I went to the annual Thyagaraja Aradhana music festival at Thiruvaiyaru, 25km from my village in Tamilnadu.
This year is the 178th year of Aradhana Festival and it is being held from January 14 to 18 on the anniversary of the death (1847) of the famous 18th century Carnatic music composer Thyagaraja.
This music festival is unique in many respects:
Nearly 250 musicians participate in the five-day festival every year. In this year's Aradhana, there are a total of 241 concerts from January 14-18. The festival opened on 14th evening with 13 concerts from 5 to 11 pm. On 15th, 16th and 17th there are 61 concerts every day from 9 am to 11 pm. On the 18th there are 41 concerts besides the Pancharatna Keerthanas Koshtigaanam, which is sung by dozens of artistes as well as the audience together from 9 to 10 am.
The musicians are given slots of 10 minutes, 15 minutes and 20 minutes, according to their seniority. Here is a sample page of the programme sheet with 36 pages
The organisers are very strict about the time limit. Five minutes before the ending of the performance, they make the next musician's group to get on to the second stage on the side and be ready. As soon as one concert finishes, there is a brief announcement of the names of the outgoing and incoming performers after which the next concert starts immediately.
Besides vocal music, there are also instrumental concerts with veena, violin, flute and Nadhaswaram—the wind instrument played during auspicious occasions such as weddings and temple festivals, gets a special place of pride in the festival. In the 2025 festival, there are 67 Nadhaswaram concerts, spread over the five days. In fact, the festival starts and ends with Nadhaswaram concerts.
The festival is held every year in January at the Thyagaraja Samadhi (memorial), on the banks of Cauvery river. The music is not performed in a covered air-conditioned auditorium. It is held under a Pandal (temporary roof covered inside with cloth like a shamiana) open on all sides. There are no chairs. The audience sits on the sandy floor, enjoying the cool breeze from the river and the aroma of the hot filter coffee served on the other side of the pandal.
To listen to the music, one does not even have to go to the pandal. One can listen while shopping on the roadside shops or walking in the streets through the loud speakers fixed on lamp posts for a couple of kms outside the festival venue. The soulful classical music is heard in the middle of blaring honking sound of cars, buses and the noise of the autos and motorcycles. But Nadhaswaram, with its high pitched loud piercing music, overcomes the street noises and is heard clearly.
There are no tickets for the concerts which are open to the public. The hall becomes full and overflowing for the Pancharathna event and when celebrities come to sing.
The musicians consider it a privilege to perform in the Aradhana and come here paying themselves for their travel and accomodation. They do not get any performance fees either. Some of them come regularly every year.Those learning Carnatic music worship Thyagaraja as a saint and perform pujas at his temple.
Thiruvaiyaru is a quiet small town with a population of around 20,000. It does not have proper restaurants or hotels for the visiting artistes and public. They have to stay in Thanjavur, 12km away.
Thiruvaiyaru is known as the land of five rivers (Iyaru means five rivers) namely Cauvery, Vennar, Vettar, Vadavar, and Kudamurutti rivers. The deity in the famous temple in the town is Aiyarappan /Panchandeeswarar which mean Lord of five rivers.
There is belief that those who die in Thiruvaiyaru, considered as the sacred equivalent of Benares, will go to heaven. Some old people come to stay in the Chattirams (charity accommodation) at their terminal stage waiting to die there. Sixteenth day ceremonies as well as anniversary rites for the dead are done on the bank of the Cauvery river in the town. There are over 50 Brahmin families which live on the income of performing the rites for the dead. Cauvery is to Tamilnadu what Ganges is to Northern India in terms of giving material and spiritual prosperity.
The region around Thirvaiyaru has been historically prosperous, thanks to flourishing agriculture with the waters of the five rivers and the fertile soil. Rice, sugarcane and banana are the main crops. This material prosperity had given more time for the people of the region to pursue music, dance and other forms of arts and culture. Thygaraja and the other two famous composers (Trinity of Carnatic Music) Shyama Shastri and Muthusamy Dikshidar were born in Thiruvarur, another town in the same delta region, seventy km away from Thiruvaiyaru. Many of the Carnatic musicians come from the Cauvery delta region. Proud of this lineage, artistes use the name of the place as the prefix to their names. Examples: Umayalpuram Sivaraman, Sikkil Gurucharan, Papanasam Ramani, Thanjavur Raju, Kumbakonam Aravind, Mayavaram Pandian, Andankovil Sivakumar, Seerkazhi Sivachidambaram, Ayyanpettai Haridoss, Thruvaiyaru Murugan, Thirukkattuppalli Raja and Saliyamangalam Ramadass.
The region of Thiruvaiyaru and Thiruvarur was part of the Chola dynasty of Thanjavur which had patronised arts and culture and built historic temples. The Chola dynasty has a distinct place in Indian history. Cholas were the only Indian rulers who ventured outside India conquering overseas territories and colonising parts of South East Asia. After the decline of Cholas in the 15th century, Thanjavur came under the Telugu-speaking governors appointed by Vijayanagara empire. In 1675 the Marathas took over Thanjavur and ruled till they lost to the British in the ninteenth century. There is still a Maratha dynasty prince living in the Thanjavur palace surrounded by a small Marathi community. The Maratha kings promoted Sanskrit and before them the Nayaks patronised Telugu language. So, this explains the Telugu and Sanskrit compositions of Thyagaraja although he had lived his whole life in the heart of Tamil Nadu.
The legend of Thyagaraja, the history and culture of the region and the serene rural setting enrich the listening of Carnatic music on the Cauvery river side as a unique cultural experience.