As part of the RadhaMadhava Mahotsavam – Carnatic-Circle.com is proud to present the video clippings of Brahmasri Dr Udayalur Kalyanaraman’s troupe visit to Birmingham, UK . The great Dakshina Bharatha Sampradaya Bhajanai was presented by vocalist “Brigha” Balu, Dr. Seetharaman on the Mridangam and Shri Shankara Raman on the harmonium at Shree Hindu Community Centre, Warwick Road, Birmingham
Blog page
Dr Udayalur Kalyanaraman troupe – Nov 17th
The much awaited grand Musical Bhajan evening
We had been waiting for this day for the last several months. In Fact, we had been waiting for this week with bated breath as it was going to be especially special and the reason was simple – The Radhakalyanam week and the days preceding were going to be really musical.
The excitement was palpable. The hall was packed. A busload of music lovers arrived from London and the vicinity. People arrived from places as far away as Liverpool, Chester, Leicester & Nottingham for this grand 2 hour concert.
The entire audience swayed and sang to accompany Brigha Balu on vocals, Dr Seetharaman providing thunderous beats on his Mridangam, Mr Sankararaman on his mellifluous Harmonium and literally the entire audience as accompanying vocals. We thank the Hindu community centre for encouraging us to deliver a professional concert. Clearly, this evening was an evening of all hands on deck. There were a number of tasks running up to the event. Fund collection, Advertising, informing friends, organising food for the Bhagavathas, Organising snacks/tea and even administering Food hall, the Innumerable phone calls, Stage decoration & preparation, Hall preparation, Sound testing, Manning the car park, Photography, Video editing, FBLive and the list is endless. Many thanks to each one of you for making this event a success.
Navarathri 2018 Birmingham temple Bhajans
Carnatic-Circle is happy to present a twin Carnatic devotional concert in line with Dussehra/Navarathri festivities. This time, we have a group of adults and children that have done a 6 weekend rehearsal. Many thanks to each one of you that came to the rehearsals over the last 6 weeks and persevered. Since this is choral singing, special focus is given to Shruthi, Talam and Ragam to ensure that the entire group is in Sync. Following are the twin performances during the Navarathri period of 2018.
- Sri Hindu Community Centre – Saturday, 13th Oct 2018, 5-7PM
- Tividale Balaji temple – Saturday, 20th Oct 2018, 11am-12.15pm
Our group has grown from strength to strength and sings a very vast and varied repertoire. The Birmingham based temples invite our group to perform on selected Saturdays. The above is one of them. Please come and attend this event at the main temple Sannadhi. Come and sing along!
Some photos and Video of the session
- 20th October – Balaji Sannadhi at the Tividale Birmingham Balaji Temple
- 14th October – Laxminarayan Hindu Community centre, Birmingham
Grand Bhajans – Dr Udayalur Kalyanaraman Birmingham, UK
Solihull based Carnatic-Circle & London based Shri Radha Madhava Kalyana Mahotsav is pleased to invite you all for a Grand Bhajan festival. On Saturday, the 17th Nov 2018, world renowned Dr Udayalur Kalyanaraman and troupe are performing between 5-7pm at the temple of
Shree Hindu Community Centre
541A Warwick Rd,
Birmingham B11 2JP.
4.15pm – Car park opens. Coach and Cars allowed.
4.45pm – Temple opens. A small snack will be available in downstairs hall
4.45pm – Sound check with the artists upstairs
5 to 6.45pm – Bhajan event by Mr Brigha Balu. Car park will be securely locked
6.45pm – Short discourse (5 mins) by Mr Brigha Balu
6.50pm – Vote of Thanks by Raj (5mins)
7.00pm – Car park will be reopened
7.00 – 7.20pm – Temple Aarti
Parking is available on Warwick road and the adjoining roads. A special manually gated car park has being arranged with Tyseley Locomotive works (670 Warwick Rd, Birmingham B11 2HL) which is situated diagonally opposite the Temple and is a 5 minute walk. The car park will be opened between 4.15-5.05pm by Bharath (07902 865540). Please note that the GPS takes you to the neighbouring car park. Hence, please use the map below.
The temple is undergoing refurbishment and consists of 2 church style buildings(White & brick Colour). There are no signboards for the temple at the moment. The programme will be conducted at the Temple Sannadhi hall on the 1st floor.
RSVP – Santhana Gopal (07906 535762) or Krishnan (07929 613063).
This will be followed by a week-long celebration culminating in a Radhakalyanam on the 24th and 25th November near Heathrow.
A week long celebration/event list is provided below
Websites –
Carnatic Music & Tabla Classes – New batches
With the start of the Autumn term, we have new batches starting in Indian classical Carnatic Music vocals as well as Tabla Classes.
Indian classical vocal classes are run by Preetha Gopal for beginners/intermediate or Advanced levels and caters for Adults and Children of all ages. The teaching is based on the age old tradition of learning the Swaravalis and gradually build up to Alankarams, Gitam & Varnams. Here are some testimonials
Tabla Lessons – Percussion lessons in Tabla are held as group lessons by Santhana Gopal and are conducted for children and adults on Sunday evenings. Lessons usually delve into the theory & practical aspects such as Kaydas/Paltas and gradually progressing into taals, Moharas, Mukhdas and Relas.
All lessons include theory and the necessary preparation for Grade exams conducted by the OFAAL/PRSSV/Open University.
Aavani Avittam 2018, Birmingham
This year’s Aavani Avittam/ Yajur upakarma is being conducted at Geetha Bhavan, Handsworth on the 26th Aug 2018.
Time – We will start at 8am sharp.
Attire – kindly come in Traditional attire ( if possible).
Items required – Pancha paathram, Udharani, Tharpanam Plate (capacity 500ml), Rice 250g, Toor Dhal 50g, Jaggery 10g approx, Beatle leaves x4, Supaari (few), Dhakshna for Vaadyaar
Please contact us for those that are interested. A whatsapp group has been formed for this purpose.
Bhajan event at Stoke-On-Trent
Carnatic-Circle was invited to come and perform in front a discerning audience on Saturday the 14th of July at Stoke-On-Trent. Our Sampradaya Bhajanai Satsangham team spent 3 weeks preparing for this day. A list of songs were prepared based on the traditional format and keeping variety Ragams in mind. This time, the plan was to provide the lyrics to the audience so that they can get actively involved. In addition, we had the company of over 18 children participating in the vocals alongwith us.
The Vocals received a pep by the accompaniment of by Karthik on Mridangam and Sai on Dholak.
Our repertoire of 28 songs were delivered in succession in a space of 2 hours. Following songs were sung – Thodaya Mangalam, Kamakoti Peeta Guru, Sree Guru Bhodendram,
Gurumouli Mane Bhaje Bhavantham, Naane Unnai Nambinen – Gnananda, Abhang – Vittala Yere Pandhari Raya(Shanka Chakra dhara), RAma parAku raGurAma parAku– Bhadrachala Ramdas, CharanamulE namiti, Nara Janma bandhaaga– Purandara Dasa,
Hari smarane maado, Deva Banda Namma Swami Bandano, Abhang – Hari mana tumi govinda mana, Vanamali Vasudeva Manamohana Radharamana, Rajani Janita Guru – 17th Ashtapadhi, Narayana Theertha Tharangini- AlokayE Sree bAlakrishnam, Abhang-KastooriChi Uti, Tilaka Lalati, Gopala Meva Deivatham, Sharade Karunanidhe, Gopalasi khelathi, ananda dolathi, Bhagyadha Lakshmi Baramma, Yehi Gopala Sri Vanamala Radhalola Aayahi, Prabhu Ramachandra Ke Dootha
Many thanks to the organisers Chitra Sudhar and Sudharshan for making the event memorable to all the participants.
Lalitha Sahasranamam & its significance
During one of weekly sessions in Bournville,Birmingham, we had the opportunity to interact with Sanskrit scholar Mr K Balasubramanyam. Mr Balasubramanyam (http://eeswaraha.co.in) has mastered the scriptures and provides regular classes in Bhagawat Gita and many other spiritual texts. His knowledge in these subjects is indeed immense and the group used this event to learn further in their quest for learning.
The session lasted just beyond an hour where we tried to understand the significance of Lalitha Sahasranamam. Why Lalitha Sahasranamam is one among the pinnacle of the Namams? How some of the siginificant vedic compositions have been compressed into a few words in Lalitha Sahasranamam? How to chant Lalitha Sahasranamam and what are the benefits? Thanks to our official Videographer Vasantha Raman, we were able to capture the happenings in the below 5 videos. Please use below playlist for your deep dive into Lalitha Sahasranamam.
Our Matrasara and Sampradaya Groups in Solihull/Birmingham perform various devotional/musical activities throughout the week. We chant Narayaneeyam, Devi Mahatmiyam, Sundarakandam and various sahasranamams and Ashtakams.
We also perform Sampradaya Bhajans on a weekly basis. Adults/Children get involved in these activity.
Ramanavami Carnatic Bhajans – Birmingham
Carnatic-Circle.com was invited to perform at the phenomenal Ramanavami celebrations on Saturday, the 31st March at the Spacious New Bingley Hall, Birmingham. The divine Sita-Rama kalyanam event held on Utharapalguni Nakshatram in Vilambi nama year was attended by not less than 2500 people – full of energy and lively. The ambience at the hall was stunning due to sheer numbers. This shows the excellent strength of our community and a typical example for the togetherness in serving the lord by serving for the community.
Carnatic-Circle’s music/singing was an integral part of the community and enjoyed the blessings of Sree Rama. We primarily chose some Telugu based krithis composed by Annamacharya & Bhadrachala Ramdas keeping in line with the interests of the audience. The energised performance kept up a relentless pace for 40 minutes. It was full of positive vibrations and was very well received by the community. We received quite a lot of words of praise. Admittedly, we had some background noise in our video recordings, but the fact that we were invited to perform for this divine event as a highlight was indeed a great blessing.
Some Photos/Excerpts from our previous Weekly Bhajan sessions since last year
Musings from the Srinivasa Kalyanam, Birmingham/Solihull
What a glorious event! It was one like never before. The Lord was adorned in the choicest ornaments & flowers and looked exquisite. The colours, music and festivity that Carnatic-Circle rendered was appreciated by one and many that attended the event. The day long religious rituals were elegantly interlaced with our thoughtfully designed music making the event especially special.
We would like to thank all the participants that learnt the Song repertoire and soothingly sang to keep up with the energy and vibrancy of the occasion.
Continue reading “Musings from the Srinivasa Kalyanam, Birmingham/Solihull”