You are currently browsing the category archive for the 'ಸ್ವಾರಸ್ಯ' category.
Ever since I saw the announcement of the audio release of Dr Shrikaanth Murthy’s compositions, I was eager to listen to the compositions in these CDs. I had heard many of his compositions before, and was curious to hear the compositions featured in these CDs.
I got the CD set last week, and here I am writing a few lines about the CD set.
The CD set features compositions in Kannada, Samskrta, and Sanketi. Although there are many Sanketi speaking musicians, Shrikaanth should definitely get the credit for being the first one (as per my knowledge) to use Sanketi in a classical music setting.
The compositions are very lively, with a very good combination of rAga bhAva and sAhitya. Some of them are rendered quite elaborately too. Kangalu KambodillavE (Kambhoji), rAja rAjande rathu (madhyamAvati) and kaLLanArI rIti (nArI rItigouLa), rAjamAtangi ( suraTi) have become my personal favorites in this album set, making me repeatedly listen them.
There are several aspects in these compositions that indicate a strong influence from the style of Muttuswami Deekshita.Similar to Muttuswami Dikshita, Shrikaanth has included the rAgamudre in very innovative ways. I would like to cite a few examples here.
1. The kriti in rAga kOkilArava starts with “rAma unkOlilla ravayatneyu kanikaru” (ರಾಮಾ ಉಂಕೋಕಿಲ್ಲಾ ರವೆಯತ್ನೆಯು ಕನಿಕರೊ) , splitting the rAga name between two words, at the same time bringing the appropriate feel – “Rama, why don’t you have a grain of mercy?”.
2. Another kriti in rAga kAmbhodi says “kangaLu kaMbOdillave? kandana nODalu lakShmI” (ಕಂಗಳು ಕಾಂಬೋದಿಲ್ಲವೆ? ಕಂದನ ನೋಡಲು ಲಕ್ಷ್ಮೀ!) .
3. A pada in rAga nArI rIti goula begins with the pallavi “kaLLanArI rIti kouLikava mADida?” (ಕಳ್ಳನಾರೀ ರೀತಿ ಕೌಳಿಕವ ಮಾಡಿದ) -Who is this thief who indulges in deceit?
4. A kriti in rAga gourI vELAvaLi goes like “pAlana paNNa gourI vELa vaLi kANAdikkara bhakALa” (ಪಾಲನ ಪಣ್ಣ ಗೌರೀ ವೇಳ ವಳಿ ಕಾಣಾದಿಕ್ಕರ ಭಕ್ತಾಳಾ” – “Oh Gouri, it is the time you protect your devotees who don’t see a path ahead”.
Similar to Dikshitar’s style, the composer has included his signature at different places (pallavi, anupallavi, charaNa) in his compositions. Another nice aspect is the presence of madhyama kAla passages in several compositions, which is another feature of MD compositions too.
Ragas such as kOkilArava, jayashuddha mALavi, gouri vELAvaLi (asampUrNa mELas), and nAgadhwani are decidedly from Dikshita’s tradition. In terms of sAhity too, the compositions in Samskrta show Dikshita’s influence on the style, and flow. Whether the song is in Kannada, Samskrta, or Sanketi, they all follow standard poetic norms, and the sAhitya has been woven very well.
Volume 1 of the set features 9 compositions sung by Dr Satyavati and her desciples. Volume 2 features 5 compositions sung by Vidushi Sukanya Prabhakar.
One of the compositions is about Nacharamma, about whom I’d written before in a previous blog post.
As amply shown in these recordings, some of the compositions in these CDs are definitely “main”* or “sub-main”* material (kangaLu kAmbOdillave-kAmbhOdi, rAja rAjande rathu -madhyamAvati, mInAkashi-Ananda bhairavi etc) . I wish some other compositions of Shrikaanth, like mAtADabAradE (vasanta bhairavi) and kamalAmbikAyAm (dEsh) should have been included in this; but there is always the next time!
I’m glad to see some performers already singing some of the compositions of Shrikaanth Murthy in concerts. I wish more musicians take up these (and also compositions of other -not-so-well-known composers) and make them as part of their concert repertoire.
I’ll end this post with a few YouTube videos of Dr T S Satyavathi – singing a composition of Shrikaanth Murthy: Gurukripa illAde, in rAga kharahapriya as the ‘main’ item in a concert.
In the first, the vocalist makes a few comments about the composer, and the composition:
-neelanjana
*: “main”, “sub-main” are terms that are used to describe how heavy a composition is in a concert perspective. A “main/sub-main” has to provide scope for improvisation. In a 3 hour concert, the “main” item can take as much as 45-60 minutes, and the “sub-main” something like 20-30 minutes.
When you see the title, if you think of people like as Alexander, who created vast kingdoms by invading kingdoms far and wide, then you are out of luck. I’m talking here about invaders of a different kind. Bio-invaders.
I still remember the time in the late 1970’s when there was no Parthenium (Linn: Parthenium hysterophorus) in India. Apparently introduced to India through wheat imports from the United States, the weed has taken over large tracks of India that it is hard to find a place this does not grow. Parthenium is linked to many respiratory allergies and illnesses that have become more common after it was introduced into India.
When I visited the Nagara Hole national park in Karnataka a few years ago, I was surprised and shocked to see Parthenium becoming the major component of ground cover in the forest. It must have displaced manly local species of plants, and other organisms that depended on them. There is no better illustration of what an alien species can do to a new ecosystem than this.
An elephant in Nagarahole national park, India
(Click on the above picture to get a larger view. All the greenery, and the small white florets you see on the ground are Parthenium plants)
****
This year, when I came back to town after a few weeks of vacation, I was greeted with some icky, sticky, waxy stuff on some of the hibiscus plants in my front yard.
There were some small white moth like flies flying around these sticky spider-web like thread on leaves. I went to the local garden store, and described the symptoms. The person in the listened to my description, and said it might be an infestation of spider mites. I came home, washed the plants and sprayed them with the pesticide prescribed at the garden center, hoping that it would all be gone the next day.
It did not take too long for me to realize I was wrong. The insects, and the sticky threads came back each time I washed and sprayed the pesticide. Then I was sure that the diagnosis was wrong in the first place.
Some more on-line search, and help from Facebook friends pointed me in the right direction. This was an infestation of an insect called Giant Whitefly, which came in from Mexico to California sometime in the early 1990s, and came in to the Bay area much later – around 2005. And apparently it loves hibiscus plants, and is very hard to get rid of this pest.
One of the website said -”If you don’t care for your hibiscus plants in your garden, it is best to get rid of those plants rather than trying to get rid of the pest”. However, I do care about my hibiscus plants and the color they add to my front yard. So I’m doing other things such as using a systemic insecticide (which is slow to act, but hopefully keeps the insect population under control) and trimming branches (anyway, with winter around the corner, there won’t be many more blooms).
I’ve also come to terms with the fact that I can’t totally get rid of this pest from my yard. Oh fate!
-neelanjana
Audio CD Release Function
Two CDs containing compositions of current generation vaggeyakara Dr Shrikaanth Murthy are being released at a function at Bengalooru this weekend.
When: Sunday, 25th October 2009 @10:00 am
Where:
Ananya Sabhangana,
91/2, 4th Main,
Malleshwara, Bengalooru -560003
CD1:
Vocal: Vi.Dr T S Satyavati
Violin: Vi.T S Krishnamurthy
Mrdanga: Vi. Amrit Nagasundar
CD2:
Vocal: Vi. Dr Sukanya Prabhakar & Party
A vocal concert by Bengalooru Brothers ( Vi.M.B.Hariharan & Vi.S.Ashok and Party) featuring compositions of Dr.Shrikaanth K Murthy will follow the release function.
CDs will be available for sale at the venue. Part of the proceeds will be donated to Ananya Arogyadhara fund.
ALL ARE WELCOME
Al Gore was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for the year 2007, for supporting the cause of the environment. His film “An Inconvenient Truth” has won an Academy award as well. I got to watch this movie a few months ago. This is a real eye-opener. If you get an opportunity to watch this, do not miss!
What is this ‘Inconvenient Truth’? It is something that most of us know, but not willing to acknowledge. Our tendency is to push the mess under the carpet, unseen until it gets so big, and can not be concealed anymore. Well, the unpleasant, inconvenient truth is that the global warming caused by human activity has harmed the earth’s environment in the last 4 decades, probably more than what had happened in the previous forty centuries. And worse, we are turning a blind eye to that even after knowing the consequences of global warming.
The harm done to the environment is nowhere more visible than in the melting ice sheets and the receding glaciers. Over the years, glaciers are receding, and ice sheets in the Arctic and the Antarctic are melting away. In the last 25 years almost 20-30% of the arctic ice sheet has melted. Between 1850 and 1980 the glaciers in Europe have lost about a third of their landmass. Parts of the Arctic Ocean and the Antarctic Ocean are actually warming up at a rate twice or thrice that of the other regions in the world. The ice cover in Greenland has about 10% of the world’s supply of fresh water, and if all that melts, the sea level will increase by about 20 feet. In The frozen continent of Antarctica has about 99% of the land covered in thick ice sheets. If this would melt, the sea level would increase by about 200 feet. Overall, the sea level has increased by about 6 inches in the 20th century. This may further increase by about a foot in the 21st century. Considering a large population of the mankind lives on or near the coastal regions, any impairment would be of great consequence.
Glaciers on all the 6 continents have been receding and melting away. The glaciers on the Kilimanjaro in equatorial Africa have receded to less than 60% of what was there in 1975. In Glacier National part in Montana, more than 40 of the 137 glaciers have disappeared in the 20th century. In Greenland, new islands are breaking away from the mainland due to melting ice. Several pacific and Indian ocean islanders are always living is fear of being overtaken by the sea.
I know many people who visited the town of Gangothri in Uttaranchal, expecting the headwaters of the river Ganga to be there and being surprised to find a free-flowing river instead. The headwaters are actually at Gomukh, several kilometers up the river at the terminus of the Gangothri glacier. The Gangothri glacier, source of river Ganga, is receding averaging to an alarming 83 feet every year. Gomukh is getting farther off from Gangothri every year, and it is 3 kilometers farther away from Gangothri than it was a century ago.
In general, the glaciers in the Himalayas are found to be drying up faster than those in the rest of the world. In case of Gangothri glacier, the rate of receding has been shown to be much higher in the last 3 decades. NASA pictures have shown that Gangothri glacier has receded about 850 meters in the last 25 years. If the same rate of depletion continues, it is feared that the glacier may totally disappear by the end of the 21st century.
If Gangothri glacier melts away, it will affect more than 1.5 billion people in India and Bangladesh directly. How does that affect others? The financial meltdown of 2008 has shown that in the current world economic scenario, no country is shielded from the events happening elsewhere. Billions of more people around the world will be affected by a slow catastrophic event of this nature. When the glaciers recede, the oceans will swell and cities and mangroves near the coast will face the threat of getting submerged.
So, should we care about climate change? Yes, we should! Every one of us can, and has to do something to slow the negative impact on the environment. In Kannada there is a saying “ಹನಿ ಹನಿಗೂಡಿದರೆ ಹಳ್ಳ” – “Water drops gather together to form a stream”. Even if individually small, collectively we can achieve large goals. Here are some things that we can do as individuals to reduce our impact on the environment.
Mother Earth has been so kind to us. Isn’t time for us to be kind to her?
-neelanjana
(Posting a modified version of an earlier post I made in 2008 – For the Blog Action Day -2009)
If you are into south Indian music, then you might be aware of the common name confusions. I mean the raga names – Tyagaraja’s Manohari versus Muttuswamy Dikshita’s Manohari, for example. Melodically very different, but share the same name. On the other hand, Tyagaraja’s dArini telusukonTi (Shuddha Saveri) and Muttuswami Dikshita’s Sriguruguha tArayASu mAm (dEvakriya) have the same melodic structure. And as if to make matters worse, Tyagaraja has another dEvakriya, and Muttuswami dikShita a different Shuddha sAvEri (EkAmrEsha nAyike)!
Most of this happened because many manuscripts that contained Tyagaraja’s composition did not have raga names in them, or had them in some encoded form. When these were copied, and re-copied in the years after Tyagaraja, the scribes who copied these manuscripts assigned raga names very likely based a book they had access to. This resulted in many names unheard till then being assigned to some of these compositions, some compositions were even assigned to two different ragas (rasALi/vanAvaLi, dundhubhi/divyamaNi, Srutiranjani/Kantamani, dEvAmrtavarShini/nAda chintAmaNi etc). Tyagaraja’s school dominated the music scene of the later 19th and 20th centuries, these variations in names stay put.
This reference book these scribes referred to was most probably the ‘Sangraha Chudamani’ – written by one Govindacharaya. Although he got some of the facts wrong, and went against traditional music terminology, the usage of such terms has stayed on even till now as part of the musical vocabulary of Karnataka sangeetha.
So when I found out from the Guruguha blog that the text of Sangraha Chudamani is online on DLI’s website, I went ahead and read some parts of the text. Reading from the DLI site was not a very user friendly experience. Since the book is in public domain anyway, I thought it would be a good idea to post a .pdf version of the book for those who might be interested. Thanks Sunil for creating the PDF files!
Here are links to the first four parts of the book on Scribd (There are 16 PDF files). While the introduction is in English,the main body of the book is in Samskrta. Links for the remaining parts are available on the right hand side under the “From the same publisher’ menu, when you are browsing any of the following pages :
Happy reading!
-neelanjana
Last two years, I wrote a series of articles on my Kannada blog in Sampada: ನವರಾತ್ರಿಯ ದಿನಗಳು and ಸಂಗೀತ ನವರಾತ್ರಿ. This time, I thought it would be a good idea to do something different, since time is a commodity in short supply these days 
Instead of writing about a well known musical compositions, I have chosen to write about a brand new one, still very fresh! Did you say how do I know that it is really brand new?
Because this is a composition I came up with last week, when I was humming to myself as I was waiting outside my kid’s swim class! After some final dressing up, and after getting the nod of approval of some people whom I hold in very high regard musically, it is now before you as a finished product – A Jatiswara in rAga nAsAmaNi.
To listen to this jatiswara click here. (Played by violinist K R Sathyapraksh)
Raga nAsAmaNi is not a very well known rAga. According to the asampoorna mELa scheme, it occupies the place of 70th mELakartha. In the sampUrNa mELa scheme, the 70th mELa is called as nasikabhushaNi, and nAsAmaNi considered to be born out of this mELa. There is one composition of Muttuswamy Dikshita in nAsAmaNi (Sri ramA sarasvatI sEvitAm) and one composition (mAra vairi ramaNi) of Tyagaraja (although somewhat disputed, because of the missing signature) in nAsikabhushaMi. There are compositions of Dr M Balamuralikrishna, and Koteeswara Iyer in Nasikabhushani as well. There might be others, but not that well known.
But why did I compose a jatiswara in nAsAmaNi, of all the rAgas? I don’t really know, except that it just happened so! And this is my first attempt at doing something like this – so I’m keen to hear from you. If you have any sort of comment, or any type of feedback, feel free to write a comment.
I’m very glad to share the notation of the jatiswara with the musically inclined visitors to ಅಲ್ಲಿದೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಮನೆ.
If you attempt singing/playing it and send a recording, I can post it here too
I wish a very happy Navaratri season to all visitors.
-neelanjana
Time moves very fast.
Really? Not true, since we know that the earth is revolving around the Sun at a steady rate (for all practical purposes, that is!). So it is all in our perception of time.
Whatever the facts are, one more year has passed really fast for ‘ಅಲ್ಲಿದೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಮನೆ’. Today, ’ಅಲ್ಲಿದೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಮನೆ’ is stepping into the third year after finishing two years. I can still recall me writing the very first post on this weblog, and the post when the blog turned one year, as if it happened yesterday!
It’s been a good year for ’ಅಲ್ಲಿದೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಮನೆ’ so far. The very first image at the top of this blog was from the navaranga, inside the temple in Halebeedu, I thought it would be apt to change the image to another view of the Hoysaleshwara temple on it’s second birthday too.
Thanks for coming by ’ಅಲ್ಲಿದೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಮನೆ’!
-neelanjana
ಮೊನ್ನೆ ಮೊನ್ನೆ ತನಕ ನಾನು ಸಂಕಟಮೋಚನ ಹನುಮಂತನ ಗುಡಿಯ ವಿಷಯ ಕೇಳೇ ಇರಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಈಚೆಗೆ ಇಬ್ಬರು ಮೂವರು ಜಾಗ ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿದೆ ಅಂತ ಹೇಳಿದ್ದು ಕೇಳಿಬಂತು. ಇಲ್ಲೇ ಹತ್ತಿರದಲ್ಲೇ ಇದೆಯಲ್ಲ, ಒಂದು ಸಲ ಯಾಕೆ ಹೋಗಿ ಬರಬಾರದು ಅಂತ ಹೊರಟಿದ್ದಾಯಿತು. ವೆಬ್ ಸೈಟ್ ನಲ್ಲೆ ಎಚ್ಚರಿಗೆ ಹಾಕಿದ್ದರು – ಯಾಹೂ ಮ್ಯಾಪ್ಸ್ ಹಿಡಿದ್ರೆ ಎತ್ಲಾಗೋ ತೊಗೊಂಡು ಎಲ್ಲಿಗೋ ಕಳಿಸ್ಬಿಡಬಹುದು. ಇನ್ನು ಜಿಪಿಎಸ್ ನೂ ನಂಬ್ಲೇ ಬೇಡಿ ಅಂತ. ಸರಿ ಅಂತ ದಾರಿಯನ್ನೇನೋ ಒಂದ್ ಚೀಟಿ ಮೇಲೆ ಗುರುತು ಹಾಕ್ಕೊಂಡಾಯ್ತು.
ಇನ್ನೇನು ಹೊರಟೇ ಆಯ್ತು ಅನ್ನೋ ಹೊತ್ತಿಗೆ ನೋಡ್ದ್ರೆ ಭಾನುವಾರ ಬರ್ಲೇಬೇಡಿ ಅಂತ ಹಾಕ್ಬಿಟ್ಟಿದಾರೆ! ಸರಿ. ಬುತ್ತಿಗೆ ಅಂತ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದೂಟವನ್ನ ಮನೆಯಲ್ಲೇ ತಿಂದಿದ್ದಾಯ್ತು.
ಪುಣ್ಯಕ್ಕೆ, ಈ ವಾರ ಲೇಬರ್ ಡೇ ಅಂತ ಸೋಮವಾರ ಕೂಡ ರಜಾ ಇತ್ತಲ್ಲ ಹೊಸದಾಗಿ ಬುತ್ತಿ ಕಟ್ಟಿಕೊಂಡು ಹೊರಟ್ವಿ.
ಒಂದು-ಒಂದೂಕಾಲು ಗಂಟೆ ಪ್ರಯಾಣ ಸುಮಾರು ನಮ್ಮ ಮನೇ ಇಂದ. ಗಿಲ್ರಾಯ್ ದಾಟಿ ಹೆಕರ್ಸ್ ಪಾಸ್ ಹೈವೇನಲ್ಲಿ ಪಶ್ಚಿಮಕ್ಕೆ ತಿರುಗಿ ಹೋಗ್ತಿದ್ರೆ, ಎರಡೂ ಕಡೆ ದ್ರಾಕ್ಷಿ ತೋಟಗಳ, ದ್ರಾಕ್ಷಾರಸ ತಯಾರ್ಸೋ ವೈನರಿಗಳದ್ದೇ ಕಾರುಬಾರು.
- ದ್ರಾಕ್ಷಿಯ ತೋಟ
ಒಂದೊಂದು ಗಿಡದಲ್ಲೂ ಜೊಂಪೆ ಜೊಂಪೆಯಾಗಿ ನೇತಾಡ್ತಿರೋ ಕರೀ ದ್ರಾಕ್ಷಿ. ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಹತ್ತಿರ ನೋಡೋಣ ಅಂತ ಹೋಗಿ ಹಣ್ಣಿನ ರುಚಿ ನೋಡಿದ್ದೂ ಆಯ್ತು.
ದೂರದ ಬೆಟ್ಟಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಇನ್ನೂ ಹೇಮಂತ ಋತು ಬರ್ದೇ ಇದ್ರೂ, ಆಗಲೆ ಅಲ್ಲಲ್ಲಿ ಬಣ್ಣ ಕಾಣ್ತಾ ಇದೆ.
ಕೊನೇ ಹತ್ತು ಹದಿನೈದು ಮೈಲಿ ಬೆಟ್ಟಗಳ ಮೇಲೆ. ಸುತ್ತ ರೆಡ್ ವುಡ್ ಮರಗಳ ಕಾಡು. ಪುಣ್ಯಕ್ಕೆ ರಸ್ತೆ ಕಡಿದಾಗಿದ್ರೂ, ತಲೆ ತಿರ್ಗೋ ಹಾಗಿಲ್ಲ ಸದ್ಯ. ಅಷ್ಟರಲ್ಲಿ ಮೌಂಟ್ ಮಡೋನ ಕೌಂಟಿ ಪಾರ್ಕ್ ಅನ್ನೋ ಗುರುತು ಕಣ್ಣಿಗೆ ಬಿತ್ತು.
ಒಳಕ್ಕೆ ತಿರಿಗಿಕೊಂಡ ಮೇಲೆ, ರಸ್ತೆ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಇನ್ನೂ ಚಿಕ್ಕದಾಯಿತು. ಕಾಡು ಮತ್ತೂ ದಟ್ಟ. ಅದೇ ರಸ್ತೆಯಲ್ಲೇ ಕೆಲವು ಮೈಲಿ ಮುಂದೆ ಹೋದ ಮೇಲೆ ಮೌಂಟ್ ಮಡೋನ ಸೆಂಟರ್ ಸಿಕ್ಕಿತು. ಹೋಗಿ ವಾಹನ ನಿಲ್ಲಿಸಿದರೆ, ಪ್ರಶಾಂತವಾದ ಜಾಗ.
ಒಂದು ಕಡೆ ನೋಡಲು ಪಹಾರೊ ನದಿಯ ಬಯಲು.
- ಪಹಾರೊ ನದಿ ಬಯಲು
ಇನ್ನೊಂದು ಕಡೆ ಕೆಲವು ಮೆಟ್ಟಲನ್ನೇರಿದರೆ ಸಂಕಟ ಮೋಚನ ಹನುಮಂತನ ಮಂದಿರ.
- ಸಂಕಟ ಮೋಚನ ಹನುಮಂತನ ಗುಡಿ
ಪುಟ್ಟ ಗುಡಿಯೊಳಗೆ ಬೆಟ್ಟ ವನ್ನು ಹೊತ್ತಿರುವ ಹನುಮಾನ್.
- ಹನುಮಾನ್
ನಂತರ ಅಲ್ಲೇ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಸುತ್ತಾಡಿದ ನಂತರ ಆಸರೆಗೆ ಏನಾದರೂ ಸಿಗುವುದೋ ಅಂತ ಹೋಗಿ ನೋಡಲು ಸಿಕ್ಕಿದ್ದು ಆಂಜನೇಯಾಸ್ ವರ್ಲ್ಡ್ ಕೆಫೆ. ಆದ್ರೆ ನಾವು ಹೋದಾಗ ಮುಚ್ಚಿತ್ತು.
- ವರ್ಲ್ಡ್ ಕ್ಲಾಸ್ ಕೆಫೆ
ವರ್ಲ್ಡ್ ಕ್ಲಾಸ್ ಮೆನು
ಸರಿ. ಮತ್ತೊಮ್ಮೆ ಹನುಮಂತನಿಗೆ ಕೈಮುಗಿದು ಹೊರಟಿದ್ದಾಯ್ತು. ದಾರೀಲಿ ಸಿಕ್ಕ ರೆಡ್ ವುಡ್ ತೋಪಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಬುತ್ತಿ ಊಟ ಮುಗಿಸಿದ್ದೂ ಆಯ್ತು. ನಂತರ ಎತ್ತರದ ಮರಗಳ ತಣ್ಣೆಳಲಲ್ಲಿ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಸುತ್ತಾಟ.
ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಆದ್ಮೇಲೆ ಇನ್ನೇನು? ಮತ್ತೆ ಇನ್ನೊಮ್ಮೆ ಬರಬೇಕು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಅನ್ನುವ ಮಾತುಗಳೊಡನೆ ಮನೆಗೆ ಪಯಣ!
-ನೀಲಾಂಜನ
The name ‘Ranga’ may bring several things to your mind. At least it does to my mind! If you are a fan of Dr Rajkumar, you’d definitely know this song from one of his movies in the 1980s.
Although the movie is from the 1980s, the song predates it by a few centuries. This is a composition of Purandara dasa, and the tune used in the film pretty much sticks to how it has been sung traditionally, in shankarabharana raaga.
Ranganatha @Srirangam
If you are a history buff, I bet you’d think of Sriranga pattana – The capital of Tippu Sultan. The town takes its name from the the temple of the presiding deity Ranganatha. Sriranga Pattana is an island in the river Kaveri. In fact there are three such places where the river branches off into two parts creating a large island. There is a temple dedicated to Ranganatha at each of these places – Sriranga Pattana and Shivana Samudra in Karnataka, and Srirangam in Tamil Nadu.
In all these three places, Ranganatha is depicted in a reclining position on his serpent bed, the seven- hooded Adishesha.
Ranganatha Temple, Mavinakere
However Sriranga Pattana or Srirangam is not the first place that comes to my mind when I hear that name Ranga, but instead it takes me to memories of Mavina Kere. Perched atop a hill in southern Karnataka, a little temple houses the deity well known to locals as “Mavina Kere Ranga” or the “Ranga @Mavina Kere”. The view from the top of the hill is very nice, showing the countryside.
Steps up the hill
I’ve visited Mavina Kere several times. In fact one of my early memories is of a trip to Mavinakere which I did not make! I was probably 4 years old then. I was really looking forward to going to the hill with all my cousins, during one of the yearly summer gatherings. But as luck would have it, I did not wake up in time. Rather than trying to wake me up, the party had left me home, with a few others who could not climb the hill for health reasons!
At every visit, I have enjoyed climbing the hill at Mavinakere. During my latest visit a few weeks ago, I was pleasantly surprised to see a road to the top. However, not to miss the joy of climbing the hill, I climbed down and went up again . Back in those days, the path up the hill was patchy. Now, there are nice steps all along.
Unlike the Ranga at Srirangapatna, and Sriranga, the Ranga of Mavina Kere is not in a sleeping position. Actually, he is not even depicted in a human form. Instead, a saligrama represents him. The inscription in the temple calls him ‘TiruvengaLa natha’ – another name for Venkateshwara (The master of Venkata hills). The floral decorations done around the saligrama also support this name.
Mavinakere Ranga
I’m not sure how the name Ranga caught up with Tiruvengalanatha. In general it is said that during the time of Hyder Ali’s and Tippu Sultan’s rule over Mysore, devotees often called their temples by the name of Ranganatha, to save it from any possible attack or damage. I too thought that was a very reasonable explanation, till I came across this song of Purandara Dasa.
ರಂಗನ ನೋಡಿರೆ ರಾಜಕುವರ ನರ-
ಸಿಂಗದೇವ ನಮ್ಮ ದೇವಕಿ ಸುತನ ||ಪ ||
ಹಮ್ಮಿನ ತಾಯಿತ ತೋಳ ಬಾಪುರಿಯೊ
ಘಮ್ಮನೆ ಘಲ್ಲೆಂಬ ಗೆಜ್ಜೆಯ ಧ್ವನಿಯೊ
ಸುಮ್ಮಹಿಮನ ಕಿವಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಚೌಕುಲಿಯೊ
ತಿಮ್ಮರಾಯನಿಟ್ಟ ಸೊಬಗಿನ ಬಗೆಯೊ ||
ಶುಕ್ಕುರವಾರದ ಪೂಜೆಗೊಂಬುವನ
ಸಕ್ಕರೆ ಪಾಲ್ ಮೊಸರು ಬೆಣ್ಣೆ ಮೆಲ್ಲುವನ
ಘಕ್ಕನೆ ಸುರರಿಗೆ ಅಮೃತವಿತ್ತವನ
ರಕ್ಕಸಕುಲವೈರಿ ರಾವಣಾಂತಕನ ||
ಪಾಪವಿನಾಶಿನಿ ಸ್ನಾನವ ಮಾಡಿ
ಪಾಪಗಳೆಲ್ಲವು ಬೇಗ ಬಿಟ್ಟೋಡಿ
ಈ ಪರಿ ದಿನ ದಿನ ಮೂರುತಿ ನೋಡಿ
ಶ್ರೀಪತಿ ಪುರಂದರವಿಠಲನ ಪಾಡಿ ||
Here the references to Papanashini and the name Timmaraya, clearly indicate that the song is about the deity at Tirumala (Tirupati) – However, at the same breath, Purandara Dasa calls the deity at Tirupati as Ranga too!
So, that makes me come back to thinking the validity of any theories involving Tippu Sultan, and Lord Ranganatha!
-neelanjana
I find this title song of T N Seetharam’s teleserial Mukta Mukta quite catchy, in spite of not being very upbeat.
The song is written by H S Venkatesha Murthy, and is quite powerful. I like the last stanza which tells about the never-ending battle between the good and the evil.
ಮಣ್ಣ ತಿಂದು ಸಿಹಿ ಹಣ್ಣ ಕೊಡುವ ಮರ ನೀಡಿ ನೀಡಿ ಮುಕ್ತ
ಬೇವ ಅಗಿವ ಸವಿಗಾನದ ಹಕ್ಕಿ ಹಾಡಿ ಮುಕ್ತ ಮುಕ್ತ
ಹಸಿರ ತೋಳಿನಲಿ ಬೆಂಕಿಯ ಕೂಸ ಪೊರೆವುದು ತಾಯಿಯ ಹೃದಯ
ಮರೆಯುವುದುಂಟೆ ಮರೆಯಲಿ ನಿಂತೇ ಕಾಣುವ ಕರುಣಾಮಯಿಯ
ತನ್ನಾವರಣವೇ ಸೆರೆಮನೆಯಾದರೆ ಜೀವಕೆ ಎಲ್ಲಿಯ ಮುಕ್ತಿ
ಬೆಳಕಿನ ಬಟ್ಟೆಯ ಬಿಚ್ಚುವ ಜ್ಯೋತಿಗೆ ಬಯಲೇ ಜೀವನ್ ಮುಕ್ತಿ
ಇರುಳ ವಿರುಧ್ಧ ಬೆಳಕಿನ ಯುಧ್ಧ ಕೊನೆಯಿಲ್ಲದ ಕಾದಾಟ
ತಡೆಯೇ ಇಲ್ಲದೇ ನಡೆಯಲೇ ಬೇಕು ಸೋಲಿಲ್ಲದ ಹೋರಾಟ
The tune is quite similar to the title song for Mukta, earlier teleserial from T N Seetharam. But to me, this song has shades of Shree; Shree of Hindustani kind, that is – particularly in the abrupt transitions from Panchama to Rishabha . It also reminds me of another well known Kannada bhaavageethe, deepavu ninnade, gaaLiyu ninnade by Ke Es Na.
The singers are M D Pallavi, and Vijay Prakash – Yes, the same Bollywood singer who comes from Mysore, and is known for ‘Jai Ho’; I definitely prefer this voice to C Ashwath’s (who sang the title song for the first Mukta series).
-neelanjana
Recent Comments