garbha shrImAn
The Life & Times of Maharaja Swati Tirunal Rama Varma - Part II
by Dr. P. P. Narayanaswami

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His k.rtis

A true devotee, and a composer par excellance, he did not fail to sing in praise of the various  upa dEvatas (minor deities) in the same shrine, namely,   ambADi k.rSNa, yOga narasimha, and  A~njanEya . While a bulk of his compositions is on Lord  padmanAbha , we also find  k.rti s dedicated to Anadavalli of padmanAbhapuram, kumAranallUr bhagavati, shrIkaNTEshvara shiva, harippADu subrahmaNya , gaNapati and A~njaneya. The gaNesha gItam , “paripAhi gaNAdhipa” in sAvEri, “A~njaneya” in sAvEri, on HanumAn, “n.rtyati n.rtyati sAmbashivo d.rk” in sha”nkarAbharaNam, “narasiMha mAmava” in Arabhi, are some examples. He has also to his credit, a set of  eight ghana rAga k.rtis in nATTa, gauLa, varALi, Arabhi, shrI, kEdAram, rItigauLa, and sAra”nganATa. Also, there are nine compositions on “j~nAna vairAgya” theme (advaita philosophy).

A total of 391 compositions of svAti tirunAl have been printed with notation and meaning (with lyrics in sanskrit, diacritical English, and some in Malayalam), in the very recent, mammoth work by Sa”ngIta kalAnidhi T. K. Govinda Rao.  (slightly smaller number, without notation, but in Malayalam, along with his all poetical works, appears in Dr V. S. Sharma’s detailed work on svAti tirunAL). 

The k.tis/kIrttanams can be grouped (according to the deities, and themes)  as follows:

Lord padmanAbha/viSNu            86

k.rSNa                                      26

narasiMha                                 3

rAma                                        22

shiva                                         14

dEvi                                            6

hanUmAn                                    1

gaNapati                                     1

subrahmaNya    (harippADu)         1

shrIkaNTeshvaram                        1

dashAvatAram                             1

                        tiruvArATTu                                  1

                        Anandavalli                                  1

kumaranallUr bhagavati                 1

j~nAna vairAgya k.rti                     8

ghanarAga k.rts                            8

navarAtri k.,rtis                             9

navarahamALika                          10

In addition, the collection, according to various musical styles of composition can  be classified as

k.rtis/kIrttanams (above list)         200

svarajati                                       7

stava varNam                                8

sh.r”ngAra padam                         16

sanskrirt padams                          6

maNiparvALA padam                     50

kannada jAvali                              1

telugu padam/jAvali                       10

tillAnA                                          6

kucElOpAkhyanam                       10

ajAmiLOpAkhyanam                      9

utsava prabandham                       12

hindusthAni compositions              37

rAgamalika                                   5

ma”ngaLam                                  3

                        miscellaneous                              11

Carnatica’s  COMPOSITION BANK contains lyrics of some of these k.rtis:

His masterpieces

(i)  the  navarAtri k.rti series --- meant specially to sung in the pUjA maNDapam of the Palace during the dasara festivel (navarAtri) , one for each day. This practice is maintained even today.

The series is

  • dEvI jajjanani --- sha”nkarAbharaNam (Adi)

  • pAhimAM shrI vAgIshvari --- kalyANi (Adi)

  • dEvI pAvanE --- sAveri (Adi)

  • bhArati mAmava --- tODi (Adi)

  • jananI mAmavAmEyE --- bhairavi (tripuTa)

  • sarOruhAsana jAyE --- pantuvarALi (Adi)

  • jananI pAhi --- shuddha sAveri (tripuTa)

  • pAhi jananI  --- nATTakura~nji (tripuTa)

  • pAhi parvatanandini  --- Arabhi (Adi)

 LYRICS IN SANSKRIT/DIACRITICAL ENGLISH  with AUDIO FILES

(ii)  the  navaratna mAlikA , a series of nine kIrtanams, is on the nine forms of bhakti, namely, shravanam, kItanam, smaraNam, arccanam, padasEvanam, vandanam, dAsyam, sakhyam, AtmanivEdanam. These  k.rtis are specially composed to be sung in the shrine of Goddess sarasvati, at the Big palace, during the navarAtri festivel days. These are:

  • bhavadIya kathA --- bhairavi (Adi)

  • tAvaka nAmAni --- kEdAragauLa (jhaMpa)

  • satatam saMsmarAmi --- nIlambari (tripuTa)

  • pa”nkajAkSa tava --- tODi (rUpakam)

  • ArAdhayAmi --- bilahari (tripuTa)

  • vande dEva dEva --- bEgaDa (rUpakam)

  • parama puruSa  --- Ahiri (tripuTa)

  • bhavati vishvAsO --- mukhAri (tripuTa)

  • dEva dEva kalpayAmi --- nAdanAmakriyA (rUpakam)

(iii)  a third group of 10 compositions go under the name utsava prabhandam . All these are in  maNipravALam (Malayalam and Sanskrit).  Commencing with a set of 6  shlokams, as a benediction (called avatArika) , the first  k.rti is in mOhanam, followed by 5 shlokams. Then one  k.rti for each day of the utsavam, with a prefix of one or more shlokams, till the10th day, then a  samApana shlokam (concluding hymn), ending with the  ma”ngaLa k.rti . Some of these  k.rtis are long, and the  caraNam runs to several stanzas. The entire piece is poetically very appealing. There is a total of 42  shlokams. The  k.rti list is given below:-

  • Invocation --- pa”nkajanAbhotsavam --- mOhanam

  • First day --- pa~ncasAyakajanakan --- nIlambari

  • Second Day --- pa”nkajAkSanAm --- tODi

  • Third Day --- kanakamaya --- husEni

  • Fourth Day --- AndoLikAvAhanE --- Anandabhairavi

  • Fifth Day --- syAnandUreshan--- kura~nji

  • Sixth Day --- indirApati --- navarOj

  • Seventh Day --- shibikayil --- ma”ngaLakaishika

  • Eighth Day --- nIlappuri --- yadukulakAmbhOji

  • Ninth Day --- sharadindu --- kAmbhOji

  • Tenth day --- nAgashayananAm --- pantuvarALi

  • Conclusion --- sarasijanAbhanin --- saurASd tram

rAgamAlikAs

A rAgamAlikA composition which is almost synonym with svAti tirunAL is the rAmAyaNa rAgamAlikA  “bhAvayAmi raghurAmam”, originally set by him to rAgam sAvEri, and later carved into a beautiful rAgamAlikA by Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer. The featured rAgams are: sAvEri, nATTakura~nji, dhanyAshi, mOhanam, mukhAri, pUrvikalyANi and madhyamAvati. It epitomizes the  Adi kAvyam of  sage vAlmIki, and his 24000 shlokams are turned into 24  pAdams in six sections, each presenting a  kANDam of this mammoth Epic purANam.

A WRITE-UP,  SAHITYAM with NOTATION, and word for word MEANING of “bhAvayAmi raghurAmam”  (last rAmanavami upload).

Another rAgamAlikA,   “pannagEndra shayana”, in eight stanzas and set in light rAgams, portrays the emotional changes which comes over the nAyika , as she keeps a vigil for her lord over the eight watches of the night. The rAgams are also carefully chosen. Beginning with sha”nkarAbharaNaM, the rAgam of the evening, and continuing with kAmbhOji, nIlAmbari, bhairavi, tODi, suraTi, nAdanAmakriya, it ends with the rAgam of the dawn, bhUpALam.

The dashAvatAra rAgamAlikA  “kamalajAsya” is another brilliant composition, which reminds us of the first canto of Jayadeva's   aStapadi, “praLaya payOdhi jalE” . It has a garland of rAgams consisting of mOhanam, bilahari, dhanyAshi, sAra”nga, madhyamAvati, athANa, nATTakura~nji, darbAr, Anandabhairavi, and saurASTram.

Lyrics of dashAvatAra rAgamALika

There are a few rAgamAlikA shlokams, known as catur rAgamAlikA shlokaM (padyam), attributed to svAti tirunAL. Here, each line is set to a different rAgam. There are at least three such pieces. All of them are packed with beautiful lyric, and each one features the rAga mudra in each line. Rudrapatnam Brothers, in their 1991 tour, rendered on such rAgamAlikA shlokam, (in bilahari, varALi, pUrvikalyANi and dhanyAsi) at the CMANA concert (New Jersey). It runs as follows:

balahari pada padmAn dEva chUdAgrajAgran

makuTavara varALI vrAta dEdIpyamAnAn |

kulisha saphara kumbhI pUrvikalyANi rekhAn

khalabudha nidhanAsir ddAnalolAn nathOsmi  ||

Two more rAgamAlikA shlOkams of the mahArAjA are: “kalyANI khalu” (featuring kalyANi, mOhanam, sAra”nga and sha”nkarAbharaNam), and   “sAnandam kamalAmanoharI”, (employing kamalAmanOhari, haMsadhwani, rEvagupti and tara~ngiNi).  The rAga mudras have been incorporated very appropriately in each line. Even in his lengthy poetical work, “bhakti ma~njari” he has introduced a catur-rAgamAlikA shlOkam, “kalyANI vishvaramyA” (in kalyANi, nIlAmbari, sAra”nga, kApi).

Hindustani Music

A feature that distinguished svAti tirunAL from other contemporary composers is the facility with which he composed Hindusthani pieces, employing Hindusthani rAgams. He has tried a variety of forms like  tappa, dhrupad, khyal of the Hindusthani system, and the forms such as  abha”nga, dinDi, auvi, saki  of the Marathi tradition. This led him naturally to adopt several North Indian rAgams like sindu bhairavi, bEhAg, kApi, hindoLa, kamAs. dhanAshrI, hamIr kalyANi, pUrvi and bibhas. Who has not heard his tillAna in dhanashrI? Some of his popular Hindusthani compositions are: “caliyE ku~njana mo” (b.rndAvana sAra”nga), “dEvan kE pati” (darabAri kAnadDa, “rAmacandra prabhu” (bhairavi), "sIsa ga”nga bhasma a”nga” (dhanAshrI), and “vishvEshvar darshan karo” (sindhu bhairavi). A list of 36 Hindusthani k.rtis were set to notation by S. N. Ratanjankar, and published by the SvAti TirunAL Sangeetha Sabha in Trivandrum.

Other poetical and scholarly works

Among the poetical work of svAti tirunAL, the most important ones are:

(i)  padmanAbha shatakam , a work embodying the theme of bhakti, on the devotion to Lord, and his ten incarnations; It has 100 shlOkams, arranged in ten dashakams..

(ii)  bhakti ma~njari , a long and philosophical  kAvya , bringing out the nine forms of devotion to Lord, namely, shravanam, kIrtanam, smaraNam, pAdasEvanam, arccanam, vandanam, dAsyam, sakhyam and AtmanivEdanam; There are more than 1000 shlOkams in this great work, arranged in ten shatakams.

(iii)  syAnandUrapuravarNanA prabhandam , a  campu (prose, mixed with poetry), a treatise on the usage of rhythm, and dealing with the glorification of various temples and the festivals in Trivandrum.

(iv) muhana prAsantya prAsAdya vyavasta , a work on figures of speech (shabda ala”nkAraM) in musical works, based on the compositions of mArgadarshi sheSa IyengAr,.

(v)   kucelOpAkhyAnam – harikatha

(vi)   ajAmiLOpAkhyAnam - harikatha

(vii) utsava prabhandam, elaborately describing the festival for each day at the padmanAbha svAmi temple.

It is interesting that during a short span of merely 34 years, he accomplished such a mammoth task. It is to be noted that each of the musical trinity had a larger life span, but they have not attempted at the numerous forms of composition, in numerous languages, which svAti tirunAL accomplished, in addition to composing poetical work not related to music, and his additional royal duties. This indeed is a remarkable achievement.

Court Musicians

No account of the mahArAjA will be complete without a mention of the court poets and musicians. There was Irayimman tampi, the illustrious composer of kathakaLi works, and several musical compositions. The long list includes tanjAvUr cintAmaNi, cOlapuram raghunAtha rAyar, pAlghAt paramEswara bhAgavatar, ra”nga iyengAr, sulaimAn sETh, vidvAn kOiltampurAn, SaTkAla gOvinda mArAr (who was adept in singing in six  kAla - speeds),  karIndran (who headed the music group), mErusvAmy (a harikatha exponent, who became mahArAjA's spiritual precepter), and shankanAtha (a famous astrologer brought from rANA ra”njit singh's court). When the Maratha ruler, King sarabhOji of Tanjore, himself a  patron of art and music, passed away, his courtiers moved to Trivandrum, and sought svAti tirunAL's patronage. Among those who migrated in the manner were four illustrious brothers, the Tanjore Quartet, ponnaiah, cinnaya, vaDivElu, shivAnandam. Also there was kaNNayya, a direct disciple of tyAgarAja. Among the court dancers were one sugandhavalli and ma”nkammAl, both of whom came from Tanjore.

Association with mArgadarshi shESayya”ngAr

There is an interesting relationship between mArgadarshi shESayya”ngAr and svAti tirunAL. Attracted by the style of the compositions of mArgadarshi shESayya”ngAr, svAti tirunAL wrote the treatise in Malayalam, known as “muhana rAsanAntya prAsa vyavasta,” dealing with the principles of proper usage of shabdAlaNkAra, muhana, prAsa, antyaprAsa in musical compositions in Sanskrit.  SvAti tirunAL points out at the commencement of this work that he gathered the material for this work from the compositions of shESa rAmAnuja and shESayya”ngAr. There are two manuscripts of this work, both in Malayalam, in the Palace library in Trivandrum. In the Kerala University manuscript collection, there is a Sanskrit version of the same work.  Some of the quotations of this work can be traced in the manuscript,  “shESayya”ngAr kIrtanaM”, mentioned earlier. While the Malayalam version of muhana clearly reveals that SvAti tirunAL was the author, there is some doubt as to whether the Sanskrit version was his work.  There is no mention of him anywhere in this version.  The fact that several musicians from Tanjore lived in his court might explain the existence of such a manuscript.

svAti tirunAL followed the compositions of mArgadarshi shESayya”ngAr as a model for composing, and or introducing embelishments like muhana, prAsa, antyaprAsa and antarukti. Muhana is a  shabdAlaNkAra by which the same letter in the beginning of an Avarta, (or any of its substitutes in according to some definite rules) occurs in the beginning of the next  Avarta.  prAsa is the repetition of the second letter (or a group of letters) in the first Avarta in the same position in the subsequent Avartas. antyaprAsa is a prAsa that occurs at the end of the Avartas.  Antarokti is the usage of one or more syllables between two words which are in muhana or prAsa for the sake of  tALa. svAti tirunAL's compositions abound in these verbal embelishments (Most of DIkSitar compositions have these features). The similarity of the compositions of these two personalities is so striking that a few compositions of mArgadarshi shESayya”ngAr have crept into some of the editions of svATi tirunAL.  As examples of this, the kIrtanamjayasuguNAlaya” in bilahari appears in the “svAti tirunAL sa”ngIta kIrtanaikaL”, compiled by K. cidambara vAdhyAr (1916).  But svAti tirunAL himself cites this as a work of mArgadarshi shESayya”ngAr, in his muhana, Another example is the kalyANi k.rtiyojaya padanalinena” found in the k.rti  “kOslEndra mAmava” in madhyamAvati is found in the SarasvAti Mahal Library Publication. By a strange coincidence, the same k.rti appears in the collection of svAti tirunAL compositions, complied by Semmangudi Srinivasayyar.  I am unable to decipher the correct authorship.  It has the mudrakOsalaM”,  and not padmanAbha!  (This k.rti is featured in the recent Malayalam Film, “SvAti tirunAL”, and was rendered by Neyyatinkara Vasudevan. It is available in one of the Tara”ngini Cassettes.)

Perhaps, the mArgadarshi shESayya”ngAr k.rtishrIra”ngashAyinam sakalashubhadAyakam” was an inspiration for svAti tirunAL to compose his “bhOgendrashAyinam kuru kushalshAyinam” in kuntALavarALi. Again, shESayya”ngAr has a lengthy rAmAyaNa k.rti, “pAhi mAM shrIrAmacandra” in punnAgavarALi. May be svAti tirunAL followed this idea, and composed his famous rAmAyaNa k.rti, “bhAvayAmi raghurAmam” in sAvEri

The association of svAti tirunAL with the works of mArgadarshi shESayya”ngAr was through SaTkalA gOvinda mArAr, a great name associated with the maharAja’s  patronage of music. He was adept in such percussion instruments like ceNDa, maddalam, eDakka, timila, but above all, he had the remarkable ability in singing a pallavi in six degrees of speed, which earned him the title SaTkalA. It was mArAr who brought to the court, a vast number of Tanjore compositions, that also included mArgadarshi shESayya”ngAr's.  The structure, language and theme associated with these kIrtanams attracted svAti tirunAL and he adopted them as models for his own compositions.

It is unfortunate that only a small number of his compositions were gaining popularity. The reasons are many. Being born in a royal lineage, chances of coming in contact with outside world was somewhat limited. Nor could he have a galaxy of disciples, who will popularize his k.rtis. Secondly, a vast majority of his work was in Sanskrit, not easily appreciated by a common man. Further, the time he lived in was the golden age of South Indian Music, an age dominated by the Trinity. However, some of the prominent members in his court had traveled outside and popularized his compositions. Based on his rAgamAlika “pannagendra shayana”, there is a parallel Telugu rAgamAlika “pannagAdrishayana”, in the same sequence of rAgams. Also, inspired by his nIlAmbari k.rti,  “Anandavalli”, Mysore Li”ngarAj Urs composed a kannaDa composition, “shr”ngAra lahari”.

But recently, the situation has changed, and svAti tirunAL k.rtis find their legitimate place in most of the modern day concerts. There are even full-length concerts, entirely featuring compositions of svAti tirunAL. Many commercially produced recordings now contain several of his compositions, some, exclusively devoted to his songs.  The film “svAti tirunAL'' features some of the pieces of this great composer, and leading vocalists have lent their voice as playback singers.

Selected Bibliography of his compositions

Several of his compositions has been published with notation. I like to mention the following popular books.

1. “mahArAjA svAti tirunAL k.ritimAla”, Semmangudi R. Srinivasa Iyer (1947), SvAti TirunAL Sangeetha Vidyalayam, Trivandrum (a total collection of 101 pieces, 94 in Sanskrit, 1 in Hindusthani, 3 MaNipravALam, 1 Telugu Padam, 1 Telugu jAvaLi, one rAgamAlikA (pannagendra shayana) and a ma”ngaLam (text in Sanskrit, Malayalam as well as Tamil) .

2. “mahArAjA shrI svAti tirunAL k.rtis Vol I ”, Published by Sree Swati Tirunal Kritis Publishing Committee, Trivandrum (1972) (a collection of 57 pieces, which include the dashAvatAra rAgamAlika (kamalajAsya), rAmAyaNa rAgamAlikA (bhAvayAmi raghurAmam), 2 catur rAgamalikA shlOkam, 5 Hindusthani k.rtis, 9 Navaratna mAlikA k.rtis, utsava prabhandam (10 k.rtis, one for each day, embellished with 42 shlokams), and 26 k.rtis (several of which are maNipravALams), (text in Sanskrit, Tamil, Malayalam, with meaning in Malayalam and Tamil).

3. “svAti tirunAL k.rtis Vol II “, Published by Sree Swati Tirunal Kritis Publishing Committee, Trivandrum (1972) (a collection of 52 pieces, which include 9 maNipravALa padams, 1 Telugu padam, 3 pada varNaMs (all in Sanskrit), 1 maNipravALa tAna varNam, 1 jAvaLi, 1 Hindusthani tAna varNam, 12 pada varNams (for dance) and 24 kIrtanams, text in Sanskrit, Tamil, and Malayalam, with meaning in Tamil and Malayalam).

4. “shri svAti tirunALHis Life and, “ (in Malayalam), Dr V. S. Sharma, The national Book Stakll, Kottayam (1985) – 1128 pages - contains lyrics of 355 k.rtis, and text of all sanskrit works of svAti tirunAL (with meaning).

5. “Compositions of mahArAja shrI svAti tirunAL”,  in Devanagari, and Diacritical Roman Scripts, T. K. Govinda Rao, Ganamandir Publications Music Series VI (2002) – contains 303 compositions with notations, text in sanskrit, diacritical English, and some in Malayalam.

6. “mahArAjA svAti tirunAL kIrttana”n”naL”, (in Malayalam)  K. Cidambara Vadhyar (1916), second reprint (2000), CBH Publications, Trivandrum)  contains 313 compositions.

7. svAti tirunAL kIrtanamAla “, Dr. S. Venkatasubramanya Iyer, (26 items, including navarAtri kIrtanams, ghana rAga kIrtanams), text in Sanskrit, with notations as well as meaning, in English, College Book House, Trivandrum (1984)

8. “mahArAjA shrI svati tirunaL's Hindustani Music Compositions (with svara Notations), S. N. Ratanjankar, Published by Sree Swati Tirunal Sangeetha Sabha, Trivandrum (1972) (a collection of 36 compositions in Hindusthani style, with notations)

Audio Recordings

Some Audio Tapes/CDs exclusively devoted to of svAti tirunAL k.rtis

1. “shrI svAti tirunAL Compositions” , K. V. Narayanaswami, Tharangini (Classical Music Vol. III) VI 8320

2. “svAti tirunAL mahArAja's dashAvatAram, and Other k.rtis” , Bombay Sisters, Sangeetha 4MSC 4092

3. “svAti tirunAL's dEvi k.rtis “, Bombay Sisters, Keerthana 6CA 534

4. “padmanAbha shatakam of svAti tirunAL” , Bombay Sisters, Sangeetha 6ECDB 457

5. “svAti tirunAL's navarAtri k.rtis “, V. Ramachandran, Sangeetha 6ECDB 424

6. “svAti tirunAL k.rtis” , Neyyatinkara Vasudevan, AVM MEI-LR 2013

7. “shrI padmanabha: k.rtis of svAti tirunAL” , M. Balamuralikrishna, Sangeetha

8. “svAti tirunAL” , Film Songs, Various Artists, Tharangini VIII 87140

9. “Compositions of svAti tirunAL “, Sankaran Namboodiri, EMI India.

CD Recordings

1. “Shining Pearls of svAti tirunAL”, R. Suryaprakash (Carnatica CAR CD 1007)

2. “SWATHI” (six CDs) Dr. K. Omanakkutty and Disciples (Rajalakshmi Audio, Coimbatore)

  • Vol 1 -  navaratnamAlika

  • Vol 2 – navaratri k.rtis

  • Vol 3 – Popular k.rtis

  • Vol 4 – Rare k.rtis

  • Vol 5 -  rAgamAlikas

  • Vol 6 – tillAnas and padams

A Web site  dedicated to svAti tirunAL:

It is a treasure house on svAti tirunAL. It contains numerous articles on svATi tirunaL, other kEraLa composers, and also some  rare audio MP3 clippings.

We close, with the following dedication to  svAti tirunAL, composed by Dr V. V. Srivatsa (which  appears at the back of the CD jacket cover of Carnatica’s CD.)

nIti j~nAna audarya kalA rasanAdi gunabaritaH

khyAtiH sushObhitam maNidharaH phaNIndrashayana caraNa |

prItiH k.rpA”nga bhUSitam kulashEkharam  syAnandUrapura

svAtiH sudinanarEsham satatam aham smarAmi ||

 

Concluded



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