Hyderabad Brothers selected for Sahitya Akademi Puraskar in Carnatic Music

D Seshachari and D Raghavachari, Hyderabad Brothers were elected for Akademi Puraskar for the year 2013 by the General Council of Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi at its meeting held on November 21. Hyderabad Brothers were elected for joint awards in carnatic vocal whereas, the Akademi selected thirty eight artists from the fields of music, dance, theatre and puppetry.

The ‘Hyderabad Brothers’, as Daroor Raghavachary and Seshachari are fondly referred to in the Carnatic music circles came from a family that was into music and their father Daroor Ratnamacharyulu was our first guru. He was a music teacher in a private school. Their parents as a couple presented recitals in temples during festivals. They belong to Hayatnagar though their family shifted to Yakutpura which is their birthplace in the twin cities. Their father and mother would regularly hold recitals at Yadagiri Gutta.

“There was no Carnatic music in Hyderabad then. My father was the first to introduce it to a select lot. In Yakutpura other boys of our age would never address us by our names. “Sarigama jaare dekho!’ was our identity,” laughs Raghavachary turning nostalgic. Akademi awards carry Rs 1,00,000, besides tamrapatra and angavastram.

Here is a bit of their performance Hamsadwani Raagam :-