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[Editor's Note: This
article uses transliteration to reflect correct pronunciation of names and
lyrics.
Click here for the
standard transliteration scheme]
South India has produced
several women saint composers like ANDAL, and auvaiyAR, who
have poured out soul-stirring devotional music, that captivates the mind
of every bhakta. Their songs have been set to melodious tunes by
various musicians, and are rendered frequently in concerts. These female
composers lived prior to the era when the kaRNATik k.rti format
evolved along the pallavi – anupallavi – caraNam style, that is
currently in vogue. However, in the history of kaRNATic music,
kuTTikku~nju ta”ngacci (1820--1908 AD) occupies a unique place, as the
first woman composer of songs in this present day k.rti tradition.
KuTTikku~nju
was born in Trivandrum, and she was the only daughter of irayimman tampi
(http://www.carnatica.net/special/irayimman-ppn.htm),
the chief musician in the royal court of mahArAja svAti tirunAL. Her father
was her music mentor, and she naturally inherited many of his musical talents.
She learnt Sanskrit language and literature from harippADu koccuppiLLa vAriaR.
Besides being a proficient scholar in Sanskrit, she was also an excellent
dancer. She got her training in the dance form of tiruvAtira pATTu
directly from her father, right in her home. She blossomed into a versatile
composer of poetical works, as well as of different musical formats, both
classical and folk type. She was equally adept in several forms of dance art,
and had wide reputation as a dedicated teacher of mOhini ATTam.
Nurtured carefully by her
father, kuTTikku~ju was fortunate enough to enjoy the scholarly atmosphere of
the Trivandrum palace during the reign of several rulers from svAti tirunAl (http://www.carnatica.net/special/garbhashriman-ppn.htm)
to shrI mUlam tirunAL. In recognition of her scholarship, they used to bless
her with valuable presents. A hand mirror (vAl kaNNADI) that svATi
tirunAL gave her as a gift is still treasured by kizhakkE maDam gOvindan nAir,
a historian and a descendent of kuTTikku”nju. Also supposed to be in his
possession is her notebook, in which she used to jot down compositions of
svAti tirunAL, and her father, irayimman tampi. The photos of these items can
be viewed at
http://www.swathithirunal.org/composeres/thanka.htm
As a prolific
composer, kuTTikku~nju has contributed generously. Besides composing some
brilliant k.rtis, padams, tillAnA, and so forth, she also
carved out several forms of classical and folk melodies that are specific to
the cultural heritage of kEraLa. Some of her works in this direction include:
·
tiruvAtira
pATTu (songs
sung by women during the ArdrA festival in Kerala),
shivarAri mAhAtmyam
sItA svayamvaram
nArada mOhanam
·
kiLippATTu
(cuckoo
song)
tiruvanantapuram sthala
purANam
vaikkam sthala purANam
·
kuRatti pATTu
(a sort of
gypsy song)
kirAtam
naLa caritam
·
tuLLal
(a kind of temple
dance, created by ku~ncan nambiAR)
ga”ngA snAnam
·
ATTakkatha (songs
suitable for kathakaLi dance theatre)
pArvatI svayamvaram
shrImatI svayamvaram
mitra saha mOkSam
·
TArATTu
(lullaby)
a~ncita saubhAgya
lakSmi (on va~nci rAjakumAri)
·
nATakam
(drama)
aj~nAta vAsam
·
vAtil tuRa
pATTu
(door-opening songs
padam-like,
(door-opening) love songs of a folk type --- these are erotic folk songs of a
conversational style (between lovers, one requesting the other to open the
door, the other refusing at first, and finally yielding). Three such
compositions of kuTTiku~nju are available at present.
·
kummi
(another popular
folk song)
Ashara vamsha dinEsha vibhO,
(and about two dozen kummis
Even though
her ATTakkatha and folk music compositions are considered great work, and
treated with great veneration, kuTTikku~nju was equally popular as a composer
of classical forms of music. She composed in sanskrit, malayALam, and
maNipravALam. It is a pity that only six of her compositions have been so
far available to us. They are the following (published in “kEraLa sa”ngItam”).
kAtyAyani mAM pAlaya, kAmbhOji,
Adi (on pAlkuLA”n”nara dEvi)
sAmaja hara hara, kalyANi, Adi
(on turuvaTTAR Adi kEshava svAmi)
sUryakOti sama prabhA makuTE,
nATTa, cApu (on mUkAmbikA)
pAhi mOhanAk.rtE, kamAs, Adi
(on neyyaRRinkara k.rSNan)
AnandarUpa harE, pantuvarALi,
cApu (on malayin kIzh temple k.rSNa)
shri pavanapurEsha, suraTi,
Adi (on k.rSna)
All these devotional k.rtis
are set in weighty rAgams, and in all of them, there is an intense
portrayal of the bhakti rasam. The k.rti on mUkAmbika, and
neyyAttinkara k.rSNan are in chaste Sanskrit, and the rest are in malayALam.
While she did not use any mudra (signature), two of the above k.rtis
feature the sthala mudra (geographical reference). The phrase “kSIra
taTAka taTam” in the kAmbhOji k.rti obviously refers to the temple at
“pAlkuLA”n”nara, and the signature “gh.rta nadI tIra nilaya” in the
kamAs k.rti clearly refers to the neyyAttinkara temple.
Dr. Lila OmcEri (University of
Delhi) has taken great pains to unearth rare compositions of kuTTikku~nju. In
her book, “abhinaya sa”ngItam” (Kerala Bhasha Institute, 1995) in
malayALam, she has kindly published four malayALa padams, a tillAna in
sanskrit, and three “vAtil tuRa pATTu (one in male vAdam, and two in
female vAdam). Many of these are suitable for dance, especially,
mOhini ATTam, in which kuTTikku~nju was very proficient. In the preface
to this book, Dr OmcErI mentions that she has a rare manuscript belonging to
her family, that contains many more compositions of kuTTikku~nju, including 15
or so kummi songs, and several other folk songs. Hopefully, she will
be publishing them in the near future, for the benefit of music and dance
lovers. The following songs of kuTTikku~nju ta”ngacci appear in her
publication.
malayALa padams
bandurA”ngi kintu ceyvu ~nAn,
husEni, Adi
bAlikE pOkaruta”n”neTO,
sha”nkarAbharaNam, cApu
inDal vaLarunnitayyayyO,
bilahari, Adi
hA ramaNanayi maRannO,
kAmbhOji, Adi
tillAnA (sanskrit)
kulashEkhara mahArAja bhUpatE,
darbAr, rUpakam
vAtil tuRa pATTu
(door-opening songs
)
dayitE tuRakku vAtil, tODi,
Adi (puruSa vAdam)
yAhi yAhi mOhanAk.rtE,
madhyamavati, Adi (strI vAdam)
kAma kOmaLAkArA, rAgamAlikA,
Eka tALam (strI vAdam)
[kAmbhOji, nIlAmbari,
madhyamAvati (in nala”ngu meTTu), navarasam, and bhUpALam]
CLICK BELOW FOR THE LYRICS
OF ALL THESE 14 SONGS OF KUTTIKKUNJU TANGACCI:
The nATTa rAgam
piece, “sUryakOti sama prabhA makuTE” on Goddess mUkAmbika is one of
her masterpieces. It abounds in lyrical beauties and has great musical depth.
It has no anupallavi, and the pallavi is followed by three lengthy
caraNams. To appreciate the beauty of this song, we give below the
sAhityam.
sUryakOTisamaprabhAmakuTE
rAgam: nATTa - tALam: cApu
pallavi
sUryakOTisamaprabhAmakuTE
pAhi mAM shivE
caraNam
candrikAmalakundacARuradE
kucanIradE karuNAnidhE
dEvi shAradE varadE
duritatApatrayE
k.rpayA paripUrita
bhaktamanOrathE
gaurI harApadaM kuru mE mudaM
dhutAnalpavikalpE
shrita kalpadrumakalpE nava
|| 1 || (sUrya)
svarNakuNDalamaNDitE vimalE
kamalAsanE
bhavanAshanE vibudhAvanE
pAvanE
khaNDitamOhasamUhE suvA”nmaya
varNasvarUpE
niRvANapradE suravallabhE
vidhivallabhE
k.rpAnikSEpakaTAkSAnata
rakSaika vidakSE nava || 2 || (sUrya)
aMbujAmalakamrapANiyugE
lalitALakE
sunitambikE jagadambikE
mUkAmbikE
nirmalavij~nAnamaj~nAnanAshinI
sanmanOvAsE sadaiva vidhEhi
vINAdharE
aruNAdharE varapustakahastE
mama
bhuvanatraya janayitri hE ||
3 || (sUrya)
KuTTikku~nju ta”ngacci died in
1908, but her unique place in the field of kaRNATik music, as the first woman
composer (in the sense of the present day k.rti tradition) will live
on.
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