It was an evening of piety and melody for more than 200 devotees who gathered at the Ganesha Temple in the South Auckland suburb of Papakura on April 27.
Former New Zealanders Shriram Iyer, who now lives and works in Melbourne, was the centre of attraction as he rendered a number of devotional songs in his mellifluous voice to the accompaniment of Dr Ashok Malur (Violin), Vivek Anturkar (Tabla), Hemant Thaker (Keyboard) and Arun Khotkar (Harmonium).
‘Bhakti Varsha’ (Rain of Devotion), as the programme was called, had its moments of elation, emotion but most important of all, sense of purpose.
Chief Priest Parameswaran (aka) Chandru initiated the music session with a Vedic invocation to Lord Ganesha, the Remover of all Obstacles.
Among the highlights of the songs rendered by Shriram were ‘Eshwaramba’ (a Sai Bhajan), ‘O Palana Hare’ (from Hindi film Lagaan), ‘Suraj Ki Garmise’ and ‘Meli Chadar.’ He was at his best with ‘Sabse Oonche’ and ‘Bholo Shankara Bholo.’
He also rendered two Tamil songs, namely, ‘Janani, Janani’ and ‘Pullankhuzhal.’
Archana Ravi and Namruta Kishen gave good vocal support in chorus.
Deepthi Iyer was the Master of Ceremonies.
Trustee Lokaprakasham and Chandru honoured the artistes.
