Sembanar Koil Nagaswaram Mohan Dass

Growing disrespect for Nagaswaram artistes leads four decades Vidwan to pull his son away from the hereditary art

Mohan Dass presented Nagaswaram at Mayuranathar Temple, Mayiladuthurai for 25years and has been the Asthana Vidwan at Kapaleeswarar Temple for the last 15years

Much like the NextGen archakas (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/11/bhattars-gurukals-move-away-from-temples.html), the ones among the service personnel too are on the way out away from temples into the corporate world. For 20 generations the Nagaswaram family from the Thiru Gnana Sambandhar and Thirunavukarasar praised Sembanar Koil (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2017/02/sembanar-koil_14.html) has been rendering Nagaswaram recital in historical temples in Tamil Nadu. Kapaleeswarar Temple’s Asthana Vidwan of the last 15years Sembanar Koil Mohan Dass is the last of the descendants to perform this.

While he himself has been performing in temples for four decades, he has been seeing a declining trend in respect in the society for Nagaswaram artistes. In line with this thought, he has kept his teenaged son away from Nagaswaram performances. What this means is that Mohan Dass will be the last in the Sembanar Koil clan to present Nagaswaram in temples. Except him, every other descendant had already gone the corporate way in the past, away from the traditional art.

School Drop Out, Early Initiation into Nagaswaram

Sembanar Koil SGRS Mohan Dass had very little school education and dropped out before he was 10 for Nagaswaram had captured his imagination as a very young boy. He would watch every presentation at the historical Atheenam administered Mayurathanathar temple in Mayiladuthurai(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/04/mayuranathar-temple-mayiladuthurai.html), where his forefathers had come to settle well over a century ago. It was also at this temple that he presented his first Nagaswaram recital.

His appa, Sembanar Koil SRG Sambandam, was his first Guru and he learnt the early Nagaswaram lessons from him. He also began presenting the Thalaams when his father performed in utsavams “My appa noted my early interest in Nagaswaram and began initiating me very early on. I would also listen to audio recordings all the time at a young age.’

Performs at Kapali Brahmotsavam as a 13 year old

Aged 13, he came to Mylapore to to perform on the Arubathumoovar day of the Panguni Brahmotsavam at the Kapaleeswararar Temple in 1979. In earlier times, his father had performed earlier on multiple days of the Brahmotsavam at this temple. 

As his appa was performing round the year, Mohan Dass was initiated into the nuances of Nagaswaram presentation by the revered Sembanar Koil SRD Vaidhyanathan “I learned the mallaries under his guidance for three years. It was he who taught me as to how to present in temple utsavams and in kutcheris.”

Following his forefathers’ tradition of performing during all the utsavams at the Mayuranathar temple, Mohan Dass too began presenting Nagaswaram during all the street processions from the early 1980s, one that went on for 25years.  “In his prime, my father would travel on a bullock cart to kutcheri locations. To perform on all the ten days of Brahmotsavam in Aippasi, I was paid Rs. 350 at the Mayuranathar temple. Two decades later, this had gone up to Rs. 700.”

"On normal days, we would be thrilled at receiving Rs. 2 for our performance. While the remuneration was not high, we were respected for our performance as the Nagaswaram artistes were held in high esteem during that period."

To Kapali from Mayuranathar

While Mayuranathar had been the temple where his forefathers had performed for over a century, he took a special liking for Kapaleeswarar where he and his father had been performing off and on during the annual Brahmotsavam in the 70s and 80s. At the turn of the century, he began performing at the Kapaleeswarar temple. For eight years, he was paid a daily wage of Rs. 100 before he received a confirmation from the HR&CE and he is now the 'Asthana Vidwan' at the temple.

Opportunities to outside artistes

In an effort to provide opportunity and promote Nadaswaram Vidwans, Mohan Dass has been organizing Nagaswaram and Tavil artistes for the evening processions at the Brahmotsavam from remote locations in Tamil Nadu over the last decade.

 

Earlier this year,for the Brahmotsavam he organised 5 troupes from Kottur, near Tiruvarur, Irumbuthalai, near Thanjavur, Thirumai Gnyanam near Poonthottam, Thirumahaalam near Peralam and the renowned vidwans of the Kalyanapuram Perumal Koil, near Thiruvayaru to perform on five evenings. He also brought in a special troupe to perform at the Adhikara Nandhi procession. 

But even while he moved to Chennai, he found a unique problem “I found that people were hesitant to give a house on rent to Nagaswaram artistes and I found that shocking. While they should have been encouraging us, they were apprehensive of having us as tenants.”

“Respect is not there in the society anymore for Nagaswaram artistes. There was a time when the renowned Needamangalam Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai insisted that he would give his daughter only to a Nagaswaram artiste. Today, clearly no one wants to look the side of a Nagaswaram family.”

Contract Wedding and its challenges

He says that contract wedding has spelt death knell for Nagaswaram players. "By handing out a budgeted contract for a wedding, the remuneration to the artiste has come down in recent times with wedding contractors working out bulk and multiple deals with artistes. There is a negotiation of rates every bit of the way. And with it the quality is coming down.”

Five decades ago, the Nagaswaram artistes lived in financial challenges but there was mental happiness as people respected them for their devotional performances in temples "When we entered the temple, everyone would stand up. Today even at weddings, the artistes are neglected and the performance has become a side show."

He does not see this reviving anytime in the near future.

End of Sembanar Koil Clan's Nagaswaram

While he continues to perform every day with devotion at the Kapaleeswarar temple, Mohan Dass will be the last from his clan to perform, at least anytime in the foreseeable future. His son has taken to commerce at college and has not been initiated into Nagaswaram “After four decades of service, I still do not have a home in my name. In the hour of the performance, people listen with interest and then we are a forgotten lot.”

His cousins and nephews have already moved away from Nagaswaram performance into the corporate world "They left long ago and each of them have a home and a car to themselves."

Mohan Dass is still reminded of the bullock cart days of his appa!!!

Only a handful of priests in the non- financially strong temples have stayed back in the challenging phase over the last few decades. Most in the next gen priests have already moved away from temples into academics and the corporate world. And many more in the current generation too are pursuing academics (especially Engineering) to seek the greener pastures of the corporate world. 

The kind of challenges that Mohan Dass has faced in his life as a Nagaswaram artiste, financial and non financial and now Societal has led him to take a call to keep his son away from their hereditary art. As an asthana vidwan of the Kapaleeswarar temple, it is likely he will continue to perform till his retirement but the next generation of devotees will no more have access to the Nagaswaram recital of the renowned Sembanar Koil clan.