A Study of Decorative Angas found in Svati Tirunal Kritis

This is an article published for Pranav Journal of Fine Arts, a peer reviewed Journal.

Abstract
Svati Tirunal(16 April 1813 – 26 December 1846) was born in the Travancore royal family. He was the musician among the Kings and the King among the musicians. He was a prolific composer and is renowned for his outstanding literary works and musical compositions. His ambition was to assimilate the best in all traditions and reutilize the native heritage. In this paper, a humble attempt is made to give an overview of the decorative angās found in Svati Tirunal Compositions.

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#12-Sample Research Proposal in Music

This post is for all music students who do not have an idea as to how to write a research proposal when they clear Ph.D Entrance Exam and are supposed to submit a Research Proposal to the concerned University. I have been receiving many mails requesting for this by the student community. Actually this is a basic draft and it includes the Titles and Sub Titles that are most essential for any Research Proposal. The sample topic dealt here is Kamakshi Navavaranams composed by Oothukkad Venkata Subbaiyer.

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#25-The Origin of Music – Sangeethothpaththi-Part 1

शङ्करं पार्वति नत्वा द्रुष्टवाचेदं वचो ब्रवीत

संगीता शास्त्रम् हे नाथ ! मह्यं वद  सुखप्रदम्   ||

shankaram pārvathi nathwaa drushtwaachedam vacho braveeth

                  sangeetha sāsthram he naadha ! mahyam vada sukhapradam              ||

Once Pārvathi bowed respectfully to Lord Parameswara and asked. “Oh Lord! Could you please explain about the science and origin of music that gives transcendent bliss to all the creatures in this Universe ? ”.

Lord said to his consort. Hey ! Pārvathi. Please listen carefully. I created the Panchabhoothās and the Saptaswarās that form the base of Sangeetha Sāsthra from my 5 faces.

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Holy Navarathri-2015

Once again, the auspicious Navarathri has started. As mentioned earlier in this blog, Navarathri is the worship of Goddess in the forms of Durga , Lakshmi and Saraswathi on nine days followed by Vijayadasami on the tenth day. The first three days we worship Goddess Durga who is “Durgathi Haarini “, one who removes all evil thoughts and evil tendencies from our mind.The aspect of “Tamo Guna” characterised by Mahishasura – the embodiment of greed, absolute laziness(jadatwam) is completely destroyed. Hence she is described as Mahishasura Mardhini.

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#10-Attur Krishna Pisharody

It was a pleasant surprise for me when I recieved a mail from a person named Jayakrishan from US, introducing himself as a scientist and the great grandson of Sri.  Attur Krishna Pisharodi, a vainika and musicologist. Sri. Attur Krishna Pisharody is known for his magnum opus work Sangeetha Chandrika which is a treatise of music. 

 

Sri Attur Krishna Pisharody

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#9-Ubhaya Vakra Raga Rithigowla- Analysis of Janani Ninuvinaa

Continuing with the Third Ubhaya Vakra Raga in the series.

Raga Rithigowla-a rakti raga- with a mesmerising melody  is taken up with an Analysis of the Krithi Janani Ninivinaa by Subbraya Sastri, the son and disciple of the Great Syama Sastri. Both Syama Sastri and Subbaraya Sastri composed krithis and the highlight is the content of the krithi,  which would literally be a personal conversation of a Child to his Mother ! The dialogues are mostly, Who is there to take care of me other than you ! 

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#8-Ubhaya Vakra Raga Sahana- Analysis of Giripai Nelakonna Ramuni

Continuing with the Second Ubhaya Vakra Raga in the series. Raga Sahana-a rakti raga- with high melodic content is taken up with an Analysis of the Krithi Giripai Nelakonna Ramuni by Saint Tyagaraja. Of course, the Krithi is in praise of Lord Rama.

Tyagaraja had got a vision of Rama who promised him salvation in 10 days. This Tyagaraja reminds Rama (kaluvarinchagani padipUTalapai, gaachEdanani). ‘You promised me salvation in 10 days.

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#7-Ubhaya Vakra Raga Neelambari – Analysis of Amba Neelayatakshi

Here is an attempt to present a series of Analysis of Ubhaya Vakra Ragas –  Neelambari, Sahana and Ritigowla with respect to the krithis composed by Muthuswamy Dikshitar,Tyagarajar and Subbaraya Sastri respectively.

Ubhaya Vakra means that the notes in both ascent and descent follow a zig zag pattern. The vakra phrases lends a unique beauty to these ragas.

The first raga chosen is Neelambari and the Krithi is the immortal Amba Neelayathakshi set to 2 kalai Adi Talam. This Krithi is about the goddess Neelayadakshi. Neelayadakshi means the one with the blue eyes. She is in the form of a pubescent girl, and is believed to be one of the Shakti Peetams. She is also considered to be one among the five most important goddesses, all in different stages of life. These are – Visalakshi (Kashi – Child), Kamakshi (Kanchi – young girl), Neelayadakshi (Nagai – pubescent), Kamalambigai (Thiruvarur – young woman) and Meenakshi (Madurai – married woman).

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#24-Classification of Raga on the Basis of Gender

Though Ragas can be classified under several heads like Shadava, Audava, Sampoorna, Swarantara, Bhashanga, Upanga, Vakra etc, this particular post lays emphasis on the aspect of classifying ragas according to gender-male, female and neuter ragas.

Narada was the first to introduce the concept of classifying ragas according to masculine(male), feminine(female) and neuter(Napumsaka) groups.

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#6-Analysis of Sree Subramanyaya Namasthe- Kamboji

An analysis of the Grand Composition of Muthuswami Dikshithar “Sree Subramanyaya Namasthe “in the Grand Raga Kamboji is attempted in this article. Dikshithar has composed this krithi in 2 Kalai Rupaka Talam. Perhaps, Dikshithar is the only composer who has composed krithis in 2 kalai Rupakam. Kamboji is an ancient raga mentioned in musical treatises like Sangeetha Ratnakaram,Sangeetha Makaranda, Sangeetha Samayasara. The raga has its name “Takkesi” in Tamil Pann and “Kamodari” in Kathakali Sangeetham.

 

Kumaraguru

Click here for the  Analysis of Sree Subramanyaya Namasthe- Kamboji