Classical music is taught basically with focus on musical notations. In this case, the Sanskrit verses penned by classical composers hog the limelight, while music is just a tool to promote the lyrics.
The Department of Music and Performing Arts in Sri Padmavati Mahila Viswa Vidyalayam (SPMVV) has bagged a prestigious project from the Central Sanskrit University (earlier Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan), New Delhi, for propagation of the “divine language.”
Normally, the central university provides financial assistance for translation and publication of literary works. But this time, it has come forward to fund the ‘Ashtadashi’ (18 projects) that aims at promoting Sanskrit language among non-Sanskrit students.
The ‘evening college’ project worth ₹3 lakh is meant to teach music among the students of various departments pursuing education in the all-women university.
The idea is to introduce to them the Sanskrit compositions of noted ‘Vaggeyakaras’ (composers) such as Thyagaraja, Annamacharya, Purandaradasa and Muthuswamy Deekshitar.
“Learning the basics of Sanskrit language is essential to understand the emotion behind the compositions. Hence, we have engaged two tutors for the programme, one for teaching music and the other to explain the Sanskrit lyrical part,” project’s principal investigator R.N.S. Saileswari told The Hindu.
Though the project was sanctioned way back in 2018-19, it could not be launched due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The objective of the project is to make the average student speak a few sentences in Sanskrit and also admire the lyrical beauty behind the compositions.
“More than 70 students are attending our evening classes,” says Prof. Saileswari, who hopes to see a significant rise in numbers once the concept percolates down among all departments.
