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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
Whoever named raaga Hamsadhwani probably did not pay attention to the facts that Swans do not have an attractive voice! Take a look at the following videos to hear how exactly swans sound! Not very melodious!
But one good thing about raga Hamsadhwani is that unlike many ragas, its history can be traced quite accurately.
Ramaswamy Dikshita (1735AD-1817AD), father of Muttuswamy Dikshita is credited with the creation of this pentatonic raaga. However, this may be partly true. The Ragalakshana appendix to Chaturdandi Prakashike mentions Hamsadwani. Although the main text of Chaturdandi was composed by Venkatamakhi (~1650 AD), the Ragalakshana appendix was added by is grand-nephew Muddu Venkatamuchi couple of generations after Venkatamakhi. He describes Hamsadwhani as a pentatonic raga, born of Shankarabharana mEla omitting ma and da. (S R G P N S – S N P G R S). The current form of Hamsadwani is exactly the same.
This brings the time when Hamsadhwani first appeared around the beginning of 18th century. It is likely that Ramaswamy Dikshita was one of the early composers who popularized it, and hence the credit that goes in his name.I wonder why it took as late as 18th century to come up with this very attractive pentatonic scale. However, once it became popular, there was no going back!
18th century composers Tyagaraja and Muttuswamy Dikshita, each comosed two compositions in this raga. It can be safely said that the composition Vatapi Ganapatim Bhajesham of Muttuswamy Dikshita is the most famous composition in this raga. Listen to Dr M.Balamuralikrishna singing this compositon.
With this composition, Hamsadhwani raga became a natural associate of Ganapati, and there are a number of nice compositions in this raga with Ganapati as the theme. Vandenishamaham of Mysore Vasudevacharya, Gam Ganapate of Muttaiyya Bhagavatar, Vara Vallabha Ramana of GNB, Gajavadana Beduve of Purandara Dasa – all these come to mind. Listen here to – Gam Ganapate of Muttaiah Bhagavatar – This is from a concert here in the bay area (Veena-Jyothi Chetan; Mridanga- Ramesh Srinivasan)
During the 20th century saw many raagas from Karnataka sangeetha were adapted to Hindustani. How could they leave out a very appealing raaga like Hamsadhwani? Not only did they adapt the melody, but also the popular composition Vatapi Ganapatim Bhajeham!
Listen here to Rashid Khan, who sings a beautiful Alap followed by “laagi lagan”. You can’t miss the similarity to Vatapi Ganapatim Bhajeham.
For whatever reason, Hamsadhwani does not seem to have inspired kannada film music composers as much as some other raagas have. I can just think of a few Kannada film songs – ಇನ್ನು ಗ್ಯಾರಂಟಿ from ನಂಜುಂಡಿ ಕಲ್ಯಾಣ and ಮೀನಾಕ್ಿ ನಿನ್ನ from ರಣಧೀರ. If you are aware of any other songs, post a comment.
-neelanjana
It was almost noon by the time Saraswati finished her daily pooje. She observed she was singing aloud when she was doing mangalaarati to the deities. If her husband was home, she would only mumble the song to herself. In reality, she was quite a good singer, but lacked the confidence to sing in front of him because he was indeed very well versed in music. That was the cause for the hesitation to sing before him. He might say a thing or two about her sangatis. Or he might even bring the tamboori, and show how to sing those sangatis to sound better. That’s why the walls of their ancestral home heard Saraswatis singing voice only when Srinivasa was away. She often wondered if he could dedicate himself to music if not for the family business. Saraswathi just thought how nice it would have been to listen to his singing all day. It was several months since he had touched his tamboori. His singing was so overpowering and made her emotional that she would feel that Lord Krishna’s brindavana was right here at Kshemapura. The only other person she new who had a comparable voice was that of Vaikuntha Dasa of her hometown.
Saraswati felt very strange at thinking Belooru as her hometown even after being married for almost twenty years and living in Kshemapura! It reminded her that she had not visited her parents for couple of years. She was indeed worried when there was a talk of her marriage, and when she knew the suitor was from the hilly rainy country. Her hometown was a real beauty. Such a peaceful and tranquil town with the three hundred year old Chennakeshava temple as the anchor for all activities in the town! What to do? Once a girl gets married, she has to think her husband’s home as her own. She was indeed very happy when she arrived in Kshemapura first time. So green! But when the rains arrived she was terror struck at the force of the torrential rains that would not budge for four or five months! But now she preferred the rainy season since she saw more of her husband at home doing his music practice. As she went into the kitchen, Saraswati started counting how many more months till Ashadha arrived.
****
Srinivasa looked at the pendant Nagachari gave. Yes, it was looking good. May be few less emeralds would have made it look even better. He started to write the pattern for the necklace to match this pendant. Then noticing that Nagachari was still waiting, Srinivasa reminded him that the work should be finished soon because it had to get to the Palace before the festivals. As Srinivasa was completing his sketch, he thought of the hours he was spending at his store these days. Hebana was almost eighteen. It was time for him to take more responsibility in the business, Srinivasa thought. May be then he would have some time to pursue his first love, music.
Srinivasa’s father had trained him to be a jeweler right from the days he was a young lad. But among Srinivasa’s children, only little Madhvapati shows interest in coming to the store. Madhwa often watched has father designing the jewels, and also attempted to some of his own. The older two boys were not coming to the store even once in a bluemoon! May be it was time to make sure they come somewhat regularly, or else it might spell problems! But as Srinivasa recollected that he never came to the store regularly as a young boy, he thought all was not lost with Hebana and Abhinava yet.
In fact, Srinivasa’s father was quite lenient. He even had told his wife not to distract Srinivasa with household errands if he was practicing music, or studying all those books related with music and poetry. But Srinivasa still remembered what he had told one day : “Seenappa, I have seen the plight of musicians who depend on the kings and landlords. Thankfully, you have a business to carry on. Practice music as much as you want, but do not leave our family business. Keep your music to please yourself” Srinivasa had indeed followed his advice to the word. With riches that allow him to lend money to kings and chieftains, why should he leave the gold and gem business and stand at the doorsteps of the king? ‘Now, I am the king of my business or my music’, Srinivasa thought but when he remembered that it was amost three weeks since he touched his tamboori, it was not so pleasing. As he was sensing the unpleasantness of this, Madhwapati came in from the inner room to show a pattern he had sketched for an ear ring, and helped Srinivasa’s mind to dwell on something else.
****
It was the usual time when Abhinava would sit for his music practice. Father was very strict when it with music. Whether he taught any new lesson or not, the kids had to do their practice like a ritual. They had to practice all the varases daily in three speedszZ! Of the three brothers, Abhinava had the best voice. Although Srinivasa never explicitely said anything, Abhinava knew that he was always giving some extra attention to his lessons.
Abhinava suddenly remembered the comment Venkatesha, his friend from across the street had made sometime ago. “Ha! Your dad seems to have a lesson plan no other music teacher in this world has! I wonder how you would manage to sing with a teacher like him !” – he had remarked in front of all his friends when they were playing. Abhinava was felt angry, as well as humiliated.
Next day he had gathered courage to ask his father: “Appa, Is it true that you are teaching us in some new way that no other music teacher follows? Other kids make fun of me for that”
Abhinava remembered that Srinivasa did not even blink at this remark, let alone get angry. He had told calmly: “Yes. No other teacher teaches with the system I am teaching you and your brothers. You know what? I made these excercises myself so that it helps in making you musically aware much faster than you other wise would be. Why shoud you worry? I am sure that this system works well, and that is why I teach this way. Stop worrying, and sing Sri Gananaatha”
Saraswati was sure that Abhinava’s mind was wandering somewhere else. She softly patted his back, and asked him if he forgot what to sing next. Abhinava came back from his thoughts and started to sing the prabhandha in devagaandhara raga that his father had taught a few weeks earlier.
****
(to be continued)
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
I still remember listening to the song “ಹತ್ತು ವರುಷದ ಹಿಂದೆ” (hattu varuShada hinde) decades ago, when I was in my elementary school. This is a bhAvagIte written by K.S.Narasimhaswamy. If I recall correctly, the AIR version was sung by Jayavanti Devi. Or it might have been H.R.Leelavati. I forget. My mother used to sing this song very well too. Even though she was partial towards singing classically tuned bhAvageethes, she sometimes sang songs falling into sugama sangeta genre too, and this was one of them. I came to learn about the book called “Maisooru mallige” by K S Narasimhaswamy from her.
When the cassette revolution started in the early 80’s, it gave a new life for kannaDa sugama sangeetha, C Ashwath’s album Maisooru Mallige became one of my favorites. I believe this is one of the most highly successful albums in kannada sugama sangeetha, along with the likes of Nityotsava (ನಿತ್ಯೋತ್ಸವ) and Bhava sangama (ಭಾವಸಂಗಮ). In my opinion Ashwath was in his best during this time.
If you have not listened to this collection, then you must
Songs from C Ashwath’s maisooru mallige
This online link does not have the song ತೌರ ಸುಖದೊಳಗೆನ್ನ (Toura sukhadoLagenna). Based on Sindhu bhairavi rAga, and sung very nicely by Ratnamala Prakash, (daughter of nonegerian musician Sri R K Srikanthan) I consider that one as the best song in the collection. Very apt music for the lyrics.
Sometime later, probably in mid 1990s a movie was made based on the poems of maisooru mallige. This may have been the first time a story was written with the framework provided by the songs. The movie went on to become commercially successful too. Nagabharana directed the movie. The songs were OK, but in my opinion they were definitely paler, because of choosing mainstream singers like SPB, and S Janaki instead of the original singers from the album for some of the songs. Many songs from the album were in the movie, and some other songs were introduced too.
Last year, during an interview on Udaya TV Nagini Bharana, wife of the director Nagabharana choose one of the songs from the movie Maisooru mallige- this was not part of the original Maisooru mallige album - ದೀಪವು ನಿನ್ನದೆ, ಗಾಳಿಯು ನಿನ್ನದೆ (dIpavu ninnade, gALiyu ninnade) as her favourite song among the songs of all the movies directed by her husband. This was when I rellay noticed this song. The picturization is wonderful. Just taken with the light of a ದೀಪ, it provides a very nice imagery of the lyrics.
Here is the text of the song:
ದೀಪವು ನಿನ್ನದೆ ಗಾಳಿಯು ನಿನ್ನದೆ ಆರದಿರಲಿ ಬೆಳಕು
ಕಡಲು ನಿನ್ನದೆ ಹಡಗು ನಿನ್ನದೆ, ಮುಳುಗದಿರಲಿ ಬದುಕು
ಬೆಟ್ಟವು ನಿನ್ನದೆ, ಬಯಲು ನಿನ್ನದೆ, ಹಬ್ಬಿ ನಗಲಿ ಪ್ರೀತಿ
ನೆಳಲೋ ಬಿಸಿಲೋ ಎಲ್ಲವೂ ನಿನ್ನದೆ ಇರಲಿ ಏಕರೀತಿ
ಆಗೂಂದು ಸಿಡಿಲು, ಈಗೊಂದು ಮುಗಿಲು ನಿನಗೆ ಅಲಂಕಾರ
ಅಲ್ಲೊಂದು ಹಕ್ಕಿ, ಇಲ್ಲೊಂದು ಮುಗುಳು, ನಿನಗೆ ನಮಸ್ಕಾರ
ಅಲ್ಲಿ ರಣದುಂದುಭಿ, ಇಲ್ಲೊಂದು ವೀಣೆ, ನಿನ್ನ ಪ್ರತಿಧ್ವನಿ
ಆ ಮಹಾಕಾವ್ಯ, ಈ ಭಾವಗೀತೆ ನಿನ್ನ ಪದಧ್ವನಿ
You can listen to the song here:
Or here is an alternate link, if the above does not work:
dIpavu ninnade – On Music India Online
In the first link above, there is the filmi version sung by S Janaki, and another, more elaborate version sung by Ratnamala Prakash on a stage show – The background music is much better in the stage show version. You can hear the flautist creating magic here!
For those of you who may not understand kannDa, here is a gist of the poem:
The candle is yours;
The wind, yours too;
Don’t blow out the light.
The ocean is yours;
The ship is yours too;
Pray, don’t wreck it.
The hills are yours;
The plains are yours.
Let love blossom everywhere!
The sunny days are yours;
The cloudy days are yours.
Measure them alike.
The great thunder,
The dark clouds
Dress you up in the sky!
The chirping birds,
The smiling faces
All salute thee.
Pounding War Drums
The gentle-sounding lutes
They are both your echo.
The great epic poems
This simple song
They are all your words.
The ocean is yours;
The ship, yours too;
Pray, don’t wreck it.
The candle is yours;
The wind is yours;
Don’t blow out the light.
This song was used in the movie “Maisoora Mallige” – Watch it here.
Now coming to my favorite part This song is based on a rAga from Indian classical music. In karnATaka sangIta, this rAga is called bhOgavasanta (ಭೋಗವಸಂತ). It is not a very popular or well known rAga. This may be because it treads the territory of other well-known rAgas such as kAmavardhini. In fact, there were no formal compositions in this rAga until Jayachamaraja Odeyar, the last king of Maisooru, composed a kriti sometime during the 1940s.
You can listen to this kriti, in the voice of M S Sheela. This is a recording from a program on Jayachamarajendra Odeyar’s compositions on All India Radio.
Before singing the song, she describes the notes that are used in this melody. This is a shADava rAga, meaning a rAga that uses six of the seven notes.
M.S.Sheela sings amba srI rAja rAjEshwari
You may have noticed that ambA ShrI and dIpavu ninnadu seem very different, even though I say they are basically the same melody. That is because the song dIpavu ninnade, takes more from the form in the hindUstAni counterpart of this melody.
In hindustAni music, this rAga called din-ki-pooriya. The name suggests it is a rAga to be sung during daylight hours, and is a relative of rAga pooriya. Although not very well known, din-ki-pooriya stands much better off than bhOgavasanta in terms of the number of recordings available. Pandit Jasraj and his shishyas like Sanjeev have popularised this rAga quite a bit.
Here you can listen to a very nice rendition of rAga din-ki-pooria from Sandeep Ranade, an exponent of mEwAti gharAna. See if you can spot elements of the song dIpavu ninnade in here.
Sandeep Ranade sings din-ki-pooriya
This din-ki-pooriya recording is part of a rAga mAlika begins with din-ki-pooria and then moves on to lalit, and then toother rAgas, each time differing by one-note-hamming distance. I highly recommend you to listen to the entire recording of Sandeep Ranade’s raga-morphing rAgamAlike here:
http://www.sandeepranade.com/html/ClassicalSinging/raga-morphing.htm
There are many more such wonderful recordings for music lovers available on the artists website (www.sandeepranade.com).
As I was writing the lines from deepavu ninnade, I remembered two other haridasa compositions. But let me blabber about that some other time!
Happy listening.
-neelanjana
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