Reply to Devi Kriti

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Dear Asok Avargale,

 

I have come home just after an academic engagement.I wanted to reply to your email before but now have the 'madhurathara' moment to do it.

 

The coincidental thing in your query is that:

The first song was sung in Telugu by a Tamil

And the second song was sung by a Keralite Pattar in Tamil!

 

I type it as I hear the song sung by MS Subbulakshmi Garu!

 

 

 

The song Jagajjanai manOmaNi...you have asked actually has been composed by Pallavi Gopala Iyer in those days.(In days of yore, Vadama Iyer Brahmins are purported to have emnated from Deccan and Andhra region and thus has substantive knowledge of Telugu and thus composed songs in Telugu, though of later-day Dramila association).

 

 

 

Sri Pallavi Gopala Iyer : Lived during the later part of 17th and early part of 18th centuries .He was the Aasthaana Vidwan in the courts of King Sharabhoji(corrupted name by Britsh--Serfoji) and King Amar Singh, when they ruled down South.

 

Disciple of Pachimiriyam adiyappa,Sri Gopala Iyer was the earliest vidwan to have been honoured with the title, "Pallavi", for his outstanding skill in the exposition of this branch of Manodharma sangeetam(of which even MS Subbulakshmi Garu is an exponent).He is author of three classical ata varnams (in Kalyani, Kambhoji and Todi).Apart from this, he has composed kritis with gamaka prayogas.He was a pri-trinity composer(much before Thyagaraya-Muthuswamy Deekshitar and Shyamashastri ie.,)

 

Smthy.M.S.Subbulakshmi Garu has sung the song in a superb fashion.I was amazed at the perfection.It seems she used to practice any song which had to sung in lublix or for a recording atleast 100 times! and she used to say thus:"If one practices 100 times a song which one already knows,then it will come somewhat OK during the cutchery" This should be a guiding lesson for modern day composers, who come with inadequate preparation and just to bamboozle audience and get applause from them.

 

 

 

It is surprising that you ask this question and me answering it today,because just yesterday I had the darshan of the great singer in my dream after I did my japa and slept thinking about her for some strange reason.She came in the dream(early morning time) and even had lunch in our home all the time looking at me with strange motherly affection and blessed me saying that I was her son in somepast birth.Though the fact did not surprise me much even in the dream as I had privy to that knowledge much before this dream and also indications by way of my current physical mother(who resembles her very much!) but to get the blessings of a Punyaathma who has reached the Punyapretha loka was a real boon and that too from someone who had done such music Sadhana.

 

 

 

 

Below are the lyrics of the song.

 

nIDu caraNa. rAgA: kalyANi. Adi tALA.

 

Pallavi: nIdu caraNa pankajamulE gatiyani nera nammiyunna nannu brOvamamma!Anupallavi: Adi kAraNi purANi akhilANDa janani Anata kIrvANi nAda bindu kalAtIta magu Anandavalli natajana kalpavalliCharanam: rAjarAjeshvari tripura bhairavi mAkALi madhukara vENi I jagAna nIdu sari vElpu vendu gAnamamma O jagajjanani manOnmaNi OmkAra rUpiNi kalyANi tEjarilluccu velayu nI mUrtini dina dinamu madini dalaci kolici

 

My translation of the song above:

 

Your feet are my sole refuge and my firm belief,please shower your Grace Amma!

You the Prime-Cause,Perfection manifest,the inchoatory cause of all universe and unending bliss, You who are beyond Naada,Bindu and Kalaa; in existence be! You who are ever in Bliss and in the worshipped of those who dance in divine exuberance; in existence be!

 

Hail Rajarajeshwari! Tripura Bhairavi! Maakaali! Madhukaraveni!

This song is for you to protect the Universe and this forms the curx of my prayer.Hail! Jaganmohini! Hail! Manonmani! Omkararupini! Kalyaani! you shineforth in these verysame forms!

 

I for one think of your form in my mind day in and day out and worship it with reverence.

(Sorry for any defects in the translation)

 

You can hear the song sung by MS.Subbulakshmi here:

http://www.esnips.com/doc/56e30bcb-9c41-43c9-be90-ea81bbebf640/Needu-Charana

 

 

 

You next song has been composed and put to tune by none other than Sri Papanasam Sivam.

 

 

 

Entirely different from the above composition in its bhava is ‘Nanoru Vilayattu Bommaya’ in Navarasa Kannada Ragam.

 

Here the composer is asking the universal mother, “Oh Mother of the universe! am I a toy for you to play with? I have suffered enough in this world. Are you are not moved by my pitiable condition? I am exhausted, I can play no more. I have submitted fully at your feet.â€

 

This composition has such a depth of feeling which moves our hearts. The listener’s heart melts at the pathos and anguish in the song. The selection of raga Navarasa Kannada(know to exhibit such pathos) also is very apt. The Sancharas reveal the underlying bhava of the composition to its maximum.

 

http://www.oruclip.net/video/g-f_sQOavOs/NAAN-ORU-VILAYATTU-BOMMAIYA.html

{You can watch a clipping of the song here,sung by Master Balamurali Krishna(not the popular Telugu artise but a younger musician)}

 

(Though I did not appreciate this young musicians Mano-dharma or antics with his hands which distracted me, his voice is sureela and mellifluous and thus compensates very much for the Gimmicky gesticulations.There is no justification for such funny gesticulations, which seem to "brush away","bring forth something in arghya posture",etc the divine exuberance of Papanasam Sivam's Bhakthi inebriated song.In effect, one must also bring the Bhava with an inner-manodharma and that comes not by just producing a beautiful cutchery effect with the voice and gamakas but by one's body language also.Body is the mirror of the soul in these cases.However, the song rendered was great, if you close your eyes and hear it i.e.!! After hearing the song, I sang the whole song to my music-ignorant wife, who appreciated it and said it was a nice and divine song.She was smirking and laughing

at the "brushing away" gestures of the singer.It thus depends on the singer, who has a duty to put the listeners in divine rapture.)

 

 

Papanasam sivan in his 'bliss-moments'

 

naan oru viLayaattu bommaiyaa

raagam: navarasa kannaDa

taaLam: aadi Composer:

Paapanasam Sivan

Language: Tamil

 

pallavi:- nAnoru viLaiyATTu bommaiyA jagannAyakiyE umaiyE undanukku anupallavi:- nAnilattil pala piravi eduttu tiNDADinadu pOdAdA! undhnukku

caraNam:- aruLamudaip-paruga ammA ammA-venraluruvadaik-kETpadAnandamA oru pughalinri un tiruvaDi aDaindEnE tiruvuLLam irangAdA undanukku

 

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSr496QGNb4 & feature=related

This is a decent effort by Nithyashri Mahadevan.She has displayed considerable Manodharma in the song.Except that facial gesticulations also must be kept to the minimum in a sabha(People get put-off by the show of nostrils with an uplifted head of a singer.Sabhasaraswathy must be respected.But this is a small defect when compared to the other positive aspects which much over-shadow this small error.)

 

You can hear the song from her grandma too Sri D.K.Pattammal Garu here:

http://www.raaga.com/channels/carnatic/movie/CL00073.html

 

Even Sri MS Subbulakshmi Garu has sung the song.

 

Born to Ramathirth Iyer and Yogambal at Polakkam in Tanjavoor, Ramayya (his maiden name) spent better part of his days in Thiruvananthapuram. With the demise of his father Sivan’s family migrated to this city in 1897, as the then reigning Maharaja was a great patron. He joined the Sanskrit School Fort, Thiruvananthapuram.

 

Sivan always trotted, leaving his mother alone. HE went to Trichy and Papanasam. There he composed many hymns on Lord Siva and the people christened him Papanasam Sivan. Cinema began to talk in Tamil with Kalidas (1931) directed by H M Nagi Reddy and produced by Ardeshir Irani-the maker of Alam Ara the first Indian Talkie. Seeking greener pastures Sivan reached Chennai and composed music for stage plays. He taught music to all the six children of Advocate Sundaram Iyer. The youngest is none other than Veenai S Balachander.

 

 

V Santharam sought help of film buffs to make a movie in Tamil based on the story of Sairendri. This film released in 1931 is the first color film in India. Film aspirants like Muthuswami Iyer, A.k Sekhar, K Ramanath, G K Seshagiri, ADV. Sundaram Iyer and family decidedto meet Santharam at his residence at Kolhapur. Sivan accompanied them. Thus he ventured into a new field. He wrote the lyrics and composed them for the films Seethakalyanam and Pavalakodi at Kolhapur. Pavalakodi had 50 songs!!(Hum-apke-Hain-Kaun is defeated before this film!)Sivan became very popular. Naveena Sarangadhara (1936) Chintamani and Ambikapathi(1937) were screened for more than a year. Old timers still remember the following numbers:

Radhae unakku kopam akathadi, Natakame ulakam, Manmada leelaei vendrar undo, Krishna mukunda murarae, Dheena karunakarane nataraja and Ma ramanan uma ramanan. His secret of success was that he chose the right ragas to suit thesinger’s musicial qualities. Remember those were the days when play back singing was unknown.Sivan tried his hand in acting as well. Bhakta kuchela(1936) Thyagabhoomi(1939) and kubera kuchela(1943). In spite of being a busy bee in the tinsel world, he never ignored classical music his first love.

 

Naan oru vilayattu bommaya(navarasa Kannada)(which you have asked), Saravana bhava ennum(shanmugha priya), nekhuruki(abhogi) are a few of his master pieces. Karaikkal ammaaiyar, Sree rama charita geetham are the two immortal works of Sivan. The later s a compilation of 24 songs in 24 ragas and is considered equivalent to the 24000 slokas in Valmiki Ramayana.D K Pattammal, Madurai Mani Iyer, M S Subbalekshmi, D K Jayaram, learned music under him for a brief period.

 

 

Sivan was closely associated with Dr. Rukmini Devi Arundale, and Kalkshetra. He composed many songs for dance drama presented by Rukmini. In 1973, he was made a fellow of the Kendra Sangita Nataka Academy and was conferred Padma Bhooshan. He passed away on first of October in the same year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shreeram Balijepalli

Hreem Rajarajeshwari Paradevatha!

Purity, Powers, Parabrahmam...