Sant Bhadragiri Achyut Das
A Tribute by Mysore Prabha:
The doyen of Harikatha world, Sri Achyut Das, is no more. In his passing away, he has left a void probably never to be filled.
Harikatha is one of our ancient, traditional art forms, where philosophy and life values are taught to people in a musical form. My father, Sri. K. Srikantiah, time and again says, “one can with effort become a singer, a dramatist, an orator, a scholar, a humorist, a linguist. But only a combination of all these qualifications added to excellent memory can make a person a Harikatha Vidwan. Such is the depth and merit of our Harikatha Art.”
This dying art was kept alive thanks to a few scholars like Sri Achyut Das (1933-2013). His Harikathas would have flashes of Carnatic music, Hindustani music, abhangs, bhajans, humour, bhakti , satire, navarasas and worldly knowledge. No wonder it would reach out to a large number of people and attracted a huge fan-following. Sri Achyut Das performed in various languages like Kannada, Marathi, Konkani, Tamil, Telugu, etc. Listening to 3 hours of his Harikatha would be equivalent to reading 300 hours of various books. That was the sort of knowledge that a listener would gain!
Sri Achyut Das was a very close friend to my father, K.Srikantiah. His Harikatha performance was a regular fixture in our annual Sri Ramanavami Music Festival at Mysore for the past 40 years. His pleasant countenance, the kind,loving smile on his bright, graceful face, his friendly voice, will all be etched in our memories forever. He was a 'Sadhu' in the true sense of the word. Such was his affection for my father that he, himself, would call us around December-January, give a date for his performance for our on-coming festival in April, and then start off on his far-flung tours.
And on the day of his programme, without any prior intimation, he would be at the venue of the programme in Mysore promptly at 6 in the evening- be it from Bangalore, Hassan, Maharashtra, Andhra, or even a place as remote as Chambal Valley! He used to tour all over India in his well-equipped caravan-like orange coloured van. He always had a kind word, a blessing, an ncouragement to anyone and everyone who came to him. It was my privilege and honour that he released one of my audio cassettes, 'Haridasa Vani' in our Ramanavami pandal on 19th April 1986.
Sri Achyut Das has without doubt led a worthy life - touching a lot of lives with his discourses. It was our proud privilege to honour this saintly vidwan during our silver jubilee Ramanavami Festival at Mysore in the year 1994.
Our tribute to this great soul is in the form of presenting one of his Harikathas, "Seetha Kalyana" at Parvathi.
May his soul rest in peace.
Harikatha is one of our ancient, traditional art forms, where philosophy and life values are taught to people in a musical form. My father, Sri. K. Srikantiah, time and again says, “one can with effort become a singer, a dramatist, an orator, a scholar, a humorist, a linguist. But only a combination of all these qualifications added to excellent memory can make a person a Harikatha Vidwan. Such is the depth and merit of our Harikatha Art.”
This dying art was kept alive thanks to a few scholars like Sri Achyut Das (1933-2013). His Harikathas would have flashes of Carnatic music, Hindustani music, abhangs, bhajans, humour, bhakti , satire, navarasas and worldly knowledge. No wonder it would reach out to a large number of people and attracted a huge fan-following. Sri Achyut Das performed in various languages like Kannada, Marathi, Konkani, Tamil, Telugu, etc. Listening to 3 hours of his Harikatha would be equivalent to reading 300 hours of various books. That was the sort of knowledge that a listener would gain!
Sri Achyut Das was a very close friend to my father, K.Srikantiah. His Harikatha performance was a regular fixture in our annual Sri Ramanavami Music Festival at Mysore for the past 40 years. His pleasant countenance, the kind,loving smile on his bright, graceful face, his friendly voice, will all be etched in our memories forever. He was a 'Sadhu' in the true sense of the word. Such was his affection for my father that he, himself, would call us around December-January, give a date for his performance for our on-coming festival in April, and then start off on his far-flung tours.
And on the day of his programme, without any prior intimation, he would be at the venue of the programme in Mysore promptly at 6 in the evening- be it from Bangalore, Hassan, Maharashtra, Andhra, or even a place as remote as Chambal Valley! He used to tour all over India in his well-equipped caravan-like orange coloured van. He always had a kind word, a blessing, an ncouragement to anyone and everyone who came to him. It was my privilege and honour that he released one of my audio cassettes, 'Haridasa Vani' in our Ramanavami pandal on 19th April 1986.
Sri Achyut Das has without doubt led a worthy life - touching a lot of lives with his discourses. It was our proud privilege to honour this saintly vidwan during our silver jubilee Ramanavami Festival at Mysore in the year 1994.
Our tribute to this great soul is in the form of presenting one of his Harikathas, "Seetha Kalyana" at Parvathi.
May his soul rest in peace.
Details
Sant Bhadragiri Achyut Das - Harikatha ‘Seetha Kalyana'
on 19-4- 86 at "Parvathi" , Ramanavami Festival
01 Seetha Kalyana - Katha commencement*** 02 Seetha Kalyana - Rama Dhyana*** 03 Seetha Kalyana - Bhajana Shravana*** 04 Seetha Kalyana - Ma Nishaada*** 05 Seetha Kalyana - Sri Rama Janana*** 06 Seetha Kalyana - Vishwamitra-Rama Vanavasa*** 07 Seetha Kalyana - Ahalya Shapavimochana*** 08 Seetha Kalyana - Shiva Dhanurbhanga*** 09 Seetha Kalyana - Seetha Swayamvara*** 10 Seetha Kalyana -Mangalam***
Sant Bhadragiri Achyut Das - Harikatha ‘Seetha Kalyana'
on 19-4- 86 at "Parvathi" , Ramanavami Festival
01 Seetha Kalyana - Katha commencement*** 02 Seetha Kalyana - Rama Dhyana*** 03 Seetha Kalyana - Bhajana Shravana*** 04 Seetha Kalyana - Ma Nishaada*** 05 Seetha Kalyana - Sri Rama Janana*** 06 Seetha Kalyana - Vishwamitra-Rama Vanavasa*** 07 Seetha Kalyana - Ahalya Shapavimochana*** 08 Seetha Kalyana - Shiva Dhanurbhanga*** 09 Seetha Kalyana - Seetha Swayamvara*** 10 Seetha Kalyana -Mangalam***
