The Veena is one of the oldest musical instruments, associated with Saraswati- the Goddess of learning. References to the Veena go back to the Vedic times, where it is mentioned as one of the three principal instruments along with Venu (flute) and Mridangam. The present day South Indian Veena, also called the Saraswati Veena, was created in the 17th century by Govinda Dikshitar, a royal musician in the Tanjore court.
Govinda Dikshitar introduced 24 fixed frets in the Veena, and Carnatic music owes much to this innovation as it paved the way for the development of the 72 Melakartas scheme of classification of Ragas. Music veterans often say that a vocalist should acquire the art of playing the Veena if he or she were to become proficient in understanding the positions of the notes and the difference in srutis, and to gain a better understanding of the science and aesthetics of Carnatic music. Several vocal musicians including M S Subbulakshmi, T N Seshagopalan and Bombay Jayashri Ramnath, play the Veena as well.
During the period under consideration, Gurus Dr Bhagavathy, N Charumathy, Jayalakshmi Subramaniam,
R Parthasarathy, Meenakshi Somasundaram, S R Padmavathy, V Chandrasekharan, and MBT Sridevi have taught Veena in SIFAS.
Currently Guru Reshmi teaches Veena at SIFAS.
Govinda Dikshitar introduced 24 fixed frets in the Veena, and Carnatic music owes much to this innovation as it paved the way for the development of the 72 Melakartas scheme of classification of Ragas. Music veterans often say that a vocalist should acquire the art of playing the Veena if he or she were to become proficient in understanding the positions of the notes and the difference in srutis, and to gain a better understanding of the science and aesthetics of Carnatic music. Several vocal musicians including M S Subbulakshmi, T N Seshagopalan and Bombay Jayashri Ramnath, play the Veena as well.
During the period under consideration, Gurus Dr Bhagavathy, N Charumathy, Jayalakshmi Subramaniam,
R Parthasarathy, Meenakshi Somasundaram, S R Padmavathy, V Chandrasekharan, and MBT Sridevi have taught Veena in SIFAS.
Currently Guru Reshmi teaches Veena at SIFAS.
TUTORS
Guru Manjula Surendra
VEENA Room No 03-02 |
Guru Manjula Surendra has a balanced career with equal focus on Performance & Musicology. She is a 1st generation musician, and over the past 3.5 decades she has evolved as a performer par excellence and a promising torch bearer of the traditional Mysore School of Veena or “Mysore Bani” under the able guidance of Veena Maestro Vid. D Balakrishna.
As an "A Grade" artist of All India Radio, she has performed in National Program of Music, South Zone concerts of AIR and Doordarshan. She has also been an active concert performer, performing across India and Overseas. An MPhil in Music, Guru Manjula has had a decade long career as Guest faculty at the Bangalore University teaching post graduate students. She is also a competent Vocal Teacher. Her curiosity in music made her pursue PhD degree, and as a Researcher she focuses on "Comparative Study of Varnas of Veene Seshanna and his Contemporaries." Guru Manjula joined SIFAS as a Senior Tutor in October 2019. |