Achyuthaa Ananthaa Govindaa

 
Lyrics written by siblings, Rangu Mandyam and Partha Mandayam,

inspired by Partha's late father-in-law, Sri Vengrai Parthasarathy

Achyuthaa Ananthaa Govindaa
Maadhavaa Madhusudhanaa Naaraayanaa
Sreedharaa Keshavaa Trivikramaa
Vaamanaa Daamodharaa Venkateshwaraa (Achyuthaa)

Paarvathi Sahodharaa Pannaga Shayanaa
Paandavar Thoodhaa Purushothamaa
Pandari Puravaasaa Parama Dhayaalaa
Parintharulvai Eeshaa (Achyuthaa)

Jam Thata Thaka Dhimi Thari Kita Thaka Thom
Kaalinga Nardhana Kita Thaka Thom Thom
Srihari Narahari Murahari Enboam (slow)
Raaghava Yaadhava Keshava Enboam (slow)
Raghupathi Yadhupathi (Gajapathi) Sripathi Enboam (slow)
Srihara Narahari Murahari Enboam (fast)
Raghupathi Yadhupathi (Gajapathi) Sripathi Enboam (fast)
Ranganaathaa Srinivaasaa Varadaraajaa Naaraayana
Parintharul Purivaai Paarthanin Saarathy
Pagalum Iravum Panivom (Achyutha ... ending with Venkateshwaraa thrice)

Song composed and sung in Raag Revathi (Hindustani Bairagi) by Rangu Mandyam and Partha Mandayam in Aadi Thaalam

Genesis of this song

When I visited my niece, Sarawathi Narasimhan, in April 2001 at Newcastle, England, she taught me one of the best songs that I have ever learnt - Bho Shambho, in a slightly softer and slower style than how it has been popularized by Maharajapuram Santhanam. I believe she had learnt it at a workshop conducted by Rajkumar Bharathi in London. My sister, Rangu, and I have sung it together on quite a few occasions in the U.S.

This song soon became one of my favourite songs, and my father-in-law's too. Being a staunch Vaishnavite, Sri Vengrai Parthasarathy challenged me to compose a similar Vaishnavite song, giving me a book on Vishnu Sahasranamam to kick-start the project. With a lot of help from my in-laws, I started composing the song, "Achyuthaa Ananthaa Govindaa" and got stuck after the first paragraph, with the lyrics straying into too many languages. Fortunately, Rangu happened to visit San Diego at that juncture and helped me complete the song with a lot of appropriate Tamil lyrics.

A couple of months later, Rangu and my brother-in-law, Radhakrishna arranged a house concert at their home in January, 2007. The attached recording is from that mini concert. Hope you enjoy it.