CHENNAI: One of the foremost exponents of the Saraswati veena, Jayanthi Kumaresh has, over the years, played a significant role in bringing the instrument back into contemporary relevance. Now, that journey is set to be recognised with one of Carnatic music’s highest honours. She will be conferred the prestigious Sangita Kalanidhi by The Music Academy.
But for Jayanthi, the award is not a personal milestone so much as a moment for the instrument itself. “This recognition is more for the Saraswati veena than for me. In Carnatic music, The Music Academy is considered an authority, an organisation that brings credibility, recognition and immense value to a musician’s career. I have performed there since childhood, and I have also been fortunate to receive 14 awards for the veena there. So, in many ways, this feels like a culmination,” she says.
It has been over three decades since The Music Academy last conferred this honour on a veena artiste. Only now has the instrument found its way back to that recognition. “So, the Music Academy giving this award to the Saraswati veena is, in itself, a statement. I will be receiving it on behalf of all veena players. It is, more than anything else, a recognition of the instrument.”
There is a quiet symmetry to the moment. The Music Academy’s logo features Saraswati holding a veena and in its 100th Conference and Concerts, the instrument finds itself at the centre of attention again. For Jayanthi
Kumaresh, that makes the recognition deeply personal. “My guru, Padmavathy Ananthagopalan, who is 91 now, has spent her entire life with the veena. To receive this award while she is alive feels like a blessing. Also, getting this recognition on the centenary year of my other guru, Dr S Balachander, makes it even more special,” she smiles.
That sense comes from memory as much as the present. When Jayanthi entered the field, the veena was at a fragile point. “It felt like all the greats were fading away. Doyens like Balachander sir, Doraiswamy Iyengar, Emani Sankara Sastry, Chitti Babu were all growing older. Their presence was slowly reducing. And suddenly, there was a vacuum. For about 1520 years in the 1990s and early 2000s, there were very few performers. People would ask me, ‘Is the veena surviving? Are there any players left? It worried me. I wondisappear,” dered if it might just she recalls.
Then the next generation armomenyoung rived. Slowly, they built tum. Today, there are many veena players, audiences are returning and the instrument has reof gained a voice. “Fifty years sticking with it… it’s paid off,” she smiles.
Jayanthi’s mission has always been clear: to create awareness about the Saraswati veena, not just in India but around the world. “I want people to know that this is our national instrument. It’s beautiatespecially ful, and it deserves tention. I want to draw young people to it, to build audiences and to inspire more Vainikas (veena playfuconJayanthi. ers) for the ture,” concludes Jayanthi.