Divya Prabandham - Introduction

For the past few months, I have been working as part of a mammoth archival project initiated by DD-Podhigal TV channel. The channel has taken up the task of recording the 'Naalaayira Divya Prabandham', amongst its various other archival projects.

We have been taking up samples from each of the Azhwar's works and this programme titled 'Azhwargalum Amudha Thamizhum' is telecast from 7.10 a.m to 7.40 a.m, every Saturday (and a repeat telecast from 9 a.m to 9.30 a.m on the following Thursday).

So far, we have completed the works of the first three Azhwars, having chosen a sample of 16 verses each, from the total of 100 verses in each.

Verses from the next Azhwar, Thirumazhisai Azhwar's work, called 'Naanmugan Thiruvanthaadhi' are being telecast now. I propose to list the verses and give their meanings here as weekly posts, soon after each episode is telecast. (Each episode covers about 3 to 4 verses, commencing with commentary for the particular verse by Sri.Tha.Ku.Subramaniam, followed by the verse being rendered by me.)

I thought I would give in this post, a brief introduction to 'Divya Prabandham' and in the next post titled 'Divya Prabandam-Part 1',about the first three Azhwars' works:

INTRODUCTION:

Azhwar means "One who immerses himself". The Azhwars deeply immersed themselves in their devotion and Bhakti towards Lord Narayana. The Azhwars are reported to be incarnations of the weapons used by the Lord, like the Vanamaali, the Garuda, conch, mace, sword etc.

The wisdom of the Azhwars was the direct result of the Lord's divine grace and therefore called ' Divyam'. It is because of this that the works of the Azhwars are collectively called ' Divya Prabandham'.These are a set of 4000 poems (paasurams).

The Azhwar Pasurams are arranged as under:

1. Mudhalaayiram (1000)

* Periyaazhwar Thirumozhi:473
* Thiruppavai:30
* Naachiyar Thirumozhi:143
* Perumal Thirumozhi:105
* Thiruchchanda Virutham:120
* Thirumaalai:45
* Thiruppalli Ezhuchi:10
* Amalanaadhipiraan:10
* Kanni Nun Chiruthambu:11

Total:947

2.Irandamayiram (2000)

* Periya Thirumozhi:1084
* Thiruckurundhandagam:20
* Thiru Nedundhaandagam:30

Total:1134

3.Moondrayiram (3000)

* Thiruvai Mozhi:1102

Total:1102

4. Naalaamaayiram (4000)

* Mudhal Thiruvanthaadhi:100
* Irandam Thiruvanthaadhi:100
* Moondram Thiruvanthaadhi:100
* Naan Mugan Thiruvanthaadhi:96
* Thiruvirutham:100
* Thiruvaasiriyam:7
* Periya Tjorivamdhaadhi:87
* Thiru Ezhu Kootru Irukai:1
* Siriya Thirumadal:40
* Periya Thirumadal:78
* Iramanuja Nootrandhadhi:108

Total:817

Mudhalayiram(1st 1000): 947
Irandaayiram (2nd 1000): 1134
Moondrayiram(3rd 1000):1102
Naalaayiram( 4th 1000):817
Total: 4000
Poigai Azhwar, Budat Azhwar and Pey Azhwar are the first three Alwars ( Mudal Alwars).
They were contemporaries who were born in the same year, in the same month, in the same Suklapaksha on successive Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday respectively.

Poigai Azhwar is believed to be an incarnation of Paanchajanyam(the divine conch of Lord Vishnu,called Sanghu in Tamil). He appeared on the lotus bud in a pond (Poigai)in Tiruvekka near Kanchipuram.

Budat Azhwar, an incarnation of Kaumodhaki (the divine mace of Lord Vishnu) appeared in a Kurukkatti flower in Mahabalipuram, also near Kanchipuram where the Lord instead of reclining on his divine couch of Adisesha, reclines on the floor and hence is called ' Stala Sayana Perumal'.

Pey Azhwar, an incarnation of Nandaki (the divine sword of Lord Vishnu) appeared in a red lily flower (sevvalli) in the well of the temple of Adhikesava Perumal at Mylapore, Madras.

(To be continued in the next post...)

Children Academy

In the 1980's, Children Academy was one of the premier organizations in Chennai which used to conduct music competitions for children and more importantly, give short-duration concert opportunities for the prize-winners of these competitions.

This used to be a great motivation for us to participate in these competitions. Artists like S.P.Ramh, Embar Kannan, S.Varadarajan, Punya Srinivas (she was A.K.Devi then) and several others were part of this group.

This organization was headed by Smt.Nalini Ramprasad and Sri.Koothapiran (fondly known as 'Vaanoli Anna'). In 1986, after winning the First prize in the competitions held by Children Academy, I was thrilled to get an opportunity to give the first concert in my life !!

Here is the photo where I receive the prize from Dr.S.Ramanathan.
(Smt.Nalini Ramprasad and Sri.Koothapiran are seen in the picture below):



This photo was taken during my debut concert.(And, yes, that is S.Varadarajan on the violin !!)




The same people who managed the Children Academy then, run an organization now,called, "Sri Matha Samarpanam Trust" in Chennai. Last month, they had conducted Vocal Music, Sloka recitation competitions for children in which my daughter, Vishruthi, had participated and won prizes. It was nice to have an occasion again in 2008 (after 1986!)with Smt.Nalini Ramprasad and Sri.Koothapiran giving away prizes ! Another coincidence was that Smt.Punya Srinivas (who was in my group participating and performing at Children Academy in 1986) was the chief guest at this function. She, alongwith her husband, mridangist Sri.D.A.Srinivas are seen in the picture.

DECEMBER 2008 CONCERT SCHEDULE

Here's my concert schedule during the Music Season in Chennai, from Dec'08 to Jan'09:

My Debut Concert in the December Music Season

Madras (Chennai) has always been well known for the December Music Festival which is a very grand affair every year and which has been attracting huge crowds from all over the world.





This concert was for Karthik Fine Arts on the 22nd of December,1990.

It is a very memorable one for two reasons :

1. It was my debut concert during the December Music Season in Madras (it was not called Chennai then!).
2. Since it was one among the afternoon slot concerts, I had to finish my Semester Exam at college and directly head to Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan where the concert was to take place. It was my first year in college. After a morning full of Fourier Series and Laplace Transformations (Mathematics was my major subject :-)), I had to get into the "Todi" mood !! In all, a totally new experience for me !!

Here is what I sang at this concert:

1.Sidhdhi Vinayakam - Mohanakalyani- Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavathar
2.Ninnu Cheppa - Mandari- Patnam Subramani Iyer
3.Tavaka Naamani - Kedaragowla - Maharaja Swati Tirunal
4.Vinaradhana - Devagandari - Tyagaraja
5.Kartikeya Gangeya - Todi - Papanasam Sivan
6.Surdas Bhajan
7.Jayadevar's Ashtapadi




This photo was taken on the 1st of December,2003 (thirteen years after my debut) when I received the "Isai Peroli" award from the same Sabha, Karthik Fine Arts.

This has been one among the many major Sabhas in the city which has supported and encouraged me over the years..

HAPPY DIWALI !!!

Hi Friends,

Here's wishing all bloggers, Music Rasikas and friends a very happy Diwali !

Hope you all have great fun on this festive occasion !

Its a season of crackers, yummy savouries (batchanam as we call it in Tamil,also not forgetting the "Diwali Marundu":-)) and sweets being prepared in every household !

Have lots and lots of fun !

Identifying Swaras in a Raga-Part 2

I would like to expand further on my previous discussion on identifying the swaras in a song/raga.

We earlier saw how the Melakartha Raga scheme could be used as a starting point for us to get familiarized with the usage of swaras in different Ragas.

Suppose we are listening to a Raga Alapana and our task is to identify the Raga. After identifying the inherent Swaras, the next confusion may arise due to similar scales(either in the ascending or descending order) between two Ragas. For instance, the ascending scale S-R(2)-M(1)-P-D(2)-S is common to both the Ragas Arabhi and Saama. When we listen to only the arohana(ascending scale) being sung, we start wondering if it is Arabhi or Sama. Let's now see how such a conflict can be resolved.

In case of similar scales like in Arabhi or Saama, we have to take a phrase that is common to both ragas and analyze it.Each Raga has its own grammar, a set of do's and don'ts. At this stage we need to look into a few more technical terms and aspects.

There are thirteen characteristics (Trayodasa Lakshanas) of a Raga, mentioned in treatises of Music and these characteristics establish the melodic entity of the Raga. A few among the thirteen, which are applicable in this context are the Graha swara(starting note), Nyasa swara(ending note),Amsa swara(or Jiva swara-the swara which is the actual soul of the raga), Alpatva(the note that should be sparingly used in the raga), Bahutva(the note that can be used frequently in the raga).

So, when we listen to the Alapana phrase that is being sung, with the Graha swara, Nyasa swara etc being correctly rendered, identification of the Raga becomes very easy. Compositions in each Raga fully comply with the grammar of the Raga. Hence listening to more and more compositions in a Raga helps one to get familiar with, and to identify the Raga.

Similar doubts may arise with allied Ragas like Madhyamavathi-Sriragam-Manirang-Pushpalathika, Janaranjani-Purnachandrika, Darbar-Nayaki, Bhairavi-Manji and so on.

As a further step, if we take into account the Gamaka (oscillation) given to a note, a phrase with the same set of swaras is sung differently in two different Ragas, because,even though the note is same,the oscillation given to that note differs from raga to raga. Again here, if the Raga is sung with correct adherence to its grammar, with repeated listening to the method of usage of Gamakas, identification of the raga/song with the help of its swaras becomes easier.

Identifying Swaras in a Raga-Part 1

This post is in response to a query that I got a few days back:

"What's the way to identify the swaras that form the backbone of a song?Have been told to get a fix of Sa,Pa and move relative to that. But find it tough when I listen to different singers."

Yes, the first step would be to fix Sa and Pa and proceed with this as the basis. One needs to first get a grasp of the positions of the different varieties of the Swaras,namely,Ri,Ga,Ma,Dha and Ni- how these different varieties are sequentially arranged on the octave, as one proceeds in the ascending order from Sa in the lower octave to the Sa in the upper octave, and vice versa, as one proceeds in the descending order from the Sa in the upper octave to the Sa in the lower octave.

One could get an idea of the same with the help of an instrument like the keyboard, or a fretted one like the Veena. Students of violin may also find this easier, beacuse they are taught about the fingering techniques at each of these swara positions.

After getting an idea about the placements of the different varieties of the Swaras, like the Sudhdha Rishabham-Chatusruthi Rishabham, Sadharana Gandharam-Antara Gandharam, Sudhdha Madhyamam-Prati Madhyamam and so on, relative to the Adhara Shadjam Sa and Panchamam Pa, the next step would be to know about the Ragas which arise from different permutations and combinations of these fundamental Swaras.

The basic Abhyasa Gana (learning and practise lessons)in our system of Music helps in one's attempt of getting familiarized with different Ragas. The Gitams, swarajatis, Jatiswarams have been composed in several fundamental ragas, easy for beginners to learn and get acquainted with the Raga scales.

The next possible step would be to get acquainted with the 72-Melakartha Raga System, the way these 72 Ragas have been beautifully and meaningfully divided into 12 Chakras with 6 Ragas each.Melakartha Ragas are also known as Sampurna Ragas meaning those which have all the seven basic notes. If one studies in detail as to how these ragas within a Chakra vary with respect to its swaras, identifying a Melakartha Raga with respect to its inherent Swaras becomes an easy task. For instance, with repeated listening to(or singing, or playing on an instrument) the notes of Ragas within a particular Chakra, one can start identifying the differences between Raga Charukesi and Raga Sarasangi(both belong to the 5th Chakra), or the difference between notes of Kalyani and Lathangi (both belong to the 11th Chakra).

The above was with respect to Parent or Sampurna Ragas. When we consider Janya or derived Ragas, we will have to first try and identify the varieties of the seven swaras present in the Raga (again relative to Sa and Pa) and trace it backwards to see which parent Raga it would belong to. For instance, if one were to listen to Sriranjani, it might first sound like the parent Raga Kharaharapriya. But on listening intently, a few Swarams will be missing, in comparison with the parent Melakartha Karaharapriya. So, a new Raga is now learnt, which sounds like Kharaharapriya, but which is not actually Kharaharapriya.

This is how,by repeated listening, one's repertoire of knowing different Raga names gradually improves and thus learning to identify the inherent Swaras in a song/Raga becomes more easy. Subsequently, mapping the swara varieties to the different Ragas also becomes easier.

I shall soon expand on this topic and write further.