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[Editor's
Note: Sangita Kala Acharya Sri. T. S. Parthasarathy, eminent
musicologist, researcher and writer is one of the senior most scholars in
the field of Music and related arts. He was also the Secretary of the
Music Academy, Chennai for many years. He is a source of guidance to all
musicians and a respected authority on music theory and history. Carnatica
is deeply honored to have his permission to reproduce a selection of his
scholarly articles on Music and Dance published over the years in various
journals]
The music festival
that is celebrated at Ayyampettai every year by members of the Saurashtra
Community in commemoration of Walajapet Venkataramana Bhagavatar(1781-1874) is
a fitting tribute to one who was not only the foremost disciple of Tyagaraja
but also a scholar and a music composer in his own right. Among the sishya
paramparas of Tyagaraja, only the Walajapet school appears to have made an
attempt to collect biographical details about the saint-composer and his
horoscope and also to secure his valuable manuscripts which are housed in the
premises of the Saurashtra Sabha, Madurai. Tyagaraja himself must have
inherited these manuscripts from Vina Kalahasti Ayya, his maternal grandfather
and others. Venkatramana Bhagavatar and his son Krishnaswami Bhagavatar wrote
two separate biographies of Tyagaraja in Telugu which have near-contemporary
value. The palm-leaf manuscript of Venkataramana Bhagavatar ends suddenly
after the second marriage of Tyagaraja but the saint’s biography written on a
paper note book by Krishnaswamy Bhagavatar is complete. Both these manuscripts
have been translated by me into Tamil and published in my edition of
Tyagaraja’s kritis.
Venkataramana Bhagavatar was born at Ayyampettai
in 1781. He became highly proficient in Sanskrit, Telugu and Saurashtra
languages at an early age. The songs which he composed in later life show his
extraordinary command over prosody in these languages. His predilection was
for music and he proceeded to nearby Tiruvaiyaru to become disciple of
Tyagaraja. He soon became a favored pupil of the master and according to
Walajapet tradition; he spent nearly thirty years with his guru. Although the
Walajapet manuscripts make no mention of the incident ,biographies of
tyagaraja invariably refer to the presentation by Venkataramana Bhagavatar of
a potrait of Kodanda Rama to Tyagaraja’s daughter at the time of her marriage
and Tyagaraja going into raptures on seeing it and composing the kriti “Nannu
Palimpa”. The portrait is stated to have been painted by Pallavi Elliah, a
disciple of Venkataramana Bhagavatar.
Venkataramana Bhagavathar was later patronized by
the Zamindar of Karvetnagar and he used to visit his patron frequently from
Ayyampettai. The Bhagavatar appears to have decided to settle down at
Walajapet, migrated there in 1854 and came to be known as Walajapet
Venkataramana Bhagavatar. He passed away there at the ripe old age of 93.
Musical Tributes To Tyagaraja
A portion of the house in which the Bhagavatar was
residing at Walajapet was set apart as a Bhajana Mandiram. He duly installed a
potrait of Tyagaraja there and sang the Sisa Padya beginning with the words ‘E
Kala Kalithundu’ in which he mentions that the saint has been enshrined in his
house in the form of a portrait. He and his son Krishnasami Bhagavatar had
boundless reverence for Tyagaraja and invariably refer to him as
‘Guruswamulavaru’ in their biographies. Venkataramana Bhagavatar has also
composed the ‘Sri Guru Stotrashtakam’ in different metres in Sanskrit, the
‘Sri Guru Pancharatnam‘ in Telugu and the ‘Sri Guru Mangalashtakam’ in
Sanskrit commencing with the words ‘Srimad Karkala Vamsabdhi’ all in praise of
Tyagaraja. His kritis include ‘Sri Ramabrahmamu’ in Begada in praise of
Tyagaraja’s father and three kritis on Tyagaraja - ‘Guru Charanam’ in
Sankarabharanam (Sanskrit), ‘Guruvara Mahimala’ (Telugu) in Anandabhairavi and
‘Vada rasene’ (Sanskrit) in Purvi Kalyani.
Prolific Compositions
Venkataramana Bhagavatar’s output of musical
compositions is prolific and varied. His erudition in Sanskrit and Telugu and
his close and long association with Tyagaraja during the peak period of the
latter’s composing career made him an eminently competent composer. Although
he is stated to have composed about 2500 kritis ,150 songs have been traced
and of these 54 compositions were published with text and notation by the
Venkataramana Bhagavatar Swamigal Jayanti Committee,Ayyampettai, in 1971.These
include Tana Varnams,Pada Varnams, Svarajatis, Kirtanas and Tillanas cast in
different moulds.The Bhagavaratar was a staunch devotee of Lord Krishna and
used the mudra “Sri Ramachandrapura Venkataramana” ,Ramachandrapura being the
Sanskrit name for Ayyampettai. In one of his kritis on Tyagaraja he mentions
that the saint appeared before him in a dream one night and commanded him to
compose kritis in praise of Lord Vishnu.
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