By the time the ‘Godavari Maha Pushkaram’ concluded, the pilot song ‘Jaya Godavari Mata…’ Jaya Jaya Jana Hrudayangana Deeptha’ became hugely popular that it was hummed by many devotees on their way back home. Not many know that the lyrics were composed in just an hour by Rani Sadasiva Murty of Tirupati, which fetched him a cash award.
An associate professor of Sahitya and also the in-charge of Master’s course in Ancient Indian Management Techniques (MAIMT) at Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha, Dr. Murty had boarded a Delhi-bound train as part of his ‘Amarnath Yatra’ when the phone call came from the Rajahmundry MP M. Murali Mohan, requesting him to compose the theme song for the ‘Godavari Pushkaram’.
Mammoth task
With just two hours given for the mammoth task, Dr. Murty calmly shifted to the upper berth and penned it in half the time.
This work includes a Sanskrit Ashtakam (eight slokas) and a Telugu song with six charanams.
“I prayed to goddess Saraswati and started writing on the glory of the river. Like its eternal flow, words started flowing out and the task that initially appeared Herculean was over in no time”, Dr. Murty told The Hindu .
The composition recalls the geographical, historical and mythological features of the river. Right from its origin at Brahmagiri near Nasik, the song narrates how the river followed Sage Gautama, became holy after touching the feet of Bhadradri Rama and finally converged into the sea.
While Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu rejected 20 plus songs received by that time, this song got the ‘Go ahead’ to be the pilot song for the entire event.
This number was used during the ‘Sandhya Harathi’, while it was also played at various venues throughout the fortnight-long event.
The song metaphorically asks the devotees to light a lamp in their hearts and pay tribute to Mother Godavari, who sanctifies all. While the music was composed by Vyzers Balasubramanyam, noted danseuse Madhurima Narla not only offered choreography, but also performed the ballet along with her 30-membr troupe at four places, viz. at Kovvur, Dowleswaram, Rajahmundry and Draksharamam.
Dr. Murty is already the author of 25 classical dance ballets in Telugu, five in Sanskrit and one in English. Except for a Sanskrit ‘ghazal’, all his other works were devotional, patriotic, philosophical or morally instructive.
Rani Sadasiva Murty, an associate professor at Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha, penned the song in an hour
