Sankara Nethralaya USA hosted a concert by National Award Winner Kumari Uthara Unnikrishnan in the fight against preventable blindness. Each year, Sankara Nethralaya USA hosts numerous fundraising concerts to raise awareness and funds for the deserving patients.
Kumari Uthara Unnikrishnan (born 2004) is an Indian playback singer. In 2015, she won the National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer at the 62nd National Film Awards at the age of 10, becoming its youngest recipient. She received the award for her soulful interpretation of the song “Azhage” (Beautiful) from the 2014 Tamil film Saivam, directed by A. L. Vijay.
Kumari Uthara Unnikrishnan started her virtual performance by offering an invocation to Lord Ganapathi composed by Lord Agathiyar in Tamil sung in Thilang ragam and Adi talam. Shri P. Unnikrishnan introduced the virtual event and invited all the viewers to enjoy the virtual performance organized by SN USA.
Then Kumari Uthara sang the Telugu song, “Pibare Rama Rasam” composed by Sadasiva Brahmendra rendered beautifully in raga Ahir Bhairav in Adi talam. She then rendered the Sanskrit song, Maadhava Maam Deva, a Krishna Kirthi in Sanksrit composed by Narayana Theerthar in Neelabari ragam and Adi talam. Her second song was the popular film song Maadu Meikkum Kanne in Tamil composed by Oothukkadu Venkat Subbaiyar.
The young prodigy sang a total of 7 Telugu and 2 Kannada devotional classical songs by various composers proving her versatility.
The closing speech was given by Shri Moorthy Rekapalli, Vice President, Sankara Nethralaya USA. He thanked everyone for watching and supporting the cause. He thanked the vocalist, Sri Uthara Unnikrishnan and the accompanying musicians for their flawless performances. He also thanked Sri Shyam Appali, Board of Trustees, for taking care of all the technical aspects.
The virtual event raised a significant amount. Thanks are due to media partners SakshiTV, manaTV, TVAsia, TV5, GNN, and US1 for promoting Sankara Nethralaya activities.