Chamundamba Ashtottara Shata Nama Kritis

 

Harikesanallur L Muthiah Bhagavatar was a multi-faceted personality who strode the Carnatic music world in the late 19^th century and the first half of the 20^th. Born on 15^th November 1877 to Lingam Iyer and Anandambal of Punalveli village, he was however to put the village of Harikesanallur on the musical map for it was there that the family migrated when he was still young. He later learnt music at Tiruvayyaru from Sambasiva Iyer of the Pallavi Doraiswami Iyer lineage. Sambasiva Iyer’s father Sabhapati Sivam was a disciple of Tyagaraja. He was also taught by Sambasiva Iyer’s son TS Sabhesa Iyer. Muthiah Bhagavatar became a fine musician who was richly awarded and feted. He later became an expert in Harikatha and on playing the Gotuvadyam. He ran one of the earliest music schools of South India. Named the Tyagaraja Sangeeta Vidyalaya, it functioned in Madurai for four years, from 1920 onwards. One of its stellar products was Madurai Mani Iyer. In later years, Muthiah Bhagavatar was Principal of the Teachers’ College of Music run by the Music Academy, Madras and the Swati Tirunal Academy in Trivandrum. He was also one of the prime movers in the effort to get music to become part of University curriculum. Muthiah Bhagavatar helped conduct two major music festivals for several years, one at Karur for the Zamindar of Andipatti and the other at his own Harikesanallur. He helped organise music conferences in Tanjavur between 1912 and 1916 and also at the Music Academy, Madras from 1929 to 1945. He presided over the Academy’s Conference of 1930 and received its Sangita Kalanidhi on 1^st January 1943. He wrote the first doctoral thesis in Carnatic music and was awarded the D Litt. by the Travancore University in 1942. He composed a Harikatha on the life of Tyagaraja and besides, composed several songs, his corpus being perhaps the largest after Tyagaraja’s. He played an important role in the resuscitation of Swati Tirunal’s kritis and some of the latter’s songs are sung in tunes set by Bhagavatar. He brought the raga Hamsanandi into Carnatic music, inspired by its Hindustani equivalent, Sohoni. He was music director for two Tamil films and had also composed scores for church music. He traveled extensively going as far as Burma (Myanmar) and Ceylon (Sri Lanka). In manner and deportment he was regal. In personality he was striking and in lifestyle he was extravagant. He was in short a larger than life personality. When he died in 1945 he left a void difficult to fill.

 

Muthiah Bhagavatar first came to the notice of the royal family of Mysore when during the Dussehra durbar of 1926, Madurai Ponnusami Pillai played his kriti Valli Nayaka Ni (Shanmukhapriya) on the nagaswaram. The Maharajah, Krishnarajendra Wodeyar IV desired to meet the composer of the kriti and through the efforts of Ponnusami Pillai and Bhagavatar’s good friend Mysore Vaudevachar who was a palace artiste, an invitation was sent for the Dussehra celebrations of 1927. He became a palace artiste and shifted to Mysore. In 1928, Bhagavatar was conferred the title of Gayaka Shikhamani by the Mysore Court and given the task of composing 108 kritis on Chamundamba, the tutelary deity of the royal family.

 

Bhagavatar was initially diffident as the songs were to be in Kannada but Krishnarajendra Wodeyar, who had by then become a friend, solved it by getting palace scholar Devottama Jois to assist in the matter of lyrics. Bhagavatar began work and by way of prayer, initially composed six kritis, one each on Ganapati (Buddhi Devi in Malahari), Saraswati (Sri Mangalavani in Asaveri), Siva-Mahabaleswara who is the consort of Chamundamba (Mahabaleswara Vibho in Saranga), Narayana who is enshrined on the same hill as Chamundamba (Narayana in Kiravani), Guru (Gurunatha in Pushpalata) and Anjaneya (Sri Anjaneya in Chenjurutti). All these songs request the respective deity to give the composer the talent and skill to compose the 108 kritis on Devi.

 

The basis for the 108 songs is the Chamundamba Ashottaram, which as the name suggests is a list of 108 names of the Goddess and which are recited everyday at the temple by way of worship even now. Bhagavatar followed the same order, from Sri Chamundambayai Namaha (his first song is Sampatprade Sri Chamundeswari in Kalyani) to Srimat Tripurasundaryai Namaha (the last song is Srimat Tripurasundari in Madhyamavati). The songs are all in the usual pallavi, anupallavi, charanam format with every tenth song and the 108^th song having two charanams instead of one. Each tenth song (as also the 108^th) incorporates, in its second charanam, the name of the ruler, Krishnarajendra Wodeyar.

 

Bhagavatar, always a man for unusual and rare ragas uses them in plenty in this suite of kritis. Thus we have ragas such as Vinadhari (Girijadeviya), Harinarayani (Devi Sri), Shuddha Lalitha (Sahasrashirsha), Chakrapradipa (Chakreshi), Vijayanagari (Vijayambike), Urmika (Kalaratrisvarupini), Guharanjani (Navavarana) and Navaratnavilasa (Navaksharamanu). While most of the songs are in conventional talas, one or two are set in talas such as kanda jati jhampa and chatusra jhampa. As the songs progressed, their notation was taken down by Belakavadi Srinivasa Iyengar. To assist Bhagavatar in his composing work and to enhance the pleasure of listening to him sing the songs, the Maharajah ordered two tamburas, each six feet tall and decorated with copious amounts of ivory. These were gifted to Bhagavatar who immediately christened them Rama and Lakshmana.

 

The set of 108 kritis was completed in 1932 with the last two songs being set in the characteristic mangala ragas Saurashtram and Madhyamavati. In addition, there is a mangalam in Vasantha. On the work being completed, Bhagavatar was gifted Rs 10,000 and a pearl necklace that had a ruby studded pendant bearing the image of Goddess Chamundamba.

 

Today these songs are jewels by themselves and are frequently sung by artistes during concerts.

Mohanam

Mohanam is one of the oldest ragas in the history of world music. It is a pleasant pentatonic scale. Because of consonance amongst its notes, and due to its simple structure, the scale has been popular in the music of many countries including the music of primitive tribes. It has been an evergreen melody in India too. The raga is known as Bhupali in North India. In the South, Saint Manikkavachakar has utilised this melody extensively for his Tiruvachakam hymns. The raga was very much in vogue in the pann system employed during the Tevara period and was then known as Regupti. The Silappadikaram, the work of Ilango Adigal, gives the raga’s name as Mullai Pann.

 

In the system of South Indian music, Mohanam is classified under the 28th Mela raga Harikambhoji. There is however a school of thought that feels that Mohanam must be classified under Kalyani. It has an audava-audava (five notes in ascent and descent) scale: SRGPDS-SDPGRS. The svaras are Shadja, Chatussruti Rishabha, Antara Gandhara, Panchama and Chatussruti Dhaivata. All the svaras are essentially rendered with gamaka, in other words, it is a sarva svara gamaka varika rakti raga. Gandhara and Dhaivata are life-giving svaras, but generally all the svaras are important to establish the melody. The raga evokes multiple rasas, but it is usually employed to portray feelings of Vira and Ananda.

 

From time immemorial great composers of Carnatic Music, especially the Trinity and others belonging to the 18th and 19th Centuries, have recognized the raga’s beauty and potential and their contributions have been prolific. Amongst the Trinity, Tyagaraja and Muttuswami Dikshitar have composed in this raga. Tyagaraja’s famed kritis in this raga include nanu pAlimpa, mOhanarAma, evarU rA, dayarAnI and rAmA ninu namminA. It is said that nanu pAlimpa was composed at the time of Tyagaraja’s daughter’s marriage. His disciple Walajahpet Venkataramana Bhagavatar had brought a painting of Rama and Sita and his wedding gift. He came into the composer’s house holding the painting aloft. On seeing this, Tyagaraja’s joy knew no bounds and he composed this song, which asks Rama, if he had come walking all that distance to protect his devotee.

 

The maestro Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer, was passionately fond of this raga and used to render another Tyagaraja classic in this raga – bhavanuta. He was considered the uncrowned king of this raga and when he received the title Sangita Bhoopati, the late Kalki Krishnamurthy interpreted it as Sangita Bhup Pati (Bhup is also a name for the Hindustani version of Mohanam). His son Maharajapuram V Santhanam continued this tradition and his rA rA rAjiva lOcana (composed by Mysore Vasudevachar) and rAmanai kaNNAra kanDEnE (Arunachala Kavi) were eagerly looked forward to by audiences.

 

Muttuswami Dikshitar’s narasimha Agacca, composed on the deity at Sholingur, though a small piece, brings out the vIra rasa that the raga symbolises. In addition there are kritis such as rAjagOpAlam (a favourite of Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Iyengar) and kAdambari priyAyai which attributed to Dikshitar. Ambi Dikshitar’s varnam kapAlIshavaram is an exquisite composition that was often rendered by DK Pattammal. Among latter day composers, Papanasam Sivan’s kriti, kapAli, on the deity at the Mylapore Temple is a jewel. Renditions by Madurai Mani Iyer and DK Jayaraman of this song were particularly popular. GNBalasubramaniam’s kriti shrI ramA ramaNi is an evergreen creation. The GNB school has a slightly innovative manner of rendering Mohanam, where they render the phrases sa da pa and pa ga ri, with just a hint of the missing ni and ma respectively. This is a classic case of anuswara (or next associated note) in Carnatic Music, which is used within limits to prevent the raga from sounding flat. The Dhanammal family used to render a padam vaDiga gOpAla very evocatively in this raga.

 

Mohanam is taught to students at a very early stage in their learning. Its five notes make it a raga that is easy to comprehend and the gItam vara vINa and the varnam ninnu kOri are the music tutor’s stock in trade. In films it has been a popular choice for songs. One of the earliest is Papanasam Sivan’s giridhara gOpAla, rendered on screen by MS Subbulakshmi in the film Meera.

 

For all its popularity, Mohanam is not a popular choice for rendering Ragam Tanam Pallavi. Most musicians prefer to render it as a raga with a kriti to follow. Sangita Kalanidhi ML Vasanthakumari often gave Mohanam the status of the main Raga in her concerts. With audiences it has remained an eternal favourite. Perhaps in its essential simplicity and yet its infinite potential, it depicts the essence of Carnatic Music in a nutshell. A universe in a grain of sand.

 

 

 

Tiruvallikeni Temple

Kshetra – Tiruvallikeni

 

Tiruvallikeni or Triplicane, as the English called it, happens to be one of the oldest parts of Madras City. The existence of a village of that name is seen in records dating back to the Pallava period and earlier. While Triplicane as an area merits separate study as for its contributions to the arts, this account restricts itself to the temple that forms the core and which in its own way shaped our musical heritage.

 

The origins of the temple are steeped in myth. It is believed that the area got its name from a sacred tank  (keni) of lilies (alli) that once existed here, in the midst of a forest of tulasi bushes. Whether this meant the Mylapore Long Tank which in modern times was filled in to form the T Nagar and Valluvar Kottam areas is not known. Due to the tulasi plants, the place was also referred to as Brindaranya Kshetram. Today, the sacred temple tank which dominates the square in front of the temple goes by the same name. The temple is said to have existed on the bank of a river that once flowed in these parts, called the Kairaveni. The tank that presently stands in front of the temple is also referred to as Kairaveni.

 

The Temple Layout

 

The temple itself  is a dual shrine, with two principal deities, who are enshrined back to back. The older shrine is that of Azhagia Singar or Narasimha who is seen in the yogic pose. He is also called Tellia Singar and is now referred to as Tulasingar and the street that leads off from His shrine is called Tulasinga Perumal Koil Street. The later and more famous shrine is that of Sri Venkatakrishnan (moolavar) and Sri Parthasarathy (utsavar). Entering the temple from the main entrance off the tank, you cross the Garuda Mandapam and enter the enclosure that has the dhwaja stambham. You can get a clear view of the moolavar Venkatakrishnan from here, for He is of imposing height and appearance. For a closer look, you have to enter the main shrine. The mandapam that precedes the sanctum has several smaller shrines all of which are of interest. There is a shrine for Tirumalisai Alwar, followed by shrines for Vaishnavite seers Alavandar, Ramanuja, Manavala Mamuni, Vedanta Desika and Tirukacchi Nambi. The corridor leading to the sanctum sanctorum has shrines for Sri Rama (seen here with Seeta, his three brothers and Hanuman) and Lord Ranganatha who reclining on Adisesha, is in the company of Sri and Bhu Devis and has Brahma emerging from his navel.

 

The garbhagriha houses the magnificent deity of Venkata­krishna which is almost eight feet in height. The Lord here is two armed and appears as He did when He was charioteer to Arjuna during the Kurukshetra War. His right hand which is in chinmudra bears His conch, the Panchajanya. The left hand is in vara mudra and points at His feet. The Lord has a long sword buckled to His waist and has a dagger tucked into His waistband. Adisesha is at His feet. Huge shalagrama and sahasranama garlands adorn the deity. The Lord’s ears have large makara-shaped adornments and together with His tall crown and rich floral decorations He is truly majestic. Perhaps the most impressive and certainly unique feature of the deity is His handle-bar moustache in keeping with His readiness for battle.

 

If you can tear you eyes away from this spectacular manifesta­tion you can see Rukmini standing tall and elegant beside Her consort. There are certain days when She is draped in a saree tied in the traditional Vaishnavite style and that is when She looks her motherly best. Beside Rukmini stands Balarama, Krishna’s elder brother. Others in the sanctum include Satyaki, Krishna’s other brother, Pradyumna, Krishna’s son and Aniruddha, Krishna’s grandson. Thus the entire family stands together in one shrine, once again a unique depiction. The utsava icon, Sri Partha­sarathy is unique in its own way. The idol has a face that is full of scars, so much so that one can barely make out the features. The scars are believed to be from Bhishma’s, arrows. It is said that the Lord appeared in the dream of the craftsman who made the idol and bade him fashion it as He appeared in the Kurukshetra War after being attacked by Bhishma. The face of the idol which is deep brown in colour, changes to a golden hue when the Tirumanjanam or anointing is done.

 

Coming out of the sanctum, you reach the Vedavalli shrine This Goddess is consort to Lord Ranganatha and Her sanctum was built at a much later date as compared to the main shrine. Behind the Vedavalli shrine is the sanctum for Gajendra Varada. Here the Lord is mounted on Garuda and appears as He did when He set out to rescue the elephant Gajendra from the clutches of the crocodile. As you circumnavigate this shrine you reach the Narasimha shrine which has its own dhwaja stambha indicating its equal status to that of Venkatakrishna. After the Narasimha shrine is the temple to Andal. This completes the tally of the principal shrines in the temple. There is besides an exquisite Hanuman in a chamber located inside a pillar near the entrance.

 

The Temple’s History

 

Though the temple finds a mention in the Brahmanda Purana, it traces its history to a Tondaiman Chakravarty, probably a Pallava king of the 7^th century AD. An inscription near the sanctum speaks of the 12^th year in the reign of Dantivarman, a Pallava ruler whose reign was from 795 to 845 AD. Renovations were done by the Cholas, the Pandyas, the Vijayanagar rulers and the Nayaks of Madurai. Through the Golconda kingdom, the area and the temple came under Mughal administration from whom it passed into the hands of the Nawabs of Arcot. Tiruvallikeni became the first village to be leased out to the British by the Nawabs. The temple came under the administration of the East India Company which in 1843 formed a committee of three prominent men belonging to three different communities all owing allegiance to Vaishnavism and handed over the temple to them. Today it is administered by the HR&CE Board, Government of Tamil Nadu.

 

Saints and Savants and influence on Music

 

The temple is one of the 108 Vaishnavite Divya Desams, being sung on by three Alwars – Peyalwar, Tirumangai Alwar and Tirumalisai Alwar. In his verse beginning with the words “Vandudaitta Ventiraigal”, Peyalwar (5/6^th century) states that the pearls and corals deposited on the sea shore of Tiruvallikeni illumine the entire town in the evenings. Tirumangai Alwar (8^th century) has composed ten verses on the temple, nine of which end with the lines “Tiruvallikeni Kandene” (I have seen Tiruvallikeni). In these he describes all the shrines that we see today and it is therefore certain that the temple acquired its present structure by his time. He ascribes the construction to a “Tondaiyar” king. Sri Ramanuja’s (11^th century) parents, according to legend, prayed at Tiruvallikeni and were blessed by begetting him as their son.

 

The 17^th century Sanskrit work “Viswagunadarsa” by Venkatadhvari which describes Madras city, speaks of Tiruvallikeni. So does the later “Sarva Deva Vilasa”. The latter work, of which only an incomplete manuscript survives, ends with a procession going down Tiruvallikeni. It mentions a music loving Dharmakarta of the temple – Annasami and also speaks of dancers associated with the shrine.

 

Of the Carnatic Trinity, Tyagaraja (1767-1847) and Muttuswami Dikshitar (1775-1835) are both said to have visited the shrine. There is no song of Tyagaraja’s on this temple that survives, but in a talk over the radio, Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer (1896-1970) mentioned a song in the raga Saveri of which he said only the pallavi and anupallavi were available. Regretfully, even that is now lost. “Sri Parthasarathina” of Muttuswami Dikshitar in the raga Shuddha Dhanyasi is on this temple, though it must be mentioned here that the song is not mentioned in Subbarama Dikshitar’s “Sangita Sampradaya Pradarsini”, considered the most authoritative work on Muttuswami Dikshitar songs. The kriti is a small one and contrary to Dikshitar kritis does not describe any aspect of the temple.

 

Subbaraya Sastry (1803-1862), the son of Syama Sastry (1762-1827) and the common disciple of the Trinity, visited the temple and composed “Ninnu Sevinchina” (raga Yadukula Kamboji) here. Mysore Sadasiva Rao, who through the Wallajahpet school traced his lineage to Tyagaraja, composed “Sri Parthasarathe” in raga Bhairavi. This is a monumental composition with cascading sangatis and in the composer’s own style, full of flowing lyrics. His other song on this temple is “Vachamagochara” in raga Athana. Subbarama Dikshitar (1839-1906), grand nephew of Muttuswami Dikshitar composed “Parthasarathini” in raga Yadukula Kamboji on the deity here, when he stayed in Madras for the brief while in the 1890s. This song has his grand uncle’s mudra “Guruguha” in it and it also has sollu kattu swaras. Another prolific composer, Cheyyur Chengalvaraya Sastry (1810-1900) has composed a kriti in raga Yadukula Kamboji on the deity here. The Tachur Singaracharyulu Brothers were a duo of the late 19^th and early 20^th century Madras who played an important role in the development of music in the city. The elder brother was a composer and his piece in raga Vasantha, “Ninnu Kori” is a popular varnam to begin concerts with today.

 

Ramanathapuram ‘Poochi’ Srinivasa Iyengar (1867-1919) has composed “Sri Parthasarathi Nannu” in raga Madhyamavati at this shrine. Modern day composers who have been inspired by the deity here include MD Ramanathan (1923-1984), NS Ramachandran, Dr S Ramanathan (1917-1985) and Ambujam Krishna (1917-1989). TG Krishna Iyer was modern day composer who used the mudra of Lalita Dasa. He was greatly encouraged by Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar (1895-1974) who sang many of his compositions and made them popular. His song “Parthasarathi Maam” is on the deity here.

 

BM Sundaram, in his book “Mangala Isai Mannargal” (Meyyappan Tamizhaivagam, 2001) writes that nagaswaram maestro Kivalur ‘Saveri’ Kandasami Pillai (1836-1897) was honoured at this shrine and that the temple has records of this event.

 

The temple also appears to have served as a concert venue and there are records of Maha Vaidyanatha Sivan (1844-1893) singing here on three successive nights with record audience attendance. The Davana Utsavam in the month of Masi (Feb/Mar) would witness several Harikatha performances in the past. Notable among those who performed were Embar Vijayaraghavachariar (1909-1991), TS Balakrishna Sastrigal (1918-2003), Sengalipuram Anantharama Dikshitar (1903-1969) and C Saraswathi Bai (1892-1974).

 

Festivals

 

With so many shrines inside it, there are festivals and celebrations right through the year at this temple. All the manifestations of the Lord (Venkatakrishna, Varadaraja, Ranganatha, Sri Rama and Narasimha) have utsava icons and so there is a procession either within the temple or in the four principal streets almost every day. Rama Navami, Narasimha Jayanthi, Sri Jayanthi and the month of Margazhi (Dec/Jan) in particular, witness grand celebrations.

 

The temple sees a steady throng of devotees at all times of the day and almost every day of the year. This is testimony to the prowess of the deities in it, divinities who extracted some of the finest music possible from our composers.

 

 

 

 

Kalyani

The name signifies that which is auspicious. It is also a name of the Supreme Goddess and is the second synonym for her in the Lalitha Trishati. Possessing such a name, it is not surprising that kalyANi is an evergreen, ever popular raga.

 

This is the 65^th meLAkarta (the mother ragas which have all seven notes in ascent and descent) and the technical name is mEcakalyANi. In Venkatamaki’s scheme this raga is known as shAnta kalyANi. kalyANi is the earliest pratimadhyama raga known in music history. Among the prati madhyama rAgAs, it is kalyANi alone that is able to stand equal to the mighty shuddha madhyama rAgas such as tODi, kAmbOji, bhairavi and shankarabharaNam in stature. The variety, the depth and the myriad feelings it is capable of portraying have made the raga a perennial favourite of musicians for centuries.

 

This is a mUrcanakAraka mELa. Its R, G, P, D, N taken as ShaDja result in the ragas harikAmbOji, naTabhairavi, shankarAbharaNam, karaharapriya and tODi respectively. The beauty of kalyANi is that it retains its individual colour even if just three or four svaras are intoned. Phrases devoid of madhyama have a special charm of their own. Similarly phrases that avoid the ShaDja and pancama also possess a special ethereal beauty.

 

With shankarAbharaNam, the rAga shares a unique relationship, for they differ only in terms of the madhyama, kalyANi being pratimadhyama counterpart of shankarAbharaNam. Yet such is the powerful personality of this rAga that even when the madhyama is avoided in rAga AlApana, it is possible to steer clear of any transgression into shankarAbharaNam. There is a lecture demonstration by Musiri Subramania Iyer, where he has dwelt at length on this aspect of kalyANi.

 

There are compositions aplenty in this raga which lends itself to whatever emotion a composer chooses to portray. The Trinity has revelled in kalyANi. Tyagaraja’s nidhi cAla sukhamA written in denouncement of riches and royal patronage evokes in our hearts the longing to live a life of utter simplicity and sacrifice. The bard of Tiruvaiyyaru has composed delightful songs such as vAsudEvayani (a big hit when rendered by GN Balasubramaniam) and shivE pAhimAm in kalyANi. Amma rAvamma is another popular kriti of Tyagaraja in this rAga. In total there are nine kritis of Tyagaraja in this rAga. When Patnam Subramania Iyer was requested to compose in this rAga, it is said that he hesitated for long, feeling that Tyagaraja had exhausted all possibilities for creative composition in it. He therefore took more than a year to come up with nija dAsa varada.

 

Muttuswami Dikshitar’s navAvaraNa masterpiece, kamalAmbAm bhaja rE is a lesson in this raga. His abhayAmbA jagadambA explores new vistas of kalyANi. Shyama Sastri’s works in kalyANi include himAdrisutE pahimAm in Sanskrit and its melodic twin birAna varAlici brOvumu in Telugu. His talli ninnu is also often rendered. ninuvinA gatigAna of Subbaraya Sastri with its delightful chiTTasvara-sAhitya is an evergreen classic. There are several composers who have earned a permanent place in Carnatic Music firmament with just one kalyANi based kriti. An example is Tarangampadi Panchanada Iyer, whose birANa brOva itE, in kalyANi, was made popular by Semmangudi R Srinivasa Iyer. Similarly Semmangudi also presented Swati Tirunal’s pankaja lOcana often. The two varNams, both beginning with vanajAkShi, but one in Adi tALa (Ramanathapuram Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar) and the other in aTa tALa (Pallavi Gopala Iyer) are complete portraits of kalyANi. It is said that Papa KS Venkataramaiah would practice the ATa tALa version on his violin everyday. In his view it offered the best exercise to keep him in prime concert condition.

 

Ghanam Krishna Iyer’s pArengum pArtAlum has an interesting story behind it. It is said that he had a misunderstanding with his patron Kacchi Kalyanaranga Bhoopathy of Udayarpalayam Zamin. He then moved away and stayed in Kumbhakonam for a while. Unable to bear the separation from his patron, he composed this song, which ostensibly on Lord Sarangapani, the presiding deity at Kumbhakonam, was actually addressed to his own patron. There is a line in the kriti about deities such as Shiva and Vishnu living without any differences of opinion at Kumbhakonam! The creation had the desired effect. There was an affecting reconciliation and Krishna Iyer returned to Udyarpalayam with due honours.

 

Among the Vanamamalai compositions (popularly attributed to a jeer, but in reality composed by two musicians of Vanamamalai) matimdEhi is a perfect example of a very traditional handling of kalyANi. Subbarama Dikshitar’s kAntimati is a difficult song because of the depth and range of the gamakAs employed. T Brinda and her sister T Mukta used to revel in this song. Their tandem singing in the upper octave would take one’s breath away. Among their family treasures of jAvaLis, intaTi kulukE is a fine piece. The padam iddari sandula, of Kshetragna, is considered to be one among the crown jewels of this parampara. kalyANi was M. Balamuralikrishna’s favourite raga. Each and every AlApana of his in this raga would be different and kalyANi’s myriad facets would be laid bare for rasikas to savour. DKJayaraman’s soulful rendition of Papanasam Sivan’s unnai allAL would bring tears to the eyes of listeners. Certain kritis such as svarnakAlabhairavam of Swarna Venkatesa Dikshitar and lambOdara sOdara of Harikesanallur Muthaiah Bhagavatar have become famous for their melody and also for choice of tALa. Both are in sankIrna jAti Adi tALam. KV Narayanaswamy made svarnakAlabhairavam very popular.

 

kalyANi is a popular choice among Nagaswaram performers and while he was really famous for his tODi renditions, TN Rajarathinam Pillai listed kalyANi among his five favourite rAgAs. Namagiripettai Krishnan, was synonymous with kalyANi and with vAsudEvayani in particular. In fact, it was through his winning a competition among Nagaswara artistes, in Madras, by his rendition of kalyANi, followed by vAsudEvayani that he began his climb to fame.

 

It is however in the area of rAgam tAnam pallavi, that the rAga really comes into its own. Almost all musicians have chosen this rAga for its infinite potential that challenges their manOdharma to the fullest. “Un darishanam kiDaikkumO naTarAja dayAnidhE” is an all time favourite, often rendered in the past by GNB and his disciple ML Vasanthakumari. MLV was also to find everlasting fame with her rendition of the film song pAviyinum paDupAvi, based on kalyANi, as a duet with VN Sundaram, for the film Manamagal. MK Tyagaraja Bhagavatar’s soppana vAzhvil and MS Subbulakshmi’s guha saravaNa were both early kalyANi based film hits. In his first film assignment, in Seetha Kalyanam, Papanasam Sivan used the tune of amma rAvamma to create the score for nal vinay tArum.

 

A compendium of songs, a variety of renditions, a multitude of composers, past and present. kalyAni exhibits the timeless appeal that is characteristic of Carnatic Music. Music it is said emanated from the Supreme and is hence boundless. kalyANi is an embodiment of this.

 

 

 

Pancha Bhuta kritis of Muttuswami Dikshitar

Early thinkers have written that all creation is made up of five elements- space, air, fire, water and earth. As per the Taittriya Upanishad these elements came from the Supreme Being. Kalidasa’s Abhijnana Shakuntala begins with the verse “yA shrShTihi shrAShTurAdhyA bhavati…” which traces all creation to the divine couple Parvati and Parameshwara thereby embodying them as the Supreme source of all creation. In South India, on the same lines, there are five important temples, all dedicated to Lord Shiva, each one of them representing him as one of the five elements.

 

Muttuswami Dikshitar (1775/6-1835), the great composer visited each one of these shrines and dedicated songs to them. These are today referred to as the Pancha Bhuta Kritis (songs on the five elements). It is not clear if the composer himself intended them to be grouped together, though they do have certain common features. All the five songs have the standard kriti structure of pallavi, anupallavi and charanam. All kritis incorporate the raga mudras, a characteristic of many Muttuswami Dikshitar kritis.

 

Chidambaram is the shrine where Shiva is worshipped as Space. The sanctum has the world-famous icon of Nataraja, the dancing deity beside which is an empty space referred to as Chidambara Rahasyam or the secret of Chidambaram. The very word Chidambaram is full of cosmic symbolism for it refers to the space within the heart of the devotee where the Lord is said to be in cosmic dance as depicted by Nataraja. This space is also called daharAkAsha. Dikshitar’s kriti here is Ananda naTana prakAsham in raga kEdAra. The song opens with the lines describing the Lord as being effulgent in dance and as the Lord of Sivakamavalli. The first lines of the anupallavi, emphasising the space motif, describe the Lord’s effulgence as being equal to many suns. It then states that he pervades daharAkAsha and grants salvation. The last line of the anupallavi has the legend behind the temple as it states that Shiva displayed himself with an uplifted foot to Patanjali and Vyaghrapada here. The charanam, continuing on the space theme, says the Lord bears the moon and the Ganga (which is believed to be of heavenly origin) and has a blue neck, the colour blue once again indicating space. The importance of Chidambaram as the foremost Shaivaite shrine is emphasised when the composer says Nataraja here is the basis for all shrines beginning with Kedara. The raga name is also incorporated here. Legend has it that 3000 sages left for Chidambaram from Kailasa and on reaching their destination found one missing. The Lord then indicated that He was that person and counting Him in would make 3000. This is highlighted in the line “bhUsura trisahasra munIshvaram”. The song, in keeping with one dedicated to a dancing deity has sollukattus to be sung at the end of the anupallavi and charanam.

 

shrI kAlahastIsha in raga Huseni is on Shiva as Vayu Linga. A lamp that keeps flickering in the rather airless sanctum shows the manifestation of Shiva as air here. The song says Shiva is like the zephyr to His devotees. The anupallavi states that He is the life breath of the Gods and manifests as the five elements, for all five have shrines for themselves here. The shrine is referred to Dakshina Kailasa (the Southern equivalent to Kailasa). The charanam says the Lord here is the consort of Gnanaprasoonambika. The last line speaks of Kannappa Nayanar as the lowly huntsman who worshipped the Lord here and made the shrine famous. The raga mudra is in the line prANamayakOshAnIla bhUmi salila agni prakAsha. In the Dikshitar system this raga was called UshAni.

 

The Lord manifests as fire at Tiruvannamalai. Called Arunachalanatha, His consort here is Apitakuchamba. The song in sAranga, aruNAcalanAtham, mentions Her in the pallavi. Simply thinking of Arunachala is said to grant salvation and Dikshitar states this in the opening line of the anupallavi as smaraNAt kaivalya prada. Taking fire as the theme, he says the Lord is like many suns at dawn. The charanam says that He is the ancient effulgent Shiva Linga. It has been scientifically proven that the rock of Arunachala is one of the oldest on earth and has a fiery origin, either a volcanic eruption or a meteor strike. The Linga itself is unusual for it is grey in colour bringing to mind a stone of volcanic origin. Dikshitar states that the Lord bears a Saranga (deer) in His hand, thereby bringing in the raga mudra. The madhyamakAla charanam begins with viprOttama viShEshAntarangam, bringing to mind the special grace shown to Gnanasambanda at this shrine. The last line once again brings in the fire motif – the Lord’s effulgence puts the sun, the moon and fire to shame. sAranga is a synonym for camphor, an easily flammable substance.

 

jambUpatE in raga Yamuna (also the name of a river) is on Shiva as water, in which form He is worshipped at Tiruvanaikka near Trichy. The sanctum of Shiva always has water from the Kaveri seeping in and in the rainy season it floods the shrine. This is a song steeped in fluid symbolism. The pallavi asks the Lord to give the nectar of bliss. The anupallavi states that He is worshipped by Brahma who is seated on the lotus which is born in water and that He quenches the fires (sorrows) of the heart. Then it states that He is the Lord of the rivers Sindhu, Ganga, Kaveri, Yamuna (also the raga mudra) and Goddess Akhilandeshwari who has a throat like a conch (which is of water origin). The charanam refers to the sthala puranam and says that the Lord here is the water Linga worshipped by the daughter of the mountains and residing at sAmajATavi (the forest of elephants).

 

Shiva in the form of earth is worshipped in Kanchipuram. Here he is Ekamranatha, residing at the root of a mango tree. He is hence also referred to as mAmUlanAtha. Dikshitar refers to this in cintaya mAkanda mUla kandam. A panel depicting Shiva as Somaskanda (Shiva with Uma and Skanda) is below this mango tree and hence the second line of the song propitiates Somaskanda. The anupallavi states that Shiva’s feet provide empires, an indirect allusion to the Pallava Empire that flourished from here. An empire is also an earthly possession. In the charanam, there are allusions to the God of Love and the God of Death (Shiva excels Madana in beauty and quelled Yama) both important personages for humans. The last lines speak of the deity as Bhairavi prasanga (embraced by Parvati). This brings in the raga mudra and also refers to the purana here where Parvati worshipped Shiva in the form of a sand linga. To test her devotion, Shiva sent a flood through the river Kampa which threatened the linga. Parvati in her anxiety embraced it and Shiva was pleased. This song mentions no consort for there is no shrine for Her in the temple. All the Shiva temples of Kanchipuram have no shrine for Devi and the only Devi shrine is that of Kamakshi.

 

Dikshitar’s Pancha Bhuta Kritis are fascinating musically and otherwise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Narayana Teertha

The Krishna Leela Tarangini is a fascinating work that comprises songs describing incidents from the life of Sri Krishna. Based largely on Srimad Bhagavatam, it ends with the marriage of Krishna to Rukmini. The composer who created this was Narayana Teertha (1675-1745).

 

Born into an orthodox family of Kaza in present day Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, Narayana Teertha acquired proficiency in language and music. His devotion to Krishna was absolute and he took to the orders of a monk in middle age. A chronic ailment tormented him and he wandered from shrine to shrine in search of a cure. Arriving in the Tanjavur area, he took shelter in a Ganesha temple in Nadukaveri. In the night he dreamt of Lord Krishna who instructed him to follow the first animal he saw on waking up, in order to be relieved of his illness.

 

The next morning Narayana Teertha espied a white boar wandering outside the temple. He followed it and walked to Bhupatirajapuram, a village four miles away. The boar vanished into the Venkatesa Perumal shrine there and Narayana Teertha followed. Once in the sanctum he found himself cured of the illness. He decided to make the village his abode. His fame as a holy personage spread far and wide and in remembrance of the white boar that brought him there, the village was renamed as Varaha (boar) puri (town) which in Tamil became Varahur.

 

Expressing his gratitude to Krishna, Narayana Teertha decided to compose His life in the form of a collection of songs. It is said that the Lord kept time to the songs by the chime of his anklets. Narayana Teertha was overjoyed at hearing if not being able to see his deity. But when he completed the section pertaining to the marriage of Krishna and Rukmini, he found that the anklets ceased to keep time for any further compositions. He therefore decided to end his work with the wedding as he felt that the Lord desired him to do so. The collection came to be called the Krishna Leela Tarangini.

 

Narayana Teertha made Varahur an important pilgrim centre and soon the Gokulashtami festival, the birthday of Krishna which falls in the month of Shravan (Aug/Sep), began witnessing enormous participation. The composer codified the celebration with events such Uriyadi (breaking of pots containing butter, curds, milk and sweets suspended from a height), a sport which Krishna made famous in Gokulam and Brindavanam. Even today the festival is celebrated with gusto at the shrine. Credit for its revival must go largely to Varahur Muthuswami Iyer, a well known violinist of the 20^th century. His family along with other enthusiastic participants and donors keeps the event going.

 

The exact place of death of Narayana Teertha is disputed. Some believe he is buried at nearby Tirupoonturuthi while others say he was laid to rest in Varahur. The former village has a Samadhi identified with him where an annual festival is conducted in his honour.

 

The Krishna Leela Tarangini’s music as originally created by Narayana Teertha has undergone several changes. The songs have been reset to music by many musicians. What is significant is the presence of several sollukattus (syllables which are recited as an accompaniment to dance in the text), thereby leading credence to the theory that the Lord danced to the songs when first sung by the composer.

 

The work is divided into 12 sections each of which is called a Tarangam. Each Tarangam had several songs in it, which in turn follow varying structures. Some are formally made out as kritis with pallavi, anupallavi and a series of charanams which again vary anywhere from three to eight in number. There are some songs which are structured as a collection of couplets, yet others are in collections of four lines. There are a few songs on other deities such as Ganesha and Durga. Interestingly the song Himagiri Tanaya Patyam, which is a prayer to Shiva became an integral part of Harikatha repertoire as an opening piece. All songs end with the name of the composer as the mudra.

 

Over the years several musicians made some pieces there own. There was a time when “Madhava mamava deva” (Nilambari) was heard in every home as the lullaby for infants. The famed theatre artiste SV Subbiah Bhagavatar took up “Jaya jaya gokula bala” as his “entry song” when he strode on to the stage. This was sung no matter what role he played even if it was that of Krishna. He is said to have set the song as a pancha raagamaalika (Bhairavi, Athaana, Kaamboji, Kalyaani, Surutti) which is how it is sung today. Bhagavatar and his harmonium counterpart KS Devudu Iyer would indulge in on stage pyrotechnics with neraval and swaram for this song which would invariably draw thunderous applause. The song remains a popular concert piece. Yet another very popular song, made famous by ML Vasanthakumari was “Sharanam bhava karuna mayi” which TM Thiyagarajan set in Hamsavinodini. It is sung in other ragas also but nothing has matched the magic that MLV wove with her rapid fire kalpana swarams for the line “madhusudana madhusudana” in the song.

 

Narayana Teertha’s songs clearly influenced those of latter day composers such as Tyagaraja and Muttuswami Dikshitar. There are similarities in lyrics and perhaps if the music had survived intact it would be possible to see similarities in that as well. The composer himself has earned an immortal place in the annals of Carnatic Music.

 

 

 

Chatushram – an album with songs in four South Indian languages

In 2006, Sanjay Subrahmanyan recorded an album titled Chatushram which had one song each of four composers, each one from one of the present four major South Indian states. The sleeve notes written for that album are given below:

Chatushram

 

 

In 1956 the linguistic division of Indian states took place amidst great debate and discussion. The protagonists for such a division highlighted the advantages of homogeneity of language and the unity it would promote. Those against were worried about the balkanization of India. In the south, there was much exchange of land and territories and four states, namely Madras (later renamed Tamilnadu), Mysore (later renamed Karnataka), Andhra and Kerala came into existence in the form in which we know them today. This year (2006) therefore marks the 50^th year of the reorganization and our album is a tribute to India which has survived and developed despite all the gloom and doom that was predicted.

 

Among the many factors that contribute to the success of the “unity in diversity” that is India, are the fine arts. Carnatic music is a shining example, for we have had composers in the Tamil heartland creating songs in Kannada, Telugu and Sanskrit, kings of Travancore creating songs in Hindustani and musicians from the distant south traveling all the way to Kashi and beyond in an era when railway travel was unheard of. This album looks at four composers who hailed from regions now comprising the four principal states of south India.

 

Tallapaka Annamacharya (1408- 1503)- Hailed as the ‘padakavita pitamaha’ (progenitor of the ‘pada’ as a musical form), Annamacharya took a vow at the age of 16 to offer at least one song a day at the feet of the Lord. A majority of these are dedicated to Venkateswara of the Tirumala hills and His consort Alamelumanga. Most of his creations are in the Telugu language and he is said to have composed 32000 songs, of which 14000 are now available. These have survived in text, thanks to Annamacharya’s son having them inscribed on copper plates which were stored in a chamber in the Tirumala temple. These were discovered in 1922. Unfortunately the original music is lost and the songs have been set to music by later day tunesmiths. Annamacharya’s songs are divided into two groups, Adhyatma (philosophical) and Sringara (erotic) sankeertanams and the latter dominate in numbers. The song in this album, ‘paluku tenela’ describes the conversation between two maids of Alamelumanga who wonder at her sleeping long into the morning, exhausted after having made love to Lord Srinivasa.

 

Purandara Dasa (1484-1564)- Purandara Dasa was born Srinivasa Naik and became a wealthy banker in Purandargarh near Pune. A sudden change of heart made him renounce worldly life and in the company of his wife and children he left to seek initiation from Vyasaraya, preceptor to the Vijayanagar kings. Taking on the name of Purandara Dasa, he became a wandering minstrel, visiting several shrines. One of these was Tirumala where he met the by then aged Annamacharya. Purandaradasa codified the beginners’ lessons in Carnatic music and is given the honorific of ‘Sangeeta Pitamaha’ (grandfather of music) for his contributions. Most of his songs are in Kannada language and he used the signature of Purandara Vittala. Despite starting off late in life as a composer, Purandaradasa appears to have been prolific for in his song ‘Vasudeva Namaraliya’ he records that he has created 475000 pieces. Unfortunately with his death and the battle of Talikota the following year that saw the decimation of the Vijayanagar empire, his disciples scattered and most of his songs were lost. The music for many of his surviving compositions had to be set by latter day tunesmiths.

 

Swati Tirunal (1813-1846) – Born into the royal family of Travancore he was in fact declared king even as he was born, the earlier ruler having passed away. The young prince, who soon earned himself a reputation as a just and able ruler, however became better known for his devotion to the family deity Ananthapadmanabhaswami and for his patronage of the arts. His court became a veritable hospice for musicians, presided over by the respected Meruswami, a personage well versed in Hindustani and Carnatic music. When the Tanjore Quartet (the brothers Chinniah, Vadivelu, Ponniah and Sivanandam) moved to Swati Tirunal’s court, the musical atmosphere was further enriched. The ruler himself turned composer, creating songs in a variety of languages, including his own Malayalam, though he preferred Sanskrit. He used the various names of his patron deity as his signature. Being a ruler, he had no disciples and most of his songs would have languished had it not been for the efforts of the last Junior Maharani of Travancore, Setu Parvati Bayi, who in the years preceding Indian independence and the accession of Travancore to the union, got musicians such as Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavatar to popularize them. Bhagavatar and after him Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer and several others retuned many songs for which the original versions were lost and slowly the songs of the king became well known.

 

Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavatar (1877-1945) – Born into an orthodox vedic family of Tirunelveli, Muthiah Bhagavatar lost his father early and was brought up by his uncle, the well known Sanskrit scholar Mahamahopadhyaya M Lakshmana Suri. A great love for music led him to T Sambasiva Iyer, a descendant of the formidable Padinaindumandapam clan of musicians. His first concert opportunity was at a house in Purasawalkam in Madras and from then on he gradually became a popular musician. Losing his voice in 1897, he turned to Harikatha and became a great performer in that field. He impressed the ruler of Mysore with his erudition and was asked to compose 108 kritis on Goddess Chamundeshwari, the tutelary deity of the royal family. Later he composed several other songs as well. His mudra was Harikesa which he did not use in the few nationalist songs he composed. Bhagavatar was also very sound on music theory and he became the first musician to write a thesis and get a doctorate, which he received from the Travancore University in 1943. He was actively involved with the Music Academy, Madras. He also composed music for three Tamil films. Bhagavatar led a lavish lifestyle which has now passed into legend. He bridged all the four southern states of today, composing in Sanskrit, Kannada and Tamil, popularizing the songs of Tyagaraja which are in Telugu and tuning the songs of the Malayalam king Swati Tirunal.

 

Some composers from the Tyagaraja School

The text below was the sleeve note I wrote for Ashwattha, which those of you who have read the introductory write up to this category on sleeve notes will know was a misnomer. I have changed the text in the write up below

Tyagaraja was like a great Vatavrksha or Banyan Tree. He represented the main stem, a strong and powerful support which looms large, casting a shadow under which thousands of musicians, patrons and art lovers have gathered and taken shelter. From the rock steady tree, came many more terrestrial roots, which were his sishya paramparas. Each one was unique, having a character of its own, leaving its mark on the fertile soil of Carnatic Music, and gathering greater and greater numbers of followers. In course of time, the main stem, became a legend, surrounded as it was by the thick foliage of its own offshoots. There were three main sishya paramparas, those of the Walajahpet, Tillaisthanam and Umayalpuram Schools. In addition there were numerous others, some famous, some not so, who had all learnt music from Tyagaraja at some point of time or the other. In their own right, his disciples were great men of talent, who led lives dedicated to music. They in turn honed and polished several disciples, all of whom became torch bearers of a great tradition.

 

Manambucchavadi Venkatasubbayyar: The prathama sishya of Tyagaraja, he was also  a cousin of the composer. He was a violinist as well and also a Sanskrit and Telugu scholar. Among Tyagaraja’s disicples, he was probably the longest with him in time and after the composer’s death he set up his own school at Tiruvayyaru. Among the many star disciples he had, Mahavaidyanatha Sivan, Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer and the blind flautist Sarabha Sastrigal were famous artistes. He composed many varnas and kritis using the mudra Venkatesa. Among his famous works is the hamsadhvani varnam, Jalajaksha. His kriti swAmiki sari, in the raga dEvagAndhAri, is in praise of his guru Tyagaraja. The charanam of the kriti uses phrases from several Tyagaraja kritis. The raga was also a great favourite of Tyagaraja’s, who is said to have sung it elaborately when he visited Kovvur Sundaresa Mudaliar at Madras.

 

Walajahpet Venkataramana Bhagavatar : Born in 1781, Venkataramana Bhagavatar was from the Saurashtra community. He was one of Tyagaraja’s earliest disciples and after many years, he moved to Walajahpet near Madras where he set up his music school. On the occasion of Tyagaraja’s daughter’s marriage, Venkataramana Bhagavatar brought a picture of Rama and Seetha as gift, which inspired Tyagaraja to sing the immortal nanu pAlimpa in mOhanam. Venkataramana Bhagavatar, sent his son Krishnaswami Bhagavatar to learn music from Tyagaraja in 1845 and he spent two years with the composer, till the latter’s death in 1847. Father and son wrote the first biographies of Tyagaraja, pooling their recollections of the times they spent with him. They are the founders of the Walajahpet Sishya Parampara and their manuscripts of Tyagaraja kritis, are today preserved at the Saurashtra Sabha, Madurai. It was a red letter day in Venkataramana Bhagavatar’s life, when Tyagaraja, during the course of his travels visited his disciple’s school at Walajahpet. Venkataramana Bhagavatar deified his Guru and composed a set of eight verses on him. He passed away in 1874.

 

Veena Kuppaiyyar: Born in 1798, Kuppaiyyar, was the son of Sambamurthy Sastry, a vainika and vocalist of great repute. He initially learnt music from his father and later became Tyagaraja’s disciple. An ardent worshipper of Venugopalaswami, he migrated to Tiruvottiyur in Madras, where he became a musician in the retinue of Kovvur Sundaresa Mudaliar, dubash to the East India Company. It was through Kuppaiyyar that the Mudaliar got to know of Tyagaraja’s greatness and when the saint composer was travelling on a pilgrimage in 1837/39 got him to come to Madras and stay at his palatial mansion at Bunder Street. Tyagaraja also visited the Mudaliar’s home town at Kovvur and dedicated the Kovvur Pancharatnam to the deities there. Tyagaraja visited his disciple’s house and sang vENugAnalOluni in kEdAragauLa, knowing his disciple’s devotion to Lord Krishna. Kuppaiyyar and his son Tiruvottiyur Tyagayyar were both composers of great merit. He used the mudra Venugopaladasa and composed many varnams and kritis.

 

Subbaraya Sastry: He was possibly the only individual who learnt from each one of the Trinity. Born in 1803 as the second son of Syama Sastry, he initially trained under his own father. Later he came under Muttuswamy Dikshitar’s influence during the latter’s four year stay in Tanjore. Later still he was apprenticed to Tyagaraja. His music thus reflects the styles of each of the Trinity and yet has an identity of its own. Using the mudra Kumara in some of his works, he left behind a small corpus of twenty or so kritis, each of which is a gem. He composed the kriti ninnuvina gatigAna in kalyANi on Goddess Dharmasamvardhini of Tiruvayyaru and when it was first rendered by him at the shrine, Tyagaraja himself was present to bless him. Sastry passed away at Udayarpalayam where he was asthana vidwan, in 1862.

 

Patnam Subramania Iyer: Known as Chinna Tyagaraja, for his awesome composing capabilities, Patnam as he was referred to was a disciple of Manambucchavadi Venkatasubbayyar. Born in 1845 into a music rich family, he initially trained under Melattur Ganapathy Sastrigal. Commencing his music career in 1875, Subramania Iyer, remained a star performer throughout his life, with the royal courts of Mysore, Travancore, Sivaganga and Ramnad, vying for honouring him. His rendition of the raga bEgaDa was unparalleled. He trained a long line of disciples, the first of whom was Ramanathapuram Srinivasa Iyengar. Others included Mysore Vasudevachar and Tiger Varadachariar. While he lived at Tiruvayyaru for most of his life, he stayed for twelve years in Madras (Chennapatnam) in order to teach music to Salem Meenakshi a singer, and her daughters. He thus earned the prefix of Patnam. He created the raga kathanakuthUhalam. He composed numerous kritis, using mudras such as Adi Venkateswara, Varada Venkatesa and similar terms. The year 2002 marked his 100^th death anniversary, for he passed away on 31^st July, 1902.

 

Mysore Sadasiva Rao:  Not much is known about this excellent composer. Born at Chitoor, in Andhra, of a Marathi family, Sadasiva Rao trained under Walajahpet Venkataramana Bhagavatar before becoming an honoured vidwan in Mysore. On the occasion of Tyagaraja’s visit to Walajahpet, he was present and composed a kriti tyAgarAjasvAmi vEDalina in tODi to honour the composer. A great Rama bhakta, he began the Rama navami celebrations in Mysore, which are famous till date. He composed kritis, tillanas, varnams and swarajatis in Sanskrit and Telugu, using the mudra Sadasiva. He travelled to Madras, Kanchipuram and Srirangam and composed on deities in these places.

 

Ramanathapuram Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar: Born on 16^th August 1860, into a religious Vaishnavite family at Ramanathapuram (Ramnad), then a Zamindari in South India, Iyengar’s music talents were noticed by members of the ruling family, at an early stage and he was sent by them to Patnam Subramania Iyer for training. Returning to Ramnad, he became the asthana vidwan at the court. He began composing music from an early age, using the mudra Srinivasa. Iyengar was a successful concert artiste and was much in demand in the whole of South India, including the burgeoning capital of Madras. He was honoured at Mysore and composed kritis in praise of the patron Goddess Chamundi. There are many reasons ascribed for his strange nickname of Poochi. As per a musical version, it was due to his strict adherence to pitch, like the buzzing of a bee. He trained a number of disciples of whom Ariyakkudi T Ramanuja Iyengar was most famous. Poochi Iyengar passed away on 20^th July, 1919.

 

Annamacharya- Venkateswara’s Bard

Annamayya – Venkateswara’s bard

 

Hailed as the ‘Pada Kavita Pitamaha’, for it was he who gave us the musical form of Pada, Annamacharya (1408-1503) was a forerunner of the great composers of Carnatic Music. Born in a Brahmin family belonging to the Nandavarika community in Tallapaka village which is in Cuddapah district of present-day Andhra Pradesh, he felt the call of Lord Venkateswara of Tirumala very early in life. But it was at the age of 16 that he realised its true import and leaving his home he set out for the sacred hill. In nearby Ahobilam, he enrolled as a disciple of Shathakopa Yati (d 1458) a great scholar, and studied the Vaishnavite philosophy. At the same time, he took to composing on the Lord of the Hill and His consort Alamelumanga. Over the years, while his compositions on the divine couple formed the largest part of his oeuvre, he also composed songs on a few other deities.

 

His parents having found him after a long search convinced him of the need to return home. He was married to two women, Timmakka and Akkalamma. Leading the life of a householder, Annamacharya continued dedicating his life to singing the praise of Vishnu and over the years, an enormous corpus of songs emerged. He sang at least one song everyday on the deity, all of them structured with pallavi and charanas. Interestingly, these do not pertain to philosophy alone. Out of a total of 32,000 songs that he is believed to have composed, 14,000 are available to us. The larger part of around 12000 songs comprises erotic themes depicting the love making of the divine couple Venkateswara and Alamelumanga. These are referred to as Sringara Sankirtanas. The remaining, classified as Adhyatmika Sankirtanas deal with devotion and higher philosophy. The devotional songs describe Alamelumanga, Venkateswara, temple rituals and services, social practices and folk customs. Annamacharya was evidently an observer of life around him, though he looked at it only in relation to his deity Venkateswara. It would be no exaggeration to say that it is impossible to write about the various social mores, religious festivals, customs, practices and activities that Annamacharya managed to incorporate into his songs. In this he was clearly a forerunner of composers such as Purandara Dasa and Tyagaraja.

 

Annamacharya’s music attracted the attention of the ruling king Saluva Narasimha of Penukonda. The mutual affection soon turned sour when the ruler desired that Annamacharya compose an erotic song on him. The composer refused and remained steadfast in his resolution of singing only in praise of Vishnu.  The king saw the light and once again became devoted to the composer.

 

Annamacharya composed twelve shatakas (sets of 100 verses) in praise of deities. He also created prabandas, wrote the Venkatachala Mahatmiya and composed the Ramayana in Telugu in dwipada metre. He also authored the Sangita Lakshanam, a treatise on music in Sanskrit. This is now lost, but its translation in Telugu by his grandson Chinna Tirumalacharya survives.

 

Annmacharya’s was obviously a very creative family, for his first wife Timmakka composed a set of verses with Subhadra Kalyanam as its theme. Annamacharya’s son Pedda Tirumalacharya composed songs in the style of his father and wrote several works. His son Chinna Tirumalacharya wrote Annamacharya’s biography. The family was evidently well-to-do for there are records of their having donated villages to the Tirumala and other temples for the daily conduct of several rituals. Annamacharya is credited with introducing the ceremonial bathing of Venkateswara every Friday, a practice that continues till date. The descendants of the family are honoured at the temple even today.

 

During his lifetime, Annamacharya was well known. Chinna Tirumalacharya states that Purandara Dasa met Annmacharya and the similarities in the songs Saranu Saranu Surendra Vandita and Saranu Saranu Surendra Sevita, respectively by the two composers; both in Malavi Raga are offered as internal evidence. There are doubts expressed about the meeting also as there is some confusion on dates. Annamacharya’s sons Narasinganna, Chinna Tiruvengalanatha and Pedda Tirumalacharya have been praised as poets and scholars by Tenali Ramakrishna, the scholar of Krishnadeva Raya’s court. The icons of Annmacharya and Pedda Tirumalacharya were carved on either side of the first gopuram of the Kalyana Venkateswara shrine in Srinivasa Manga Puram near Tirupati. This was done at the instance of Chinna Tirumalacharya who renovated the temple. An idol of Annamacharya also exists at this temple. This shrine also houses the idols worshipped by Annamacharya’s family.

 

The songs of Annamacharya were originally on palm leaf manuscripts. Some of his palm leaf manuscripts are at the Tanjavur Saraswati Mahal Library. His son Pedda Tirumalacharya got them inscribed on copper plates between 1525 and 1545 and these were stored in a chamber called the Sankirtana Bhandaramu in the Tirumala premises. Later songs and works of other members of the Tallapaka family were also transferred to copper plates and added to this repository. This structure has the statues of Annamacharya and his son Pedda Tirumalacharya on either side. Over the years, the copper plates were forgotten and Annamacharya himself faded from memory. In 1816, AD Campbell, a Government officer first recorded the existence of these plates and sent a deputation to inspect them. On coming to know that they contained “nothing but voluminous hymns in praise of the Deity”, they were left as they were.  In 1904, Subbarama Diskhitar, writing his monumental Sangita Sampradaya Pradarsini recorded a brief narrative on ‘Tallapaka Chinnayya’ and credited him with being the founder of the Bhajana Paddhati. This must have been a reference to Chinna Tirumalacharya.

 

It was only in 1922 that the temple authorities took steps to retrieve the copper plates and had them restored and coated with gold by the Madras Museum. Vetturi Prabhakara Sastry, the eminent Telugu scholar and a team working with him began the study of the songs in 1947. The first Vardhanti Festival of Annamcharya was celebrated by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) in 1949 and since then, all the available songs have been brought out in print in 32 volumes.

 

The music of the songs as originally set by Annamacharya is lost. These are now sung to tunes set by musicians such as Rallapalli Ananthakrishna Sarma, M Balamuralikrishna and Nedunuri Krishnamurthy. That said, it must also be placed on record that it was MS Subbulakshmi’s rendition of them, released as a series of audio cassettes by the TTD that made the songs extremely popular. Today they are an integral part of Carnatic concert repertoire even as scholars continue studying and pondering over the lyrics. At times, one can only wonder at the ways of providence and the genius of Annamacharya.

 

 

 

Ananda Bhairavi

Ananda bhairavi

 

 

Ananda bhairavi is an ancient raga, which has its origins in the folk traditions of South India. It is a janya of the 20th mELakartA naTabhairavi. Around the beginning of the 18th century, the raga underwent important changes in its structure. SvarAs that were foreign to its structure were added to it, making it the rAga we know today. The modern Ananda Bhairavi as it is rendered now can be said to be the contribution of Syama Sastri, one of the Trinity.

It is classified as a  ShADava sampUrNa vakra, which means it has six notes (ShADava) in the ascent and all seven (sampUrNa) in descent and the notes are not in order but take a twisted route (vakra).

 

·         ArOhaNa :  S sAdharaNa G catushruti R sAdhAraNa G shuddha M P catushruti D P S

·         avarOhaNa :S kaishiki N D P M G R S.

·          

The foreign notes in any rAgA are called anya svarAs and in the case of Ananda bhairavi the variants of antara G, shuddha D and kAkali N are present. Such rAgAs are called bhAShAnga rAgAs. M and G are considered the life line notes of the rAga. SGRGM, SGM, SGGM, SMGRS etc., are very pleasing svara patterns as also double notes such as GG and MM. These have been extensively used by Syama Sastri.

 

Syama Sastri’s handling of Ananda bhairavi merits special mention. In all there are eight compositions or so of Syama Sastry in this rAga. Four of his compositions are famous. Two of them, marivErE gati and O jagadambA have glittering ciTTasvara-sAhityas. His pAhi shrI girirAjasutE is considered a perfect picture of this rAga. His only varnam sAmini rammanavE is in this rAga. His himAcala tanaya, which was originally set to Sastry’s characteristic cApu tAla, is nowadays rendered in Adi tALa. Muttuswami Dikshitar’s contribution to Ananda bhairavi is also monumental. He has composed the first of the Kamalamba navAvaraNa kritis in this rAga. Other famous compositions of his are tyAgarAja yOga vaibhavam, mAnasa guruguha (the second of the Guru Guha vibhakti compositions), daNDAyudhapANim and AnandEshvarENa. Of these tyAgarAja yOga vaibhavam is considered to be the crown jewel in this rAga, It employs rare instances of prosody in the lyrics. daNDAyudhapANim is on the deity at Palani and is a grand and moving piece. There is an interesting story behind AnandEshvarENa. Once, D.K. Pattammal went to Kanchipuram, had darshan of the Kanchi Paramacharya and sang this song before him. The Paramacharya after expressing appreciation, asked her to desist from singing the song in concerts. The song according to him ought to be sung only for pujas, in the presence of sanyAsIs and yatIs, and in temples. Kavi Matrubhutayya, one of the composers attached to the court of Tanjore, has given us nI mati callaga, a very moving piece in this rAga. This was often used as pAtra pravEsha (signature tune for a character) in stage plays and was particularly popularised by SV Subbaiah Bhagavatar who later released a 78 rpm record of it. The dance opera kuTTrAla kuravanji has many songs based in Ananda bhairavi. Swati Tirunal’s pAhi tarakshu purAlaya on the deity at Vaikkom is a very well structured piece in the rAga.

 

While elaborating on the rAga, it is considered essential to dwell periodically on the note sequence SPS. Interestingly both Syama Sastry’s pAhi shrI and Dikshitar’s tyAgarAja yOga open on the same sequence of notes.  There are only three compositions of Tyagaraja in this raga, all of them minor pieces. His kshIrasAgara vihArA is quite popular. Almost all the major composers have composed in Ananda Bhairavi. Veena Kuppayyar’s aTa tALa varnam sAmi nI pai is a veritable lesson in this rAga. The pada varnam in Tamizh of Ponniah of the Tanjore Quartette, sakhiyE inda vELayil is popular on the dance stage. Ananda bhairavi is popular on the dance stage also. Kuchipudi dance makes extensive use of this rAga.

 

The closeness of the rAga to rItigauLa has always posed a challenge to musicians while elaborating on it. Dwelling on the N for prolonged periods of time is not allowed in Ananda bhairavi for that is a feature of rItigauLa. It is also necessary that the phrase SPS be brought in at intervals to maintain its identity. Given the slow gait of the rAga it has never been taken up for detailed delineation by most of the prominent artistes, though they all rendered songs in it. Fortunately such has been the enormous corpus of songs in it that the rAga continues to hold the status of a major one.

 

Among artistes renditions, T. Brinda and T. Mukta’s renditions of marivErE gati and tyAgarAja yOga vaibhavam have been exquisite. Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer also excelled in his renditions of marivErE gati, nI mati callaga, tyAgarAja yOga vaibhavam and pAhi tarakshu pura.  DK Pattammal has often taken up tyAgarAja yOga vaibhavam for rendition in her concerts. Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Iyengar and Madurai Mani Iyer were very well known for their renditions of mAnasa guruguha and O jagadamba. Continuing the tradition, KV Narayanaswami and TV Sankaranarayanan too have often rendered mAnasa guruguha most evocatively. Balamuralikrishna is known for his moving rendition of kshIra sAgara vihAra and palukE bangAramAyana. MD Ramanathan used to render O jagadamba in his own cauka style, moving his audiences. The American Bhagavatar, Jon Higgins made tyAgarAja yOga vaibhavam his own. GN Balasubramaniam used to render davaLarUpa and sAmagAna priyE with flourishes characteristic to his style.

 

Ananda bhairavi is very popular as a rAga to be included in rAgamAlikas and in viruttams and shlOka renditions. karpagavalli nin, a four rAga suite often rendered by TM Soundararajan begins with Ananda bhairavi. It is also very popular as a rAgamAlika svara choice in pallavi singing. Instrumentalists put it to good use in their performances. The film world has also not lagged behind in utilising Ananda bhairavi. One good example is the song in the Tamil film Karnan, pOi vA magaLE pOi vA. This song in chaste Ananda bhairavi was tuned by Viswanathan-Ramamurti. In the film Hamse Geethe, ML Vasanthakumari and BK Sumitra have rendered a Gita Govindam piece in this rAga. The melody has been used for comedy too. In the classic Tooku Tooki, pyAri nimbaL mElE namki mazaa, a duet between TS Balaiah (playing a Hindi Seth whose knowledge of Tamizh is weak) and Lalitha (playing a scheming princess) has a major portion set in Ananda bhairavi.

 

Its easy identification makes it very popular with the average concert goer and the classicist alike. Ananda bhairavi therefore plays a major role in attracting the lay listener to Carnatic Music. At the same time it cannot be classified a light rAga and hence it acts as a bridge in helping the listeners graduate from the melodic to the sublime.