Hari Samarpanam

The album

The ultimate destination for a devotee is the lotus feet of Lord Vishnu. Shri Sampath has expressed

these sentiments in his compositions praising Lord Vishnu as worshipped in several leading temples in

Tamil Nadu, with a brief sketch of the sthala puranas and the glory of these deities.

Hari Samarpanam, Volume I, includes nine of these songs, which have been composed with

earnest devotion in Sanskrit. The temples which have been eulogized include Kumbakonam,

Shrimushnam, Tiruvidandai as well as Triplicane in Chennai. There is also a tribute to Saint Andal.

The appealing pieces have been set to music by Chitravina N Ravikiran. The ragas used in this

production include Harikambhodhi, Kalyanavasantam, Bhairavi, Mayamalavagowla and Ramapriya.

There is also an attractive ragamalika piece, Anandanilaya, on Lord Shrinivasa of Tirupati. Ravikiran

has made the use of interesting rhythmic features in compositions such as Parthasarathim (Hindolam).

The Artistes

The production features the well-known vocalists Sikkil Gurucharan and Suryaprakash, and mrdangam

maestro Srimushnam Raja Rao. It also includes highly talented artistes such as Deepika Varadarajan,

Bhargavi Balasubramanian, Anahita and Apoorva Ravindran (voices); Ranjani Ramakrishnan (violin),

Venkatasubramaniam (mrdangam) and Trichy Murali (ghatam).

The Composer

Tirukudandai Shri Sampath, served in the Revenue Department of the Government of India and retired

as Additional Commissioner of Central Excise, Chennai, in 1997. He developed a keen interest in music

at a very young age and has sustained this over the years by constantly listening to concerts. This,

combined with his proficiency in languages and the knowledge of Hindu mythology and philosophy,

spurred him to express his spiritual thoughts in a poetic form. He started writing in the 1970-s, with

a piece on Shri Ramanuja, and others followed in due course.

Shri Sampath has composed several songs in Sanskrit, most of which are on Lord Vishnu as enshrined

in various temples. The lyrics of most of the Sanskrit compositions have been vetted by the renowned

scholar Dr M Narasimhachari and Dr C S Radhakrishnan (of Vivekananda College and now with the

Pondicherry University).

Some of these have also been choreographed for dance and presented by artistes such as guru

Rhadha.

The Director

Ravikiran made headlines as the world's youngest prodigy at the age of two (in 1969), presented his

first vocal concert at five, his first chitravina recital when he was 12 & set a record with a non-stop

show for 24 hours when he was 18. He has performed across the planet and has collaborated with

top-notch artistes, composers and orchestras. He has composed over 500 classical Indian pieces and

introduced the critically-hailed world music concept, 'Melharmony". Ravikiran has also championed

the works of Oottukkadu Venkata Kavi, trained numerous students, authored several books and has

bagged international and national awards. Ravikiran attributes all his success to his gurus

Chitravina Narasimhan & T Brinda.

For more information on him, please visit www.ravikiranmusic.com.