Re: on the NJ/NY SatAvadhAnam -Reply
Nasy Sankagiri (narayans@dunx1.ocs.drexel.edu)
Mon, 9 Sep 1996 18:07:00 -0400 (EDT)
I shall write my impressions of the avadhaanam later today. But first to
answer Sree Mohan's question:
>
>Even if you can get 108 pRchchakulu, the avadhaani is not going to take all
>the questions and keep in his memory and simultaneously work on them.
>
>I have seen Sree Sarma perform the sahasraavadhaanam in Hyderabad
>this Jan (or Feb ?) continuously for 21 days. The pRchchakulu were
>asking the questions one after another. The avadhaani proceeded to the
>next one only after finishing the one on hand. (He had very few in
>pending). So isn't this effectively Ekaavadhanam or utmost
>ashTaavadhaanam embedded in a grand 108/1116 avadhaanam ?
In ashTaavadhaanam, the dhaaraNa questions such as dattapadi, varNana,
samasya & nishiddhaakshari are answered one 'paadam' at a time. At the end
of the avadhaanam, a good avdhaani recounts all the dhaaraNa items at one
stretch.
There are several ways to conduct a Sataavadhaanam. A true Sataavadhaanam
proceeds much on the lines of ashTaavadhaanam, ie, the dhaaraNa items are
completed one line at a time. This involves a great deal of time (typically
2-3 days) & a lot of patience on the part of the audience. Over the years,
modifications were made in the format to cut down the time, and make it
more entertaining - thereby, giving more importance to aaSu kavita (BTW,
aaSuvu is also an item, but not a dhaaraNa item). In this modified format,
108 questions are posed individually and are answered in full immediately.
dhaaraNa (recounting all dhaaraNa items at the end) was not deemed a
necessary feat. (these facts I gleaned from an MPhil thesis on the
subject).
The organisers of the NJ/NY avadhaanam chose a middle way to keep it tough,
yet entertaining: All the dhaaraNa items (there were three - 15
dattapadulu, 15 samasyalu, 15 varNanalu) were intended to be filled two
lines at a time. First they went through the first two lines of all the 15
dattapadulu, with of course, the paaTalu, vyastaakshari & aprastuta
prasangam punctuating them. They found that at the rate it was going, it
could not be completed in the designated time - so it was decided on the
spot by mutual agreement, to proceed with the remaining two items in full.
So, the samasyalu & varNanalu were completed one by one. However, after all
this, the avadhaani had to comeback and fill the remaining two lines of the
dattapadulu.
All said and done, the greatest feat was the dhaaraNa. It was just awesome
to witness him (Sree Sarma) recount 45 poems (telugu and samskRtam) in a
steady stream (this was done between 11PM and midnight! after about fifteen
hours of sitting there!!) And he was as smiling, as full of wit & as fresh
as at the beginning. There are no words to describe it.
I am sure you will hear more on this not only from me, but others too. Ram
Dokka had taken the most extensive notes during the program (I played
truant for an hour in the afternoon, searching for coffee), and has almost
all of the poems.
Regards
Nasy