Composer Dikshitar’s work screened in US
WASHINGTON: A documentary film delving into iconic composer Muthuswami Dikshitar’s adaptation of Western tunes into Sanskrit lyrics in colonial India was screened at the Indian embassy here to celebrate the ‘Chalo India Global Diaspora Programme’.
The film was made by Dr Krishnamurtha Kannikeswaran, popularly known as Kanniks -- an India-born American musician, scholar, composer, writer and music educator based out of Cincinnati, Ohio, often described as the “Magic Musician”.
Dikshitar, born in Thiruvarur in Tamil Nadu, was an Indian poet, singer, veena player, and composer of Indian classical music, considered one of the musical trinity of Carnatic music.
Documentary film delves into Dikshitar’s (1775-1835) adaptation of Western tunes into Sanskrit lyrics in colonial India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently launched the ‘Chalo India Global Diaspora Campaign’ to inspire the Indian diaspora to become Incredible India ambassadors and promote tourism to India.
It is based on Prime Minister Modi’s clarion call to the Indian diaspora to encourage at least five non-Indian friends to travel to India. Chennai-born Kannikeswaran said the urge behind documenting the work of Dikshitar was to share with the world the slice of the cultural history of India that the world does not know about. “In fact, a lot of people in India do not even know what the existence of Dikshitar or the fact that this kind of innovation happened 200 years ago.
I’m sure that when we delve into history, there’s going to be a lot more such historical tidbits. And that was the inspiration for this film,” he said.
Sripriya Ranganathan, India’s Deputy Ambassador to the US, said the work of Kannikeswaran shines a light on Tamil culture, which occupies a place of pride in India’s diverse cultural constellation.