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Part 1
2. The Composer
GAyaka shikhAmaNi Dr. HarikeshanallUr Muthiah
BhAgavatar (1877-1945) occupies a prominent position among the
post-trinity composers of karNATik music. He was a prolific and
versatile vAggEyakAra, and has to his credit more than 400 solid
compositions in Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, and KannaDa. He was also adept in
performing harikathA kalakSEpams. His compositions includes 10 tAna
varNams, 1 pada varNam, 4 darus, 3 rAgamAlikas, 11
tillAnAs, the famous English "note" (western melody, popularized
by Madhurai Mani Iyer), and a host of 355 k.rtis. Besides many k.rtis
on various deities, the k.rti list includes the following
noteworthy group compositions.
-
cAmuNDa ASTOttarashata kIrtanams: 115
compositions (discussed here)
-
shiva ASTOttarashata kIrtanams: 116
compositions
-
vAra k.rtis (on seven days of the week): 7
compositions
-
songs on mAvUr mahAkALi: 7 compositions.
In addition, he authored the encyclopedic treatise, "Sa"ngIta
kalpadrumam", that earned him a D. Litt degree from the Travancore
University. A Sanskrit kAvyam (poetical work), "tyAgarAja vijayam"
comprising of 487 shlOkams is also attributed to him. The title of "sa"ngIta
kalAnidhi" was conferred upon him by the Music Academy of Madras in the
year 1930.
Muthiah Bhagavatar has invented some new rAgams,
and has given life to a few rAgams whose mere names remained in ancient
texts, by composing beautiful compositions in them. Urmika, vINAdhari,
vijayasarasvati, mAyApradIpam, nAgabhUSaNi, gauDamalhAr, cakrapradIpA,
vijayanAgari, valaji, budhamanOhari gurupriya, hamsAnandi, hamsadIpakam,
hamsagamani, and nirOSTa are such rAgams.
For a detailed account of the Biography of Muthiah
BhAgavatar, we refer the readers to the excellent site
http://www.geocities.com/harikesa/ dedicated to his musical
contributions.
2.1 The composer's Mysore connection
When Muthiah Bhagavathar was at the peak of his
musical career, his fame spread far and wide, and the ruler of Mysore, nAlvADi
K.rSNnarAjEndra WodeyAr expressed his immense appreciation of his talents.
Having been informed of this, BhAgavatar traveled to Mysore with a desire to
sing before the King during the Dasara season of 1927. Unfortunately,
some of the vidvAns of the court were a bit hostile to him and tried to
block his entry. It took some efforts for him to reach the court and perform
before the MahArAja. But, strained by these insults and hampered by cold and
cough, his performance made a poor impression on the mahArAja on that
particular occasion. He was given a routine standard honorarium usual for
ordinary vidvAns who sing there. Disappointed at the result, he decided
to leave for Madras.
Being an ardent devotee of Goddess, the next
morning, he went to the cAmuNDEshvari temple to offer prayers,
attributing his failure to the neglect of the worship of dEvi. He
visited the temple in the early morning before any crowd had collected there,
and began to sing "tappulanni tAlukommA
nADu" in rAgam bauLi,
"manamukavalunu" in rAgam sahana and other pieces on
Goddess cAmuNDEshvari that he has composed. By a strange coincidence,
the mahArAjA, who was also on the morning visit to the same temple, heard
BhAgavatar's renditions unseen and was so impressed that he offered another
chance to Muthiah BhAgavatar to sing in the Royal court once again. At this
second recital, BhAgavatar got into excellent form and his performance was
superb. This was followed by a series of brilliant recitals and ultimately the
MahArAja was very pleased, and appointed him as one of the principal
samsthAna vidvAns of the palace for a monthly salary of 200 rupees, --- a
position he held to the last.
In 1928, at the request of nAlvaDI k.rSNaraja mahArajA,
Muthiah BhAgavatar undertook the task of composing a unique group of 108 songs
in praise of Goddess cAmuNDEshvari, in kannaDa language, known as "cAmUNDASTOttarashata
kIrtanams". While he was engaged in this mammoth project, the King placed
a Daimler Car at his disposal. As Muthiah BhAgavatar was not very proficient
in kannaDa, he was ably assisted by the kannaDa scholar dEvOttama shAstri in
the sAhityam part for these songs. He used to get up very early, and go
in the Royal car to cAmuNDi Hills and sing his compositions before the
Goddess till he achieved the required perfection, and when satisfied, he would
come back to sing them for the mahArAjA.
Extremely happy and fully impressed with this masterly
creation, K.rSNarAja WodeyAr bestowed upon him the prestigious title "GAyaka
shikAmaNi". He also rewarded him Rupees 10,000 along with numerous
presents, which included a golden bracelets, and a pearl necklace with
cAmuNDEshvari idol carved in the pendant. (On a similar occasion, when
Muthiah BhAgavatar composed the parallel "shivASTOttarashata
kIrtanams", he was given an emerald shiva li"ngam by sh.r"ngEri
guru.)
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