The Pancharatna Kritis are performed by adults and children attending these practice sessions on the first day of the Memorial Day Utsavam each year. One of these five Kritis will be rendered by children alone in G-Shruti. The other Kritis will be rendered by all those who know them in either G-Shruti or C-Shruti. These change every year as indicated by the table on the main Pancharatnam Kritis page. At CTU’s request, the G-Shruthi practice sessions are conducted by Aparna Sunder and the C-Shruthi sessions are conducted by Shankar Jagadeesaiyer.
Participating vocalists are encouraged to know at least 5 Varnam’s to sing in 2 speeds, and about 10 keerthana’s before they aspire to sing Pancharatna Krithis with confidence. They should be able to sing in correct talam and sync with the group. Melody instrumentalists should be at a level of playing sahitya distinctly from swaras, and have a strong grip on talam. Percussionists should have the skill to modulate appropriately for the Sahityam, and accompany the song closely. Participants are expected to learn the song from their respective teachers. The CTU teacher, Aparna Sunder will go through each sangati in detail during the rehearsals to ensure consistency in rendition.
Each year there will be one song designated exclusively for the children to sing in G shruti. Please refer to the table on the main Pancharatnam page of CTU to see what the designated songs are for the upcoming years, so you can plan on learning them.
CTU teachers and experienced musicians will take into consideration several factors such as knowing all the songs, ability to sing loudly in adherence to shruti and talam, regularly attending practice sessions (at least 4 sessions) and memorizing the kritis while assigning seating for the Utsavam. Instrumentalists will be accommodated on stage and will be assigned songs based on their knowledge of songs, attendance to practice sessions, space constraints, and number of participants registered.