Bharat Sundar (Vocal), Sayee Rakshit (violin & piano), Sumesh Narayanan (mridangam & rhythm arrangements)

Inspirations, presented by Bharat Sundar at Bharat Sangeet Utsav 2025, was a deeply personal journey into what fuels an artist’s inner life. The evening felt like a conversation with the artist himself, revealing the sparks behind both his artistry and his compositions. Sayee Rakshit and Sumesh Narayanan’s multi-instrumental brilliance - violin, piano, mridangam, and layered rhythmic textures - created a fresh, expansive soundscape. Their easy camaraderie with Bharat gave the music a lived, organic quality, reminding us how relationships themselves become sources of inspiration.

The recital opened with Bharat’s own Varali tillana, vibrant and colourful, with Sayee’s magic and Sumesh’s rhythmic layering adding brightness and lift. Tyagaraja’s Sara Sara Samarai (Kunthalavarali) followed, sparkling with joy. Jambupate offered one of the most poetic moments of the evening. Bharat described envisioning a boat journey across the Ganga, Kaveri, and Yamuna, and the music carried that imagery with gentle grace. The main piece, Dhanyudevvado Dasarate in Malayamarutham, carried a personal thread for Bharat. He recalled hearing Abhishek Raghuram’s poruttam-based explorations years ago in a convert at Srinivasa Sastry Hall, a moment that shaped his own approach. His niraval was poised, leading into elegant single-avartana swaras and a lively koraippu exchange with Sayee, culminating in a grand korvai in the poruttham style. Sumesh launched into the tani with a blistering tisra opening - an electrifying cascade of patterns, gripping in precision and culminating in a high-voltage tani avartanam.

A shift in tone arrived with Sandithen Avalai, Bharat’s M.S. Viswanathan-inspired composition. Nilame Nilame, a ragamalika on the Panchabhoothas, wove metaphors of equality through Reetigaula, Mohanam, Kapi, Mand, and Sindhubhairavi. The finale, Amalanadhipiran, carried the weight of history and devotion. Tiruppan Azhwar’s verses, describing the divine form of Sri Ranganatha from His feet to His crown, are revered for their poetic sweetness - so tender they ‘surpass even the music of the veena.’

By

Srividya Vadlamani