Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Subramania Bharatiyar (contd..)

During Bharathiyaar's era patriotism and a thirst for freedom inspired
many a poet. While Bharathiyaar was not ashamed of proclaiming the
richness of his language (He frequently referred to Tamizh as his
"mother"), he was always an Indian first. He championed national
integration, when India had not yet achieved nationhood. He was
staunchly opposed to casteism. In a song entitled "VaanDhe maatharam"
he wrote:

jaathi madhangkazh paarome - oo-yar
janmam-ith thes-athiL A-E-thina raayin (A is pronounced as A in ABC..Z)
vethiya raayinum O-inre - un-ri
Veru kulathina raayinum O-inre

(We shall not discriminate based on caste or religion,
All human beings in this country - whether preaching
the vedas or involved in other professions - are equal)

Just as he did not discriminate based on caste, he did not discriminate
between religions as well. He sung the praise of many a Hindu
god/godess, and at the same time he wrote devotional songs on Jesus
Christ and Allah. Bharathiyaar was pained by the status of Indian
women during his time. He wrote:

Arivu koNda manitha oo-yirkazhai
Adimai yaaka mooyalpavar pitharaam

(Those who wish to imprison the human lives that
possess intelligence are insane).

He challenged and motivated women to fight for their rights. It is sad
to note that the women of India are still struggling for many of these
rights, more than seven decades after Bharathiyaar's time. Mahakavi
Bharathiyaar was a visionary who thought India should be a modern
industrial nation, where all citizens (irrespective of gender, religion
or caste) would be equal. He envisioned a great India:


Paaru-ku-izhe nalla nadu - A-ingazh (pronounce A as in ABC..Z)
Bharatha nadu

(A great nation in this world - our India).


I think Bharathiyaar's contribution to Tamizh and Indian literature is
second to none. He showed that you can be a devouted Hindu and still
sing the praise of Jesus or Allah. He showed that the love for your
language and heritage need not come in the way of your patriotism. I
think every Indian should be aware of this great Indian, and draw
inspiration from his words.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Subramania Bharathiyaar

Mahakavi Subramaniya Bharathiyaar was born in the year 1882. He was
lovingly called Subbiah during his younger days. At age 11, in the
court of the King of Ettayapuram, he was given the title "Bharathi."
The King and the poets in the court were astonished by Bharathi's
prodigious poetic talents. Later (1902-1904), Bharathi lived in
Ettayapuram and was the King's close friend. Bharathi was passionately
involved in the freedom movement. He worked as a school teacher and as
a journal editor at various times in his life. Bharathi died at a young
age of 39 (in 1921). But he left a legacy that is truly invaluable.

Bharathiyaar, as the Mahakavi is known in Tamizh, lived in an era when
India was still under British occupation. His devotion to Tamizh led
him to say:

yaamarintha mozhikazhi-le tamizhmozhi-pole
E-nithavathu engum kaaNOm

(Among all the languages I know, there is
none sweeter than Tamizh)

But at the same time, Bharathiyaar was fluent in many languages (incl.
Hindi, Sanskrit, Kuuch, English etc.) and frequently translated works
from other languages (Bengali, English) into Tamizh, thus showing that
one can love one's language/culture and yet be appreciative of other
languages/cultures.


Contd...

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Arunagirinathar (contd..)

The king apologized to Arunagiri and asked him to forgive. But still the minister want to take revenge on Arunagiri and told the king that since all the people had lost their eye-sight it can be brought back only through the 'Parijada' flower(It is a special kind of flower which is in heaven only). So the king requested Arunagiri to bring that flower from heaven since only he can do this.

Arunagiri decided to go to heaven and bring the flower. So he left the body and took a parrot's body and went. Meantime the Chief Minister known that he left the body and hided somewhere. So he searched the body and burnt it. When Arunagiri returned back he noticed that the body is no more.

But he was not disappointed since he knows the body is not the real thing. He went and sat in the form of parrot in the gopuram(gate). Today also it is called 'Kili gopuram'. Kili means parrot in Tamil language.

Arunagirinathar (contd..)

Even though he is devoted to Lord Subramanya he spent his youth life around a lot of women. He was fully immersed into that life and he got leprosy disease. Then all the women hated him and he realised his sin. He was very much distressed that he wasted his life without realising the god. So he decided to commit suicide from a gopuram(gate) of the Temple. While doing so Lord Subramanya held him with his hand and cured his disease.

Arunagiri was very much happy and got enlightened. Lord subramanya instructed him to write a set of poems called 'Thirupugazh' on his praise. Then arunagiri became a saint and started singing poems in praise of Lord Subramanya. He left all the lust towards women and devoted full time towards god.

He went to all temples of lord subramanya and sung poems. Then he left those places and returned to Tiruvannamalai. By seeing his saint-hood the king of Tiruvannamalai appointed him as official poet of the kingdom. But he was not interested even though he did not reject this.

By seeing this, the chief minister in his kingdom got jealous about Arunagiri. He started giving false information about Arunagiri to the king. He said that Arunagiri is not a real devotee of Lord Subramanya and fooling the people that he haD seen Lord Murugan.

So the king arranged a public gathering and asked Arunagiri to show Lord Subramanya to others also. Arunagiri started singing songs and soon after Lord Muruga appeared in a stone pillar in the form of child. He was so bright as equal to hundred of suns and the people were unable to see this with their ordinary eyes. Due to this everybody lost their eyes including the king and ministers.

To be continued.

Arunagirinathar

The holy land of India had given to the world many great saints and sages who have shown to humanity the correct way of leading a peaceful, happy and divine life. Among them Saint Arunagirinathar, who lived in the fifteenth century, had given to us nine most valuable gems of his works: Kandar Anubuthi, Kandar Alankaram, Kandar Andhathi, Thiruezhukuttrirukkai, Vel, Mayil, Cheval viruthangal and Thiru Vaguppugal. Aurunagiri's philosophy can easily be understood from these works.
Arunagiri was born in Thiruvannamalai, which is one of the sacred places in India held in great veneration by the Saivites. The very thought of this place is believed to confer release (mukthi). He was a great devotee of Murugan and this devotion to Murugan must have run in his blood, whether or not it was conscious. Such devotion seems to have been continuous, from generation to generation. It is also possible that Arunagiri felt he was a devotee of Murugan in his previous birth also.

Arunagiri is a great devotee of Lord Muruga who lived in Tiruvannamalai. Unlike the other saints he is very traditional and devoted to god since he lived long back. The name and fame came to him because he showed Lord Subramanya to everybody directly.

To be continued

Please listen to some of my uploads of songs composed by: Saint Arunagirinathar:

Monday, April 14, 2008

Annamacharya (contd)

Narayana Suri, the son of Narayanayya, did not have children for a long time. Narayana Suri and his wife Lakkamamba visited Tirumala Temple and while they were prostrating in front of the Holy Mast (Dhwaja Sthambha) a dazzling brilliance from the sword of Lord Venkateswara struck them like a lightening. Eventually a boy was born to them and they named him Annamayya. Annamayya became Annamacharya when the sage Ghana Vishnu at Tirumala converted him into a Vaishnavaite at the age of 8.

During his long and prolific career, Annamacharya composed and sang 32,000 Sankirtanas, 12 Satakas (sets of hundred verses), Ramayana in the form of Dwipada,SsankIrtana Lakshanam (Characteristics of sankIrtanas), Sringaara Manjari, and Venkatachala Mahatmamyam. His works were in Telugu, Sanskrit and a few other languages of India.

Chinnanna called the 32,000 Sankirtanas as 32,000 Mantras or Sacred Hymns. It was also recorded in Chinnanna’s Dwipada that Purandara Dasa, who was 70 years younger to Annamacharya, heard about the miracles of Annamacharya and visited him. Purandara Dasa paid his respects to Annamacharya by calling him the incarnation of Lord Venkateswara and his Sankirtanas as Sacred Hymns.

Annamacharya wrote the sankirtanas on palm leaves and later his son Tirumalacharya got them engraved on copper plates. But for reasons not known, most of these copper plates lay hidden in a rock built cell opposite to Hundi in the Tirumala temple unnoticed for over 400 years.

In 1922, twenty five hundred copper plates, comprising of about 14,000 sankIrtanas and a few other works, were found in a rock built cell, later named as Sankirtana Bhandagaram, opposite to the Hundi (donation box).

Ever since the discovery of this lost treasure, Tirumala Tirupati Devastanams (TTD) and other organizations in India are working hard to promote the music and literature of Annamacharya.

Annamacharya

Sri Tallapaka Annamacharya (1408-1503)

the mystic saint composer of the 15th century is the earliest known musician of South India to compose songs called “sankIrtanas” in praise of Lord Venkateswara, the deity of Seven Hills in Tirumala, India where unbroken worship is being offered for over 12 centuries. Annamcharya is believed to be the incarnation of Lord Venkateswara's. nandaka (Sword).

Annamacharya was born on Vaisakhapoornima in the year Sarwadhari (May 9, 1408) in Tallapaka, a remote village in Andhra Pradesh, and lived immaculately for 95 years until Phalguna Bahula Dwadasi (12th day after full moon) in the year Dhundhubhi (February 23, 1503). Annamacharya is believed to be the incarnation of Lord Venkateswara’s Nandaka or Sword. Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) have consecrated Annamacharya in two places, one in the Annamacharya Mandiram located in the Annamacharya Project Office premises at Tiruapati and the other one in Annamacharya temple at Tallapka the birth place of Annamcharya.

It is believed that in the 10th century a big famine broke out in Varanasi and scores of scholars migrated to southern part of India for earning their livelihoods. Some of them concentrated in a town called “Nandavaram” in Andhra Pradesh which was ruled by the then king Nanda. These immigrants were called “Nandavarikas” and Annamacharyas forefathers were the so called Nandavarikas and hence Annamacharya.

As a boy Narayanayya was not keen in studies and it was customary in those times for the gurus to subject the students to different kinds of torturous methods to create concentration on studies. When nothing worked for the young boy, he decided that death would be better than the life filled with torture, humiliation, and shame. He heard about the venomous cobra in the snake hole at the temple of Chinthalamma the village Goddess. In an attempt to take his life away, Narayanayya put his hand in the snake hole at the temple. To his surprise, the village Goddess appeared before him and advised him not to take his life away since a boy with an element of Hari or Vishnu would be born in the third generation of Narayanayya.

contd...

Please listen to my recent uploads for Annamacharya kritis:

Friday, April 11, 2008

Bhadrachala Ramadas (Gopanna)

Bhadrachala Ramadasu, as he is popularly known, Kancharla Gopanna was a great devotee-saint-poet-composer of Andhra Pradesh who dedicated his life to sing the glories of Lord Rama and composed numerous songs in Telugu on his beloved deity of Sri Rama, which are very popular even today in the land of Andhra Pradesh. Ramadasu is known for constructing the current Rama temple in Bhadrachalam and as consequence suffered the agonies of prison for 12 years.

Popularly known as Bhakta Raamadaas, he was born Gopanna to Linganna Mantri (a surname he kept as a result of one of his forebears being a minister at the court of a king) & Kadamba (sister of Madanna, a brahmin minister to TaniShah), in 1620 in Nelakondapalli, a small village in Khammam district, Andhra Pradesh. Since childhood, he imbibed his family's interest in spirituality and composed several keertanas on Rama. His devotion to Vaikunta Rama at the temple of Bhadrachalam, a small village in the middle of the jungle on the northern banks of the holy river Godavari, earned him his name Bhadraacala Raamadaas. His guru was Raghunatha Bhattacharya.

During the reign of Abdul Hasan Tana Shah, (the nawab of the Qutub Shahi Dynasty at Golconda), Ramadas (Gopanna), thanks to his uncle Madanna, was appointed as a Tahsildar for Palvancha Paragana which included Bhadrachalam, a pretty and picturesquely situated temple town on the Godavari river. Ramadas was always distracted and his intense love for Lord Rama compelled him to build a temple at Bhadrachalam. He collected money for the construction from the citizens, but was not enough. So he borrowed from the tax revenue of the nawab and gave his god a worthy abode, vowing to return the money. However, the nawab was furious and sentenced Ramadas to 12 years in prison. Raamadaas thus earned the name Bandikhana Raamadaas (meaning imprisoned Ramadas). Frustrated at god's indifference to his pleadings, Ramadas composed some of the finest keertanas in his prison cell (reminding Rama of his services in Ikshvaku Kula Tilaka).

It is said that Rama & Lakshmana in the guise of two youngsters paid up his dues and got his release papers. The golden coins paid by Rama are known as Ram Tanka coins. They can be seen even today. These coins have the Pattabhishekam scene on one side and the picture of another Rama Bhaktha, Hanuman, on the other side. The nawab was moved and recognized the greatness of Ramadas and released him immediately and gave him land around Bhadraachalam to continue his dedicated service to Bhadraachala Raamamoorty. Ramadas spent the rest of his life on these lands and composed further moving poems that were to inspire Tyaagaraaja: in ksheera saagara sayana in Devagaandhaari, he says "Dhirudau Ramadasuni Bandhamu dirchinadi Vinnanura Rama?" (O Rama! I have heard how You obtained the release of the bold Ramadas from his prison life); in brindaavanalOla in tODi, in kaligiyundE gada in keeravaaNi, in Emi dova balkuma in saaranga and in Prahlaada Bhakti Vijayam he says "kaliyugamuna vara bhadra calamuna nelakonna raamacandruni pada bhaktula kella varudanandagi velasina shree raamadaasu vinutintu madin" (I praise Sri Raamadaas, who shines in this world as the supreme devotee of Sri Raamachandra, who shines forth from his seat at Bhadraachalam in this kali Yuga).

Other compositions are positive invocations, favored by traveling minstrels, including the Tondaiman rulers of PudukoTTai in Tamil Nadu, who popularized his songs. Among his other accomplishments is the creation of the whole Ramayana story in the form of a prose-poem, a Choornika. Ramadas described himself in this way in the last verse of his Dasarathi Satakam: "Allana Linga Mantri Suthudu(son), Atreya Gothrudu, Adi Sakha, Kancherla Kulothbhavudu, Gopakavindrudu." Bhadraachala Raamadaas lived for 68 years.

Please listen to my uploads of carnatic songs composed by Bhadrachala Ramadas.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Purandaradas

Srinivasa Nayaka is the original name of Purandaradas. The Modern period of Carnatic (Karnatic) music begins with "Purandaradas" (1484-1564). He was the pioneer who blended the rich musical streams of Dravidian and Aryan music into a single stream called Karnatic music. This synthesis of cultures resulted in the hybrid variety, a highly rich traditional and classical musical system.

Sri Purandaradas born at Purandargarh near Pune in Maharastra, finally settled at Hampi (Vijayanagar), a border area for both Northern and Southern cultures. The aesthetic beauty of both the Northern and Southern flow of music attracted him as similar ragas and 'thalas' exist in both the systems in different names. The Aryan system was more prevalent in princely courts whereas the Dravidan system was prevalent in the temples of South India.

Sri Purandara Das decided that "Malava gowla" of the South was most suited for beginners. The corresponding Raga in the North is called "Bhairav". In "Malavagowla" subsequently named as "Maya Malavagowla", the difference of pitch between 'Ri' and 'ga', and 'da' and 'ni' are the same and the notes sa-ri-ga-ma and pa-da-ni-sa are perfect concordant notes. That is why Purandara Dasa found Maya Malavagowla the best Raga to begin lessons in classical music. This system of music is called "Karnataka Music" as he belongs to that region and the music is very pleasing to the ears. He created several phrases of notes called "Sarali" "Janta", Hetchu-sthayi, "Thaggu sthayi" and "Datu" Swaras. He also simplified "Thala" system and moulded it into "Pancha-Thrimsathi" Thala system and composed "Alankaras" to be sung in those Thalas.

All these initial notes or Swaras are to be sung in Maya Malavagowla. The next phase of learning of a beginner is "Geetham" for which Purandaradasa created "Pillari Geetams" in Rag-Malahari" a derivative of Maya-Malava-Gowla . Gradually the Ragas and their notes are to be changed to acquaint the student with different notes step by step. Purandara Dasa was therefore, rightly called Karnataka Sangeeta Pithamaha.

Further Purandara Dasa said in his song "Vasudevana namavaliya" (Mukhari raga) that he composed 475,000 Keerthanas. About 800 of them are available now. As the original tunes are lost, people sing some of them in their own tunes.

Please listen to some of my Purandaradasa kritis.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

The Revolution in Music Brought About By Tyagaraja

We may at the juncture point out how Tyagaraja brought about a complete revolution in the way music was used and presented to the public. The Ragam, Tanam, Pallavi style adopted by earlier musicians centred almost entirely around displaying virtuoso skills. True, the Pallavi that came at the end proclaimed devotion to God; however, that devotion came somewhat like an add-on. By and large, a musical concert was an occasion for the display of tonal gymnastics.

This stress on sheer musical skills turned away many who found that this style was not suited for promoting their sense of devotion or Bhakti. Tyagaraja changed all that but turning the focus entirely on the song, which, invariably was soaked with devotion or Bhakti without sacrificing musical excellence.

With Tyagraja, many things converged. First there was Bhakti, which pervaded every word of the song. The song itself had a definite structure. There was the opening called Pallavi that gave the headlines so to speak of the contents of the song, after which came the Anupallavi which was like the sub-headlines.

Following these two came the Charanam which gave the details of the message. Tyagaraja took the song and mixed it with good music, that is he set it to one of the wonderful ragas available from the Melkartha scheme. As a scholar put it: Tyagaraja started with a good song in that beautiful language Telugu. He then packed it with Divine feelings and sweetened it further by adding Rama’s name. He topped it all off by setting the song to the most appropriate Ragam available, thereby bringing out the depth of the spiritual message and the musical richness of the composition.

In short, he had the winning combination – depth of devotion and the best of music.

Please listen to my recent uploads of songs:

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Tyagaraja .....contd..

The Three Schools of Tyagaraja

During his life, Tyagaraja attracted many students and to each he imparted a “corpus of his compositions according to the student’s voice-quality and musical equipment”. It is to these students and in particular to three branches that we owe the legacy we now have.

The three branches, or schools that emerged are those associated with the places Umayalpuram, Tillaistanam, and Walajapet. Some disciples also took the trouble of documenting Tyagaraja’s life. The first two biographies were written by the father and son duo, Venkataramana Bhagavathar, and Krishnaswami Bhagavathar of Walajapet. Venkataramana Bhagavthar was born in 1781 and spent many years with Tyagaraja. He died in 1874. His son Krishnaswami was born in 1824, and he too spent some years with Tyagaraja. Both the father and the son wrote their biographical texts in Telugu, and all other accounts that were published subsequently have naturally relied a lot on these basic texts.

Please listen to my recent uploads of songs:

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Tyagaraja .... contd..

The Last Austere Moments…

Before The Final Call Years passed; Tyagaraja’s wife passed away and he was now in the eighties. Ten days before he gave up his body, Tyagaraja had a vision of Lord Rama on the top of a hill as if in Lanka, getting ready for the battle with Ravana. Tyagaraja composed a song recalling this vision. Apparently, at the time Rama appeared – and this was on 27th December, 1846 – Rama gave the assurance that he, Tyagaraja, would merge with Him ten days later. On 5th January, 1847, one day before he was suppose to receive the final call, Tyagaraja formally took sanyas, that is to say, he became a renunciate, in accordance with the Hindu tradition. Next day he passed into eternity, merging forever with Lord Rama. Whereas householders are cremated when they die, sannyasis are buried. Tyagaraja was interred at a spot on the left bank of the Kaveri river with all the rites due to a Sannyasi. A tulsi plant was planted near the spot. In the years to come, that spot got built up progressively and that is where the saint is worshipped today; and that is also where musicians have been paying homage to him for nearly a century.