Rithvik Raja

Voice + Verse: Thou & I

Around 15 years ago when I was going through a rough patch, I found myself returning to certain songs again and again for comfort. Among them were DKJ’s Poonkuyil Koovum and Sanjay Subrahmanyan ’s Paayum Oli. They became spaces of solace in ways I didn’t fully understand then.

As much as I loved these songs, I could never bring myself to sing them for the longest time. They carried too much memory, and for the longest time I wanted to let them be.

Only recently, I performed Poonkuyil, and in doing so, discovered that the song had changed — or perhaps I had. It began to speak differently, shaped by time, by experience, and by where life has brought me.

This is my first time rendering this beautiful composition. What first drew me to it were Bharathiar’s verses — intimate, profound, and quietly luminous. Every stanza in this song feels complete in itself.

And then there is the melody — so gentle and moving in a way that it connects deeply with the emotion of the poem. I only recently learnt that this was also tuned by Sanjay Anna!

How wonderfully time heals, and how faithfully the mind remembers.

Next in Voice + Verse: Thou & I

[Rithvik Raja, Carnatic, Bharathiar, Meaningful, Indian Classical]

I first met Chandru in 2001 during Sulochana Mami’s Pinjurathinangalin Pancharathinam, and we instantly became friends. Over the last 25 years, he has become one of my closest and most cherished collaborators.

Being a singer himself, having trained under Vijay Siva and RK Shriramkumar, what sets him apart is his musical sensitivity and his remarkable ability to respond with such nuance on the Ghatam.

This particular moment on stage has stayed with me for years because I had only intended to sing the song. But the way Chandru begins playing for the Charanam, and then gradually settles into a softer, almost understated groove, changes the energy of the moment entirely. (That’s the part where I turn and smile towards him, because I know exactly what he’s hinting at.)

There is no overt signalling, no dramatic gesture—just a musical suggestion made with such conviction that it slowly becomes difficult to imagine the piece unfolding any other way.

What I continue to remember just as vividly is the way he accompanies that first Neraval—holding space with great sensitivity and allowing the line and the raga to reveal themselves gradually. There is no urgency to shape the moment, only a deep attentiveness that allows it to find its own flow.

This kind of synergy only happens when you know each other’s artistic impulses deeply and trust each other enough to gently push in unexpected directions.

It requires freedom on stage, but even more than that, immense trust in one another—and self-belief as an artiste.

Thank you, Chandru, for being such an integral part of my musical journey over the last 25 years.

[Rithvik Raja, Chandrashekara Sharma, Ghatam, Vocal, Carnatic, Classical, Indian Classical, Exchange, Rhythm, Groove]

Awakening.

A musical response to Mimesis by Thukral & Tagra.

Through four original works—Echo, Feral, Mutation, and Parallels—we explored memory, identity, data, and the digital traces we leave behind through soundscapes that reflect these ideas. An improvisatory journey through the tensions of contemporary life: between remembering and forgetting, creation and control, the self and its shadow.

With Sumesh Narayanan.

Presented by Ashvitas.

[Awakening, Mimesis, Live Performance, Improvisation, Contemporary Music, Sound Art, Rithvik Raja, Sumesh Narayanan]

Years of music, moments, and memories — finally finding their way here. 2026 is the year the vault opens.

From the 2022 December Season at Narada Gana Sabha, this is our rendition of Kalpanasvarams in Bahudari for “Brovabharama Raghurama” by Thyagaraja. I am joined by the dream team of RK Shriramkumar, Arun Prakash, and Guruprasad.

Listen as the voice and violin trade phrases, build tension, and rise into a finish that celebrates the timeless Madurai Mani Iyer crescendo.

Pure concert electricity.

[Carnatic Music, Bahudari, Brovabharama, Thyagaraja, Rithvik Raja, December Season, Narada Gana Sabha, Kutcheri, Kalpanasvara, Improvisation, Madurai Mani Iyer, Classical Music, Live Concert]

One of the best and worst things about me as an artiste is how much I depend on instinct on stage 😂

Some days it leads to really special moments. And on some days, things go spectacularly elsewhere. Both are magic. But I think the nicest part about being so in the moment is that it allows me to genuinely react to everything happening around me on stage — every phrase, energy shift, impulse, all of it.

This Bhairavi koraippu was one such moment.

At one point, L Ramakrishnan plays something so beautiful and unexpected that instinctively I just start following his lead. And honestly, it was such a tough thing to do in the moment, especially when you are so used to leading all the time. It takes a very different kind of listening to immediately adjust yourself to somebody else’s musical impulse and flow as it’s unfolding. It’s a challenge, but I enjoy it. I don’t quite hit the mark in the first exchange either, and you can even hear me grunt in dismay 🙈

But then I realised that instead of trying to follow the norm and repeat exactly what he was playing, what if I simply responded to it in my voice — complementing his ideas with my own little embellishments and phrases as we went along?

And this ended up being such a high. Good kind.

He absolutely killed it and genuinely made me sing things I would never have come up with on my own. Which is honestly one of my favourite things about collaboration and jamming — another musician suddenly pulling you into pathways your own brain probably wouldn’t have discovered otherwise. Thank you ❤️

Full concert coming up song by song on YouTube soon, but meanwhile, here’s a small sample. Enjoy!

[Carnatic Music, Bhairavi, Improvisation, Musical Conversation, Collaboration, Instinct, Live Concert]

There is something about the first drop of summer rain—the scent of the earth, the sudden hush in the air—that awakens music within us.

For me, it is always this melody.

I do not know why these phrases of Raga Udayaravichandrika return to me every time it rains, but they do—like a memory I never chose, yet always welcome.

This is a glimpse of my rain song.

If it speaks to you, listen to the full journey on YouTube. Link in bio.

Concept & Direction -
Sound Mix & Master - *tk86

[Rithvik Raja, Carnatic, South Indian Classical, Music, Carnatic Music, Rain, Chennai Rains, Summer Rains]

Voice + Verse — Joy & Sorrow

My earliest immersion into the deeply emotional musical world of Seethalapathy Shri Balasubramaniam came through this composition.

Balu Mama possessed the rare ability to make melody dance inseparably with lyric — drawing out profound emotion through the slightest modulation, the subtlest enunciation, or the delicate way he held a single note. He revealed emotional possibilities in music that I had never before imagined.

These lines struck me early, and they have remained with me ever since.

While many render this piece today through a more widely evolved interpretation of Mand, shaped by many musical influences, Balu Mama’s vision of the raga here feels strikingly rakti-laden, deeply Carnatic, and singularly his own. There is a certain purity and sonic identity in his approach that feels increasingly rare today.

Revisiting these verses brought back all of those memories.

For life in this world
is woven of joy and sorrow together.

Had there been no relentless sun,
who would have known
the sweetness of shade?

Had there been no sorrow,
what heart would have turned
toward the Almighty?

You will be tested—
cast into an ocean of grief.

But in the end,
a hand of grace will reach for you,
and with a love that cannot be resisted,
gather you from the depths.

Next in Voice + Verse: Ramanai Bhajittal by Papanasam Sivan

[Ramanai Bhajittal, Maand, Raga, Emotion, Joy, Sorrow, Voice, Carnatic Music, Indian Classical Music, Rithvik Raja]

voice+verse - a series where timeless poetry comes alive through music.

My earliest experience of how deeply words and emotions could shape music came through Tamil compositions. In a language my heart and mind could instinctively grasp, I came to understand how poetry and lyrics were inseparable from song itself. Since then, certain lines have never left me — lingering, haunting, and moving me each time I return to sing them.

These songs hold far more than melody; they carry profound reflections on life, devotion, love, virtue, and destiny. Through voice+verse, I hope to share some of this precious wisdom, through the verses and voices of these unparalleled masters of creation. One timeless truth at a time.

Our first offering: Art and Destiny

“However many arts one may learn and master,
can one ever conquer
the writing laid
upon the brow of time?”

From Ethanai Thaan Vithai in Raga Anandabhairavi, by Anai Ayya.

[Anadabhairavi, Voice, Verse, Meaning, Creation, Art, Destiny, Carnatic Music, Indian Classical Music, Rithvik Raja]