The December music season for young students
How Chennai’s Margazhi concerts can help a child’s learning, which ones to attend and how to make it fun.
Why new students begin on Vijayadashami
The tradition of starting music on the tenth day of Navaratri, and what happens at our school that morning.
Every year our new batches begin on Vijayadashami, the tenth day of Navaratri. This year it falls on 20 October. Parents sometimes ask whether it matters. For many families it does, and even for those who do not observe it, the day makes a gentle, memorable start.
In many South Indian homes, Vijayadashami is the day for beginning anything connected with learning, music or the arts. On the ninth day, Saraswati Puja, books and instruments are placed before the goddess and not used. On the tenth, they are taken up again, and children write their first letters or sing their first notes. The practice is called vidyarambham.
At Panchami, the morning begins at 8 am in our main hall. Instruments are kept in front of a small lamp, and Vidya sings a short invocation. Each new student then comes forward with a parent. Carnatic students sing the first sarali varisai with their teacher, sa ri ga ma pa, and keyboard, violin and guitar students play their first notes. It takes about two minutes per child, and the whole morning about two hours.
There is no fee for the day, and families of all faiths are welcome; some come simply because it is a happy occasion. Regular classes begin the following week. If you cannot come on Vijayadashami, new students can join at any time in the year, after a free trial class.
