Putting spotlight on less-known kritis of Thyagaraja

Chennai: Describing saint-composer

Thyagaraja

as a devotee of Rama alone because of his compositions in praise of Vaishnavite gods and goddesses, is like telling half the story. His largely ignored Shaivite compositions including ‘

pancharatnas

’ (five gems) at Thiruvottiyur, Kovur and Kancheepuram, during his less-publicised visit to the Greater Chennai region show the range and diversity of a man who did not conform to boundaries.

Thyagaraja made it clear, through his songs, that he was not swayed by divisions of Vaishnavism and Shaivism. It is obvious that Vaishnavite and Shaivite Gods were like his two eyes, especially considering the Tiruvarur and Tiruvaiyaru background, reinforced by his pilgrimage to Chennai and other places in 1839. While the pancharatnas of Tiruvaiyaru are hailed, the others have been largely forgotten.

According to legend, it was during his tour to the Chennai region that he was said to have revived a dead person in Puttur near Chennai, and that Rama and Lakshmana accompanied his palanquin when it was attacked by robbers near Kovur. Biographer A V S Sarma in ‘Lines of Devotion (Songs of Saint Tyagaraja)’ records, "Near Puttur temple he sang seeing the plight of a drowned devotee who later came back to life on hearing ‘Naajivaadhaara’ (in raga Bilahari)". The Kovur attack by robbers is mentioned in the book as well. Thyagaraja had come to Chennai and stayed with Sundaresa Mudaliar, who provided `1,000 fund for the Kovur temple worship. While Thyagaraja was carrying this money (to Kovur), robbers attacked. When Thyagaraja was about to hand over the money, a pupil, Tanjavur Rama Rao, reminded him that the money belonged to the Lord. Then Thyagaraja sang "Mundu venuka Iruprakkala todi murakhara rara..." as a result of which Rama and Lakshmana escorted the palanquin of the master all night. Early in the morning, the robbers prayed for pardon describing the divine guides. Tyagaraja, on hearing this congratulated the robbers and felt sad at not being fortunate to have seen the divine guards himself." When Thyagaraja reached Kovur for the Vaisakha Visakam festival he composed the Kovur Pancharatnas, which have faded from memory.

Legend has it that Thyagarajaswamy, an avatar of Shiva and the presiding deity at the Tiruvarur temple, appeared in the dream of Ramabrahmam and mentioned that a son proficient in

music

and literature would be born to him and should be named after the lord. Since Thyagaraja spent a lot of time in Tiruvaiyaru in Panchanadhi (bank of five rivers) he dedicated a number of compositions to the presiding deity of the Panchanadeeswarar Siva temple — Praanathartthihara (Shiva) and his consort Dharmasamvardhani.

Thyagaraja began his pilgrimage in April 1839 at the age of 72. He was initially reluctant to undertake the long tour considering his age but his disciples convinced him to visit Thiruvottiyur, Kovur, Kancheepuram, Walajapet, Sholingur and Puttur besides Tirupati. It was during this tour that he visited several Shaivite shrines and composed beautiful numbers in Telugu and Sanskrit.

Saint Upanishad Brahmam, head of the Kanchi mutt and a friend of his father, had invited Thyagaraja to Kancheepuram. The formal invitation and some of Thyagaraja’s compositions are said to be preserved in the Saurastra Sabha in Madurai. At Kancheepuram, he composed kritis on Lord Varadaraja and Goddess Kamakshi. But these kritis are rarely sung by Carnatic musicians.

At the request of his disciple, Veena Kuppaiyer, Thyagaraja visited his Thiruvottiyur residence in June 1839 and composed "Venu Gaana Loluni Gana" in Kedaragowla raga there. Scholar Dr V Raghavan recorded, "Tyagaraja was drawn by the presence of the Goddess Tripurasundari" and composed five beautiful kritis known as the Thiruvottiyur pancharatnas," which too do not figure on the menu of musicians today.

It is said that Thyagaraja composed the kriti "Svari Vedalina Parthasarathyni Ganare" in raga Todi, when he visited the Parthasarathy Temple in Chennai but the full song is not available. This is, however, nothing unusual as of the 24,000 compositions of Thyagaraja only about 730 are said to be available. Thyagaraja is also said to have composed three kritis at Sholingur in praise of Lord Anjaneya that very few musicians are aware of.

At the request of disciples and great-grand father of violinist Lalgudi Jayaraman, Thyagaraja visited Lalgudi and composed the Lalgudi Pancharatnas at the temple for Lord Siva (Saptarishiswara) and Goddess Pravriddha Srimati. Lalgudi Jayaraman organised a concert of these pancharatnas, but others have failed to give importance to it.

In the rarely sung Thyagaraja kritis on Naadabrahmam he points to the Vedic belief that Lord Shiva is ‘Nada Tanu’, and praises Lord Shankara in the beautiful number "Naada Tanumanisham Shankaram" in raga Chittaranjani. But this musical treasure trove hardly finds a singer or audience.

(The writer is president of Chennai 2000 Plus Trust)


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