ಅಲ್ಲಿದೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಮನೆ

Today is Basava Jayanti - The birthday of Bhakti Bhandari Basavanna.

Basavanna is one of Karnataka’s earliest social reformers - and his writings are known as vachanas (sayings). There is a very strong likelyhood that the later day haridAsas of Karnataka were influenced by the vachanas of Basavanna and others of the 12th century.

Here are some of my favorite vachanas written by Basavanna, with some of my own very rudimentary translation

The first one tells about the desperation and longing Basavanna had for Shiva, the lord of kUDala sangama ( A place in Karnataka, where river malaprabha joins river krishna).

ಚಕೋರಂಗೆ ಚಂದ್ರಮನ ಬೆಳಕಿನ ಚಿಂತೆ
ಅಂಬುಜಕೆ ಭಾನುವಿನ ಉದಯದ ಚಿಂತೆ
ಭ್ರಮರಂಗೆ ಪರಿಮಳದ ಬಂಡುಂಬ ಚಿಂತೆ
ಎನಗೆ ಎನ್ನ ಕೂಡಲಸಂಗಮದೇವನ ನೆನೆವುದೆ ಚಿಂತೆ!

The partridge bird
worries about moonlight
The lotus flower
worries about the sunrise
The bee only worries
about drinking fragrant nector
My only worry is to be
reminiscing about you
Oh my lord of kUDala sangama!

Watch Dr Vasundhara Doreswamy dance to this vachana (Pandanallur stlyle of Bharatanatya). The haunting chakravAka / Ahir Bhairav raaga greatly accents the mood of this vachana.

The second vachana talks about the likes and dislikes of his lord Shiva:

ನಾದಪ್ರಿಯ ಶಿವನೆಂಬರು ನಾದಪ್ರಿಯ ಶಿವನಲ್ಲ
ವೇದಪ್ರಿಯ ಶಿವನೆಂಬರು ವೇದಪ್ರಿಯ ಶಿವನಲ್ಲ
ನಾದವ ಮಾಡಿದ ರಾವಣಂಗೆ ಅರೆಯಾಯುಷವಾಯ್ತು
ವೇದವನೋದಿದ ಬ್ರಹ್ಮನ ಶಿರಹೋಯ್ತು
ನಾದಪ್ರಿಯನೂ ಅಲ್ಲ ವೇದಪ್ರಿಯನೂ ಅಲ್ಲ
ಭಕ್ತಿಪ್ರಿಯ ನಮ್ಮ ಕೂಡಲಸಂಗಮದೇವ!

They say Shiva loves music;
No, he doesn’t.
They say Shiva loves the learned;
No, He doesn’t.
Ravana, who made wonderful music
did not lead a full life.
Brahma, who learnt all the Vedas,
had to lose his head.
Neither is he fond of music
Nor is he fond of the Vedas
Our good lord of kUDala sangama,
is fond of devotion!

Those who know the composition of Purandara dAsa : kELanO hari tALano, can’t but fail to notice the similarity between the two.

Listen to this vachana here: nAdapriya SivaneMbaru

The third one goes even further. Basavanna calls his body as the temple where Shiva dwells.

ಉಳ್ಳವರು ಶಿವಾಲಯವ ಮಾಡುವರು
ನಾನೇನು ಮಾಡಲಿ ಬಡವನಯ್ಯ?
ಎನ್ನ ಕಾಲೇ ಕಂಬ ದೇಹವೆ ದೇಗುಲ
ಶಿರವೇ ಹೊನ್ನ ಕಳಸವಯ್ಯ!
ಕೂಡಲಸಂಗಮ ದೇವ ಕೇಳಯ್ಯ
ಸ್ಥಾವರಕ್ಕಳಿವುಂಟು ಜಂಗಮಕ್ಕಳಿವಿಲ್ಲ!

Rich build temples for Shiva
What can I, a poor man, do?
My legs are pillars
My body is the temple
My head makes the golden cupola
Oh, Lord of kUDala sangama
The standing will perish
The moving will stay on.

Watch Nachiketa Sharma sing uLLavaru shivAlayava mADuvaru, in rAga madhuvanti:

I will end with another of Basavanna’s vachana that deals with music.

ಎನ್ನ ಕಾಯವ ದಂಡಿಗೆಯ ಮಾಡಯ್ಯ
ಎನ್ನ ಶಿರವ ಸೋರೆಯ ಮಾಡಯ್ಯ
ಎನ್ನ ನರಗಳ ತಂತಿಯ ಮಾಡಯ್ಯ
ಬತ್ತೀಸ ರಾಗವ ಹಾಡಯ್ಯ
ಉರದಲೊತ್ತಿ ಬಾರಿಸು ಕೂಡಲಸಂಗಮದೇವ!

And here is the tranlation:

Make my body the fretboard,
Make my head resonator
Make my nerves into the strings
Sing those thirtytwo rAgas
Play intensely
Oh the lord of kUDala sangama!

I could not find a link for the audio or video. If you happen to know a link, please pass it on!

And, if you are keen on reading more vachanas, but do not know kannaDa, here is your best bet - A collection of vachanas tranlated in English by Prof A K Ramanujam: Speaking of Siva

-neelanjana

Today I was listening to a rendition of Bhadrachachala Ramadasa’s song - ikshwaku kulatililaka, a simple and very moving song set in yadukula kAmbhOji rAga. This raaga, supposed to be of folk origin, has been in use in classical music in the last 3-4 centuries.

Ramadasa lived in early 17th century. He held the position a village chief or a tahasildar in the kindom of Golconda in Bhadrachalam. Tax collection was one of his duties. He used up parts of the funds from the tax collected to renovate the Rama temple at Bhadrachalam, hoping to make good of the money from future donations by devotees. However, that was not to be, and he was charged for misappropriation of state funds, and held a prisoner at Golconda fort for 12 years.

Ramadasa had to undergo torture at the hands of the Sultan’s prison officials (What else do you expect in a prison, anyway!). He was a composer, and he continued composing even when he was serving his term in prison. This particular song, ikshwaku kultilaka ikanaina palukavu is said to have been composed during this time as there are autobiographical references.

In the song, Ramadasa speaks about everything he has done for Sri Rama and his family and shows his anger and finally asks for his help.

Here is one of my favourite renditions of ikShvAku kula tilaka, sung by  Dr BMK -

Balamurali sings ikShwAku kula tilaka

Here is an attempt to translate the song into Kannada - I have not gone for word-to-word translation, but tried to keep the same flow, and at the same time trying to keep the ’singability’ as much as possible.

ಇಕ್ಷ್ವಾಕು ಕುಲತಿಲಕ ನೀ ಬೇಗ ಹೇಳಯ್ಯ ರಾಮಚಂದ್ರ
ನನಗೀಗ ಕಾವಲಿಗೆ ನೀನಲ್ಲದಿನ್ಯಾರೋ ರಾಮಚಂದ್ರ

ಸುತ್ತ ಪ್ರಾಕಾರವ ಸೊಂಪಾಗಿ ಕಟ್ಟಿಸಿದೆ ರಾಮಚಂದ್ರ
ನಾನು ಸಾವಿರ ವರಹವ ಸುರಿದು ಕಟ್ಟಿಸಿದೆನಲ್ಲ ರಾಮಚಂದ್ರ

ಗೋಪುರ ಮಂಟಪವ ಸೊಗಸಾಗಿ ಕಟ್ಟಿಸಿದೆ ರಾಮಚಂದ್ರ
ಕಡೆಗಾಣಿಸದೆ ಎನ್ನೀಗ ಪೊರೆಯೋ ಮರೆಯದೇ ರಾಮಚಂದ್ರ

ಭರತನಿಗೆ ಮಾಡಿಸಿದೆ ಪಚ್ಚೆಯ ಪದಕವ ರಾಮಚಂದ್ರ
ಆ ಪದಕಕ್ಕೆ ಕೊಟ್ಟೆನೋ ಹತ್ತು ಸಾವಿರ ವರಹ ರಾಮಚಂದ್ರ

ಶತ್ರುಘ್ನಗೆ ಮಾಡಿಸಿದೆ ಬಂಗಾರದೊಡ್ಯಾಣ ರಾಮಚಂದ್ರ
ಹೊಳೆವ ಒಡ್ಯಾಣಕೆ ಮತ್ತೆ ಹತ್ತು ಸಾವಿರ ರಾಮಚಂದ್ರ!

ಲಕ್ಷ್ಮಣನಿಗೆ ಮಾಡಿಸಿದೆ ಮುತ್ತಿನ ಪದಕವು ರಾಮಚಂದ್ರ
ಮುತ್ತಿನ ಪದಕಕ್ಕೆ ಹತ್ತು ಸಾವಿರ ವರಹ ರಾಮಚಂದ್ರ

ಸೀತಮ್ಮಗೆ ಮಾಡಿಸಿದೆ ವಜ್ರದ ಪದಕಾವ ರಾಮಚಂದ್ರ
ಆ ಪದಕಕೆ ತೆತ್ತೆ ಹತ್ತು ಸಾವಿರ ವರಹ ರಾಮಚಂದ್ರ!

ಸುತ್ತಾಡಲು ವಾಹನವ ನಿನಗೆ ಮಾಡಿಸಿಕೊಡಲು ರಾಮಚಂದ್ರ
ಮತ್ತೆ ನನ್ನ ಕಾಲಿಗೆ ಬಿತ್ತಲ್ಲ ಸರಪಳಿಯು ರಾಮಚಂದ್ರ

ಮಿಂಚುವ ತುರಾಯಿ ನಿನಗೆ ಮಾಡಿಸಿಕೊಡಲು ರಾಮಚಂದ್ರ
ನೀ ಮಿರುಗುತಲೇ ನಡೆವೆ! ಪೂರ್ವೀಕರಾಸ್ತಿಯೇ? ರಾಮಚಂದ್ರ?

ಒಡವೆಗಳ ಕೊಟ್ಟವನು ನಿಮ್ಮಪ್ಪ ದಶರಥನೇ? ರಾಮಚಂದ್ರ
ನಿನ ಮಾವ ಜನಕ ಮಹಾರಾಜ ಕಳಿಸಿದನೇ? ರಾಮಚಂದ್ರ!

ನೀನಲ್ಲದಿನ್ಯಾರ ನಿಂದಿಸಲೋ ನಾನೀಗ ರಾಮಚಂದ್ರ
ತಡೆಯಲಾರದೆ ಕಷ್ಟ ಮತ್ತಷ್ಟು ಬೈವೇನೋ ರಾಮಚಂದ್ರ

ತೊರೆಗೆ ಸುರಿದಂಥ ನೀರಂತೆ ನನ ಪಾಡು ರಾಮಚಂದ್ರ
ನನಗೆ ಕೆಡುಕಿನ ಮೇಲೆ ಮತ್ತಷ್ಟು ಕೆಡುಕಾಯ್ತೋ ರಾಮಚಂದ್ರ

ಸರಕಾರದ ಹಣವ ಲೆಕ್ಕಿಸದೇ ಹೋದೇನೋ ರಾಮಚಂದ್ರ
ಚಾವಟಿ ಏಟನು ತಾಳೆ ನೀ ತೀರಿಸೋ ಕಡವ ರಾಮಚಂದ್ರ

ಕೌಸಲ್ಯಾಸುತನೇ ದಶರಥ ತನಯನೆ ಕಾಯೋ ರಾಮಚಂದ್ರ
ಭದ್ರಾಚಲ ಗಿರಿಯದಲಿ ಕ್ಷೇಮದಲಿ ನೆಲೆಸಿಹನೇ ರಾಮಚಂದ್ರ

ನಂಬಿದ ಭಕ್ತರ ಪರಿಪಾಲಿಸುವವ ನೀನೇ ರಾಮಚಂದ್ರ
ಚಂದದಲಿ ನೀ ಶ್ರೀರಾಮದಾಸನ ಸಲಹೋ ರಾಮಚಂದ್ರ

If you believe legends, Rama indeed came to help Ramadasa; may be I will write more about that some other time.

-neelanjana

ನಾನು ಚಿಕ್ಕವನಾಗಿದ್ದಾಗಿಂದ ಪರೀಕ್ಷೆ ಮುಗಿದು ಬರುವ ಬೇಸಿಗೆ ರಜೆಗೆ ಕಾಯುತ್ತಿರುತ್ತಿದ್ದೆ. ಏಕೆಂದರೆ, ವರ್ಷದಲ್ಲಿ ಒಮ್ಮೆ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ರೈಲ್ವೆ ಪ್ರಯಾಣ ಆಗ ಬರುತ್ತಿತ್ತು. ಎಲ್ಲ ಮಕ್ಕಳಿಗೂ, ರೈಲು ಪ್ರಯಾಣ ಎಂದರೆ ಹೆಚ್ಚೇ ಆಸೆ ಎಂದು ನನ್ನೆಣಿಕೆ. ಆದರೆ, ನನ್ನ ಈ ರೈಲು ಪ್ರಯಾಣ ಮಾತ್ರ ಬಹಳ ದೂರದ್ದಾಗಿರಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಆಗ ನಮ್ಮ ಊರಿಗೆ, (ಎಂದರೆ, ನನ್ನ ಪೂರ್ವಿಕರ ಊರಿಗೆ), ನನ್ನ ಊರಿಂದ (ಎಂದರೆ ಯಾವಾಗಲೂ ಯಾವಾಗಲೂ ನನ್ನ ಊರು ಯಾವುದು ಎಂದು ನಾನೆಂದುಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತೇನೋ) ಇದ್ದದ್ದು ಬರೀ ರೈಲು ಮಾತ್ರ. ಅರಸೀಕೆರೆಯಿಂದ ಮೈಸೂರಿಗೆ ಹೋಗುವ ದಾರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಐದು ಆರು ಮೈಲಿ ದಾಟಿ ಸಿಕ್ಕುತ್ತಿದ್ದಿದ್ದೇ ನಮ್ಮ ಹಳ್ಳಿ. ನಮ್ಮ ಅಜ್ಜ ಅಜ್ಜಿ ವಾಸ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ಮನೆ ಇದೆ ಅಲ್ಲಿ. ನನಗೆ ನೆನಪಿದ್ದಾಗಿನಿಂದ, ಅವರು ನಮ್ಮ ಮನೆಯಲ್ಲೇ ಇದ್ದುದ್ದರಿಂದ, ನನಗೆ ಅದು ಅಜ್ಜ-ಅಜ್ಜಿ ಮನೆ ಅನ್ನಿಸದೇ, ಒಂದು ರಜಾ ಕಾಲದ ಮನೆಯಾಗಿರುತ್ತಿತ್ತು.

ಈ ಹದಿನೈದು ನಿಮಿಷದ ರೈಲು ಪ್ರಯಾಣಕ್ಕೆ ಯಾಕಪ್ಪಾ ಅಷ್ಟು ಉತ್ಸಾಹ ಎಂದಿರಾ? ಇನ್ನೆಲ್ಲಿಗೆ ಹೋಗಬೇಕಾಗಿದ್ದರೂ ಬಸ್ಸನ್ನೇ ಹಿಡಿಯುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ನಾವು ಇಲ್ಲಿಗೆ ಮಾತ್ರ ರೈಲು ಹಿಡಿಯುತ್ತಿದ್ದಿದ್ದು ಒಂದಾದರೆ, ಹಳ್ಳಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಹೋಗಿ ಆರೆಂಟು ದಿನ ಇರುತ್ತೇವಲ್ಲ ಎನ್ನುವುದು ಇನ್ನೊಂದು ಕಾರಣ ಇರಬೇಕು. ಮತ್ತೆ ಅದಕ್ಕಿಂತ ಹೆಚ್ಚಿಗೆ, ಊರಿನಲ್ಲಿದ್ದ ನಮ್ಮ ಮನೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ವರ್ಷ ಪೂರ್ತಿ ಯಾರೂ ವಾಸ ಇರುತ್ತಿದ್ದಿಲ್ಲ. ಅದಕ್ಕೆ, ನಾವು ಎಂಟು ದಿನ ಒಂದು ಸಂಸಾರ ನಡೆಸಬೇಕಾದರೆ ಬೇಕಾಗುವಷ್ಟು ವಸ್ತುಗಳೆಲ್ಲ - ಅಂದರೆ ಪಾತ್ರೆ ಪರಟಿ, ದವಸ ದಿನಸಿ, ಉಪ್ಪು ಮೆಣಸು ಪ್ರತಿಯೊಂದನ್ನೂ ಕಟ್ಟಿಕೊಂಡು ಹೊರಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದೆವು. ಅದರ ಸಂಭ್ರಮವೇ ಸಂಭ್ರಮ ನನಗೆ! ಮತ್ತೆ ಮಧ್ಯಾಹ್ನ ಹತ್ತಿರದಲ್ಲೇ ಇದ್ದ ರಂಗೋಲಿ ಗುಂಡಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮಜೀದ್ ಸಾಬರನ್ನೋ, ಅವರ ಅಣ್ಣನನ್ನೋ ಹೋಗಿ, ಮೂರುಗಂಟೆಗೆ ಕುದುರೆಗಾಡಿಯೊಂದಿಗೆ ಬರಬೇಕು ಅಂತ ಕರೆದುಬರುತ್ತಿದ್ದೆ. ಆಗಿನ್ನೂ ಆಟೋರಿಕ್ಷಾಗಳೂ ಬಹಳ ಹೆಚ್ಚಿರಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಇದ್ದರೂ, ನಮ್ಮ ಎಂಟು ದಿನದ ಸಂಸಾರಕ್ಕೆ ಬೇಕಾಗುವ ಸಾಮಾನೆಲ್ಲ ಎತ್ತಿಕೊಂಡು ಹೋಗಲು ನಾಲ್ಕಾದರೂ ಆಟೋರಿಕ್ಷಾಗಳು ಬೇಕಾಗಿರುತ್ತಿದ್ದವೇನೋ! ಹಾಗಾಗಿ, ಮಜೀದ್ ಸಾಹೇಬರ ಕುದುರೆ ಗಾಡಿಯೇ ನಮಗೆ ಕಟ್ಟಿಟ್ಟದ್ದಾಗಿತ್ತು. ನನ್ನ ಅಜ್ಜ ತಾವು ಸಾಕಿದ್ದ ಕೊನೆಯ ಕೆಲವು ಕುದುರೆಗಳನ್ನೂ ಮಜೀದ್ ಸಾಬರ ತಂದೆಗೋ ಅಣ್ಣನಿಗೂ ಮಾರಿದ್ದೂ ಈ ನಂಟಿಗೆ ಕಾರಣವಾಗಿತ್ತೋ, ನನಗೆ ನೆನಪಿಲ್ಲ.

ಈ ಪ್ರಯಾಣವನ್ನು ನಾನು ಅಷ್ಟು ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಕಾಯುತ್ತಿದ್ದಿದ್ದಕ್ಕೆ ಇನ್ನೊಂದು ಕಾರಣವಿತ್ತು. ಊರಿನ ಮನೆಯಲ್ಲೊಂದು ಉಯ್ಯಾಲೆ ಮಣೆ ಇತ್ತು. ಪಟ್ಟಣವಾಸದ ನಮ್ಮ ಮನೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಉಯ್ಯಾಲೆ ಎಲ್ಲಿ ಬರಬೇಕು? ಹಳ್ಳಿಯ ಮನೆಯಾದರೆ ದೇಶೋವಿಶಾಲವಾಗಿತ್ತು. ಹೋದ ಕೂಡಲೆ ಉಯ್ಯಾಲೆ ಹಾಕುವಂತೆ ನನ್ನ ತಂದೆಗೆ ದುಂಬಾಲು ಬೀಳುತ್ತಿದ್ದೆ ನಾನು. ಅದರಲ್ಲೋ, ಒಟ್ಟಿಗೆ ಇಬ್ಬರೋ ಮೂವರೋ ಕೂರಬಹುದಿತ್ತಷ್ಟೆ. ಹಾಗಾಗಿ, ಬೇರೆಯವರ ಜೊತೆ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಜಗಳವಾಡೇ ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಅಧಿಕಾರ ಸ್ಥಾಪಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತಿದ್ದೆ ನಾನು. ಎಲ್ಲರಿಗಿಂತ ಕಿರಿಯವನಾಗಿದ್ದರಿಂದ, ನನ್ನ ಆಟವೂ ನಡೆಯುತ್ತಿತ್ತು ಎನ್ನಿ.

ನಮ್ಮ ಹಳ್ಳಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದು ಲಕ್ಷ್ಮೀಕೇಶವನ ಗುಡಿ ಇದೆ. ಗುಡಿ ಸಾಧಾರಣದ್ದೇ ಆಗಿದ್ದರೂ, ದೇವರ ಮೂರ್ತಿ ಮಾತ್ರ ಬಹಳ ಸುಂದರ. ಇವೆಲ್ಲ ಹೊಯ್ಸಳರ ಕಾಲದ್ದೇ ಮೂರ್ತಿಗಳು ಅಂತ ಎಲ್ಲರೂ ಹೇಳ್ತಾರೆ. ಪ್ರತೀ ವರ್ಷ ಚೈತ್ರದ ಹುಣ್ಣಿಮೆಯ ದಿನ ಅಲ್ಲಿ ತೇರು. ತೇರಿಗೆ ಮೂರು ದಿವಸ ಮೊದಲು ಶುರುವಾಗುವ ಉತ್ಸವಗಳು, ಆಮೇಲೆ ಮತ್ತೊಂದು ವಾರದ ವರೆಗೂ ಇರುತ್ತವೆ. ನಾವು ಅಲ್ಲಿಗೆ ಹೋಗುತ್ತಿದ್ದಿದ್ದೂ ಇದೇ ಸಮಯದಲ್ಲೇ. ಹಾಗೇ ಸುಮಾರು ಎಲ್ಲರ ಮನೆಯಲ್ಲೂ ಊರಿನಿಂದ ಬಂದ ನೆಂಟರು ಇಷ್ಟರು ಇರುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು. ಹೀಗೆ, ವರ್ಷಕ್ಕೊಮ್ಮೆ ಸಿಕ್ಕುವ ಕೆಲವು ಗೆಳೆಯರಿದ್ದರು ನನಗೆ ಅಲ್ಲಿ.

ರಥೋತ್ಸವದ ದಿನ ಊರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಸಡಗರವೋ ಸಡಗರ. ಎಲ್ಲ ಹೆಂಗೆಳೆಯರೂ ಮನೆಯಮುಂದೆ ಗುಡಿಸಿ ಸಾರಿಸಿ ರಂಗೋಲಿ ಹಾಕಿರುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು. ಆಗಿನ ನನ್ನ ಚಿಕ್ಕ ಕಣ್ಣುಗಳಿಗೆ, ಅವು ದೊಡ್ಡದಾಗಿ ತೋರುತ್ತಿದ್ದವೋ, ಅಥವಾ ನಿಜಕ್ಕೂ ಬಹಳ ದೊಡ್ಡ ರಂಗೋಲಿ ಚಿತ್ತಾರಗಳನ್ನು ಬಿಡಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದರೋ? ಯಾಕೋ ಬಗೆಹರಿಯುತ್ತಿಲ್ಲ. ಬೆಳಗ್ಗೆಯೇ ಒಂದು ಸಲ ದೇವರ ದರ್ಶನಕ್ಕೆ ಹೋಗಿರುತ್ತಿದ್ದೆವು. ನಂತರ ಅಲ್ಲೇ ಛತ್ರದಲ್ಲಿ ತಿಂಡಿ ತಿಂದು ಮನೆಗೆ ಬರುವಷ್ಟರಲ್ಲಿ ಬೇರೆ ಊರಿಂದ ರಥೋತ್ಸವಕ್ಕೆ ಬರುವ ಭಕ್ತರು ಊರಿಗೆ ಕಾಲಿಡತೊಡಗುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು. ಬಂದವರಿಗೆ ಊರಲ್ಲಿ ಯಾರದಾದರೂ ಪರಿಚಯವಿದ್ದರೆ ಅವರ ಮನೆಗೆ ಹೋದಾರು. ಇಲ್ಲದಿದ್ದರೂ ಚಿಂತೆಯಿಲ್ಲ. ತೇರಿನ ದಿನ, ಎಲ್ಲರ ಮನೆ ಬಾಗಿಲೂ ತೆರೆದೇ ಇರುವುದು. ಎಲ್ಲಿ ಹೋಗಿ ಬೇಕಾದರೂ ತಂಗಬಹುದು. ಬಂದವರಿಗೆಲ್ಲ ಆಯಾ ಮನೆಯವರ ಶಕ್ತ್ಯಾನುಸಾರ ಕಾಫಿಯದ್ದೋ ಪಾನಕದ್ದೋ ಸರಬರಾಜು ಆಗುತ್ತಲೇ ಇರುತ್ತಿತ್ತು. ನಮ್ಮ ಮನೆಗೂ ಹೀಗೇ ಐವತ್ತೋ ಅರವತ್ತೋ ಜನ ಬಂದಿರುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು. ಬಂದವರು ತಮ್ಮ ಚೀಲವನ್ನು ಇಟ್ಟು ದೇವರ ದರುಶನ ಮಾಡಿಕೊಂಡು ನಂತರ ಅಲ್ಲೇ ಜಗಲಿಯಲ್ಲೋ ಹಜಾರದಲ್ಲೋ ಹರಟುತ್ತ ಕೂತಿರುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು.

ಮಧ್ಯಾಹ್ನದ ವೇಳೆಗೆ ರಥ. ಊರಿನ ನಾಲ್ಕೂ ಬೀದಿಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಅದರ ಸಂಚಾರ. ಸಾವಿರಾರು ಜನ ಸೇರಿ ಆ ಅಲಂಕರಿಸಿದ ಮಹಾರಥವನ್ನು ಎಳೆಯುವುದೇ ಒಂದು ರೋಮಾಂಚಕಾರಿ ಅನುಭವ. ಚಿಕ್ಕ ಹಳ್ಳಿಯ ರಸ್ತೆಯಾದ್ದರಿಂದ ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ಅಡೆತಡೆಗಳೂ ಹಲವು. ಜೋರಾಗಿ ಎಳೆದರೆ, ಒಂದು ಮೂಲೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ರಥ ಸುಮಾರು ಒಬ್ಬರ ಮನೆಯ ಮುಂದಿನ ತನಕ ಬಂದು ಬಿಡುತ್ತಿತ್ತು. ಇಷ್ಟೆಲ್ಲದರ ನಡುವೆಯೂ ರಥ ಊರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಹೋಗುವಾಗ,

“ಡೋಲಾಯಮಾನಂ ಗೋವಿಂದಂ ಮಂಚಸ್ಥಂ ಮಧುಸೂಧನಂ
ರಥಸ್ಥ ಕೇಶವಂ ದೃಷ್ಟ್ವಾ ಪುನರ್ಜನ್ಮ ನ ವಿದ್ಯತೇ”

ಮಂಚದ ಮೇಲೋಲಾಡುತ್ತಿರುವಾ ಗೋವಿಂದನ ಮಧುವ ಮಡುಹಿದನ
ರಥದಲ್ಲಿರುವ ಕೇಶವನ ಕಂಡರೆ ಇರದೋ ಎಮಗೆ ಮರುಹುಟ್ಟು!

ಎಂದು ಹೇಳಿಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತಾ, ಹಿರಿಯರೆನ್ನದೆ ಕಿರಿಯರೆನ್ನದೆ ದೇವರಿಗೆ ಬಾಳೆ ಹಣ್ಣೆಸೆಯುವುದನ್ನು ನೋಡಿಯೇ ತೀರಬೇಕು.

ರಥೋತ್ಸವದ ಸಂಜೆಯ ಹೊತ್ತಿಗೆ ಬಂದವರೆಲ್ಲ ಹೊರಟಿರುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು. ನಂತರ ನನಗೆ ಉಳಿಯುತ್ತಿದ್ದುದು ದಿವಸಕ್ಕೆ ಮೂರು ಉತ್ಸವಗಳು, ಅವಕ್ಕೆ ಸಿಕ್ಕುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ಚರುಪು, ಮತ್ತೆ ಹಗಲೆಲ್ಲ ಉಯ್ಯಾಲೆ ಆಟ!

****

ಈ ವಾರ ಚಿತ್ರಾ ಪೂರ್ಣಿಮೆ. ಊರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ತೇರು ಎಂದಾಗ, ಈ ನೆನಪೆಲ್ಲ ಮತ್ತೆ ಮತ್ತೆ ಮರುಕಳಿಸಿ ಬಂತು. ನೆನಪುಗಳ ಮಾತು ಮಧುರ. ಅಲ್ಲವೆ?

-ನೀಲಾಂಜನ

Few weeks ago, I had the good fortune of attending a thematic concert of  bay-area vocalist Sri Ragavan Maniyan. He was accompanied on the violin by Sri Hemmige Srivatsan, and on the mridanga by Sri Sriram Ragavan.

In this concert Ragavan sang compositions  of his guru, Dr M Balamuralikrishna (BMK).

A typical Karnataka sangeeta concert has two aspects to it-  One is  the  kalpita sangeeta (or pre-composed music) and the other  is manOdharma sangeeta (composed extempore).  On the kalpita sangeeta part, the vocalist normally chooses a variety of compositions such as varNa, kriti, dEvaranAma, taranga, ashTapadi or tillAnas.  Some composers have specialized in specific forms of compositions and there may be a limitation when all the compositions are of the same composer. For example, if you limit a concert to compositions of Purandara Dasa, you can only have padas (dEvaranAmas) and ugAbhOgas, since suLAdis are almost extinct.  On ther hand if you choose Tyagaraja, you can only have compositions of the the kriti genre.  BMK, is one of the composers who have composed all kinds of compositions that are performed in a standard concert and hence limiting the concert to a single composer in no way negatively affects the variety in the concert.

I have been a Balamurali fan for almost as far as I can remember, and I have grown up listening to his recordings.   We got our first tape player at home when I was probably 7 or 8 years old. The first audio cassette we got was of  Balamurali’s. It seems like yesterday, listening to Tyagaraja’s pancharatna kriti jagadAnanddakAraka in nATa, Syama Sastry’s dEvI brOva samayamidE in ChintAmaNi and jayadEva’s nijagAdasa yadunandanE in sindhu bhairavi on that tape. Of course, back then neither did I know anything about Tyagaraja, Syama Sastry , Jayadeva, and  Balamurali nor about sindhubhairavi, chintAmaNi and nATa. But listening to these, and other recordings day in and day day out developed my taste for music as our audio collection grew in course of time.

I very well remember the first time I heard Balamuralikrishna live on stage. It was in 1980 or 1981, I think.  It was quite a rare  event for me, because BMK was not one of the musicians who came annually either during Ganapathi festival or Ramanavami celebrations in our town. That day, he started out with a majestic endarO mahAnubhAvulu in Sri, and then moved on to sing tuLasIdaLamulachE in mAyAmALavagouLa. And alas, we had an untimely rain shower, and the concert had to stop mid way because it was an open-air concert.   It was rescheduled after a few days, but I missed it because I was out of town to attend some function. Later, I have had the opportunity to hear him live a few times, but never as much as I wished for :(.

This concert of Ragavan was a real treat for me, since Ragavan is a student of BMK, and is follows his tradition of, or should I say, not following the tradition blindly and is willing to make new experiments!

I want to do a small disclaimer first! I am not a concert reviewer J I will list the compostions he sang, and add some notes wherever I can.

In this concert Ragavan presented the following compositions:

1.      chalamu sEya  (varNa)  in Ramapriya:

If you ask me, BMK has composed fabulous varNas. I like almost all his varNas, that I have heard – but the varNas in Shanmukhapriya (oMkAra praNava),  gambhIranATa, amrtavarShiNi (AbAlagOpAla)  , shuddha tODi (saraguna gAvumu) and nATa (E nAdamulO)  are my favourite ones.

2. mahAdEva sutam in Arabhi:A brisk and attractive kriti.

3. srI rAmam sadA in tAnarUpi :

BMK is one of the few composers who have done composed in all the 72  mELakartas (parental sclaes).  I have listened to all of them, and I like some of them better than the others. The rAga tAnarUpi, due to the nature of notes employed is a challenge to any musician. It is a double vivAdi rAga – simply said, it has some intervals between the notes that are not commonly used.  Ragavan’s AlApane and kriti rendition were both excellent.  Before the concert I had half a mind to do a listener’s request for him to sing the mELakarta kriti in a non-vivAdi rAga such as kOkolapriya or suvarnAngi (in which BMK has real nice compositions).  Not that I don’t like vivAdi rAgas; in fact I do like them a lot - but because many listeners have associated BMK with vivAdi rAgas, and I wished Ragavan dispelled that myth (This is not really true; but with 40 of 70 mELakartas being vivAdi, he has had no other option, you see!)  I ended up not doing the request, because I believe the artiste is the best judge of  what is best for his manOdharma at any performance. 

 4. A composition (on Saraswati) in mOhana:

This was the only composition I had not heard before. I forgot the words though.

5. mA mAnini in tODi: This is a special composition – because the sAhitya uses only the sounds sa-ri-ga-ma-pa-da-ni: the seven notes used in our music (except for the line which has the composers signature) 

6. oMkArAkAriNi in lavangi:

BMK is a trend setter. For hundreds of years, it was thought that a rAga should have  at least 5 musical notes to be enjoyable. BMK changed that with his new rAga creations such as mahati, sumukham and lavangi. 

 7. satyamulakidi kAdu manchi kAlam in bhairavi :

It is an interesting composition. This is a translation of Purandara Dasa’s ‘satyavantarigidu kAlavalla’ ; While he has retained the traditional maTTu in bhairavi rAga, and almost verbatim translated the words, he has  introduced  his signature, in addition to the purandara dAsa’s signature  as ‘muraLIdhara srI purandara’ in the last charaNa.  As far as I know, BMK has created such parallel sAhitya for a few more of Purandara dAsa’s dEvaranAmas such as  anugAlavu chinte and simharUpanAdE . There might be more too.

8. rAga - tAna - pallavi in miSramukhi tALa in rAga hamsAnandi:Ragavan used a line from one of BMK’s kritis,  and set the pallvi in misramukhi tALa ( a new concept introduced by BMK)

9. brihadISvara mahAdEva in kAnaDa: Probably one of the first BMK kritis I became aware of. I remember listening to vocalist Channakeshavan (a deciple of BMK)  sing this in a concert.

10. varuga varuga in kAmavardhini:

One of the best compositions in this rAga I would say.

11. rAga ThAya mAlikA tillana (tanom nom tatara tillAna): Funny that I am writing about this again! In an earlier post, I mentioned this composition and said it will need a post dedicated to itJ .  So, I am not writing more now! I will just say, it is a very challenging composition, and Ragavan did it amazingly well. If I closed my eyes, I could actually visualise Balamurali singing on the stage!

12. mangaLam Sri Raghavendra in suruTi:

Overall, it was a very satisfying concert experience for me. And for those of you in Bengalooru: BMK is singing at Rama Sava Mandali (Fort High School) on 15th May 2008. Don’t miss this opportunity to listen to the Maestro live!

-neelanjana

ಮಾರ್ಚ್ ೨೦, ೨೦೦೮ - ಇವತ್ತು ವಸಂತ ವಿಷುವ!

ವಸಂತದ ಬರವನ್ನು ಸಾರುವ ಈ ಕವಿತೆ ಓದಿ:

Spring: A poem by Thomas Nashe. 1567–1601
   
Spring, the sweet Spring, is the year’s pleasant king;

Then blooms each thing, then maids dance in a ring, 
Cold doth not sting, the pretty birds do sing—  
Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo! 

The palm and may make country houses gay,          5
Lambs frisk and play, the shepherds pipe all day, 
And we hear aye birds tune this merry lay—  
Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo! 

The fields breathe sweet, the daisies kiss our feet, 
Young lovers meet, old wives a-sunning sit,   10
In every street these tunes our ears do greet—  
Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo!  
Spring, the sweet Spring! 

ಮತ್ತೆ ಈ ಗೀತೆಯ ಒಂದು ಸುಂದರ ಅನುವಾದ - ಬಿ.ಎಮ್.ಶ್ರೀ ಅವರ ’ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಷ್ ಗೀತೆಗಳು’ ಸಂಕಲನದಿಂದ - ಇದನ್ನು ಪ್ರಾಥಮಿಕ ಶಾಲೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಬಾಯಿಪಾಠ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದೆಂದು ನೆನಪು.

ವಸಂತ

ವಸಂತ ಬಂದ ಋತುಗಳ ರಾಜ ತಾ ಬಂದ
ಚಿಗುರನು ತಂದ ಪೆಣ್ಗಳ ಕುಣಿಸುತ ನಿಂದ,
ಚಳಿಯನು ಕೊಂದ ಹಕ್ಕಿಗಳುಲಿತವೆ ಚೆಂದ,
ಹಕ್ಕಿಗಳುಲಿತವೆ ಚಂದ

ಕೂವೂ ಜಗ್‌ ಜಗ್‌ ಪುವ್ವೀ ಟೂವಿಟ್ಟವೂ !

ಕುರಿ ನೆಗೆದಾಟ, ಕುರುಬರ ಕೊಳಲಿನೂದಾಟ,
ಇನಿಯರ ಬೇಟ; ಬನದಲಿ ಬೆಳದಿಂಗಳೂಟ,
ಹೊಸ ಹೊಸ ನೋಟ, ಹಕ್ಕಿಗೆ ನಲಿವಿನ ಪಾಠ,

ಕೂವೂ ಜಗ್‌ ಜಗ್‌ ಪುವ್ವೀ ಟೂವಿಟ್ಟವೂ !

ಮಾವಿನ ಸೊಂಪು ಮಲ್ಲಿಗೆ ಬಯಲೆಲ್ಲ ಕಂಪು
ಗಾಳಿಯ ತಂಪು ಜನಗಳ ಜಾತ್ರೆಯ ಗುಂಪು
ಕಿವಿಗಳಿಗಿಂಪು ಹಕ್ಕಿಗಳುಲುಹಿನ ಪೆಂಪು

ಕೂವೂ ಜಗ್‌ ಜಗ್‌ ಪುವ್ವೀ ಟೂವಿಟ್ಟವೂ !

ಬಂದ ವಸಂತ! ನಮ್ಮ ರಾಜ ವಸಂತ !

ಭಾಷಾಂತರ ಮಾಡಿದರೆ ಹೀಗೆ ಮಾಡಬೇಕು ಎನ್ನುವುದಕ್ಕೆ ಇದಕ್ಕಿಂತ ಒಳ್ಳೆ ಉದಾಹರಣೆ ಬೇಕಿಲ್ಲ!

-ನೀಲಾಂಜನ

On the way to work this morning,  I was listening to a show on raaga kalyAni on Stanford Radio at 90.1FM (www.itsdiff.com)  presented by Sri Ragavan Manian, an eminent musician of SFO bay area.

Kalyani, or yaman if you are from north of river Krishna, is a very captivating rAga indeed. I have rambled on it this rAga earlier, here and here. Today, it is the chance to write a bit more!

What if I were to be stranded in an island, and had only one rAga to listen to? Which rAga would I pick? Of course, kalyAni. Actually that reminds me of a comment made by one of the callers in the radio program this morning - ”How can anyone in the right frame of mind NOT like kalyANi?” ?

Texual traditions place Kalyani to be an import from the music of the Middle-Eastern music. The word ‘yaman’ comes from ‘eman’ or ‘iman’ in Persian - which means “blessed”. When this rAga was adopted to Indian music, the name was indianized with the same meaning as ‘kalyaNa’, or ‘kalyANi’. This import should have happened sometime around 1400 AD (or before), since we have the name of the rAga mentioned in a composition of SripadarAya (1402 AD-1500AD).

Sometime back, the blog avadhi asked it’s readers to name their Top Ten kannada books. My list was published there too. Today’s  show on rAga kalyAni made me list my top ten favourite compositions, set in kalyAni rAga. 

Disclaimer: This order is not set in stone, and I will just say that it is today’s list; if I were to set to do the list another day I might come up with a slightly different order 

For those interested, I am pointing to some of my favourite audio links as well.

1. nidhi chAlA sukhamA :

One of the Kalyani gems composed by Tyagaraja. It was supposedly composed in response to the invitation of Serfoji (king of Tanjavoor) to Tyagaraja to become a court musician. He asks “Does wealth give you bliss, or  being close to Rama give you bliss”? You can listen to it here  sung by S Sowmya.

2. EtAvunnarA:  

Another grand kriti of Tyagaraja in kalyAni. Listen it here  on the Veena, by Eemani Shankara Shastry.

3.  sundari nI divya rUpamunu:

Yet another wonderful kriti of Tyagaraja in Kalyani. Tyagaraja visited Chennaipattanam (now Chennai) to visit one of his deciples. There he visited the temple at Tiruvottriyoor, on the northern outskirts of current day Chennai, and composed five compositions on the goddess Tripurasundari. These are termed as the “Tiruvottriyoor Pancharatna kritis”. This composition is one of those five. Listen to it  sung by Dr M Balamuralikrishna , unquestionably my personal favourite.

4. nija dAsa varada:

No wonder the first three were compositions of Tyagaraja. He has composed more than 30  songs in this rAga. And for the same reason, it seems Patnam Subramaniyam Iyer, who comes in the lineage of Tyagaraja did not compose anything in Kalyani for a long time because he felt that Tyagaraja had almost exhausted all the possibilities in kalyAni rAga. But finally he came up with a his own grand composition, to match those of the saint,  set slightly differently to showing his individuality. Listen to it on the nAdaswara by Namagiripettai Krishnan.

5. SringapurAdhIswari shAradE:

A very nice composition of Krishnamachar, popularly known as Padmacharan. Till recently I did not know this kriti - but once I listened to this the rasika forum (www.rasikas.org) (sung by M N Sriram, a fellow rasika on the forum) sometime back, this has  become one of my favourites!

6. nannu brOvamani cheppavE : 

I love the folksy touch given to this composition of Annamayya.   Listen to this song here sung by Dr BMK  . 

7. kamalAmbAm bhajarE :

Here comes the composition of Muttuswami Dikshitar (MD). This majestic composition is one of the Kamalamba Navavarana kritis. Listen to this played  by U Srinivas on the mandolin

8. bhaja rE chitta:

Another kriti of MD. Listen to this here  sung by Sanjay Subramanian

9. himAdri sutE pAhimAm :

A composition of Shyama Shastri. One of the few compositions that has two different set of words - one in Samskrita and one in Telugu (birAna varAlicchi brOvumu) . Here is the samskrita version from a kannada movie, Hamsageethe, by Dr BMK

10. shivE pAhimAm ambike :

While I could not locate the audio for this kriti, I wanted to list it here because this was the first Kalyani kriti I became aware of! This is a kriti of Tyagaraja, on Dharmasamvardhini, the diety of Tiruvayyaru, the hometown of Tyagaraja.

I wish I could add more compositions, but ‘Top Ten’s are supposed to be what they mean - Right? So even though I don’t want to add these to the list, I will just mention few other must listens  in this rAga -  kAru vElpu of Tyagaraja, abhayAmbA jagadambA of MD, kELano hari tALano or Purandara dAsa sung beautifully by BMK  for a kannada movie - gAnayOgi rAmanna ( Listen to it here)  and the ThAya mAlika tillAna composed by Dr MBK come to mind immediately. The last one definitely merits a post on it’s own. May be some other day!

-neelanjana

My Kannada blog,  Hamsanaada is featured on Kendasampige today as  ”The Blog of the Day“   , and this blog  ಅಲ್ಲಿದೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಮನೆ  got a mention too!

http://www.kendasampige.com/preview/?page_id=176

-neelanjana

If you have not lived in a concrete jungle all your life, you would have definitely heard different bird calls. Who is not captivated by the the koel singing in it’s sweet voice, perched on the branches of a mango tree in spring time?

 Crow

 Koel

One well known samskrita shlOka says thus:

काकः कृष्णः पिकः कृष्णः को भेदो पिककाकयोः
वसन्तकाले सम्प्राप्ते काकः काकः पिकः पिकः

The crows is black, the koel is black.
Pray, tell me the difference ?
Come spring time, you’ll see
Who’s the crow and who’s the Koel!

ಕಾಗೆಯು ಕಪ್ಪು ಕೋಗಿಲೆ ಕಪ್ಪು
ಎಲ್ಲಿದೆ ಏನಿದೆ ವ್ಯತ್ಯಾಸ ?
ವಸಂತಕಾಲವು ಬಂದಿರೆ ತಾನು
ಆಗುವುದದು ಖಂಡಿತ ಭಾಸ !

Sometime back I had written about samasyA pooraNam in Samskrita, and in Kannada. A few days ago, I got a couplet from a visitor to my Kannada blog. I found it very interesting. I had not read or heard about this before. I am not sure if is a good samasya-pooraNam example, but it could very well be one.

The couplet has only two consonents in it - r and t. I guess it is very hard to write poetry like this in other language. At least for people like me

Here it goes the shlOka:

तारतारतरैरेतैः उत्तरोत्तरतोरुतैः ।
रतार्त तित्तिरी रौति तीरेतीरे तरौतरौ ॥

To make it comprehendable, I have to split the compound words as below:

तार तारतरैः एतैः उत्तरोत्तरतः ऋतैः ।
रतार्त तित्तिरी रौति तीरेतीरे तरौतरौ ॥

tAra tArataraiH EtaiH uttarOttarataH RutaiH |
ratArta tittirI rauti tIrE tIrE tarau tarau ||

Here is my attempted translation into Kannada:

ತಾರತಾರಕ್ಕೆ ಏರುವ ದನಿಯಲಿ
ರತಿರಾಗದಲಿ ಜೊತೆಬಯಸುವ ತಿತ್ತಿರಿ
ರೋದಿಸಿತದು ಕೆರೆಕೊಳಗಳ ತೀರ
ತೀರದಲಿ ಮರಗಿಡಗಳ ನಡುವಲಿ

I don’t have to reiterate that I have not kept the special feature of the original!

The couplet is describs the plight of a female partrige bird that is looking for a mate among the trees on the shores of lakes and ponds, calling in sounds that go to higher and higher pitch with each of it’s calls.

I have never seen a Partridge (tittirI, ತಿತ್ತಿರಿ) anytime in wild - But here you can see one here, thanks to google search :)  The closest I have come across a partridge is in the Christmas song - A partrige in a pear tree!

When I am talking about birds, I should definitely tell about the cAtaka bird. This bird is supposed to drink only the rainwater that is falling from the clouds, and not drink any other water. So, no wonder that it calls out for rain. The cAtaka bird ( A form of cuckoo, Cuculus Melanoleucus as per some sources on the web; Some other sources equated it to the Pied Cuckoo and the bibeeha bird, neither of which is identical to Cuculus Melanoleucus) has become a well known poetic image in Samskrita.

Bhartrhari writes thus:

रे रे चातक सावधानमनसा मित्र क्षणं श्रूयताम्
अम्भोदाः बहवो हि सन्ति गगने सर्वेपि नैतादृशाः
केचित् वृष्टिभिरार्द्रयंति धरणीम् गर्जंति केचिद् वृथा
यं यं पश्यसि तस्य तस्य पुरतो मा ब्रूहि दीनं वचः

Oh, CAtaka bird, give me a patient hearing, just for a minute
There are plenty of clouds in the sky; but none so alike
Some drench the earth with copious rain; others thunder in vain
So don’t be an indigent and supplicate in front of everyone!

Although he is addressing a bird, it is very clear who he is takling to!

To end this post, here is my translation of this subhAshita in kannaDa:

ಎಲೇ ಚಾತಕ, ಸಾವಧಾನ ಮನದಿ ಕೇಳು ಒಂದೆರಡು ಕ್ಷಣ
ಬಾನಲಿಹವು ಹಲವು ಮುಗಿಲು; ಆದರೊಂದೊಂದೂ ವಿಭಿನ್ನ.
ಮಳೆಯ ಸುರಿಸಿದರೆ ಕೆಲವು, ಬರಿದೆ ಗುಡುಗುವುವು ಕೆಲವು
ಅದಕೆ ನೀ ಕಂಡ ಕಂಡಲ್ಲೆಲ್ಲ ತೋರದಿರು ದೈನ್ಯವನ್ನ

-neelanjana

I have often cross-linked posts from my Kannada blog on Sampada here. And I have done the converse too, linking the posts here in my Kannada blog, without explicitly  mentioning that I wrote those posts.

Today my Kananda blog on Sampada - Hamsanada -”ಹಂಸನಾದ” is turning one, and so I thought it was the  right time to update the links on the blogroll here to call “Hamsanada” officially as “My Kannada Blog“ 

If you are a ‘googlephile’ :O) - (Yes, there is such a word!), there is a mirror for ಹಂಸನಾದ on Blogger as well.

-neelanjana

Karnataka is fortunate to have a number of excellent sugama sangeeta artists starting from the time of Kalinga Rao. Based on my personal experience in two neighbouring states, the following for sugama sangeeta is not very uniform throughout India.  In my observation, there is a large following for both classical music and filmi music in Tamil Nadu, but not so much to semi-classical form of music. In Maharashtra, on the other hand, Marathi film music is almost non-existent, but cultural centers like Pune reverberate with classical music, and sugama sangeeta is quite popular.

It is a totally different story in Karnataka. Filmi music is popular. (Where it isn’t?)  Although fan following for classical music is below the levels of what I think it should be at, tahnkfully sugama sangeeta artists have been quite popular from decades.  And rightly so.

If you are a music fanatic, it is hard to pick one song that is your most favorite.  It is a tantalizing task. Just like asking an avid reader to pick just one book. I don’t think I can answer either of these question witout a ‘but’ or an ‘if’ or a ’so’

However, the song ದೀಪವು ನಿನ್ನದೆ, ಗಾಳಿಯು ನಿನ್ನದೆ -’deepavu ninnade, gaaLiyu ninnade’  by K S Narasimha Swami seems to be a very popular among the visitors to my blog. Every day since I wrote a post about this song about five months ago, I have had one or two search engine hits that are looking for something like ‘deepavu ninnade lyrics’ or ‘deepavu ninnadu ke es na’ or ‘deepavu ninnade gaaliyu ninnade’ ‘deepavu ninnade words’ etc. You get the idea. In fact, this has been the most visited post in my blog, contributing about one tenth the total number of visitors who have ever come to this blog.

Given that many of my posts are about music, and a number of songs are actually are mentioned in these posts, I have to come to a conclusion that ದೀಪವು ನಿನ್ನದೆ is one of the most popular kannada bhaavageetes - if not the most popular.

I like this song too. The background music is very apt, and sets the mood for the lyrics very well. However, if I am asked to pick just one bhaavageete - would I choose this one? I think not.  When I have a limited choice, I think I would go for something much brighter in treatment; din ki pooria or bhOgavasanta does not just cut it. 

Then what would my choice be?  May be ಉಡುಗಣವೇಷ್ಟಿತ ಚಂದ್ರ ಸುಶೋಭಿತ (uDugaNavEShTita) or ಎದೆ ತುಂಬಿ ಹಾಡಿದೆನು  (ede tumbi hADidenu) - incidentally both poems are written by G.S.Shivarudrappa. And no, I just don’t like the music composed by Ashwath for ‘ede tumbi hADidenu’ - Or was it Mysore Anantha Swamy’s? Either way, that is not the best tune for this song in my opinion.  Instead I like the other tune for this song that I have known for a long long long time -which I knew much before I even knew C Ashwath’s, or Anannthaswamy’s name.  Coincidentally, the tune I am talking about  is based on the raaga Kalyani (or Yaman, if you are from north of river Tungabhadra), just like the song uDugaNavEShTita is.

I don’t know the composer of that tune for ’ede tumbi haaDidenu’ but suspect it could be Padmacharan. His fancy for Kalyani/Yaman is well known. I desperately searched the internet for any audio links for uDugaNavEShTita and ede tumbi haaDidenu ( the version I am talking about) - but no avail. Either my search skills are very bad, or the songs are not that great. I would it rather be the former than the latter!

So for those who have never heard these songs, I have to leave it to their imagination. And for those who have actually listened to these, no doubt they would agree with me that these indeed are two great songs !

-neelanjana