Section Synopsis (September 2006)

NEWS & NOTES

DHRUPAD FESTIVAL IN CHENNAI -LAKSHMI SREERAM

Prakriti Foundation, Chennai, in association with the Central Sangeet Natak Akademi, organised a three-day Dhrupad Festival from 16-18 February at the Museum Theatre, Egmore in Chennai. The artists featured were vocalists Uday Bhawalkar, Abhay Narayan Mallick, Umakanth and Ramakanth Gundecha, Wasifuddin Dagar, and Rudra veena exponents Bahauddin Dagar and Asad Ali Khan.

Dhrupad is "the other" tradition of North Indian classical music, the mainstream classical music style in the North today being the khayal. Not very long ago, however, the situation was quite the reverse. If, today, Bhimsen Joshi and Kishori Amonkar-- well known names in the North Indian classical music tradition, are khayal singers, a few centuries ago Mian Tansen, Swami Haridas, and Baiju-- well known names then and now, were dhrupad singers. To call the dhrupad the "other" tradition may be misleading since the dhrupad is the older tradition. It was the khayal that began as an upstart, different from the mainstream dhrupad. Dhrupadia-s constantly aver that the nature of their music is spiritual; they sing not to entertain, but to evoke feelings of devotion, and indeed, spiritual peace and calm. But the dhrupad is the "other" tradition in the sense it is conscious and jealously protective of its separate identity, seeking to uphold its "different-ness" and prestige.

As Ustad Asad Ali Khan said in a poignant preamble to his concert, much has been said and written about the difficulties faced by dhrupad because of its waning popularity, and about the charges and criticisms levelled against it. But it is an intimate aspect of our cultural psyche, a glorious cultural inheritance, and so, the efforts to preserve and propagate it cannot ever be enough.

Prakriti Foundation has made a niche for itself in the Chennai cultural landscape, organising serious talks and programmes that are not always encountered along well trodden paths. And it is the agenda of the SNA to step in and help precious cultural traditions survive-- supporting this venture of Prakriti Foundation was one such measure.

Uday Bhawalkar of the Dagar gharana, the first artist in the festival, and regarded by many as the next star, sang a finely controlled Yaman. The movements from ni to dha and ma to ga were carefully detailed and he came up with some inspired movements around the tara shadja. The pulsating jod and jhala built up a fine climax. The last portion saw the pakhawaj accompanist joining in. It is more common for the pakhawaj to only step in during the rendition of the bandish (composition). (This is much like the tanam portion in the ragam-tanam-pallavi; some musicians like to take the mridanga accompaniment even during the tanam, before the pallavi). Kesara ghola ke ranga bano hain-- a dhamar composition followed. Dhamar is a particular kind of composition used in dhrupad performance. Also called Pakki hori, it is descriptive of the festival Holi and is in a tala (also called Dhamar) of 14 beats. Bhawalkar did not perform the dugun - tigun - chaugun exercises which one typically associates with dhrupad singing. He clarified that his teachers had encouraged him to sing in the upaj ang which emphasises spontaneity. Sohoni and Adana were the other raga-s he took up for detailing.
Most of the artists came up with small tidbits about dhrupad, educating the audience about what dhrupad is all about. Bhawalkar pointed out that the same note when pronounced with different syllables, leaves a different impression-- a different timbre, different mood. Dhrupad singers employ syllables such as om, num, re, ri, na, ta, tom, etc. during the alap. And these are employed as a painter would employ colours.

The first artist the next day, Bahauddin Dagar, chose Yaman too. That he represents the 20th generation of dhrupadia-s in the Dagar family is itself awe inspiring. The alap was scrupulously detailed and Yaman emerged in soft majesty on the Rudra veena. The jod created a rippling effect. But then, softness is a hallmark of the Dagar vani. The audience, however, turned restless as he explored the raga in the mandra saptak for over 20 minutes. A friend sitting next to me whispered "Do you think something could be wrong? Can he not hit the middle octave?" The Chennai audience is as good as one gets and it is possible Dagar sahib might not have had his pulse on the audience mood.

Vardhini raga followed, but the audience was kept guessing about the raga. This was the Dagar interpretation of Ragavardhini, the 32nd melakarta of the Venkatamakhi scheme. The Dagar family renders some of the "vivadi" melakarta-s, even Kanakangi, giving them their own interpretation. The pakhawaj accompaniment by Akhilesh Gundecha was excellent. Hearing the pakhawaj building up is a heady experience. Both the compositions were in Chautala of 12 beats. Bahauddin Dagar sat sphinx-like, almost without movement, for two hours with the veena spread across his legs. One could only marvel at his discipline and stamina.

Wasifuddin Dagar had much to say about his art, with varying degrees of profundity. He chose a Dagar favourite raga Kambhoji and a well known composition in Chautala-- Manas hoon to vahi rasa khan. Again, soft was the tread and scrupulous the build up. He used silences to very good effect in the alap-- the last note in the ascending phrase is not actually sung, but rather suggested by a meaningful silence. "Music has three thing: note, rhythm and silence," was one of the many thoughts he shared with the audience. His training and mastery came across very well when singing the phrase ga pa dha sa, a phrase that occurs in raga-s such as Bhoop, but not for a moment did any suggestion of Bhoop come through. The sweeps from the tara sa to madhya ga were beautifully executed. The vigorous gamaka-s in the jod-jhala portion when contrasted with a straight, unornamented phrase, grabbed audience attention and had some people applauding. And so Wasifuddin saheb did it again and again. Was it overdone? Perhaps. Certainly the heavily gamaka laden phrases did have a harsh and jarring quality. Interestingly, he presented a short and vociferous Sankara composition in Sool tala immediately following Kambhoji, almost reminding one of the khayaliya's penchant for two-tiered presentations. The next set of raga-s (Behag and Adana) were also presented as if in a two-tiered mode.

The final concert was a Rudra veena recital by veteran Asad Ali Khan of the Khandhar Vani school. It was a very different style of veena playing, more forceful than the Dagar style. Behag was the choice and the raga sparkled in each movement that the maestro executed. The varied movements from pa to ga sculpted out Behag from second to second. At one point, the Ustad repeatedly played the phrase ni, sa revelling in its many variations without once slipping into frivolity. Pakhawaj accompaniment by young Mohan Shyam Sharma for both the concerts added great value, lifting the level of the concerts as only a good accompanist can.

Asad Ali Khan described the Rudra veena as something with which the swara-s can be measured-- "naapne tolne ki saadhan". Dhrupad is all about getting the right note, the right pitch and cajoling the raga out of them. And thus there is great sensitivity to the sruti differences in the teaching, training, practice and performance of raga-s in this style.

The Gundecha brothers, featured second on the second day, drew the maximum audience but this reviewer had to leave even as the dhaivata in raga Gavati was making a wondrous appearance. Abhay Narayan Mallick representing the Darbhanga gharana of dhrupad and his son, Sanjay Kumar Mallick chose raga Darbari Kanada for detailed treatment and raga-s Abhogi Kanada and Suddha Kalyan for briefer ones. Another concert this reviewer missed.

As was pointed out again and again, such festivals don't happen even in the North. In Chennai, it received a warm response-- as is expected of music lovers this side of the Vindhyas! We saw veteran musicians like Vidya Shankar and Sita Rajan sitting and quietly listening, as well as younger musicians like T.M. Krishna and Sangeetha Sivakumar.

The choice of the Museum Theatre, a heritage venue in itself, was very appropriate. Stately, if somewhat gloomy, the atmosphere for serious music was created by the very ambience of the place. Stage decor was also thoughtfully planned. To prevent monotony, the backdrop was changed each day during the three-day festival. Perhaps the best of the lot was on the second day, a soft white-- bright and yet restrained! Food and beverage arrangements certainly could have been better. One gets thirsty and hungry listening to so much dhrupad!

If there were glitches, it was the late start of the first concert on the first day and some confusion before the second concert, with the younger Mallick getting off the stage to find out what was keeping the organisers from introducing the artists and getting them started. But that is only nitpicking. On the whole, it was an event well organised and well received and one came away with the feeling that one must get to hear dhrupad more often.
.

Click to read more

There was a time when those who taught Sadir / Bharatanatyam-- the natyacharya-s and nattuvanar-s, would not perform on stage; and the nartaki-s or dancers were always busy learning and performing the art and did not teach dance. Then there came a few versatile personalities who could sing, do nattuvangam and dance well, so they not only performed but also started their own dance schools. There were others who did not make it big in the performance scene, but proved to be fine dance teachers. In the 1960s and 70s many famous dancers felt the need to impart holistic training in the dance form to their students and therefore introduced the teaching of theory, yoga, music and languages like Sanskrit, Tamil and Telugu in their dance institutions. Now dance schools are aplenty, especially in the city of Chennai, where the demand to learn Bharatanatyam is very high. Dancing is not highly remunerative unless one has reached the top, and it takes years to do so. Teaching dance is, indeed, an assured source of monthly income. Apart from the veteran guru-s, there are, however, some good senior dancers in the 30-45 age group, who have struck a good balance between performance and teaching. They perform, they teach and also engage others to train their students in different disciplines. Urmila Sathyanarayanan is one such successful Bharatanatyam dancer.
 

Urmila, a disciple of guru K.J. Sarasa, the late K.N. Dandayudhapani Pillai, and Kalanidhi Narayanan has won laurels for her sparkling nritta, subtle abhinaya, and her traditional approach to the dance. She launched her dance school Natya Sankalpaa on 21st April 1996 in Chennai. The formal inauguration of the Trust and the first arangetram of her students was however held the following year in the presence of personalities like M.S. Subbulakshmi, Padma Subrahmanyam, T.S. Parthasarathy and R. Krishnaswami. Presently, the school has more than 120 students on its rolls and seventeen dancers have made their formal debut (arangetram). The students are also taught dance theory, music, and yoga. Urmila Sathyanarayanan, S.K. Suresh and Rama Durai Swaminathan teach Bharatanatyam to the students. Suresh also helps choreograph items, does the nattuvangam, supervises the music classes and provides vocal accompaniment for Urmila's recitals as well as for students of Natya Sankalpaa. The other staff members are Sai Kripa (dance theory), Kannan (yoga) and Usha Rani Rajappa (music). Many students of the school have given solo and group performances in sabha-s, at corporate functions, and in important art festivals organised in Mamallapuram, Chidambaram and Konarak


Natya Sankalpaa celebrated its tenth anniversary on 23rd April at the Narada Gana Sabha in Chennai. The students of the school, from tiny tots to teenagers, were showcased in different items of dance, music and yoga, according to their abilities. It was a typical dance school function and the large auditorium was overflowing. The programme commenced with the well-known Gnanasabhesa stotram and Todayamangalam so typical of the Vazhuvoor bani. This was followed by a pushpanjali and a sabdam. The dance choreography for the Tulsidas bhajan Sree Ramachandra kripalu bhajamana was interesting and crisp, and was performed admirably by the children dressed in neat skirt costumes who depicted stories from the Ramayana while maintaining the seven-beat tala cycle at a steady pace. The senior disciples of Natya Sankalpaa acquitted themselves well with their neat nritta and subtle abhinaya in the navarasa ragamalika varnam Angayarkanni anandam kondaaley, a composition of Lalgudi Jayaraman. The evening concluded with a joyous tillana.

Leela Samson, Director - Kalakshetra Foundation, who was the chief guest, congratulated Urmila and her dedicated team on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the school and blessed all the participants. She shared a few words of wisdom with the children as she advised them that no artist can ever be mightier than the art, and not every dance student can become a performing artist. Learning Bharatanatyam inculcates a discipline, and helps one to enjoy and appreciate the dance and thus helps in shaping future rasika-s. The other guests of honour natyacharya K.J. Sarasa, art patron Nalli Kuppuswami Chetti and sabhanayaka R. Krishnaswami felicitated Urmila on the happy occasion and expressed the hope that the school would grow from strength to strength. Sarasa had a special word of praise for her warm and affectionate disciple Urmila, who she said was blessed with all the attributes necessary for a fine dancer. She also complimented Swamimalai K. Suresh (son of Pandanallur P.V. Kalidas and grand-nephew of the late natyacharya S.K. Rajarathnam Pillai) for his pivotal role in the success of the dance school. Sarasa also released a special souvenir with felicitation messages, articles on dance, and resume of the staff members and students of Natya Sankalpaa

Click to read more

Click to read more

As we have observed in the preceding articles in the series, the period between the 13th century and the 16th century witnessed a spiritual renaissance all over the country. Karnataka witnessed the emergence of God-realised souls collectively known as Haridasa-s who spread the bhakti cult through devotional songs called keertana-s. The earliest among them were Sreepadaraya and Narahari Teertha. Purandaradasa was the most illustrious of the Haridasa-s.

The story of Purandaradasa's life has been extensively dealt with in the Series for Youngsters (Sruti 228). We will therefore touch upon it, if only for the sake of completeness, and then proceed to expatiate on his substantive contribution to the formation of Carnatic classical music.

Stamp on Purandaradasa

The Department of Posts issued a commemorative stamp on Purandaradasa on 14 January 1964 during his 400th death anniversary observed in Hampi, the place where he attained samadhi. It is in the denomination of 15 np, colour light brown, perf. 13 x 13-1/2, water-mark 'Asokan' and was printed by photogravure process in the Nasik Security Press. The cancellation on the First Day Cover is on a block (of four) and was made at Hampi itself, the venue of the celebrations. This cancellation is therefore significant from the philatelic point of view, and is valuable.

Life of Purandaradasa

Purandaradasa was born in 1484 AD in Purandaragad, a village near Hampi. He was the only son of Varadappa Naik, a wealthy merchant. He was named Srinivasa, after the Lord of the Seven Hills. He received good education in accordance with family traditions and acquired proficiency in Kannada, Sanskrit, sacred lore, and in music.

When he was sixteen years old he married Saraswatibai, a pious god-fearing girl. He lost his parents when he was 20. He inherited his father's business (in precious stones and pawn-broking), and in the course of a short time, he expanded it and amassed immense wealth, thereby earning the appellation 'Navakoti Narayana'.

When he was at the zenith of his business, Providence enacted the now-famous 'nose-ring' episode, to make the greedy and miserly merchant realise the worthlessness of his attachment to worldly possessions. The shock treatment marked a turning point in his life. Giving away all his wealth to charity, he left his house with his wife and children to lead the life of a wandering minstrel to spread the gospel of God. He was only 30. In his very first song after the incident, he laments his wasted life of indulgence.

In the course of his wandering he met the holy sage Vyasaraya. According to Prof. Sambamoorthy, Srinivasa had his formal initiation at the hands of Vyasaraya in 1525 when the former was about 40 years old, and that the name Purandaradasa was bestowed on him by Satyadharma Teertha, a later occupant of the Vyasaraya Mutt.

Purandaradasa travelled extensively through the length and breadth of the Vijayanagara empire, composing and rendering soul-stirring songs in praise of god.

Purandaradasa spent his last years in Hampi. The mandapa in which he stayed is known as Purandaradasa Mandapa. He took sanyasa towards the close of his life. He joined his Maker in 1564.

His Compositions

Purandaradasa's keertana-s are also known as 'pada-s' and 'devaranama-s'.

Purandaradasa was a prolific composer. According to his own statement, he had composed 4,75,000 songs. However, we have only about 600 compositions. His songs touch every aspect of spiritual life-- devotion, morality, ethics, good behaviour and compassion to all living beings.

Barring a few, all his compositions are in simple Kannada, the language of the masses. He set them in popular raga-s/tunes prevalent during his time so that the common man could easily learn and sing them, with an understanding of their meaning. Most of his keertana-s are in Adi tala and in madhyama kala.

Purandaradasa's devaranama-s occupy an honoured place in the devotional music of south India.

Music of the songs

As Purandaradasa composed songs in the local language and set them to simple tunes, many people learnt them and sang them in their houses during their daily worship as also in temples, bhajan-s and religious congregations. Thus the songs were passed on from generation to generation through the oral medium thereby retaining, by and large, the 'original' tunes. As he had no disciples, neither the songs nor their notations were written down during his time.

The credit for writing down the notation for the songs, about 200 of them, goes to Mysore Karigiri Rao (1853-1927). He was a musician in the court of Chamaraja Wodeyar IX of Mysore (1881-1894). A noted composer in his own right, he was the guru of Bidaram Krishnappa and Rallapalli Ananthakrishna Sharma.

Karigiri Rao is said to have visited several villages to find the tunes in which the Haridasa-s and the villagers had rendered them for generations. He then notated the songs to the tunes he heard. Thus, Karigiri Rao's notations are believed to be near-authentic.

The year 1964 witnessed the fourth death centenary celebration of Purandaradasa in Hampi. On that occasion the celebration committee brought out a book titled Purandara Dasa Kriti Sataka (100 songs of Purandaradasa). The publication followed the raga-s and notations of Karigiri Rao. The number of raga-s, according to that publication, does not exceed 35. It is learnt that Bangalore V.N. Padmini has rendered some of the songs following Karigiri Rao's notations and that they are available in audio cassettes. There might be others too who follow his notations.

Another publication of Purandaradasa's pada-s in the traditionally rendered raga-s was published in 1967 by vidwan Chennakesavaiah. It appears that the first publication of the songs (with notation) in Tamil was brought out by M. Lalithangi (MLV's mother) in 1955.

In 1984 the Government of Karnataka brought out three volumes of Purandaradasa's songs on the occasion of his 500th birth centenary. They contain 600 compositions with the names of the raga-s and the lyrics, but without notation.

His philosophy

Purity of heart, devotion to God and compassion towards all living beings form the core of Purandaradasa's philosophy. A householder's life was no impediment to spiritual progress, as his own life was an example.

According to him, mere accumulation of knowledge, repetition of formulas and observance of rituals are worthless if the heart is not pure. Equally useless is the wrangling over the 'nature' of God. Trust in God is far superior to beliefs in astrology and horoscopes.

Caste is not a matter of birth; it is in the character and conduct. The real service to God is the service to the poor and the suffering.

His contribution to music

Purandaradasa was undoubtedly a great Haridasa, a saint-composer and a mystic. But the world of music remembers him and reveres him for his singular and unequalled contribution to the development of Carnatic music as "art music".

He laid the foundation for the teaching of art music in a scientific way. He systematised the teaching method by framing a series of graded lessons such as swaravali-s, janta swara-s, alankara-s, lakshana geeta-s, prabandha-s, ugabhoga-s and sooladi-s. A student gains mastery over swaraprastara and talaprastara by a systematic study and practice of these lessons.

He introduced Mayamalavagaula as the basic scale for music instruction. This is followed even now. He also composed a large number of lakshya and lakshana geeta-s.

His sooladi-s reveal his extraordinary mastery of the techniques of music, and are considered an authority for raga lakshana. Scholars have opined that a typical sooladi of Purandaradasa is a "learned, elaborate and difficult piece, giving a most comprehensive view of the important raga sanchara-s".

Scholars attribute the standardisation of varna mettu-s entirely to Purandaradasa.

Thus, Purandaradasa was a vaggeyakara, lakshanakara and the father of musical pedagogy. If today Carnatic music is synonymous with "art music", it is largely due to Purandaradasa; but for him it would have perhaps remained no different from devotional music. He is rightly called the "Sangeeta Pitamaha" of Carnatic music
 

Click to read more

BOOK SHELF

72 MELA RAGA MALIKA OF MAHA VAIDYANATHA SIVAN. By Prof. S.R. Janakiraman.
[Ph.: 2811 1038 & 5516 0023]. CD Vol. 1 (Suddha Madhyama Mela-s) & Vol. 2 (Prati Madhyama Mela-s). Rs. 150 each].

 -JAMBUNATHAN & S.S.R


Sangeeta Kala Acharya Prof. S.R. Janakiraman is a musicologist of great eminence who wears several different caps such as performer, guru, author, tunesmith, and administrator. He has had the privilege of being closely associated with doyens like Budalur Krishnamurthy Sastrigal, Tiger Varadachariar, T.K. Ramaswami Iyengar, Musiri Subramania Iyer, Tirupambaram Swaminatha Pillai, Mayavaram Krishna Iyer and T. Brinda. His theoretical knowledge reinforced by performing skills, his analysis of original treatises and the evolution of his own ideas and concepts have earned him an honourable niche in an exclusive zone. His stentorian voice, sensitive to subtle musical nuances has also a pleasing mellifluence that sets the tone for emphasising the aesthetics and grammar of our unique Carnatic system. His dissertation on the 72 melakarta-s with reference to the 72 mela ragamalika of Maha Vaidyanatha Sivan under the banner of the Saraswati Vaggeyakara Trust, is a monumental work driven by relentless zeal and passion for the art.

Invoking the blessings of Lord Vinayaka, the first deity in the Hindu pantheon with Dikshitar's Easamanohari kriti Sree Gananatham bhajare, Janakiraman speaks about Vaidyanatha Sivan's life, the asampoorna and sampoorna mela paddhati-s of Venkatamakhi and Govinda, and vividly describes the 12 swara-s that adorn the mela raga-s. His practical demonstration of the swara-s in their exact grooves is a model lesson. The 12 chakra-s, groups of six raga-s in each, 40 of them being vivadi mela-s, are sung with pinpoint precision with praiseworthy diction and melodic substance. The arohana and avarohana of each raga, the exclusive beauty of the vivadi raga-s such as Kanakangi, Chalanata, Salagam, Neetimati and Rasikapriya to name just a few, and the beauty of the sloka-s and the devotional content in this masterpiece are all painted on the musical canvas to great effect.

The vivadi raga-s have a special attractiveness of their own. There is a widespread notion that these raga-s, because of the discordant notes, spell inauspiciousness. Even revered vidwans of the bygone era, treated these melodies as second class citizens. There is another more positive view: that if these raga-s were not auspicious, why would Tyagaraja choose Nata for the first of his Pancharatna gems? What about Vachamagocharame in Kaikavasi, Dikshitar's Ramasevitam in Nasamani and Santanamanjari in Santanamanjari, and Syama Sastry's Parvati ninu in Kalgada? All raga-s, vivadi or otherwise, are divine and sublime, and when they receive aesthetic musical expression from great saint poets, what else would they signal, except propitiousness!

The vivadi notes have to be sung with absolute accuracy, that needs musical sensitivity and maturity. Even the anuswara-s have to be handled with great care and when the swarasthana-s are immaculate, the raga-s become things of beauty and joy for ever. S.R. Janakiraman's demonstration clearly illustrates that a vivadi raga need not be regarded as a Frankenstein monster-- it is as beautiful as any of the 32 non-vivadi raga-s in the melakarta scheme.

The Saraswati Vaggeyakara Trust deserves plaudits for promoting this project.

These albums should be added to the collection of libraries, music organisations, colleges and government institutions such as the All India Radio, the Eyal Isai Nataka Manram, etc. for the benefit of performing artists, students and rasika-s

Devotional

SRIMAD BHAGAVAD GITA CHANTING AND BHAJANS. By Nalini Ramprasad. [Nalini Ramprasad. Ph. 5210 8400 & 98401-88233. Rs. 250]. 

Accompanists:

Shyamala Krishnan and Usha S. Balaje - vocal; Ramyaa Ramesh - keyboard; Suresh - tabla; Navin - flute; Santhanam - tala.

Music coordination - L. Krishnan.

The devotional music group headed by Nalini Ramprasad was started in 1998 and has given performances at various venues and on various occasions. In this Compact Disc in MP3 format, the group has presented a recitation of the Bhagavad Gita, interspersed with a few bhajan-s and a final aarti. The recitation and bhajan-s, lasting four hours and 37 minutes, are pleasing. The recitation of the Gita is without any musical embellishments and is a purely devotional offering.

A welcome offering for devotees.
 

DWARAKA TIRUMALA (CHINNA TIRUPATI) SRI VENKATESWARA SWAMY VARI SUPRABHATAM. By M. Balamuralikrishna and Vijayalakshmi Subrahmanyam. [Sri Venkateswaraswamy Devasthanam, Dwaraka Tirumala, West Godavari District. Rs. 30]. 

This is a musical recitation, by the redoubtable Balamuralikrishna and Vijayalakshmi Subrahmanyam, of the Sanskrit and Telugu versions of the Sree Venkateswaraswamy Vari Suprabhatam, authored in Telugu by Dr. Pappu Venugopala Rao, scholar and musicologist. The Sanskrit reconstruction is by Dr. Rao and Dr. M. Narasimhachary (Sanskrit scholar and Editor of Nrisimhapriya).

Throughout, the rendering is serene and musical, without any overdoing of musical display. The words are beautiful and peace-inducing to hear.

A recording which will be valued highly by devotees of Lord Venkatesa.
 

Click to read more