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Veena Sheshanna (1852 to 1926), a master vainika, was a
legend placed at the zenith of the musical evolution in Karnataka. His
veena (now housed in the Manjusha Antique Museum in Dharmasthala), was
created out of a single tree and has silver icons fused into the body.
The instrument is still under working condition. What clearly marks it
is the silver serpent delegated atop the other end of the reverberating
surface, just above the string keys. An interesting story backs this
feature. It is said that a serpent made its appearance at a musical
concert at Parthasarathy Sangeetha Sabha Bhavana in Madras as Veena
Sheshanna was delivering a performance on his instrument. To the
shock of everyone present, it seemed to heed his music before sliding
away a while later, causing no harm or unrest to Sheshanna who was
occupied in the process of playing, with his eyes closed. Recognising
this incident as a testimony to his musical skills, a popular musician
and vainika himself, Shaila Srinivas Iyengar, gifted to him the silver
serpent, which was later incorporated into it.
('Going by strings' by Ashwini Jain, Deccan Herald, Nov 2, 2019)
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