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Since today is the first full moon of the year, and since it also happens to be the brightest and largest moon of the year, I thought ‘Chandra Jyothi’ which means ‘moon light’ makes an apt title for this post.
If you did not notice yet, all full moons are not made equal, and some are bigger than others. And the full moon on January 29,2010 happens to be the biggest, brightest full moon of the year.
But why is today the biggest full moon of the year? We know the Moon’s path around the earth is an ellipse. So, the Moon is closer to us at some parts of this path than in other parts. The point where the Moon is closest to the Earth is called the perigee. If a full moon occurs when the Moon is at, or near the perigee in it’s monthly travel, then that full moon would be brighter than those when the full moon occurs when the Moon is at other points on its orbit.
To add to this effect, recall Earth moves around the Sun in an elliptical path too. That makes Earth closest to the Sun (and hence the Moon closest to the Sun) in early January every year. So if a full moon closer to perigee occurs around this time of the year, you get an extra bright moon, like today.
Since today is the day with the brightest ‘chandra jyOthi’ (moon light), it is no surprise I was reminded of couple of compositions of Tyagaraja in the raga Chandra Jyothi as I was writing this post!
Tyagaraja, the innovator he was, tried out a lot of new melodies that did not exist before his time, and Chandrajyothi is also a raga in which he is the first known composer. He has couple of compositions – and incidentally one starting with the words ‘Shashi vadana bhakta janaavana’ (Shashi is one of the words that mean ‘Moon’ in Samskrta). His other composition in raga Chandra jyothi , which is probably heard more often in concerts is Bagayenayya. Listen to this composition on flute by V K Raman.
All this discussion about the Moon, almost made me forget that I got the Superior Scribbler award from another ‘Moon’ – Shashi Kulkarni of ‘rasAyana‘. Yippee!!
And I am really glad to pass this to five other Superior Scribbler fellow bloggers.
So here goes my list:
Sallaapa: A wonderful weblog in Kannada by Sunaath, mostly about literary works in Kannada
MountainTop: I am a fan of Vidya’s posts on music, samskrta and alternate history
Mouna Gaala: Kannada blog by Sushruta Dodderi, who specializes in ಲಲಿತ ಪ್ರಬಂಧ
Subhashita Manjari: Regular posts of Samskrta subhashitas – often I use those posted here for my translations to Kannada!
NadhaSudharasa: A very musical blog by Musical Scientist, and Shreekrishna – who, I must admit, are even more Guruguhaphiles than I am! Not recommended for those un-initiated in Karnataka Sangeetha 
-neelanjana
If at all we know one thing certainly about Purandara Dasa, it is the day of his passing away. His son Madhwapa Dasa records in one of his compositions that Purandara Dasa passed away on Pushya Amavasye of Raktakshi Samvatsara , which corresponds to the year 1564 CE.
This year Pushya amavasye falls on January 15th 2010 - This is definitely a day to remember the contribution of not only Purandara Dasa, but many other saints who followed the hari dasa tradition, and contributed both Kannada literature and enriched Karnataka sangeetha.
Click on the link to listen to an audio recording of a speech I gave a few years ago here in the bay area – “A Bird’s Eye View on Dasa Sahitya” :
The speech is in Kannada, and includes analysis on the literary and musical aspects of compositions of Hari Dasas.
-neelanjana
Getting to witness one total solar eclipse in a lifetime is a blessing. Getting to see a total solar eclipse, followed by an annular solar eclipse six months later (without much of a hassle) is what I call a true double blessing. And that’s what some people in India are getting this year.
In July 2009, the path of totality passed through central and north India. Even though it was 
monsoon time, and the totality occurred almost at sunrise, many lucky ones got a good glimpse of totality from places like Kashi and Sasaram. Now, on January 15th, the annular eclipse path is going through the southern tip of India. January being one of the best months for sky watching in south India, and the fact that the eclipse occurs during mid day, I hope, will make it another Great Indian Eclipse!
Why is the Sun not getting covered completely by the Moon, even though it is passing directly in front of the Sun? The answer is simple: the Earth is near the point where it is closest to the Sun, making it look larger (comparatively) than the Moon. So, instead of a total eclipse, we have an annular eclipse where a ring of the Sun is seen around the black shadow of the moon at the maximum eclipse.
On a side note: In India, it is considered to be auspicious to visit a holy place (generally with a river, ocean, lake etc) during an eclipse and take a dip in water after the eclipse is over. The last total eclipse passing through Kashi* gave those religiously minded people to visit Kashi for the eclipse for a dip in the holy river Ganga, and this annular eclipse gives them a reason to go to Rameshwaram* and take a dip in the ocean! Both Kashi and Rameshwaram are very ancient cities with a long history, both have shrines of Shiva (Jyothirlinga)and a pilgrimage to Kashi is not supposed to be complete unless a devote visits Rameshwaram!
-neelanjana
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