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| T. Chowdaiah |
In 1903, a nine year old boy
stood on the banks of river Kapila with a frown on his face, waiting for his
daily boat to arrive. His school was on the other side of the river. A passing
scholar by name of Vidyakantha Acharya (of Sosale Mutt) was intrigued by the
boy’s sad countenance and enquired him the reason for it. He learned that,
having learnt Amara and Raghuvamsha, the boy had no further inclination to
learn anything further in the Sanskrit school! He further learnt that the boy’s
endearing passion was to learn only one thing – Music! The learned scholar read
the boy’s palm and immediately took the boy home and convinced his parents not
to coerce him into attending the formal school, but instead allow him to pursue
music. This boy would be known later as Pitulu Chowdaiah – the Violin maestro
from Mysore.
Chowdaiah was born on 1 January,
1894 to Agastye Gowda and Sundaramma at Tirumalakudalu - eighteen miles from
Mysore. The town is at the confluence of rivers Kaveri and Kapila and the
greenery that abounds is truly breath taking. The ancient temple of
Agasthyeshwara figures in various Puranas. The large fig tree that stands in
front of the temple is called the ‘Brahma-Aswatha’. On the banks of Kaveri is
the Sosale Mutt. By the banks of Kapila is Tirumalakudalu Narasipura town.
These were the environs in which our Violin Maestro had his early childhood.
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