The magic of radio is still in the AIR

The advent of live telecast may have taken the shine off the radio but one thing that didn’t alter for over five decades was the magic of the running commentary of Sita Rama Kalyanam broadcast by the All India Radio (AIR) from Bhadrachalam. The running commentary of the celestial wedding of Lord Rama and Sita was first broadcasted by the Vijayawada station in 1965. Since then, many a great personality like Jammalamadaka Madhava Rama Sharma, Malladi Chandrasekhara Shastry and Ushasri held the microphone and captivated the Telugu-speaking people with their magical voice and spontaneity while narrating the sequence of the celestial wedding. The description of the radio commentary was such that it always created a sense of being present at the celestial wedding of Sita Rama held in Bhadrachalam. It’s no exaggeration to say that even in the age of hitech gadgets there is sizeable number of passionate devotees who stuck to their radios on the occasion of Sri Rama Navami to listen to the live commentary of the celestial wedding. 

“In many temples, priests used to perform the kalyanam parallelly listening to the radio commentary of the Bhadradri Rama’s wedding,” Gangu Upendra Sharma, Telangana Archaka Samakya president, said, stating that owning a radio itself is a luxury in those days. In times of no proper transportation facility to Bhadrachalam, radio commentary was the only way for the people to get connected to the Lord’s wedding, he said. BSS Sharma, popularly known as Ramayanam Sharma, who commentated between 2001 and 2015, said: “Initially, Jammalamadaka Madhava Rama Sharma set a trend with his spontaneity.” Once commentating, he said: “Rama, quite a few NRIs who came to witness your celestial wedding today want you to celebrate your honeymoon in USA.” Mallapragada Sri Ranga Rao, Malladi Chandrasekhara Shastry, Ushasri, Jandhyala Mahati Shankar, KVS Acharya and STG Sreeman Narayana Charyulu all have distinct style and greats in their own right, he said, explaining about the spiritual euphoria generated by the radio commentary. “Arrangements are in place for the live radio commentary of the wedding onWednesday from 10.30 am to 12.30 noon. 

All the AIR stations in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana will relay the commentary of the wedding. We have engaged K Papaiah Shastry, NCH Chakravarthy, Shreeman Narayana Charyulu and M Dakshina Murthy,” Assistant director programmes C Jaipal Reddy Kothagudem FM Station said. Kothagudem FM Station has been broadcasting the running commentary since its inception in 1989. Prior to that AIR Vijayawada Station was in charge of producing the programme, transmission executive B Srinivasan said.