R K Srikantan

To me, he will be remembered as a vocalist whose voice got better with his age (it is not that he did not have a good voice in his younger days). Unlike in the case of most vocalists, his voice as well as the range remained in great shape well into his eighties.

While living in Hubli, R K Srikantan was regularly featured on the radio stations from Bangalore & Bhadravati, be it concerts or lessons or special occasions. Exposure to Purandara dasa compositions was primarily thru him on the radio. If I remember right, he did not get the recognition in the Chennai music scene for a very long time and as a result was not very well known outside Karnataka for quite while.

Listening to him in the Cleveland Tyagaraja Aradhana in 2002 or whereabouts, brought a lot of memories of my days in Hubli many decades ago. My mother who was with me at the concert in Cleveland had the same experience of memories being brought back, without a doubt a wonderful feeling. Many in the audience, including some friends, were awestruck by his voice at an advanced age; little did they know that he was an accomplished vocalist with a ringing and powerful voice. I had the pleasure of listening to him many more times in Cleveland and Pittsburgh.

He was a meticulous planner in terms of the make up of the concert, to ensure a well rounded and balanced concert, and that the entire audience had a satisfying experience. In his concert at the Purandaradasa Aradhana, he announced upfront that he would not limit himself to dasara compositions and interspersed the dasara padas with few compositions of tyagaraja and deekshatar.

An interesting sideline is that a friend of mine at the Engineering college was a part of the Rudrapatnam family – his father was a cousin of R K Srikantan.

In most of the recordings below, his son R S Ramakanth has provided vocal support.

R K Srikantan and disciples with M S Anantaraman and Ramnad Ragavan – Pittsburgh

The last six tracks are by a disciple I can very easily identify ‘Sitalakshmi Madhavan’ from Pittsburgh. She is a wonderful singer and has been and continues to be a boon to the Pittsburgh community 🙂

R K Srikantan

  • sharaNu siddhi vinAyakA – nATa
  • pAlisamma muddusAradE – mukhAri
  • nArAyanNenba – saurAshtram
  • innuxxx bandanO – tODi
  • sakala graha – aTANA
  • nOduvadE – jOnpuri
  • naranAda – nAdanAmakriyA

Sitalakshmi Madhavan

  • koDubEku – vasantA
  • yamanalli – sivaranjani
  • anukalxxx – AbOgi
  • bhAgyAda lakshmi – madyamAvati
  • dayamADO ranga – kalyANi
  • rAgi tandeerA – kalyANavasantam

A Lecture Demonstration on ‘Reetigowla’

with R S Ramakanth (vocal support), Kalpana Venkat & Neyveli Narayanan – Cleveland Tyagaraja Aradhana

  • varNam – kalyANi – aTa
  • chintaya sadA – sindhurAmakriyA
  • marugElara – jayanrasri
  • ninnu cheppa kAraNamEmi – mandhAri
  • narasimha mAmava – Arabhi
  • evarani – dEvAmrutavarshiNi
  • neevADa nE gAna – sArangA
  • ninnE nammitinayyA – simhendramadyamam
  • hiranmayim lakshmim – lalitA
  • dharmasravaNa – durgA
  • pibarE rAma rasam – yamunAkalyANi
  • mangalam

with Papa Venkatramiah

  • sri lakshmi varAham – AbhOgi
  • chintayAmi jagadambA – hindOLam
  • kaligiyunTE – keeravAni

with Mysore Manjunath, PGL(??) and Ramanujam

  • varNam – darbAr
  • nEnendu vedakudurA – karnATaka behAg
  • ninnE nera – pantuvarALi
  • sri saraswati bhagavati – aTANA
  • rArA mA inTiki – asAvEri
  • Emi jEsitE – tODi
  • akhilAndEswari – dwijAvanti
  • varamulO – keeravANi
  • taramugA – sahAnA
  • chintaya sadA – sindhurAmakriyA
  • antarangadalli – mOhanam
  • sankari sankuru – sAvEri
  • smarisO – hamirkalyANi
  • shAntamulEka – sAmA
  • nAdupai – madyamAvati
  • speech
  • tillAnA – mOhanakalyANi
  • mangalam

with M S Gopalakrishnan & H P Ramachar

  • varNam – darbAr
  • kamalAmbikE mAmava sadA – nATa
  • undEdi rAmuDu – harikAmbhOji
  • ETi janma – varALi
  • varava koDu enagE – kalyANi
  • rAma ninnu nera – Ananda bhairavi
  • nAdupai – madyamAvati
  • paramAtmuDu – vAgadeeswari
  • olaga sulabhavO – bhairavi
  • harE venkaTa – sindhubhairavi
  • mangalam

His voice is not in a great shape in this concert.

8th Cross, Mysore

  • varNam – kAmbhOji – aTa
  • angArakam – asAvEri
  • gajamukanE – nATa
  • mahA gaNapatim vandE – tODi
  • sro mooladhara – sri
  • jaya mahishAsura – hamsadwani
  • sri pArvati paramEswaram – bowLi
  • gam gaNapatE namastE – durvAnki (Mysore Jayachamaraja Wodeyar)
  • RTP – simhEndramadyamam
  • ellAru ??? – jOnpuri
  • mandagamanE – kamAs
  • mangalam
  • varNam – sArangA
  • mahA gaNapatim – nATa
  • ninnu jooci – saurAshtram
  • jaya mahishAsura – hamsadwani
  • ninna nAnE nendEnO – Ananda bhaiaravi
  • manasu swAdina – sankarAbaraNam

with Anoor Ramakrishna & A V Anand

  • varNam – navarAgam
  • mariyAda kAdayyA – bhairavam
  • mahA gaNapatim – nATa
  • paripAlayamAm – reetigowLa
  • gowrishAya – Arabhi
  • kalinarulaku – mAyAmALavagowLa (incomplete)
  • nambi keTTavarillavO – kalyANi
  • srihari vallabhE – suddha dhanyAsi
  • koluvaiyunnADE – bhairavi
  • akhilAndEswari – dwijAvanti
  • karuNisO rangA – mOhanam
  • chnitA nAstikila – hindOLam
  • neerE nee – behAg
  • mangalam

with Kalpana Venkat & Rajamani

  • varNam – mandhAri
  • mahA gaNapatim vandE – tODi
  • sooryamoortE – saurAshtram
  • entarA neetana – harikAmbhOji
  • bhajarE bhaja mAnasa – kannaDA
  • nagumOmu – AbhEri
  • evarurA – mOhanam
  • summane baruvaDE mukti – Ananda bhairavi
  • bAlE bruhasrishTi – simhEndramadyamam
  • nArayANa ninna – suddha dhanyAsi
  • toredu jeevisa – mukAri
  • kanDu dhanyanAdE – behAg
  • jagadOdAraNa – kApi
  • elliruvanO ranga – sindhu bhairavi
  • thillAnA – senjuruTi
  • mangalam

Sudhamadura Sangeetamala Vol 5

  • bandiDE ninagE gaNanatA – nATa
  • kangaLi yAtakO – tODi
  • hari nAma – pantuvarALi
  • olaga sulabhavO – bhairavi
  • neenu rakshaya mADE – kEdAragowLa
  • maDi maDi – behAg
  • pAlisE – madyamAvati

Cleveland 2002

  • varNam – sahAnA
  • panchamAtanga – malahari
  • sooryamoortE – saurAshtram
  • sujana jeeavana – kamAs
  • parama pAvana – poorvikalyANi
  • chintaYami – hindOLam
  • karuNiso ranga – mOhanam
  • neerE nee – behAg
  • elliruvanO ranga – sindhu bhairavi
  • smarisO – hamirkalyANi
  • rAgi tandeerA – punnAgavarALi
  • thillAnA – mOhanakalyANi
  • mangalam

Assorted Collection. A couple of them are his son R S Ramakanth.

  • dinamaNi vamsa – harikAmbhOji
  • enduku dayarAdA – tODi
  • ETi janma – varALi
  • gangAdhara – poorvikalyANi
  • hangE irabEku – mOhanam
  • eesa bEku – dhanyAsi
  • mahA gaNapatim – nATa
  • mandamatiyu nAnu – durgA
  • neerajAkshi – hindOLam
  • pAhimAm manjunAta – AbhEri