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Most ancient civilizations flourished in river valleys and flood plains. So when the digging for construction of a railway line in Northwestern British India revealed remains of an ancient civilization, archaeologists were not very surprised! Since the first two sites found were Harappa, and Mohen-jo-Daro, in the vicinity of the river Indus (Sindhu) and it’s tributaries, the civilization came to be known as the Harappa civilization or the Indus valley civilization.
Detailed excavations at these sites revealed that these indeed were huge cities with remains of several layers of city living, with the latest layers dated from around 2000 years before Christ, and the oldest, to about 3500 years before Christ.
A View of Mohen-jo-Daro
Detailed excavations at these sites revealed that these indeed were huge cities with remains of several layers of city living, with the latest layers dated from around 2000 years before Christ, and the oldest, to about 3500 years before Christ.
The cities of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, as well as other smaller sites that were found later on, were very well planned with streets running at right angles, and laid with burnt bricks. The cities and had a sanitary system of well connected drains to carry the waste from every house. The sites from this civilization occupied a vast area spread across in an area that now corresponds to parts of Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. 19th century Indologists and archaeologists postulated that invading nomads from central Asia brought this civilization to an abrupt end, since most the sites showed a decline around about 1800-1500 BC, with no continued habitation in those locations.
As more sites were found by archaeologists, they observed something strange found more and more sites, they found a strange thing. A vast majority of them were in the area that now comprises of the Thar desert, far from the Sindhu (Indus) river system of Punjab, but along a dry river bed, what is now called as the Hakra or Ghaggar river. The Ghaggar is a seasonal stream which flows for a few months and which ultimately dries up in the desert without reaching the sea! This was a perplexing indeed.
For the solution of this problem, we have to go to ancient Indian texts called Vedas. Veda means Knowledge, derived from the verb, vid – to know, are the oldest poems in this world that are still extant. The Vedas, instead of talking about the five rivers of Punjab, spoke about “sapta sindhu” or the seven rivers, and the most important river among the seven was Saraswathi. The Rig Veda called Saraswati the “ Most beloved of mothers, the mightiest of all rivers, and the best among Goddesses.” It is also described as a river flowing from the Himalaya mountains to the ocean. But today, the Saraswathi river is a small tributary to the seasonal Ghaggar.
As early as during early 1800s, archaeologists who had found parts of a dry river beds in the desert had postulated a great river must have flown there. interestingly this river bed they had found is the continuation of the Ghaggar, into which the current day Saraswathi river flows as a tributary.
The width of the dry riverbed is generally more than a mile wide, and at places it is as wide as 7-8 miles. But what was the source of the water to fill this huge river? The current source of river Saraswathi could not have provided that vast amount of water!
Now science comes to the rescue: The satellite imagery from the late 20th century has ascertained these earlier observations. These have also confirmed the existence old river beds belonging to two other major rivers, Yamuna, and Satluj which are now part of the Indus and
Ganges river systems, that once flowed into the old bed of now dry Ghaggar.
So what caused the drying up of Ghaggar or the historic Saraswathi? Sometime between the 6000 and 4000 years, due to tectonic movements the rivers Yamuna and Sutlej that were the main feeders for Saraswathi changed course.
The glacier fed Sutlej moved westwards, and started flowing into the Indus river. The other glacier fed tributary of Saraswati, the Yamuna started flowing eastward, into the Ganga river instead of Saraswathi. These events thus deprived Saraswathi a perennial water source.
Probably to support this movement of Yamuna is the common belief held in India even today that the river Saraswathi flows as an invisible river, and joins the Ganga and Yamuna at their confluence at Prayaga (Allahabad).
With this river migration understood, we can easily understand why there are far greater number of archaeological sites in the desert along the dry Saraswathi river compared to the Indus river valley. When the rivers migrated, the people living in the Saraswathi river area had to move to newer locations, and they did so. There is no need to bring in any fictitious “nomads from central Asia” to describe a bloody and sudden ending to the civilization. Indeed a study of later archaeological sites shows that several aspects of the these sites were adapted there as well.
Today, the river Sarswathi may flow from the Himalaya all the way to the ocean. It may have become just a small monsoon rivulet. Or if you go by the popular mindset, the river Saraswathi might have become invisible. But the culture of the people lived on it’s banks is still alive and well! For example, its very easy to find artwork from this civilization, that looks almost the same as some of the artworks created by current day craftsmen and artists! This is but one of the many aspects where such parallels can be drawn.
Given all these facts, it truly befits to call this as the Saraswathi-Sindhu civilization rather than Indus Valley civilization or the Harappa civilization!
-neelanjana
(All photo credits belong to their respective copyright holders)
(p.s: Enough material is available on the Internet about the Saraswathi-Sindhu civilization. Then question may arise why this post 
This was a speech I gave at my Toastmasters Club as part of the “Speaking to Inform” advance speaking manual. The project was : The Speech to Inform)
Balamukundashtakam is a collection of 8 Samskrta shlokas that describe some episodes from the childhood of Krishna. Although the first of the eight shlokas is found in Bilwamangala’s (also called Leelashuka) work Krishnakarnamrta, the rest of the shokas are not to be found there. I’m not aware if there is a agreement on the authorship of this work. Anyway, the ashTaka is very attractive, to say the least.
Here is the text in dEvanAgari script:
करारविन्देन पदारविन्दं मुखारविन्दे विनिवेशयन्तम् ।
वटस्य पत्रस्य पुटे शयानं बालं मुकुन्दं मनसा स्मरामि ॥१॥
संहृत्य लोकान्वटपत्रमध्ये शयानमाद्यन्तविहीनरूपम् ।
सर्वेश्वरं सर्वहितावतारं बालं मुकुन्दं मनसा स्मरामि ॥२॥
इन्दीवरश्यामलकोमलांगं इन्द्रादिदेवार्चितपादपद्मम् ।
सन्तानकल्पद्रुममाश्रितानां बालं मुकुन्दं मनसा स्मरामि ॥३॥
लम्बालकं लम्बितहारयष्टिं शृंगारलीलांकितदन्तपङ्क्तिम् ।
बिंबाधरं चारुविशालनेत्रं बालं मुकुन्दं मनसा स्मरामि ॥४॥
शिक्ये निधायाद्यपयोदधीनि बहिर्गतायां व्रजनायिकायाम् ।
भुक्त्वा यथेष्टं कपटेन सुप्तं बालं मुकुन्दं मनसा स्मरामि ॥५॥
कलिन्दजान्तस्थितकालियस्य फणाग्ररंगे नटनप्रियन्तम् ।
तत्पुच्छहस्तं शरदिन्दुवक्त्रं बालं मुकुन्दं मनसा स्मरामि ॥६॥
उलूखले बद्धमुदारशौर्यं उत्तुंगयुग्मार्जुन भंगलीलम् ।
उत्फुल्लपद्मायत चारुनेत्रं बालं मुकुन्दं मनसा स्मरामि ॥७॥
आलोक्य मातुर्मुखमादरेण स्तन्यं पिबन्तं सरसीरुहाक्षम् ।
सच्चिन्मयं देवमनन्तरूपं बालं मुकुन्दं मनसा स्मरामि ॥८॥
The shokas are notable for the extra-ordinary lilting quality, that makes even a simple reading of it makes you feel like you’re listening to a song! Such a delicate structure, does not make it an easy target for translation, and it is hard for any translation to make full justice to the original.
Anyway, I had made an attempt to translate this ashTaka into Kannada a while ago. I see a translation as a means for someone who doesn’t understand the original to get some familiarity and exposure. That translation features in my book Hamsanada as well.
Recently I made a renewed attempt to update the translation to follow metrical rules, thanks to Padyapaana – and here is the result. It is set in choupadi meter (4 liners):
ಕೈಯ ತಾವರೆಯಿಂದ ಕಾಲದಾವರೆಯನ್ನು
ಬಾಯ ತಾವರೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಇರಿಸಿದವನ
ಮಾಯದಾ ಶಿಶು ಆಲದೆಲೆ ಮೇಲೆ ಪವಡಿಸಿದೆ-
ಳೆಯ ಮುಕುಂದನ ನಾನು ನೆನೆವೆನಿಂದು ||೧||
ಜಗಗಳನೆ ಕೊನೆಗೊಳಿಸಿ ಆಲದೆಲೆ ಮೇಗಡೆ ಮ-
ಲಗಿಹಂಥ ಕೊನೆಮೊದಲು ಇಲ್ಲದವನ
ಜಗದೊಡೆಯ ಜನರೆಲ್ಲರೊಳಿತಿಗೈತಂದವನ
ಮಗುಮುಕುಂದನ ನಾನು ನೆನೆವೆ ಮನದಿ ||೨||
ಕನ್ನೈದಿಲೆಯ ನೀಲ ಕೋಮಲಾಂಗದ ಹರಿಯ
ಮುನ್ನ ಇಂದ್ರಾದಿಗಳ ಪೂಜೆವಡೆದ
ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿ ಆಸರೆಯಲಿಹರನ್ನು ಕಾಯ್ವಂಥ
ಚಿನ್ನ ಕಂದನ ನಾನು ನೆನೆವೆ ಮನದಿ ||೩||
ಮುಂಗುರಳಲೆಸೆಯುವನ ಸರಗಳಲಿ ಮೆರೆಯುವನ
ಸಿಂಗರದಿ ಮೂಡಿರುವ ಸುಲಿಪಲ್ಲ ಚೆಲುವ
ತೊಂಡೆತುಟಿಯಲಿ ಕೊಳಲ ನಾದವನು ತುಂಬಿರುವ
ಚಂದಚನ್ನಿಗ ಮುಕುಂದನ್ನ ನೆನೆವೆ ||೪||
ಚೆಲುವೆ ಗೋಪಿಯರೆಲ್ಲ ಮನೆಹೊರಗೆ ಹೋಗಿರಲು
ನಿಲುವಿನಲಿ ಹಾಲ್ಬೆಣ್ಣೆ ಮೊಸರೆಲ್ಲವನ್ನು
ಸುಳಿವು ಬಿಡದೆಲೆ ತಿಂದು ಕಪಟದಲಿ ಮಲಗಿರುವ
ಖಳನಿವನ ಮುಕುಂದನನೀಗ ನೆನೆವೆ || ೫||
ಕಾಳಿ ಯಮುನೆಯೊಳಗಡಗಿರುತಿದ್ದ ಕಾಳಿಯನ
ಏಳುಹೆಡೆಗಳ ಮೇಲೆ ಕುಣಿಯುತ್ತಲವನ
ಬಾಲವನು ಹಿಡಿದವನ ಚಂದಿರನ ಮೊಗದವನ
ಬಾಲಕನ ಮುಕುಂದನ ನಾನು ನೆನೆವೆ || ೬ ||
ಒರಳುಕಲ್ಲಿಗೆ ಬಿಗಿದು ಕಟ್ಟಿರಲು ಶೌರಿಯಿವ
ಮರವೆರಡನೊಟ್ಟಿಗೇ ಬೀಳಿಸಿಹನ
ಅರಳಿರುವ ಕಮಲ ಹೂದಳದಗಲ ಕಣ್ಣಿರುವ
ಪೋರನಿವ ಮುಕುಂದನ ನಾನು ನೆನೆವೆ ||೭||
ಮೊಲೆಹಾಲ ಕುಡಿಯುತಲಿ ತಾಯಮೊಗದಲ್ಲಿ ಕಂ-
ಡೆಳೆನಗುವ ನೋಡುತಿಹ ಕಮಲಾಕ್ಷನ
ಅಳವಿರದ ಮೊದಲುಕೊನೆಯಿಲ್ಲದಿಹ ಚಿನ್ಮಯನ
ಎಳೆಯನ್ನ ಮುಕುಂದನ ಮನದಿ ನೆನೆವೆ ||೮||
While in the original ashTaka, all the shlokas end with the same pAda – बालं मुकुन्दं मनसा स्मरामि – in the translation they are all changed but in line with the rest of the content of the shloka. Otherwise, I have tried to be follow the original as much as possible.
Your comments & feedback welcome!
-neelanjana
Picture taken from:http://www.wallpapershigh.com/66/janmashtami-wallpaper-and-krishna-janmashtami-wallpaper/krishna-wallpaper-get-together-with-people/
Yugaadi marks the beginning of the traditional lunar new year celebrated in several states of India such as Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. Literally, Yugaadi means Adi – “the beginning of” and yuga – “an era”. As per current understanding, a yuga is a measure of time, associated the term with long periods – as in Krta, Treta, Dwapara & Kali yugas, each spanning thousands of years.
However, if we go back in time for about thirty five centuries, we find Indians had a very different interpretation of the term yuga. Vedanga Jyothisha compiled by Laagadha around ~1400BC very clearly defines a yuga as a period of five years. The very opening verse of Vedanga Jyotisha has the following verse:
pa~ncha saMvatsaramayam yughAdhyakSham prajApatim |
dinartvayana mAsAngaM praNamya shirasA shuchih ||
which approximately translated to the following:
“I bow to thee, Oh Prajapati, one who has the day, season and the half-year as limbs, the over-seer of the five-year long yuga”
Vedanga Jyotisha also tells us when the five-year yuga began based on the alignment of the Sun, Moon and stars (specifically both meeting at the star Shravishta) in the sky. Also, according to the text, five years of a yuga were called samvatsara, parivatsara, idaavatsara, anuvatsara and idvatsara. Incidentally, this beginning of a new yuga took place at winter solstice, and not at (or close to) Vernal equinox as the current yugaadi is.
Things change over time. Now, we call every year a samvatsara, and the five-year long yuga is almost unknown to most people! If you are more interested on this topic, I suggest you to read this paper by B.N.Narahari Achar is a good resource.
Wishing a very happy Yugaadi to all visitors at ಅಲ್ಲಿದೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಮನೆ!
-neelanjana
Today is the fifth day of the day dark half of the lunar month of Pushya. This is the day Tyagaraja passed away in the year 1847. Since I started blogging, I have been making a post on this day. Not to break this tradition here I am with two chaupadis (four-liners) in Kannada, that I wrote today:
ಐದುಹೊಳೆಯೂರಿನಲಿ ಇದ್ದನವ ಮಹನೀಯ
ಹೆಸರವನದಾಗಿತ್ತು ತ್ಯಾಗರಾಜ;
ಬಗೆಬಗೆಯ ರಾಗದಲಿ ನೂರಾರು ರಚನೆಗಳ
ಮಾಡಿ ಇತ್ತಿಹನೆಮಗೆ ಯೋಗಿ ರಾಜ!
ತ್ಯಾಗರಾಜ ವಿರಾಗಿಯೇಕಾದೆ ಹೇಳು ನೀ
ನಾಗಿರಲು ರಸಿಕ ಮನವಾಳ್ವ ರಾಜ;
ಭೋಗಗಳ ಬೇಡೆನುತ ನಿಲೆನಿಂತೆ ಹಾಡುತ್ತ
ರಾಗಗಳ ನೀ ನಿಜದಿ ರಾಗ ರಾಜ!
(ಐದುಹೊಳೆಯೂರು = Literally, “the town of five rivers” – Tiruvaiyyaru, where Tyagaraja lived)
Here are links to posts I wrote in previous years around this time:
-neelanajana
Well, this post is going to be musical. And a little technical. And a little more historical too. But I hope this confession does not drive you away from reading the rest of the post and listening to some great tracks!
The origin of names of raagas used in Indian music are quite interesting. While some names of the raagas have existed for centuries, the melodies have changed from what they were centuries ago. On the other hand, some melodies have retained their structure for several centuries, while the name with which they are known has changed over time.
The 18th century was a time of rapid influx of raagas in Karnataka sangeetha. Thanks to Tyagaraja’s compositions, a great many new ragas were added to the grammar of karnataka sangeetha. Around the same time, Muttuswamy Dikshita, another great composer tried to resurrect some raagas that were gone out of practice, and confined to only textual description. Some of the confusions in raaga names today can be traced back to the different approach used by the two composers, and the way how their work was preserved by their lineage.
Before going into the details, let’s listen to a beautiful composition by Tyagaraja, played on the Veena by Sri Ramavarma – Appa! Ramabhaktiyento:
If you noticed that I did not mention the raga of the composition as it is customarily done, there is a good reason for that. The raga of this composition goes by the name of Pantuvaraali in some geographical parts of south India, and by the name Kamavardhini in others. I try to address the duality of this raaga name in this post. By the way, none of this is my original research! I am trying to summarize stuff that I have come to know over the years of listening to music, and reading about it, with some of my thoughts added to it.
At least from the 16th century, three prati madhyama raagas have been described in musical treatises – Varali, Ramakriya and Pantuvarali, which differed from each other in one swara (gAndhAra) only. Varali had the lowest gAndhAra (so called ‘Shuddha gAndhAra), Pantuvarali had the next higher variation of the note (so called ‘sAdhAraNa gAndhAra) and Ramakriya had the highest of the gAndhAras (the variation that goes by the name of ‘antara’ gAndhAra now).
Ramamatya (1550 AD) , in his SwaramELakalAnidhi, he defines “Shuddha Ramakriya” mELa as follows.
शुद्धाः सरिपधाश्चैव च्युत पंचम मध्यमः ।
च्युत मध्यम गानधारश्च्युत षड्जनिषादकः ॥
Translation: (Shuddha rAmakriya mELa has the following notes) – The Shuddha variety of Sa, Ri, Pa and Da; The madhyama that has fallen from Panchama (This was how the current prati-madhyama was referred to then); The gAndhAra that has fallen from Madhyama (Again, this was how the note that we call as “antara” gAndhAra was known at that time), and nishAda that has fallen from Shadja (Same explanation as the earlier two!)
He defines the mELa Shuddha varALi as below:
शुद्धाः सरिपधा यत्र शुद्ध गानधार सन्ञ्जितः ।
च्युत षड्ज निषादोपि च्युत पञ्चम मध्यमः ॥
Translation: (Shuddha varALi mELa has) the shuddha variety of Sa, Ri, Pa, Da; And also the Gandhara of Shuddha varaiety, along with the Nishada fallen from Shadja and the Madhyama that has fallen from Panchama.
Ramamatya does not refer to either a Raga or mELa named Pantu-varALi though.
A century later, Venkatamakhi (~1650AD) defines all the three mELas in his ChaturdanDi prakashikA.
He defines Shuddha VarAli with the following notes, and specifies that it is the 39th mELa in his scheme of 72 mELas.
वरालीमध्यमश्चाथ काकल्यख्यनिषादकः ।
शषा शुद्धस्वराः शुद्धराली मेलसञ्जकः ।।
Translation: The mELa called Shuddha varALi has varALI madhyama (this is how Venkatamakhi terms the ‘prati’ madhyama), kAkali nishAda and the rest all are shuddha swaras.
He defines pantuvarALi as the 45th mELa of his scheme, with the following description:
षड्जः शुद्धर्षभः साधारण गान्धार सङ्ञकः वराली मध्यमश्चैव शुद्धो पञ्चम धैवतौ ।
काकल्याख्य निषादश्चेत्येतावत्स्वर संभवः मेलः पन्तुवराल्याख्यो रागश्च परिकीर्तितः ॥
Translation: The mEla of the Raga PantuvaAli, takes Shadja, Shuddha Rishabha, the gAndhAra of sAdhAraNa variety, varALI madhyama, Shuddha panchama, Shuddha dhaivata ,kAkali nishAda and antara gAndhAra.
And, finally he defines Shuddha Ramakriya mELa as below:
षश्जः शुद्धर्षभ्श्चैव गान्धारोन्तर नामकः वराळीमध्यमश्चथ शुदधो पञ्चम धैवतौ ।
काकल्याख्य निषादश्चेत्येतत्सप्तस्वरोदितः शुदधरामक्रियानाम रागमेलोस्यमुच्यते ॥
Translation: The mELa of Raga Shudda Ramakriya has the following seven notes - ShaDaja, Shudda Rishabha, gAndhAra of the type antara, Shuddha panchama, Shuddha Dhaivata, and the kAkali variety of Nishada.
From these descriptions, it pretty clear that the distinction between the notes taken by the rAgas of the triad is in the gAndhAra. Going from the lowest to highest. Varali (sometimes also called Shuddha varAli) takes the lowest gAndhara. Pantuvarali takes the sAdhAraNa gAndhAra and Ramakriya (also called Shuddha Ramakriya) takes the highest, antara gAndhAra variety.
A number of popular compositions of Tyagaraja are in the rAga that is called “Pantuvarali” in Tamizh Nadu, and Kamavardhani in Kanrataka & Andhra traditions – For example, I can cite the excellent “Appa Ramabhakti” (which you see a clip in this post) and other kritis such as ninnE neranammi nAnurA, vadamadyuti shObhAne , raghuvara nannu, vAdera daivamu manasa, Siva Siva Siva enarada, Shambho mahAdEva etc which are also very well known. Note that all these are compositions are sung with antara gAndhAra swara, and not with sAdhAraNa gAndhAra. But according to the definitions in Venkatamakhi or Ramamatya, this rAga should have been Ramakriya (or Shuddha Ramakriya, if you care) and not Pantuvarali!
For the Andhra and Karnataka traditions of calling it Kamavardhini, there is a good reason. In the Kanakangi-Ratnangi system of nomenclature of mELa rAgas, the 51st spot (once occupied by Ramakriya) is occupied by the name Kamavardhini. Since Tyagaraja used the names from this scheme for his compositions, it is quite rationale to call the rAga of these compositions as Kamavardhiani.
But there is are couple of complications. The manuscripts of Tyagaraja’s compositions list mostly the names from the Kanakangi- Ratnagi scheme when it comes to mEla rAga kritis. But these so called “Kamavardhini” kritis are actually listed in most manuscripts as Pantuvarali! If Tyagaraja went by his general scheme, they should have been listed as Kamavardhini. If for some reason, the old scheme of naming was used by the scribe, they should have been listed as in “Ramakriya” or Shuddha Ramakriya.
Also, if I recall correctly, one of the compositions, ennALLu yUrake, that is listed as in Pantuvarali, is now sung in Shubha Pantuvarali:
What does this imply? Now let’s take a step back. For most mELa rAgas that existed before the Kanakangi-Ratnangi nomenclature came to existence, it is a common practice to drop the kaTapayAdi prefix when referring to the rAga names. The Raga Kalyani is normally never referred to as “mEcha” kalyANi, or ShankarAbharaNa is not referred to as “dhIra” shankarAbharaNa or varALi is not commonly called as “jhAla” varALi. That is to say, the KatapayAdi prefixes that were added to give the number are generally dropped. It is a different situation for rAgas that came in later – such as Chakravaka or Kharaharapriya or Charukeshi. In those cases, the kaTapa prefix is part of the rAga name.
So, if mEcha kalyANi (or Shanta Kalyani) is Kalyani and Hanuma Todi (or Jana Todi), then what is Pantuvarali? It has to be Shubha Pantuvarali (or Siva Pantuvarali, if you prefer).
It is argued by several scholars that the compositions that are listed under “pantuvarALi” in manuscripts were originally composed in the rAga Shubhapantuvarali by Tyagaraja. Then somewhere down the line, some musicians of his lineage started singing many of these compositions with Antara Gandhara, instead of Sadharana Gandhara note (that is part of Pantuvarali). By doing that the rAga was changed to Ramakriya or Kamavardhini. However, the practice of calling the rAga of these compositions as Pantuvarali continued in the Tamizh region.
Probably by the time these compositions spread to Andhra and Karnataka regions, the Kanakangi – Ratnangi naming system had become quite well known. Therefore, musicians there must have mapped the rAga of these compositions with Antara gAndhara as belonging to the 51st mELa, i.e Kamavardhini.
So now, if you are referring to these compositions as Kritis in Pantuvarali Raga, are you wrong? Well, mostly. Raagas have changed names over time, and/or changed their structure as well. In today’s context, these compositions of Tyagaraja in the 51st mELa would be better if termed as being in Kamavardhini, rather than in Pantuvarali. We have seen that happen in other instances of compositions of Tyagaraja. For example, compositions in the rAga what he called “Lalita” (eTla dorakitivo, seetamma mAyamma), are now mostly referred to as kritis in rAga “Vasanta”, as per today’s lakshaNa of the rAga.
Muttuswamy Dikshita, on the other hand used the Kanakambari – Phenadyuti system of naming the mELa rAgas proposed by Muddu Venkatamakhi. Thankfully he has also woven the rAga names into the compositions – So we have the rAgas varALi ( mANikya vallarI pANi madhura vANi varALi vENi, in mAmava mInAkshi), Ramakriya ( nArI yOnimukhAsvAdanE nagna RamakriyA mOdanE, in ucchishTagaNapatou), and (Shiva) PantuvarAli, (Shiva pantuvrALi rAga priyam ati chaturam, in Pashuapteeshwaram pranoumi satatam ) ragas well documented. However, the name Ramakriya has almost totally gone out of vogue and is either replaced by Kamavardhini (somewhat correct) or by Pantuvarali ( very wrong, IMO).
I’ll end this post with a short but beautiful rendering of (Shubha) Pantuvarali by Vidushi Nagavalli Nagaraj. The track begins around 1:45 minute mark:
Final titbit: Venkatamakhi in the 17th century wrote the Raga Pantuvaraali was liked be common folk, but not fit for musical compositions!
-neelanjana
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