Of art and music: Exploring Dikshitar's thoughts

The Adoration Of Kamakshi, a book written by Dr Asha, and based on the compositions of Dikshitar, with scholarly interpretations and inspirational assistance of Dr Veezhinathan (formerly professor and head of the department of Sanskrit of the University of Madras) reveals the excellence of the signs of music, outlining the devotional journey into the mystic realm of  Dikshitar.  

Dr Asha (Sivasree) is an outstanding student, winning laurels and medals. She also holds a doctorate in Sanskrit, is a prolific writer, researcher, as also a dancer and musician. Sowing the seeds of of her musical soppanam with veteran musicians Seetha Narayanan and Dishitarani Kalpagam Swaminathan, Dr Asha expanded her artistic spheres by learning the classical dance  forms of Bharatha Natyam and Mohini Attam.

She knows Sanskrit, English, Tamil Hindi and Malayalam, and she was awarded the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru scholarship for doctoral studies. She chose to pursue her doctorate on the kritis of Muthuswami Dikshitar. Having served as the chief editor for a tri-lingual quarterly, Sandharsanam and a regular contributor to the magazine Tatvaloka, what gives her immense satisfaction is her association with the Adi Sankara Advaita centre.

The Adoration Of Kamakshi is basically a conceptual study, perhaps the first of its kind, detailing the depth and subtleties of the Advaitic content in Dikshitar, pointing how it seamlessly harmonizes with various other traditions like Srividya of which Dikshitar was the inheritor.

(The writer is a well known music critic who has won awards both in India and abroad for propagation of classical arts and music)