Fw: [RaamaBhakthi] Saint Narayana Theertha , The Author of " KrishNa LeelA Tarangini" (1675-1746 A.D)

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The Hindu : Friday Review Chennai / Tribute : Tracing Tirtha's glory

 

Online edition of India's National Newspaper

Friday, Mar 03, 2006

 

 

SrI:

 

Dear SangItha RasikAs & KrishNa BhakthAs :

 

The slOkams of Sri Krishna Leela TarangiNi were sung in front of the Lord

and approved by AnjanEya , who kept time (TaaLam) . These are divine songs

by the great Saint composed at VarahUr PerumAL Sannidhi . I hope one of

these days , we can focus on Sri NaarAyaNa Theerthar's divine compositions.

 

V.Sadagopan , Moderator

 

P.S : Here is anarticle from March 3 , 2006 Version in The Hindu.

 

> Tracing Tirtha's glory

 

> T.S. PARTHASARATHY

>

> Hailed as South Indian Jayadeva, Sri Narayana Tirtha's

> Krishna Leela Tharangini blends devotion with melody.

>

>

>

>

> When the sway of the Vijayanagar empire was extended to cover

> the whole of Tamil Nadu, there was large scale migration of scholars and

> musicians, into Thanjavur and Madurai and they were patronised by the

> Nayak rulers there. Most of them were Telugus but there were Kannadigas

> also like Govinda Dikshitar, father of Venkatamakhi.

>

> The South Indian bhajana sampradaya was almost exclusively

> nourished by the works of a few Advaitic scholars and musicians. most of

> who were Telugus and wre sanyasins. They included Narayana Tirtha,

> Bodhendra Swami of Govindapuram, Sridhara Venkatesa (Ayyaval) of

> Tiruvisainallur, Sadasiva Brahmendra and Sadguru Swami, Marudanallur. They

> firmly established the `Nama Siddhanta' tradition in Tamil Nadu.

>

> Narayana Tirtha, author of `Krishna Leela Tarangini,' is hailed

> as the `South Indian Jayadeva' because there are several similarities

> between him and the Oriya poet who wrote the `Gita Govindam.' Both were

> ardent devotees of Krishna.While Jayadeva's work is based on the

> Radha-Krishna episode in the `Brahma Vaivarta Purana,' Narayana Tirtha's

> work is a condensed version of the Dasamaskandha of the `Srimad

> Bhagavatam.' Both the plays are of the `gaya natakam' variety.

>

> There are several theories about Narayana Tirtha's birthplace

> and the year of his birth, but scholars prefer Kaza near Guntur as his

> native village and 1675 as the year of his birth. His family name was

> Tallavajjala. Early in life he mastered Sanskrit, Carnatic music and

> Bharata Sastra. He was ordained as a sanyasin by Sivarama Tirtha to whom

> he pays obeisance in his work.

>

> Led by Divine will

>

>

> It is stated that when Narayana Tirtha was on his way to

> Thanjavur district he was afflicted with a severe stomach ailment and

> prayed to Lord Venkateswara for relief. A divine voice told him to follow

> the first object he saw the next morning. This happened to be a boar,

> which led him to Varahur (Bhupatirajapuram). Tirtha settled down in the

> village and rendered yeoman service to Carnatic music.

>

> His `Krishna Leela Tarangini' is the lengthiest musical play in

> Sanskrit and comprises 12 tarangams, which contain 147 kirtanas, 267

> slokas, 30 gadyams, 30 derus and link passages.

>

> In his introduction, Narayana Tirtha gives a synopsis of the

> story from the birth of Krishna to his marrying eight wives. The composer

> writes a simple but unique style in which all the literary graces such as

> assonance, and rhyming and liquid sounds are blended to create a total

> picture of idea, sound and melody.

>

> He signed his songs as `Vara Narayana Tirtha', `Siva Narayana

> Tirtha' and `Yati Narayana Tirtha'. `Jaya Jaya Gokula Bala' is, perhaps,

> the most popular song from the Tarangini. Its original raga was Kurinji

> but it was later converted into a ragamalika. by Tiruvotriyur Tyagayyar in

> Bhairavi, Atana, Kambhoji, Kalyani and Surati.

>

>

> It is believed that Narayana Tirtha was closely associated with

> the Bhagavata Mela tradition of Melattur. `Krishna Leela Tarangini' is a

> treasure, which deserves to be cherished by litterateurs, musicians and

> dancers.

>

> The Tirupoonthuruthi Festival Committee is conducting the 260th

> aradhana of the saint composer at Tirupoonthuruthi, 13 km from Thanjavur,

> where Narayana Tirtha is said to have attained samadi, for three days

> beginning on March 5.

>

> Musicians will render tharangams on all the days. Unchavriti,

> Namasankirtanam, Harikatha and special puja will also form part of the

> festival.