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Thursday, April 9, 2026

Magic flute of Mozart !!! ~ divine flautist of ThiruNinravur

 

The divine flautist – Bhagwan Sree Krishna .. .. ..



மனித மனதை ஆற்றுப்படுத்தும் கலைகளில் முக்கியமானது, இசை. இயன்ற போதெல்லாம் வரம்பின்றி கேட்டு ரசிக்கலாம். இசைக்கு இன்றியமையாதவை கருவிகள். மயங்க வைக்கும் காற்றிசைக் கருவிகளில் ஒன்று புல்லாங்குழல்.  காற்று இசைக்கருவி வகையைச் சேர்ந்தது புல்லாங்குழல். துளை வழியே காற்றை ஊதி இசையை உருவாக்குவதால், துளைக்கருவி எனவும் அழைப்பர். ஸ்வரங்களை அடிப்படையாக கொண்ட துளைகளை மூடித் திறக்கும் திறனுக்கு ஏற்ப, ஒலிக்கோர்வையை வித்தியாசமாக உருவாக்கலாம். இந்தியாவில், இரண்டு வகை புல்லாங்குழல்கள் உள்ளன. பன்சூரி என்ற வகையில், காற்று ஊதும் முத்திரை துளை ஒன்றும், ஸ்வரங்களுக்காக விரல் துளைகள் ஆறும் இருக்கும். இது, இந்துஸ்தானி இசையில் அதிகம் பயன்படுகிறது. மற்றொருவகை வேணு இவை தென்னிந்திய கர்நாடக இசையில்  பயன்படுத்தப்படுகின்றன. புல் இன தாவரமான மூங்கில் மரத்தில் செய்யப்படுவதால், புல்லாங்குழல் என பெயர் பெற்றது.  

Of the many instruments associated with  Carnatic music-  Flute is divine. A melodic instrument for the most part, the flute has a clear and bright sound with a distinctive warmth, refinement, and subtlety to its tone.  .. ..in Western world there is another close relative – it is not unusual for a performer who plays the flute to switch to the piccolo, alto flute, or bass flute.  



The greatest of em’ all is of course the divine Flautist Lord Krishna – who mesmerized everyone as He grew up in Gokul. 

In the opera the Queen of the Night persuades Prince Tamino to rescue her daughter Pamina from captivity under the high priest Sarastro; instead, he learns the high ideals of Sarastro's community and seeks to join it. Separately, then together, Tamino and Pamina undergo severe trials of initiation, which end in triumph, with the Queen and her cohorts vanquished. The earthy Papageno, who accompanies Tamino on his quest, fails the trials completely but is rewarded anyway with the hand of his ideal female companion Papagena.

The Magic Flute is a delightful blend of fantasy and allegory. Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, its plot revolves around the quests of Prince Tamino and Papageno, a bird-catcher. They're on a mission to rescue Princess Pamina from the clutches of the wicked sorcerer, Sarastro. Armed with a magic flute and enchanted bells, they navigate through obstacles and tests of virtue.  The story explores themes of love, wisdom, and the quest for enlightenment. Tamino's journey symbolizes the triumph of light over darkness and reason over irrationality. The opera ends with the triumph of good, highlighting the masonic ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity. It's a rich and enchanting tale with layers of meaning and some of Mozart's most beautiful music!

Mozart! A legendary name, was born January 27, 1756, in Salzburg, Austria -  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a child prodigy and a prolific composer of the Classical period. He wrote over 600 works before his untimely death at the age of 35 in Vienna. His vast repertoire includes symphonies, concertos, chamber music, operas, and choral music. Many of his compositions, such as "The Magic Flute," "The Marriage of Figaro," and "Eine kleine Nachtmusik," remain timeless classics.  His life was a whirlwind of incredible talent and relentless hardship.

Mozart's brilliance as a child prodigy often led to immense pressure. By the time he was just five years old, he was already composing music, and by six, he was performing for European royalty.  While this early fame brought him acclaim, it also came with high expectations and burdens. He was expected to continually surpass his own work, which stifled his ability to enjoy a normal childhood.  Despite Mozart's immense talent, he faced significant financial difficulties throughout his life. He often found himself in precarious financial situations, partly because he valued artistic freedom over secure, well-paying positions in royal courts. This quest for independence frequently led to clashes with institutions and left him struggling to make ends meet. Mozart faced health challenges too. He suffered from various illnesses throughout his life, which were likely exacerbated by the stress and pressures he constantly faced.  Despite these obstacles, Mozart's genius shone through.  

The Magic Flute (German: Die Zauberflöte)   is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form during the time it was written that included both singing and spoken dialogue.  The work premiered in Sept 1791 at Schikaneder's theatre, the Freihaus-Theater auf der Wieden in Vienna, just two months before the composer's death. It was the last opera that Mozart composed.  



Here are some photos of – Thiruninravur Sri Bakthavatchala Perumal alankaram as Venugopalan – the  divine flautist – on the morning of day 6 of Brahmothsavam at Thiruninravur today.

adiyen Srinivasa dhasan

Mamandur Veeravalli Srinivasan Sampathkumar

9.4.2026

 

ThiruNinravur Bakthavatchalan brahmothsavam 2026

ThiruNinravur Sri Bakthavatsala Perumal - Sri Venugopalan thirukkolam

: https://youtu.be/jJ01eiEe3oE



Wednesday, April 8, 2026

Cygnus atratus ~ Black Swan theory ....... Mamunigal Hamsa vahanam

 

Here is a picture of a Black Swan – have heard -  popular theory called – Black Swan theory.   

 


Everyday we must think of our Greatest Acharyar – Periya Jeeyar - Saint Vara Vara Muni, the last of the ‘Poorvacharyars’ in the grand galaxy of preceptors, known as Azhagiya Manavala Nayanar, before he was ordained the holy order of  Sanyasa.  It is none other than our most adored Acharyar  “Swami Manavala Mamunigal” - the reincarnation of Sri Ramanuja who was himself an incarnation of Adisesha. 

“Yathindra Pravana Prabhavam” is an ancient work on the biography of “Sri Manavala Mamunigal” written by Swamy Pillailokam Jeeyar, (a sishya of Manavala Mamunigal)  - it  details  the lives of Swami Nampilai, Pillai lokachariar,Azhagiya Perumal Nayanar, 24,000 padi, and birth of 36,000 padi, Thiruvaimozhi Pillai and Swamy Manavala Mamunigal.  Our most reverred Acharyar lived for 73 years on this earth performing many Kainkaryams and undertook  pilgrimages to many Sri VaishNavite Dhivya dEsams. Most of his life was spent however at Srirangam . His devotion to Udayavar (Yatheenthirar); Swami Nammalwar and Namperumal was extraordinary.

 




Today 8.4.2026 is Moolam nakshathiram in the month of Panguni.  Reminiscing our Acharyar ThiruAvathara Uthsavam   at Thiruvallikkeni – here are some photos of day 7 purappadu of Mamunigal in   Hamsa vahanam on 24.10.2025.

 

Pictured at the start is a Black Swan -  Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus Cygnus.  The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks.  There are six living and many extinct species of swan; in addition, there is a species known as the coscoroba swan which is no longer considered one of the true swans.  The hamsa  is an aquatic migratory bird,  referred to in ancient Sanskrit texts which various scholars have interpreted as being based on the goose, the swan,  or even the flamingo.   Bird Hamsa is the vahana of Brahma, Gayatri, Saraswati, and Vishvakarma.  

Jean Vogel, in 1952, questioned if hamsa is indeed a swan, as  Dutch ornithologists George Junge and E.D. van Oort he consulted, swans were rare in modern India while bar-headed geese (Anser indicus) were common. According to Vogel, Western and Indian scholars may have preferred translating hamsa from Sanskrit to swan as the indigenous goose appears plump while the swan (and, Vogel adds, the flamingo) appears more graceful.   However, some Ornithologists have criticized Vogel's view as being over-reliant on artistic representations from south India and Sri Lanka, where the white swan is rare.  American ornithologist Paul Johnsgard, in 2010, stated that mute swans (Cygnus Olor) do migrate to the northwestern Himalayan region of India every winter, migrating some 1000 miles each way.   The mute swan (Cygnus olor) is a species of swan and a member of the waterfowl family Anatidae.  

The term black swan primarily refers to the Australian waterbird (Cygnus atratus), but it is also a widely used metaphor in philosophy, finance, and pop culture for unpredictable, high-impact events.   In Western Australia, the black swan is a major regional symbol, appearing on the state flag and coat of arms.

The term  Black Swan theory” -  was popularized by Nassim Nicholas Taleb's book, The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable. A "black swan event" has three key traits:  -  Rarity: It is an outlier that lies outside the realm of regular expectations. Extreme Impact: It carries massive consequences (e.g., the 2008 financial crisis or the 9/11 attacks). Retrospective Predictability: People concoct explanations after the fact to make it seem like it was predictable.  

Interesting !
 
adiyen Srinivasa dhadan
Mamandur Veeravalli Srinivasan Sampathkumar
8.4.2026











 

vintage photo - allikkeni arulicheyal goshti

Life in a divyadesam is always exhilarating – you get to mingle with so many persons whose life is entwined in service to Emperuman Sriman Narayana.  There would be purappadu on Uthsava kalams and on pancha parvams too.  There are Battacharyars whose exceptional dedication ensures that Emperuman comes out adorning the choicest of flowers, ornaments, dress and more.  There is the  Veda adhyapaka goshti – hundreds of them chant Nalayira divyaprabandham in front of Emperuman on the streets and  chanting Vedam  after the Perumal.   Of the many kainkaryams, Sripadham thangis are  physically associated too and can be very demanding.   

 


Yesterday got this photo from Mr KV Rangarajan – Thiruvallikkeni Adhyapaka goshti standing near Sri Thelliyasingar gopuram, presumably taken somewhere in late 1970s or early 1980s – thiruther purappadu with Blue house chathiram / CK Stores / Gandhi book centre name boards visible.


Thiruvallikkeni Veda Adhyapaka goshti is extremely organized ~ doing kainkaryam in exceptionally meritorious manner.  In the present goshti, there are  people more than 90 and some in their 60s, 70s & 80s, a few  of them below 60 !!  Divyaprabandha kainkaryam flows from Azhwargal, Acaryas, Swami Ramanujar, our Acaryar Manavala Mamunigal .. .. .. and continues to eternity.  In Triplicane, the Adhyapaka sabai has legal sanctity too.  

My initiation to participating in Nalayira divyaprabandha goshti started in mid 1970s, when a bunch of school going students (close to 100+) were taught Peyalwar’s moonram thiruvanthathi by MA Venkatakrishnan swami, who himself was a college student those days.  To me personally, it flowed through my maternal grandfather Sri Athichozhamangalam Ramanujachar Swami, a tall personality, who was regular in attending to purappadu and was a muraikarar (who had the privilege of starting goshti on the given day of the week) 

In this historic photo – I could figure out in the first line – Swamigal – Sri U.Ve :  Sthalasayanathuraiyavar, Kuvalai Ramanujachar, Sathabhishekam Govinda Narasimhachar, Desur Srinivasachar, Ashtagothram Nallan Chakravarthi Parthasarathi iyengar, Athichozhamangalam Ramanuja Iyengar (my mathamahar); Vinjamur Narasimhachar, Kuram Bashyam, Vanamamalai Sampath [will add more names as and when my Triplicane friends identify and inform me] 

Those days, chinna mada veethi purappadu would take around 20 minutes and periya mada veethi purappadu approx 45 mins.  Brahmothsava purappadus would take around 2 hours.     

This is no chronicle of purappadu and divyaprabandha goshti of Thiruvallikkeni – more of my remembrance of grandfather and others known.    

                   On 18.12.1984, early morning @ 3 am, Athichozhamangalam swami, started from home for Danur masa viswaroopam and Thiruppavai sarrumurai.  After viswaroopam, before thiruppavai sarrumurai, he reportedly collapsed – some (could remember VM Soundararajan) took him in a cycle rickshaw – we at home were alerted – went to a 24 hour dispensary (probably all was over by that time) – were directed to Royapettah Hospital, where Doctors stated that he had passed away peacefully sometime earlier.  

This place ‘Athichozhamangalam’ is really a very small tinydot village nearer Thanjavur – Thiruvarur.    The village Athichozhamangalam lies around 2 km away from the Thirumanthikunam railway station.  The village  Athichozhamangalam comes under Block : Koradachery; in the district of Thiruvarur.  When I went there on an evening in 2012, the  fields in tune with Thanjavur / Thiruvarur belt were lush green – not many knew of this place, even when enquired in nearer places.  Travelled from Kumbakobam – on road to Mannarkudi / Alangudi - Needamangalam - Left - Koradacheri - around 7 km - 4 road junction - Right - ONGC - 400m left - Athichozhamangalam - Byepass road - Ammaiyappan - road to Thirukannamangai divyadesam. 

There is ONGC exploration on the way and this is a small [really small] village – only fields – no big streets even.  There is a Post Office by the name of the village itself with name board proudly reading:  Athichozhamangalam P.O.  This is not my native village, - it is Mamndur, my father’s ancestral village – the one  identified with the nearest bigger place Dusi Village and known as Dusi Mamandur

 

~ adiyen Srinivasa dhasan -  S. Sampathkumar.
8th Apr 2026