Mother of all Chennai sabhas

If you are looking to spot the first sabha in Madras/Chennai, it would most certainly be the Parthasarathy Swami Sabha, founded by Manni Thiru­malachariar in 1900. But you would be hard put to place it on the map of Chennai as, ironically, the sabha, also said to be the first in Tamil Nadu, does not have a building of its own.

Manni Thirumalachariar, a highly respected citizen who hailed from the Mand­yam community, was the driving force behind the launching of the sabha in 1900 as he felt there must be a place where bhajans and Harikatha would be performed on a regular basis.

The sabha was aptly named after Sri Partha­sarathy, the presiding deity of the temple at Triplicane, and the initial activities were at ‘Blue House’ on Gate East Tank Square at Triplicane. It had only 50 members to begin with.

Sometimes, an open terrace of a house on T.P. Koil Street would be the venue, while later the sabha sought the help of the Hindu High School and the N.K.T. School.
In 1962, the sabha constructed an open air theatre, declared open by Maharaja Fatehsingh Gaek­wad. The open air theatre consisted of a stage, a canteen and so on. The fund-raising committee did put in a lot of effort to sustain the sabha.

Present secretary M. Kris­h­na­murthy recalls that top programmes were provided at a subscription rate of Rs 5, Rs 3 and Rs 2 a month! Even today, its life membership rates are pretty low.
In the early days, the sabha­ mainly provided programmes like bhajans and Harikatha. In the twenties followed classical music, while in the forties many dramas were staged.

The plays of Nawab Raja­man­i­ckam Pillai, in particular, were hugely popular. He would perform for 10 consecutive nights, while over 250 personnel would camp on the site with seven wagon-loads of equipment.
Renowned Bharata­nat­yam danseuse Bala­sar­as­wati was the first woman dancer to perform, breaking the barrier against performances by women artistes.

Many of the senior arti­stes considered the sabha platform to be auspicious. They preferred to launch their new productions here. Dramatist R.S. Manohar, for instance, liked to launch his new play at the Partha­sar­athy Sabha. Legendary Carnatic musician Ariya­kudi Ramanuja Iyengar would have his Tirupavai music programmes here, while for dancers like Vyja­y­­anthimala, Padmini and Ragini, the sabha marked their first performances in Madras, as it was called then. Chief minister J. Jaya­lalithaa’s dance-drama ‘Kaveri Thantha Kalai­ch­elvi’­ was staged here first.

Veterans continued their association with the sabha. Krishnamurthy pointed out that Semmangudi Sri­nivasa Iyer performed here at the age of 92!
Sabha members believe that the organisation was a hallowed one as it had the blessings of Lord Partha­sarathy. Tradition has it that the idol of the presiding deity would be brought into the sabha on its way to Ekkattuthangal every year.

Chennai’s famous resident C.P. Ramaswamy Aiy­ar­ once said the sabha was rich in tradition and heritage, and was rich in everything except re­sou­rces. True. Today, the oldest sabha in Chennai does not have an auditorium of its own, having to hold festivals at Vidya Bharati or R.K. Swamy auditorium in Mylapore or on the Myl­ap­ore Fine Arts Club premises.

While most of its members were from Triplicane, they have had to travel to other parts of Chennai to attend music and dance prog­­rammes. Many of th­em­ are senior citizens, and struggle to reach auditoriums in other parts of Che­n­nai. Will the New Year see the beginning of a movement for the sabha's own auditorium in Triplicane or somewhere close to it, they wonder.