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General Lectures

             With a view to enable the public to hear eminent persons, the Academy organised periodically several important meetings in which many distinguished persons from all walks of life, National and International, whose words count most in shaping thought and action in our country, participated. These functions helped to focus attention on different aspects of various problems faced by the society end the country as a whole. The question and answer sessions that followed had always been lively. It can be- said without exaggeration that the audience benefited as much as the speakers in the give and take.

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Some of the important subjects covered by these functions are:

Economics                                                                  Politics

Planning for prosperity                                              Challenge to Democracy

Tensions of Economic                                                Role of the Opposition

Development                                                              Welfare State

Inflation                                                                       Democracy at crossroads

Food problems                                                           Citizens and their responsibilities

Poverty and unemployment                                      Requisites of good Government

Union and State Budgets                                          Language controversy

Foreign Aid                                                                 National integration

Can we do without it?                                                Centre — State Relations Devaluation and its implications

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Legal / Judiciary                                                         General

Indian Constitution — A review                                Is Gandhiji an ldealist?                                                      

Electoral Reforms                                                       Role of intellectuals In a Society

Amendments to Hindu Law                                       Press and the Public

Fundamental Rights                                                   Role of the Press

Role of a Governor                                                     Impact of films on Society

Hindu Law & Society                                                  Astrology and Daily life

Supercession of Judges                                            Astrology — science or Superstition?

Second  Chambers-                                                   Dowry — still a burning issue?

are they necessary?                                                   

Women’s right in Modern

Hindu Law

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Fine Arts :

Fine Arts in its various forms has ramifications galore and the Academy had attended to everyone of them In Its own way, thanks to the guidance and co-operation of stalwarts Iike Dr.V.Raghavan, Prof. P.Sambamoorthy. Sri.Mudikondan Venkatarama lyer, Dr.S.Ramanathan and Smt. Vidya Shankar.

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Music :

The Academy took special interest to give the rasikas an opportunity of enjoying several rare Features. Celebrations in memory of many music composers, were organised in which leading musicians, musicologists and connoisseurs participated. These programmes were something more than mere concerts or academic discussions, but a happy blend of both, instructive as well as aesthetically pleasing.

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A few such special items are detailed below :

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Nature of programme                                                          Presented by

  • Rendering of the musical operas of                            Prof. P. Sambamoorthy                

       Thyagaraja- Nowka Charitram and                             and his students

       Pallaki Seva Prabhandam

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  • Rendering of compositions of                                     -do-

       Cheyyur Chengalvaroya Sastri

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  • Demonstration of  Pradarseena                                   Prof. P. Sambamoorthy

       Veena  and other rare Musical

       Instruments.

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  • ​A special feature on Musical                                        Prof. P. Sambamoorthy

       aspects of Thevaram​

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  • Demonstration Lecture on                                           Dr. S. Ramanathan

       Thyagaraja's Utsava Sampradaya

       Keertanas

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  • A special feature - A day with                                      -do-

       Thyagaraja

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  • Rendering of rare kritis of                                             Sri. S. Parthasarathy(Violin)

       Thyagaraja                                                                     Smt. Ranganayaki

                                                                                               Parthasarathy (Veena)

  •  -do-                                                                                Sangeetha Kalanidhi

                                                                                             Prof. Dwaram Venkataswamy

                                                                                    Naidu (Violin)

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  • Rendering of rare kritis of                                             Sri.S.Balachandra (Veena)

       Thyagaraja

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  • A special feature -                                                         Dr.S.Ramanathan

      Dikshitar's compositions on

      Divya kshetras he visited

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  • Demonstration Lecture on rare                                   Sangeetha Kalanidhi

       compositions of Muthuswamy                                     justice Sri.T.L.Venkatrama

       Dikshitar (Two separate programmes                          lyer. assisted by Sri.B.Rajam

       on two different occasions)                                          lyer and Sri.Sandhyavandanam

  • Rendering of rare kritis of                                            Srinivasa Rao

       Muthuswami Dikshita                                                   Sri.Shermadevi Subramania

  • -do-                                                                                Sastrigal & his son (Veena)

  • Hindustani Ragas handled                                           Sri.D.K.Jayaraman

       by Dikshitar                                                                   Sri.B.Rajam lyer

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  • Programme on Nava Varna                                          Smt.Vidya Shankar and her           

       Kritis of Dikshitar.                                                          Students.

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  • Rendering of rare compositions                                  Smt.M.L.Vasanthakumari

       of Syama Sastri

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  • Rendering of rare kritis of                                             Smt.R.VedavaIli

       Purandara Des.

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  • Rendering of rare compositions                                   Dr.M.Balamuralikrishna

       of Annamacharya.

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  • Rendering of rare compositions                                   Sri. S. Rajam

       of Koteeswara lyer

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  • Rendering of select pieces.                                          Sri.T.V.Seetharamma lyer

       From Krishna Leela Tarangini                                       and his son.

 

  • Rendering of compositions                                   

       of Sadasiva Brahmendra.                                              -do-

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  • -do-                                                                                 Dr.M.BaIamuralikrishna

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  • Rendering Tiruppugazh                                                Dr.Salem S.Jayalakshmi

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  • Programme on Music composers                                Dr.S.Ramanathan

       of the 20th century

                 Subramania Bharathi

                 Tiger Varadachariar

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  • Demonstration of recordings of                                   Sri. Alan Danielou

       folk music of different countries                                   (Sivasaran)

       of Europe and Asia

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Music competitions:

       For the purpose of encouraging study and practice of Music on correct lines, competitions in Sri Thyagaraja Kritis and Sri Muthuswami Dikshitar Kritis were held in  the early years and the response was most satisfactory. Gold medals were donated by Sri.T.L.Venkataramana lyer for the best candidate in Sri Dikshitar Kritis. Sri Chittor V. Nagaiah also volunteered to donate a Tambura and a Gold Medal for successful candidates in Sri Thyagaraja Kritis. A rolling shield entitled 'Chellakoti Award' was instituted by Dr.Srihari of ‘Kalki' for conducting competitions in Sri Thyagaraja kritis among College students.

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Samskrit Kavya on Sri Muthuswamy Dikshitar:

        Another memorable function in this series was the first reading of the new Sanskrit Kavya on the life of Sri Muthuswamy Dikshitar composed by Dr.V.Raghavan, one of our-vice-Presidents, by the author himself before a select gathering of scholars. Sahitya Vallabha Sri.T.Sundaracharya who presided said that the Kavya was a monumental classic Sanskrit Literature. It is worth recalling here that in appreciation of this Kavya H. H.Jagadguru Sri Sankaracharya of Kanchi Kamal‹oti Peetam conferred the Birucla 'Kavi kokila' on Dr.V.Raghavan.

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Dance:

            There was an exposition of foIk   dances fry Sri.E. Krishna lyer in the very first year. The other functions in this area include

  • A demonstration lecture on Bharata Natya by Smt.Nirmala Ramachandran

  • Dance Arangerram of Baby Meena, a disciple of Smt.M.K.Selvamani

  • A programme of Music and Ahhinaya on ’Divyaprabanctam'

       (Araiyar Sevai) by Sriram Bharathi of AIR (Mysore)

  • A programme of Dance Drama on ’Pattarbhiran Kothai' presented by Sri.H.Vaidyanathan and his students.

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Dramas:

            With a view to encouraging the histrionic talents of our members, several dramas - Social, Historical and Mythological - were staged  successfully under  the able guidance of one of our founder Vice-Presidents Sri.V.K.Parthasarathy lyengar a doyen of the stage of those days.  Among these,  ‘Chanal‹ya'  and ‘Paduka  Pattabhishekam' drew special appreciation of one and all.

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Conferment of Title: 'Mellisai Mannar'

            A special orchestral programme of light Music by the inimitable duo of Music Maestros, Viswanathan -Ramamurthy was also organised in 1 9G3 for raising funds. The Music Directors were conferred with the title *Mellisai Mannar' by the Academy on that occasion. The title was conferred by Sri Sivaji Ganesan and   several leading film Artistes including Gemini Ganesan, Savithri, Kannadasan, Director C.VSridhar, partici|sated in the programme and offered their felicications to the Music Directors.

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Lectures by Film Personalities:

          Special lectures were also arranged l in which leading film personalities participated. They included Sri Chittor V.Nagaiah, Sri.Gemeni Ganesan, Director C.V.5ridhar, Sri.Nageswara Rao, Sri.Javar Seetharaman, Sri. T.K.Shanmugam

          The recent programme on ‘the Impact of Film on Society' in which the leading film Star Sri Kamal Haasan and Bharat Natyam Exponent Dr.Padma Subrahmanyam participated was c huge success and received wide press coverage.

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Religious Discourses :

        Deviating from the routine and conventional type, the programmes on ' Religion  and  Philosophy' organized by the Academy stood on a different plane. They were more in the nature of intellectual treats for enlightened audience.

The following items deserve special mention :

  • A series of ten lectures on the ’Ramayana by Sri Agnihotram Ramanuja Tatachcriar actopted a novel approach. The learned lecturer instead of narrating the Epic story explained in detail how the Epic conveyed the various ideas enshrined in the Vedas. He also explained the significance and importance of the various rituals of the Hindu Religion like Namakarnam, Upanayanam, Swayamwaram, Marriage etc., as and when such incidents occurred in the story. On the concluding clay H.H. Sri.Jagadguru Sri Sanl‹aracharya of Kanchi Komakoti Peetam who was camping in Mylapore at that time, sent his blessings through one of his disciples and also honoured the lecturer with a Shawl. It was a rare honour for the Academy.

  • Two other series of lectures on 'Vedic Polity'(I963) and 'The Revival of Vedic Studies' (1973) were also delivered by the same renowned Vedic Scholar, which were of high order.

  • A special lecture on Ramanuja and his Philosophy by Dr.K.S.Krishnan, Director, National Physical Laboratory. New Delhi, was presided over by Rajaji.

  • The Academy had the rare privilege of inviting Swami Chinmyananda to the Academy during his very first visit to Madras in 1954.

  • Presentation of a Tableau 'Sri Sankara ' by Dr.V.Raghavan in which his students

       and his children participated. was a unique programme.

  • The recent discourse on 'Gita in Daily Life' by Prof.Prema Pandurang Managing Trustee ‘Khetropasana’ was attended  by a big gathering. The learned lecturer kept the audience spell-bound by the illuminating and interesting way she , delivered the lecture punctuated with renderings of select stanzas of 'Bhagavad Gita'.

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Literature:

           Tamil end Sansl‹rit Literature received  due attention from the Academy. Analytical natures on great literary worI‹s have been arranged and these included:

  • A series of discussions on a comparative study of Ramayana as dealt fry Valmiki. kamamban and Tulsi Das in their respective works.

  • A series of fi've lectures on the greatness of kamban as reflected in the Kamha Ramayana by Sri.C.Jagannathachariar.

  • Another series of illuminating lectures on the Villi Bharatham by the same scholar.

  • A special programme on the Greatness of TarniI Literature by Sri.C.Jagannathachariar in which he explained in detail how the meclium of Music was employed to propagate the greatness of Tamil Literature.  This was illustrctecl by a Musical rendering of select pieces covering the entire period from the Sangam Age to the 20’^ Century by Vidwan Sri.Needamangalam V.V.Subramaniam.

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       Apart from this, the dedicated efforts o( giants like Ramanathapuram Sethu Samasrhana Maha Vidwan R.Raghava Iyengar and Prof.MuRaghava lyengar. Sri Vai Mu Gopalakrishnamachariar, Smt .Vai Mu Kothainayal‹i Ammal have been remembered by  the celebration of their birth centenaries.

          A lecture on the importance of Sansl‹rit was also deliverecl by Sri Agnihotram Ramanuja Tatachariar.

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Memorial Functions:

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a. Functions in memory of Great Men:

       Being alive to the Importance of the role played by certain great men in cultural and spiritual development, special functions were held periodically  to  commemorate  their memory. To mention a few :

Adi Sankara                                                                          Mahatma Gandhi                                  

Ramanuja                                                                              Swami Vivekhananda

Madhvacharya                                                                      Rabindranath Tagore

Vedcnta Desika                                                                     Subramania Bharathi

Sadasiva Brahmendra                                                          Srinivasa Ramanujan

Ramana Maharishi                                                                Kasturi Ranga lyengar

Aurobindo                                                                             Rt. Hon' ble V.S.Srinivasa Sastri

                                                                                               Dr.S.Radhakrishnan      

                                                                                               Kasturi Srinivasan

b. Portrait Gallery:   

             A small beginning has been made to have a Portrait Gallery in commemoration of the Memory of Great personalities through the courtesy of certain donors. At present. the Portraits of the following leaders adorn the Portrait Gallery :

Rt.Hon’ble V.S.Srinivasa Sastri                                             Sri.K.Santhanam

Dr.K.M.Munshi                                                                      Sri.R.S.Desikan

Dr.C.P.Ramaswamy lyer                                                        Prof.M. Raghava lyengar

Sri Kasturi Ranga lyengar                                                     Sri.V.M. Gopalal‹rishnamachariar

Sri Kasturi Srinivasan

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C. Memorial Tablet for Srinivasa Ramanujan:

          A Memorial Tablet for the renowned Mathematical genius Sri.Srinivasa Ramanujan was unveiled by Sri.K.Santhanam at a special function preside d over by Sri.C.Subramaniam, This Tablet was fixed in the house in Hanumantharayan Koil Street. Triplicane in which Sri Srrinivasa Ramanujan lived for some time. Though that house had now been converted into flats, it is gratifying that the Tablet still adorns the entrance of the building.

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d. Memorial Lecture:

             Prof. M.Rangacharya Memorial Lectures were organised for some years under the joint auspices of Prof. M.Rangacharya's Memorial Trust, and the Academy.

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e. Book Releases:

    The Academy arranged special functions to introduce a few valuable books to the public and these Included:

  • Sri Thyagaraja by Prof.P.Sambamoorthy (English)

  • Silappadil‹arathu lsai Nunuklta Vilal‹ltam’ (Music in Silappathigaram) by Sangeetha Kalanidhi Sri.S.Ramanathan.

  •  Tiruvallikeni Madura Keertanaigal' (Tirukltural verses rendered in Music/ by Sri.Mayuram T.R.Viswanatha Sastrigal.

  • Tiruvallikeni Perumal Ponnoosal' (Greatness of the Lord of Triplicane — Sri Parthasarathy)\ by Sri.T.S.Rajagopala lyengar

  • IIakkiya Poompazhil’ (Literary work) by Sri.R. Rangachari

  • Veclathil Penngal' (Women in Vedas) by Sri Agnihotram Ramanuja Tatachariar.

  • Tirukannapuram Kalabakkam (Verses in praise of the Lord of Tirukl‹annapuram) by Sri.T.S.Rajagopala lyengar.

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Library

       The Kasturi Srinivasan Library Functioning as a wing of the Academy for more than 43 years is developing into a leading institution. The reading room in the Library is also very Popular. Detalied report about the Li is given separately

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Study Circle:

        With a view to provide opportunities to the members to develop the art of clear expression and also to cultivate a dispassionate and informed approach to the problems of the day, a Study Circle was organised in the yearly years. Several youngsters aspiring to cackle the All India Services Examinations made best use of this opportunity as this helped them face with confidence the Viva-Voce test, the passing of which was the decisive one in the final selection.

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Lantern Lecture:

        Generally, lectures Illustrated with slides or supplemented by visual medium, are appreciated better by the audience. Keeping this in mind. several lectures of this type were organised during the early years. The inaugural function of the Academy in 1953 itself included a lecture of this type by Dr.A.Ayyappan, the then Superintendent, Govt.Museum. This was followed by several lectures on various occasions by Sri.T.N.Ramachandran, Jt.Director General of Archaeology on subjects like ’Temple Architecture', 'The /Mystery of Indian Art', 'Temples as a Centre of Art, ‘Indian sculpture-some masterpieces!. Greatness of Pallava Architecture was the subject of a lecture delivered by Sri.R.V.Subramaniam, Read. Controller of Accounts, Karnataka.

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Sports:

         Talks arranged on Cricket always evoked enthusiastic response from the Sport- loving citizens of Chennai. Other items in this area Include :

  • An eye-witness account of the Munich Olympics

  • Film shows on the Brisbane Cricket Test between Australia and West Indies which ended in a Tie.

  • A Face-to- Face programme with Sri.V.Bhaskaran, Captain of the Indian Hockey Team which won the Gold Medal at the Moscow Olympic.

  • A talk by the Tennis Ace Sri Vijay Amirtharaj on Tennis in the Modern World.

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