/2026

Day 11 — Tillanas in the Veena Dhanammal Bani. 🎶

A Hindolam tillana in Khanda Eka tāla, composed by Thirugokarnam Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar, heard here in the vocal rendition of Sri T Viswanathan.

With this curation, the series continues into the multifaceted artistry of Sri T. Viswanathan—flautist, musicologist, dance musician, and vocalist, all seamlessly woven into one musical personality.

This tillana formed an important part of the repertoire of Smt T. Balasaraswati’s troupe, and was later passed on to her students, continuing as a living bridge between music and dance within the Dhanammal tradition.

A rare archival glimpse where voice, rhythm, and movement converge in quiet depth.

16/05/2026

After celebrating the Bharatanatya legend Smt T Balasaraswati on her 108th Birth Anniversary, we at BtindaMukthi present yet another piece from her repertoire.

On Day 11 of our series , we curate this tillānā in Hindolam, set to Khanda Eka tāla and composed by Thirugokarnam Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar, carries within it a sense of intimacy that is both musical and cultural.
Hindolam, with its gently curved phrases and understated depth, lends itself naturally to a more inward expression, even within the rhythmic framework of a tillānā.

In the rendering of Sri T Viswanathan, the tillānā is shaped by a deeply vocal approach to music-making. Though widely celebrated as a flautist, he was equally accomplished as a singer, and this dual musicianship is clearly reflected in his phrasing. Both Smt T Balasaraswati and Sri T Viswanathan truly did redefine and integrate the musical world of dance, a process which started with their mother Smt T Jayammal.

https://youtu.be/mTJAuM1SQDY?si=DyfpFrG7DbZL9fJ5

Curated by BrindaMukthi

BrindaMukthi proudly presents " Tillanas in the Veena Dhanammal Bani" , a series aiming to curate and document the rendering of the musical song form known a...

14/05/2026

In the quiet intimacy of home, Smt T Balasaraswati sings not for the stage, but from within the tradition itself.
Accompanied by her brothers Sri T. Viswanathan and Sri T. Ranganathan, this rare rendering moves with the gentleness of a private musical conversation — restrained, contemplative, and deeply lived.

Far removed from theatrical flourish, Bala’s voice here reveals the musician within the dancer: every phrase shaped by rāga, sahitya, and the inward grace of the Dhanammal lineage.

A small archival window into a world where music, devotion, and family breathed as one.

Video Courtesy: and extracted from a documentary by Sri Satyajit Ray for the NCPA and Govt of India.

14/05/2026

On the occasion of Smt T Balasaraswati's 108th Birth Anniversary, BrindaMukthi is honoured to present this rare and deeply intimate home recording of Smt T Balasaraswati rendering the beloved Kannada composition Krishna Nī Beganē Bāro in Kutcheri Style accompanied by her brothers Sri T Viswanathan and Sri T Ranganathan.

Though celebrated globally as one of the greatest Bharatanatyam artistes of the twentieth century, Smt T Balasaraswati hailed from a family that regards music as foundational. Within the Veena Dhanammal tradition, dance and music were never separate disciplines; abhinaya grew organically from musical understanding, and musicianship itself was treated as an essential inheritance. Here we see Smt Balasaraswati as an equally able musician which Infact was the backbone of her Bharatanatyam.

Krishna Nī Beganē Bāro is traditionally attributed to Sri Vyasaraya, the great Haridasa saint-scholar associated with the worship of Udupi Sri Krishna Matha.

https://youtu.be/c-IAuqkxh9A?si=xTVn74iaBU5urWhT

Curated by BrindaMukthi

On the occasion of Smt T Balasaraswati's 108th Birth Anniversary, BrindaMukthi is honoured to present this rare and deeply intimate home recording of Smt T B...