PILGRIMAGE WITH DIKSHITAR TO TIRUVARUR AND ADJOINING KSHETRAS

VEENAVAADHINI'S TIRUVARUR  TRIP By Aparna Shankar - Dec 26, 2012

SAINT TYAGARAJA'S BIRTHPLACE

SYAMA SASTRI'S BIRTHPLACE

DIKSHITAR'S BIRTHPLACE

 Imagine understanding the meaning of a song which is not in your language, then appreciating  why the composer said so. It is a heady feeling we students at Veenavaadhini ( a trust for music founded by Veena artistes Jeyaraaj and Jaysri  ( www.veenajj.com ) are getting more and more often, and loving it more and more. This heady feeling is caused by a combination of research and observation; reading and seeing; finding out and experiencing. This December, we decided to take it to a new dimension – living.

    By virtue of our Gurus belonging to the sishya parampara of the illustrious Carnatic music composer Muthuswami Dikshitar, we are privileged to be imbibing the tradition, and have taken it upon ourselves to retrace the steps of Dikshitar – not chronologically – but by rendering his kritis at the places in which he composed them. Tiruvotriyur, Tiruvallikeni, Kanchipuram, Tiruttani, Tirukazhukundram and the like have been covered by us at the Veenavaadhini group already. This time, we took the endeavour to a new level and headed to Tiruvarur; geographically many times further away from Chennai, but special to all musicians, music lovers and students because it was not only Dikshitar’s hometown but also that of other two of the Carnatic Music Trinity – Saint Thyagaraja and Syama Sastry.

    Our idea was to sing the Tyagaraja vibhakti kritis, Kamalamba Navavaranams and other individual kritis at the respective shrines. We also planned to visit other places near Tiruvarur where he had been. Each student learnt one vibhakti kriti; we all learnt Sri Nilotpalanayike; some of us keenly learnt songs assigned to others as well. Three weeks of intense preparation blended smoothly with the Chennai December Music Season. Music and smiles all round.

    Early 22nd December morning, we boarded the train to Tiruvarur. Banter, icebreaking, books and sleep were all part the travel. The younger of us revelled in a Carnatic antakshari. The train arriving an hour late did not dampen any spirits, not least because of the fabulous homemade lunch! After freshening up – for which – women being women, we took over an hour – and headed over to the houses of the Trinity. It was humbling to say the least. Tyagaraja’s house – only his birthplace, he moved to Tiruvaiyaru not long after – consisted of a single room and some structures added later. Dikshitar’s house had been converted into a mutt, with an idol and some beautiful reliefs and pictures. Syama Sastri’s house was an adorable little place with many unseen pictures and idols. We sang a song of each composer at their respective abodes, and also sang at Dikshitar’s house, Muthuswaminam Guruvaram, a composition of our Guru Smt Jaysri on Muthuswamy Dikshitar in the raga Hamsanandi.

    We then proceeded to the main temple. Time was in short supply, so we took a quick look at all the main shrines and sang about three songs (Vallabha nayakasya, Nagalingam, Tyagaraja Yogavaibhavam  and Kamalambam Bhajare), promising ourselves and the priests more on Monday.  We were lucky to witness the abhishekam of Maragathalingam and the evening puja (Ardha Jama Puja) where the Lord is taken in a palanquin to the musical sounds of 16 traditional temple instruments.

    The next day was a packed one. There were eight temples in and around Tiruvarur scheduled to be visited for the day. ‘Around’ here means several dozens of kilometres, by the way! We first headed to the Renukadevi temple in Vijayapuram. Renukadevi is the mother of Parashurama, the sixth avatar of Vishnu. The song in praise of her is Renukadevi in Kannadabangala. Interestingly, we had a rather distant view of her the first time. A few of us took our time to circle the shrine, by which time the priest arrived and opened a gate to give us a closer darshan.

    We drove over to Nagapattinam’s Kayarohaneswarar temple and sang Kayarohanesam in Devagandharam and Amba Neelayatakshi, on the eponymous goddess, in Nilambari. This is one of the saptavitankas. That is, the utsavar is an identical copy of the Tiruvarur Tyagarajaswami. It is known as Sundara vitanka. The temple was sprawling and grand.

    Next up was the adjacent Saundararaja Perumal temple, a Vishnu temple. Our guru sang Saundararaja in Brindavanasaranga, a kriti known to the priest, who joined in with his deep, rich voice. The deity was tall, majestic and liberally adorned – it is not for no reason Vishnu is known as Alankara-priya, the one who loves being adorned. His feet were under a platform, but visible to us as long as we bent down. The priest quoted Andal’s Tiruppavai, ‘Koodi irundu kulirndelor empavai’, urging us to sing a song all together, which we did.

We moved on to Sikkal, hometown of the legendary Sikkil Sisters and the current crowd-puller Sikkil Gurucharan. It was crowded and dark due to a power cut, which gave the place an old-worldly, mysterious charm. The famed Sikkal Singaravelar is the subject of Dikshitar’s ‘Shrngara shaktyayudhadhara’ in Ramamanohari. The Siva idol, so the story goes, is made of butter which refused to budge and is accordingly called Navaniteswarar. Its being stuck gave rise to the place’s name Sikkal. There was also a Vishnu temple attached.

Keezhvelur, where Dikshitar gave us ‘Akshayalingavibho’ in Sankarabharanam, the main piece – jewel in the necklace – of so many a concert! This place is also called Keevalur. The shrines were on a first floor, accessible by a flight of stairs. There is a story behind this. There was once a lingam in a forest. A spider realised its divinity and built a web over it to keep it clean. An elephant later visited it, and to do abhishekam for it, poured water on it, destroying the web. The peeved spider rebuilt it after the elephant left. The elephant destroyed it again. This cycle continued till the angry spider climbed into the elephant’s trunk and bit it, killing both. The spider was to be born again once due to his one sin, and was born as a king. Remembering his past life, he built the temple over stairs to prevent elephants from entering. This and more stories were related to us by a committed temple administrator who acted spontaneously as a fantastic guide. There were scores of shrines on the ground. This is also the place where the bankrupt Kubera is said to have prayed to recharge his powers.

We returned to Tiruvarur for lunch, after which we went to Kuzhikkarai. The Kuzhikkarai temple is built on private land. The builder of this temple, Vaidyalinga Mudaliar, desired Dikshitar to sing his praise. Dikshitar, never one to compose on a mere mortal, refused, but mentioned him in an epic 14-raga song, Sri Viswanatham. There were paintings on the roof such as the stages of existence – plants, animals, birds, fish and people. The other songs of this kshetra that we sang are Viswanathena in Saamanta and Annapurne Visalakshi in Saama.  

The penultimate stop for the day was Tirukannamangai, a Vishnu Temple where the gods came as bees to witness His wedding and stayed on (and are still there). The song here was Bhaktavatsalam in Vamsavati. The final visit of the day was to Pulivalam, another Vishnu temple. Dikshitar honoured the Lord with Venkatachalapate in Karnataka Kaapi.

Day 3 morning was all for the Tiruvarur temple. First, we stopped by the massive Kamalalayam tank to sing Sri Mahaganapatir Avatumam, in praise of Maatru Uraitha Vinayakar. Inside, our gurus sang the Kamalamba Navavaranams (a treat for the ears, indeed). Kamalamba is famously sitting in a special yogic posture impossible for humans. We walked over to the Nilotpalamba shrine and sang Sri Nilotpalanayike in Nariritigaulai. Finally, the beloved of the Nayanmars, Lord Tyagaraja! Each youngster sang a song – some tentatively, afraid of not doing justice to the master, some boldly, full of verve.

A brief walk from the temple is a temple of Sundaramurti Nayanar, his home. Here, we rendered Dikshitar’s only kriti on a human, Sundaramurtim in Takka. Sundaramurti Nayanar is an incarnation of a celestial, so strictly speaking Dikshitar never sang of mortal men.

In the evening, we proved our loyalty to secularism by visiting Nagore Dargah and Velankanni Church, bearably crowded though it was Christmas Eve.

The lengthy van journeys proved good times to discuss a variety of topics, like the music season, kalpanaswaram, philosophy, Facebook and Tendulkar’s retirement from ODI cricket!

In summary, this was an invaluable learning experience, where we listened to and rendered good music, visited places we would have never known about otherwise or given a second thought if we had come across them any other way. We got insights about stories, religion and life in general, and shared our ideas. I feel extremely lucky and privileged to have had this experience.

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PILGRIMAGE WITH DIKSHITAR TO TIRUKAZHUKUNDRAM

 
Tirukkazhukkunram is a well-known temple of Shiva, near Chengalpet. The temple is on a hill,
requiring around 550 steps to be climbed. Like Tirupati, the Lord is on the hill, while the Goddess is
in a temple at the foot of the hill. Tirukkazhukkunram was famous for the pair of eagles which used
to come regularly to a particular spot near the temple every afternoon to be fed by the priest.

Muthuswamy Dikshitar has visited this hoary temple and composed “Vedapurishwaram bhajare”
in Ragam Dhanyasi , Adi Talam. As is his practice, he has mentioned details of the Sthalam in his
lyrics such as the Vedas worshipping the Lord, Goddess Tripurasundari being His consort and Vishnu
and other Devas chanting His praise. This beautiful Kriti, with its phrases laden with meaning and
rare Prayogas of Dhanyasi, was learnt by the students of Veenavaadhini over the last few weeks, in
preparation for the Yatra to the site where it was composed.

On Saturday, November 17th, we left for Tirukkazhukkunram at around 6.30am from Chennai.
Our group comprised of our Gurus Sri Jeyaraaj and Smt Jaysri and their students and a couple of
mothers. Since there were many young people, we first had some breakfast before we proceeded
to climb the hill. We first sought the blessings of Ganesha who was at the foothill. As could be
expected, the children sprinted ahead while the others climbed leisurely. Although the steps were
steep, we were rewarded by the lovely emerging views of the nearby temples, tanks, houses, fields
and lakes. The weather had been pleasant in the last few days and that day was no exception.
Moreover, the numerous large trees on either side of the steps ensured that we were well
protected from the sun. One noticed a large number of Indian Laburnum trees (sara-konrai or
Golden Shower) as well as Siamese Cassia (manjal-konrai, Kassod). There were also Neem, Peepul
and one big Banyan tree on the way.

The temple on the hill is medium-sized. We waited a few minutes for the Archaka and then went
inside the shrine and sang the kritis “Vedapurishwaram bhajare”, “ Tripurasundari” (Saama) and
“Vishwanathena”(Saamantha). The Archaka then performed Archana and during the Karpoora-
harathi, he showed us the amazing Bas Relief sculptures found in the Sanctum Sanctorum. There
was Somaskanda along with an adoring Vishnu behind the Lingam, as well as Dakshinamurthy and
Ardhanarishwara with Nandi on the two side walls. (These are features of Pallava architecture.) He
also explained the significance of Tirukkazhukkunram – it being sung by all three saint-composers of
Thevaaram, as well as being sung by Manickavachakar, Arunagirinathar and Pattinathaar. He rued
the fact that due to pollution or other evils of the times, the eagles had stopped coming and asked
us to pray that the next generation of eagles starts coming.

After this moving, uplifting experience, we climbed down through a different path. On the way we
saw an old cave temple dated to Mahendravarma-I. It has a Lingam and two sizable Dwarapalakas.

We went to an ancient temple of Vishnu in Sadras(Sathurangapattinam). He is known as Malai
Mandala Perumal and as Garuda is depicted with eight snakes on his person, this is a Sarpa-dosha
Parihara-sthalam. The Panchaloha idol of Anjaneya, from the Vijayanagara time, is the one drawn
by the artist Vinu in the famous picture blessed by the Mahaswami of Kanchi. Here too we were
fortunate that the Bhattar explained the unique features of the Kshetra to us in detail. We soaked in
the quietness and greenery of this small but impressive temple, with a coucal’s sweet calls adding to
the experience. After the nice lunch, we returned to Chennai with a sense of elation and gratitude.

REPORT BY RAJANI ARJUN SHANKAR

LAUNCH OF www.veenavaadhini.com

Veenavaadhini launched its website www.veenavaadhini.com and celebrated five years of its completion in a function at Arkay Convention Centre Mylapore. Here is a report that appeared on the website www.sabhash.com.

Veenavaadhini Website Launched
Veenavaadhini website was launched at a warm function hosted by the Veena Couple JT Jeyaraaj Krishnan and Jaysri Jeyaraaj Krishnan, who founded Veenavaadhini Sampradaya Sangit Trust. Music Historian V Sriram was the guest, and he symbolically launched the website on a solemn note after a Veena recital by Veena Venkataramani (student of Veenavaadhini). She was accompanied by R Ramkumar on Mridangam, Srikrishnan on Ghatam. Sriram who himself had learnt Veena under the same Gurus as the couple, lauded their efforts and recalled those days of learning together in Kolkatta. Veena Vidwan P Vasanth Kumar spoke on the importance of Veena, that the art is close to Vocal music. He appreciated the efforts of Veenavaadhini,
that strives to bring the instrument to the fore front. Young Veena, who has just completed schooling is a confident girl, and gave a brilliant concert that kept the audience spell bound for an hour and more.

Veenavaadhini Sampradaya Sangit Trust proposes to create a unique archive of over 1000 compositions and 100 raga alapanas rendered by Jeyaraaj and Jaysri on the Veena. Belonging to the direct Sishya Parampara of Muthuswamy Dikshitar, the Gurus, along with their students at Veenavaadhini, have undertaken to visit the provenance of Muthuswamy Dikshitar’s kritis, to retrace Dikshitar’s journey, visit the temples that he visited, and render the kritis that he composed on the various deities enshrined therein.

Veenavaadhini will take efforts to preserve for posterity the Gayaki style of playing the Veena as the vainika couple has imbibed from their Gurus A Anantharama Iyer and A Champakavali through the unbroken disciple lineage of vainika gayaka Muthuswamy Dikshitar.

Here is the link Veenavaadhini Sampradaya Sangit Trust Website Launch

VEENAVAADHINI CHAMBER CONCERT

Veenavaadhini recently showcased two chamber concerts. First was a vocal concert by Vivek Sadashivam and second was a Veenai concert by Revathi Sadashivam, of Bangalore.

Vivek began with an Adi Tala Varnam in Saveri, Sarasuda. This was followed by a melodious rendition of a Thyagarajar composition, Rama neepai Thanaku, in Kedaram, in Adi Talam, with a few brisk swarams. Next he sang a raga alapanai in the ragam Varamu and followed it with Papanasam Sivan’s well-known Tunai Purindarul, with intricate swaram patterns. Next, Muthuswami Dikshitar’s fast paced Ramachandram Bhavayami, in the ragam Vasantha, with swarams, livened up the mood. The highlight of the concert was Shyama Sastri’s Birana Varalichi in the ragam Kalyani, set to Tisra Nada Adi Talam. Through his extensive raga alapanai, Vivek wonderfully brought out the beauty of the
ragam. He sang neraval in the line “Shyama Krishna sodari gowri parameshwari girija” in the charanam. The concert was fittingly ended with Bharatiyar’s Varuvai Varuvai Varuvai Kanna.  KJ Dileep's accompaniment on the violin was superb. He exhibited admirable versatility and professional expertise.

Revathi began with Thyagarajar’s Shashivadana in the ragam Chandrajyoti, in Adi Talam. Next was Muthuswami Dikshitar’s Parvathi Kumaram, set to Roopaka Talam, along with swarams in the Pallavi. This was followed by Devi Brova Samayamidhe, a Shyama Sastri composition in Chintamani, a rare ragam. This was followed by raga alapanai and tanam in the ragam Simmhendramadhyamam, a favourite of most vainikas. The song she chose was Ninne Nammiti, composed by Mysore Vasudevacharya. This formed the main piece of the concert. She wound up with the popular Annamacharya compostion, Muddugare Yashoda, in Kurinji, set to Adi Talam, followed by a Purandaradasar composition, Rama Mantrava Japiso, in Adi Talam. Bhagyada Lakshmi Baramma in Madhyamavati served as an apt mangalam.   The concert was short but crisp and impactful.

Miami Ramakrishnan who accompanied on the mridangam for both concerts , is a math professor at the Miami University.  He has been the face of mridangam in Miami USA for several decades. His accompaniment was very neat, unobtrusive and polished.

REPORT BY "VEENABHERI"

MELAKARTHA WORKSHOP

This year's Veenavaadhini Summer Workshop conducted by Smt Jaysri Jeyaraaj Krishnan was on The Carnatic Melakarta System. The intricacies of the Melakarta System including its evolution, its correlation with the Veena Mela structure, swara positions, Katapayadi Formula of Nomenclature, Chakra Nomenclature etc were discussed. Each of the 72 mela ragas were explained using the veena. Representative Kritis of Muthuswamy Dikshitar from the Bana Chakra were also taught vocally during the workshop. The songs included:

1. Sharavati Thatavasini - Sharavathi - Mela #25
2. Palayamam Parameshwari- Tharangini - Mela #26
3. Sourasenesham - Sourasena - Mela#27
4. Neelakantham Bhajeham - Kedaragoula - Mela #28
5. Brihadeeshwaraya Namaste - Shankarabharanam - Mela #29
6. Naagabharanam Nagajaabharanam - Naagaabharanam - Mela #30

VEENAVAADHINI STUDENTS PROGRAMME

On 21 April, Mr and Mrs Parameswaran’s sprawling house in RA Puram played host to an event
featuring several young students of vocal and veena music, where the youngsters showcased their
talent and skills developed over years of practice and hard work. Melodious young voices were
interspersed with soothing strains of the veena.

The performers, Aditya, Mythri, Aparna, Monica and Harini performed songs such as Ananda
Amritakarshini, Maha Ganapate, Sundarataradeham, Siva Siva Siva, and Sabhapatikku. This was
followed by a brief performance by Dr Latha Parameswaran, the host, which showed as much
verve and energy as the blooming young students.  She presented Deva Deva Jagadhishwara in Purvikalyani and Kaliyuga Varadhan in Brindavani.

The longest performance of the day belonged to Kamakshi and Meenakshi, who gave
an hour-long concert on compositions of Sri Tyagaraja on gods other than Lord Rama. They provided succinct explanation on the meaning of the songs, and sang with feeling. Many of the
kritis covered were rare and not heard very often, so it was a treat for the listeners who were in
rapture.  The songs featured were Sri Gananatham (Kanakangi), Varashikhi Vahana (Supradeepam), Ee Vasudha (Sahana), Narada Ganalola (Atana), Haridasulu (Yaman Kalyani), Gandhamu Puyyaruga (Punnagavarali), Vinayakuni (Madhyamavathi).

The compact crowd left pleased. The tasty prasadam at the end was also a factor, but the music was
the star of the day. The evening gave a small glimpse of the future of Carnatic music, in our school
and otherwise.

Report by Aparna Shankar

VEENAVAADHINI LISTENING SESSIONS

Madurai Mani Iyer

Tanjore S Kalyanaraman

LISTENING SESSIONS AT #12 SHANTI ENCLAVE

Advice to students of Carnatic music is simple – practice a lot, but also listen a lot. Listening
to masters of the art inspires and pleases, and also gives young learners ideas and a sense of where
they have to get.

This idea was taken forward by Veenavaadhini, by way of two evening listening sessions, of
Madurai Mani Iyer and Thanjavur Kalyanaraman respectively. Students and rasikas, young and old,
took part in the sessions of listening and analysis of the masters.

Madurai Mani Iyer needs no introduction, of course. A Sangita Kalanidhi awardee, he
gave full-house concerts till nearly the end of his life. His fan following was immense and later the
tukkada section of his concerts became more or less fixed. He was renowned for his pure voice and
sruti suddham. He was also a great human being.

The enthralled audience listened to pieces like Nada Tanumanisam, Dharini Telusukonti and
the immortal classic Kaana Kan Kodi Vendum. The latter was preceded by an alapana which seemed
simple but was very intricate. The presence and inputs of Sri Sriram Parasuram, and our Gurus Sri JT Jeyaraaj Krishnan and Smt Jaysri Jeyaraaj Krishnan enhanced the session.

If the creativity and sruti suddham of Madurai Mani Iyer stood out, for Thanjavur S
Kalyanaraman the following month it was his clarity. Each note shone like a gem in every phrase.
Students were enamoured by his bhrigas. He proved to be competent in all speeds – the transition
from a slow, meditative, contemplative Ganamurte to a racy piece was notable. The main piece was
a moving Shanmukhapriya. Towards the end, a piece played by S Balachander also made a cameo.
Through all this, time flew by without anyone realising. This was followed by a pot luck dinner.

This pleasurable form of learning was enjoyed by all, and will be taken forward in the
summer for a week.

REPORT BY APARNA SHANKAR