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IT was a spectacle of a unique kind. Not just one or tens, hundreds or thousands but more than one and a half lakh people participated in mass-singing of seven sankirtans of saint-composer Annamacharya at Parade Grounds in Secunderabad on Sunday.In the end, the one-and-a-half lakh singers and the organisers achieved what they were aiming at, an entry into the Guinness Book of World Records, breaking an earlier 1937 record when 60,000 people participated in a mass choir of a single song in Germany.
Guinness’ representative Raymond Marshal presented the certificate to the organisers _ Silicon Andhra, the Department of Culture of the Government of Andhra Pradesh and the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams.
Raymond Marshal admitted that he had not seen such a performance, which he said was a treat to the eye and the ears.
From the afternoon itself, people started pouring into the grounds. From children and youngsters to the aged, they came from various parts of the country and the world, More than creating a record, their sheer passion for Annamacharya brought them to the venue. For several weeks they had been practising the seven sankirtans.
From professional singers to amateurs, they did what they could to train their vocal chords.
By evening, the sprawling Parade Grounds swelled with the crowd, not the usual crowd at political meetings. People came on their own, maintained utter discipline and participated enthusiatically.
For one and a half hours, one and a half lakh people did what can be described in Annamacharya’s parlance Pada Sankirtanarchana.
Noted Annamayya sankirtana exponent Garimella Balakrishna Prasad led the mass singing, while Abhinava Vaggeyakara Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna and a host of others, the who’s who in the Carnatic music and Telugu film industry, lent their voice.
After seeking the blessings of Lord Venkateswara, Prasad invoked the blessings of the saint-composer whose 602nd birth anniversary marked the event.
Starting with `Bhaavamulona, Bahyamunandunu Govinda’ the musicians and singers rendered `Brahma Kadigina Padamu’ (Mukhari raagam, set to Adi taalam), `Entamatramuna Evvaru Thalachina’ (Mayamalava Gowla, Misra Chaapu talam), `Podugantimayya mimmu’ (Mohana, Adi Talam), `Kondalalo Nelakonna Koneti Rayudu Vaadu’ (Hindolam, Adi talam), `Narayante Namo Namo’ (Behag, Adi Talam) and concluded the extravagnaza with `Muddugare yashoda’.
It is not lakhs of people who attended the programme that alone enjoyed the evening but several lakhs of TV viewers sitting in their drawing rooms. As rightly pointed out by Balamuraliskirhsna that at last Annamacharya was lucky to have such a performance in his name. The saintcomposers’ 602 birth anniversary is being celebrated for the last two days all over the State.
After the mass concert, a dance recital based on song `Annamayya neeku sashtanga namaskaram annaamayya (Annamayya we lay prostrate in front of you, this is what we are saying), written and composed by Balamurali was performed. Balamurali also rendered a couple of kirtans.
The Annamacharya Lakshagala Sankirtana (one lakh voices singing Annamacharya Sankirtanas) has proved once again that Sisurvetti, Pasurvetti, Vetti Gaanarasam Phanihi (From children to animals to snakes, music enthralls all).
