തായ്ചി മൂവിങ്ങ് മെഡിറ്റേഷൻ ആണ്.. സമുദ്രത്തിന്റെ തിരമാലപോലെ ഒന്നിനുപുറകെ ഒന്നെന്ന പോലെ ഒഴുകുന്ന ചലനങ്ങൾ.. പ്രകൃതിയ്ക് ഒരു താളവും സംഗീതവും ചലനവുമുണ്ട്.. തായ്ചി പ്രാക്ടീസ് ചെയ്യുമ്പോൾ ശരീരം മനസ്സും പോകുന്നത് നമ്മുടെ ചലനത്തിനനുസരിച്ച് അല്ല.. പ്രകൃതിയുടെ സംഗീതത്തെ അറിഞ്ഞ് അതിന്റെ താളത്തിനൊത്ത് നാം സഞ്ചരിക്കുകയാണ് തായ്ചിയിലൂടെ ചെയ്യുന്നത്.. പ്രകൃതിയുടെ ശ്വാസഗതിയെ മനസ്സിലാക്കി അതിൽ നാം ലയിക്കുക..പ്രകൃതിയുടെ ശ്വാസഗതിക്കൊത്ത് നാം സഞ്ചരിക്കുക.. ഒരു കാറ്റുവരുമ്പോൾ കടൽത്തീരത്ത് നിൽക്കുമ്പോൾ കാട്ടിലൂടെ നടക്കുമ്പോൾ പ്രകൃതിയുടെ ശ്വാസത്തെ അറിഞ്ഞ് പ്രകൃതിയുടെ സംഗീതത്തിലൂടെ നമുക്ക് ശരീരം ചലിപ്പിക്കാനാകണം.. പ്രകൃതിയ്ക് വിരുദ്ധമായി പോകാതെ പ്രകൃതിയിൽ ലയിച്ച് പ്രകൃതിയായി മാറാനാകണം..അതുകൊണ്ട് തന്നെ ആണ് മറ്റ് മാര്ഷൽ ഫോമുകളെ അപേക്ഷിച്ച് തായ്ചി പ്രാക്ടീസ് ചെയ്യുമ്പോൾ ക്ഷീണം അനുഭവപ്പെടാത്തത്. വായുവിന്റെ ചലനവ്യതിയാനം അല്ലെ ഗതിയെ മനസ്സിലാക്കാനാകുന്ന മറ്റൊരു ഫോം ഇതുപോലെ ഉണ്ടോയെന്ന് സംശയം. വിരുദ്ധദിശകളിലേക്ക് ഒരെ സമയം ശരീരം ചലിപ്പിക്കുന്നതിനൊപ്പം തന്നെ കയ്യും കാലും കണ്ണും ഒരെ സമയം കോര്ഡിനേറ്റ് ചെയ്യേണ്ടിവരുന്നതിനാൽ സാമാന്യത്തിലധികം കോണ്സന്ട്രേഷൻ സ്വയം തന്നെ ഉണ്ടാകുന്നു എന്ന ഗുണവുമുണ്ട് .. എല്ലാത്തിൽ നിന്നും വിട്ടു മനസ്സിനെ ശൂന്യമാക്കാനുള്ള കഴിവുണ്ടാക്കുക അതാണ് തായ്ചിയുടെ വിജയം. എനര്ജി എന്നത് ഉണ്ടാക്കാനുള്ളതല്ല കാരണം പ്രകൃതി എന്നത് നമ്മിൽ തന്നെയുണ്ട്.. ആകെ വേണ്ടത് അതിനെ മനസ്സിലാക്കുക.. പ്രകൃതിയെന്തെന്ന് അനുഭവിത്തിലൂടെ പഠിപ്പിക്കുന്ന ഇത്രയധികം ശരീരത്തിന് എനര്ജി തരുന്ന മറ്റൊരു ഫോമുണ്ടോ എന്ന് സംശയം.. ഒരു പക്ഷെ എന്റെ ജീവിതത്തില് ഇത്രയധികം സ്വാധീനിച്ച മറ്റൊന്നുണ്ടോ എന്ന് സംശയം..
If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted,
or Beethoven composed music,
or Shakespeare wrote poetry.
He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and Earth will pause to say, Here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well.
(-Martin Luther King)
Bharat Sangeet Utsav 2012, Chennai » 25
Oct 2012 13:30
Carnatica & Shri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha
present BHARAT SANGEET UTSAV 2012, Nov.
2 – 11 at Sadguru Gnanananda Hall, Narada
Gana Sabha, Alwarpet, Chennai.
Schedule
Nov 2nd
04.00 pm – Nadaswaram: Seshampatti Shri.
Sivalingam
05.30 pm – Inauguration & Madurai Mani
Iyer Centenary Celebrations
07.00 pm – Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna, Shri.
M. Chandrasekharan, Umayalpuram Dr. K.
Sivaraman, Dr. S. Karthick
Nov 3rd
10.00 am – Kum. Amrutha
Sankaranarayanan, Shri. V. V. S. Murari,
Shri. J. Vaidyanathan, Shri. E. M.
Subramaniam
02.30 pm – Shri. Mahadevan
Sankaranarayanan, Delhi Shri. P.
Sundarrajan, Tiruvarur Shri.
Bhaktavatsalam, Vaikom Shri.
Gopalakrishnan
04.45 pm – Shri. Ronu Mazumdar &
Chitravina Shri. N. Ravikiran (Jugalbandhi),
Shri. Ravindra Yavagal, Shri. K. V. Prasad
07.00 pm – Shri. T. M. Krishna, Shri. H. K.
Venkatram, Shri. V. V. Ramanamurthy,
Tripunithura Shri. Radhakrishnan
Nov 4th
09.00 am – Kum. Ananya Ashok, Kum. K. P.
Nandini, Kumbhakonam Shri. Swaminathan
10.30 am – Neyveli Shri. R.
Santhanagopalan, Dr. M. Narmada,
Mannarkoil Shri. J. Balaji, Shri. N.
Guruprasad
02.30 pm – Excerpts from live concerts of
Madurai Shri. Mani Iyer
04.45 pm – Smt. Nithyasree Mahadevan,
Akkarai Kum. Subhalakshmi, Poongulam
Shri. S. Subramanian, Shri. B. S.
Purushotham
07.00 pm – Shri. T. V. Sankaranarayanan,
Nagai Shri. R. Muralidharan, Tiruvarur Shri.
Bhaktavatsalam, Shri. E. M. Subramaniam
Nov 5th
02.45 pm – Shri. Sandeep Narayan, Delhi
Shri. P. Sundarrajan, Neyveli Shri. B.
Venkatesh
04.45 pm – Priya Sisters, Shri. M. A.
Krishnaswamy, Neyveli Shri.
Skandasubramanian, Shri. B. S.
Purushotham
07.00 pm – Shri. N. Vijay Siva, Smt.
Charulatha Ramanujam, Shri. N. Manoj Siva
Nov 6th
02.45 pm – Shri. Ramakrishnan Murthy,
Nagai Shri. Sriram, Mannargudi Shri. A.
Easwaran, Shri. G. Chandrasekara Sharma
04.45 pm – Shri. V. V. Subramaniam & Shri.
V. V. S. Murari, Tiruvarur Shri.
Bhaktavatsalam, Vaikom Shri.
Gopalakrishnan
07.00 pm – Shri. Sanjay Subrahmanyan, Shri.
S. Varadarajan, Trichy Shri. B. Harikumar,
Trichy Shri. K. Murali
Nov 7th
02.45 pm – Kum. Amritha Murali, Dr. R.
Hemalatha, Shri. J. Vaidyanathan, Shri. G.
Chandrasekara Sharma
04.45 pm – Carnatic Fusion Dreams led by
Dr. Jyotsna Srikanth with Carnatica
Brothers, Shri. Keith Peters, Shri. Shadrach
Solomon, Tumkur Shri. Ravishankar, Shri. N.
S. Manjunath, Shri. Karthik Mani
07.00 pm – Sikkil Shri. C. Gurucharan & Shri.
Anil Srinivasan with World Percussionist
Prof. Mark Stone
Nov 8th
02.45 pm – Shri. Rithvik Raja, Dr. M.
Narmada, Shri. K. Arun Prakash, Shri. B.S.
Purushotham
04.45 pm – Smt. Gayathri Venkatraghavan,
Mysore Shri. Srikanth, Neyveli Shri.
Skandasubramanian, Alathur Shri.
Rajaganesh
07.00 pm – Malladi Brothers, Embar Shri. S.
Kannan, Mannargudi Shri. A. Easwaran,
Vaikom Shri. Gopalakrishnan
Nov 9th
02.45 pm – Smt. Nisha Rajagopal, Shri. M. A.
Krishnaswamy, Shri. J. Vaidyanathan,
Alathur Shri. Rajaganesh
04.45 pm – Smt. Ranjani & Smt. Gayatri,
Shri. M. R. Gopinath, Poongulam Shri. S.
Subramanian, Shri. N. Guruprasad
07.00 pm – Shri. Abhishek Raghuram,
Mysore Shri. V. Srikanth, Shri. Anantha R.
Krishnan, Shri. Guruprasanna
Nov 10th
10.30 am – Sampradaya Bhajana: Udayalur
Shri. Kalyanaraman & Party
02.45 pm – Kum. B. Suchitra & Kum. S.
Saindhavi (Katha Kutcheri), Smt. Kalyani
Shankar, Shri. S. J. Arjun Ganesh
04.45 pm – Smt. Subashree Thanikachalam
presents “Chinnakuyilgalum
Singaravelanum”, a peep into Murugan
songs in Tamil Films
07.00 pm – Smt. Vishaka Hari & Shri. S.
Saketharaman, Akkarai Kum. Subhalakshmi,
Shri. J. Vaidyanathan, Dr. S. Karthick
Nov 11th
09.00 am – Smt. Jayashree Vaidyanathan,
Mysore Kum. Sangeetha, Delhi Shri. Raja
Subramaniam
10.30 am – Madurai Shri. T. N.
Seshagopalan, Shri. M. Chandrasekharan,
Neyveli Shri. B. Venkatesh, Trichy Shri. K.
Murali
02.30 pm – Trichur Brothers, Mullaivasal
Shri. G. Chandramouli, Trichur Shri. R.
Mohan, Shri. B. S. Purushotham
04.45 pm – Hyderabad Brothers, Shri. H. N. Bhaskar, Mannargudi Shri. A. Easwaran
07.00 pm – Smt. Subha Mudgal, Shri. Sudhir Nayak, Shri. Aneesh Pradhan
Information about donor passes and general enquiries: +91-94440-18269
My young friend, brother – Sri Jayan KV hails from my neighborhood village “Pazhanelli “.
Now works with ‘icon’ as Business Manager. A. Chennai based Pharmaceutical Company. A Division of Mesmer Pharmaceuticals,plot No.53,Indira Gandhi Street, Kaveri Rangan Nagar, Saligramam, Chennai -600 093
Jayan Pazhanelli
Jayan loves music, especially rhythm. ‘Chenda’ is the favorite
Aaraohanam : / Ni – Sa – Ri – Gaa – Ma – Pa –Dha – Ni – Sa/
Aavorahanam : / Sa – Dhaa – Ni – Pa –Ma –Pa – Gaa- Ma – Ri Sa /
Avarohana
A famous Hindusthani Raaga.
And quite popular too.
This raga is complete “Vakra Sampooran Raaga”
This is a ‘Janya’ of “Asaavari ‘ Dhat.
[20th Mela-NaThaBhairavi]
Swara Sthana:
Shadjam, ChathuShruthi, Rishabham, common Gandhara, Shudha Madhyamam, Panchamam, Shudha Daivatham, Kaishiki Nishadam.
There is a storu linked to Tanzen & Akbar : It was the Stalwart,Tanzen who invented the Raaga and he was an expert in it .
Jeeva Swaras: Gandharam & Dhaivatham.
Popular Malayalam Film Songs Composed on the base of this enchanting Raaga:
1. “Aayiram Paadaswarangal Kilungi” [ Nadi –Jesudas, Vayalar & Devarajan]
2. “Raadhika Krishana” [ Mohiniyaatam – Mannura Rajakumaranunni-JayadevaKrithi- Devarajan]
3. “Azhake..” [ Amaram – Jesudas, Chitra –Kaithapram-Raveendran]
4. “Omanathinkal Kidaavo” – [ Ithiri Ppove Chuvanna Poove – S.Janaki-Raveendran]
5. “Shivadan Siva Nadam” [ Mazhavillu – Jesudas, chitara-Sharath]
6. “Ariyathe..” [ Raavabnaprabhu –Jayachandran, Chitra-Vidya saagar]
7. « Jhanak Jhanak » [Famous Hindi song of Md.Rafi]
8. “Dukhame Ninakku”[Pushpanjali –Jesudaas –K.M.Arjunan]
9. “Koothambalthil vacho..” [ Appu –M.G.Shri Kumar-SoundaraRajan]
10. Sathi Leelavathi ..song filming Kamal
11.
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Darbari Kanada is one of the most popular rags in the entire North Indian system of classical music.
A few common songs are “Ghunghat Ke Pat Khol Re Tohe Piya Milenge”, “Jhana Jhanak Tori Baje Payaliaya”, “Mujhe Tumse Kuch Bhi Na Chahiye”, “O Duniya Ke Rakhwale”. This rag is also known as Durbari, or Darbari Kanara and a host of other transliterations. It is said to have been invented by Tansen who sang in the durbar (royal court) of the Emperor Akbar, hence the name Darbari Kanada. Thank you dear Akbar ji
The vadi / samavadi theory is generally discounted by modern musicologists, but for those who are inclined to follow this, Darbari Kanada has been particularly problematic. Some suggest that Re and Dha are the vadi and samvadi; however, others suggest that it should be Ga and Dha.
Darbari Kanada has some interesting musical characteristics. It is a night time rag. It is said to be sampurna – sampurna, but it must be presented in a vakra (twisted) fashion to distinguish it from related rags such as Jaunpuri, Asawari, or Adana. It is especially important to emphasize the lower register (mandra saptak) and the lower tetrachord (i.e., purvang) to distinguish this rag from Adana.
Darbari Kanada has an interesting approach to its intervals. The minor 3rd (komal Ga) and the minor 6th (komal Dha) are much lower than usually found; this lower than normal flattening is often referred to in Indian music as ati-komal. Therefore, ati-komal Ga is just ever-so-slightly higher than a natural 2nd (shuddha Re) and the ati-komal Dha is just ever so slightly higher than a natural 5th (Pa). It is this extreme alteration of the intervals that helps give Darbari Kanada its distinctive character.
Jati :Sampurna – Sampurna – (general discussion of jati)
Time :Night – That
Asawari: That
Drone -: Sa – Pa –
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The English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge once said, “What comes from the heart goes to the heart.” Music is an illustration of that circuit in action. Sounds travel fast between hearts.
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Myths & History
Times ago (read: late 15th century), there was this poet called Makrand Pandey who was a priest in Varanasi. One daaaay, his son, Ramtanu, went wandering in the forests. As fate would have it, the legendary musician from Vrindavan, Swami Haridas, also happened to go wandering. Swami Haridas was so impressed with Ramtanu’s imitations of a tiger and an elephant that he took him under his wing. Miya Tanzen !
Thus, Tansen was ‘born’! From Haridas, Tansen acquired not only his love for dhrupad but also his interest in compositions in the local language. This was the time when the Bhakti tradition was fomenting a shift from Sanskrit to the local idiom (Brajbhas and Hindi), and Tansen’s compositions also highlight this trend. At some point during his apprenticeship, Tansen’s father died, and he returned home, where it is said he used to sing at a local Shiva temple. Eventually, he joined the court of King Ramachandra Baghela of Rewa, where he remained from 1555-1562. It appears that the Mughal emperor Akbar heard of his prowess and sent his emissary Jalaluddin Qurchi to Ramachandra, who had little choice but to acquiesce, and Tansen went to Akbar’s court in 1562.
Legend has it that Akbar asked Tansen to come up with something different for his performance(s); Tansen created the raga ‘Durbari Kanada’, from the Persion word ‘Durbar’ for ‘Court’.
2.Tansen, the legendary musician was born in Gwalior in 1506. It was only after the age of 5 that Tansen showed any musical talent. It was his Guru Hari Dasa who recognised his hidden talents as a musician. Miya Tanzen - Still a Motivation !
Tansen was one among the nine gems in the court of Emperor Akbar. He was also a poet, who composed many couplets. When Tansen was in the court of Akbar, he started to compose new ragas or melodies based on classical Indian music. He is believed to be the father of Hindustani Music. His ‘Sangeeta Sara’ and ‘Rajmala’ are important documents on music. He popularised the ‘Drupad’ style of music.
He was such a great artist that he became a legend in his own times. His talent was recognised early and it was the ruler of Gwalior who conferred upon the maestro the honorific title ‘Tansen’.Miya Tanzen !!
He died in 1589, and was buried according to his wishes near the grave of his mentor, Ghaus.
A national music festival known as ‘Tansen Sangeet Sammelan’ is held every year in December, near the tomb of Tansen at Behat as a mark of respect to his memory.
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A ragamalika rendered by Madurai T.N Seshagopalan had one of its ragas as Durbari Kanada, and it will remain etched in memory for decades to come.
Durbari Kanada is usually sung after sun-down, although nobody follows it that strictly. This raga is part of the Asavari Thaat — uses all seven notes, five in the ascent and seven in the descent. Gandhar, Dhaivat and Nishad are komal (flat) and the other notes are shuddha (full).
The ascension of aroha is in the lower and middle octaves. In the aroha, the note Ga (gandhar) komal is used in a weak manner and a slow vibrato (andolan) on this note. The association of the notes Ni and Pa sounds pleasing to the ears. Its Vadi swar is Re and Samvadi is Pa.
Aroha: S R g m P d n S’
Avroha: S’ d n P m P g m R S
For reference, the set of notes in the Asavari thaat is S R g M P d n, and for Darbari, the role of the komal gandhar is crucial. In other words, the jeeva swara is the Gandhara here. Most common usage is ‘G M. R’
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The musical wealth of the kritis of Deekshitar is well appreciated by connoisseurs and performers of Karnatic music. Each kriti is an expression of the nuances of the raga in which it is composed. The span of ragas covered in his set of compositions is immense covering the entire gamut of the framework of classical scales.
Equal in magnitude is the lyrical wealth of these kritis; Deekshitar’s lyrics are a succinct poetic expression of the beliefs and traditions associated with the deity being extolled and the sacred space associated with the deity.
Listening to a kriti of Deekshitar (well rendered of course) is a fulfilling experience – even without the additional improvisatory frills of raga alapana, neraval or superfluous Sangatis. A musical analysis of the kritis would greatly extend the scope of this article and hence I am restricting this feature to the relevance of Deekshitar’s kritis to temples in general.
To place things in context, it must be mentioned that Deekshitar lived in the latter part of the 18th century and in early 19th century (1775 – 1835 CE), when India was being ruled by the British. Over a thousand years prior to his period, the Nayanmars and the Alwars had built upon the infrastructure of the Bhakti movement which was closely interwoven with temple worship and the Agamic traditions.
Soon after the time of the Nayanmars and the Alwars, Adi Sankara had streamlined the existing worship traditions on the Indian subcontinent and consolidated them into six distinct traditions related to the worship of Ganesha, Skanda, Shiva, Shakti, Vishnu and Surya respectively. These worship systems were to prevail and the already existing centers of worship were to flourish as centers of culture and tradition- along with the growth of newer centers of worship thanks to the royal patronage.
The six worship systems were also to coexist with other belief systems involving the worship of local guardian Deities and Mother Goddesses as perceived by regional cultures.
Muthuswamy Deekshitar’s kritis cover all of the belief systems mentioned above.
The composer traveled widely and composed kritis on the presiding deities of various temples that he visited. In his songs he describes the mythological beliefs surrounding the deity, features associated with the place of worship, worship traditions and festivals etc. in sanskrit. In this sense, he writes a 2nd millennium supplement in Sanskrit to the Tamil Bhakti verses of the 63 Nayanmars and the 12 Alwars. In addition,he also covers regional belief systems that do not form part of the 6 Agamic forms of worship.
Great was his command over the language, wide and deep were his breadth and scope of knowledge of Vedic, Agamic, astrological and musical traditions. Dhrupadic (the then widely prevalent North Indian Classical music form that he trained in during his sojourn at Banares) influence is felt in the structure and flow of his kritis in ragas such as Hindolam, as well as in the use of certain ragas that were until then confined geographically to the North Indian domain.
My first exposure to the kritis of Deekshitar was through the school of music that I trained in when I was under 9 years of age. One of the songs that I had learned then, Sankaram Abhirami Manoharam – flashed back in my memory as I was authoring the page on Tirukkadavur – Abodes of Shiva (with images of my visit there in 1993), and made me stop in my tracks suddenly – as I realized with a sense of discovery that this song which was taught to me with a mention of the story of Markandeya and with a footnote that the song was a prayer for health and longevity – was actually the stalapuranam of Tirukkadavur, created (musically) at the very premises of the temple over 200 years ago.
Chintayamaa in Bhairavi celebrates Shiva as the Prithvi Lingam enshrined at Kanchipuram and as Somaskanda in the very same temple, while Jambu Pathe and Akhilandeswari are rich musical tributes to the shrine at Tiruvanaikkaval, Ananda Natana Prakasam celebrates the dance of Shiva at Chidambaram, Arunachala Natham celebrates the grand center of worship at Tiruvannamalai and Sri Kalahasteesa is in praise of the ancient Shiva temple at Kalahasti. The five temples mentioned above constitute the Pancha Bhoota Shrines held in reverence in the Saivite system of beliefs.
In the city of Kanchipuram – kritis such as Kanchadalayadakshi extol the Shakta center of worship, while Varadarajam Upasmahe is in praise of the grand Vaishnavite shrine dedicated to Varadaraja Perumaal. Ranganayakam describes the attributes of the Sri Rangam Divya Desam.
Each of the kritis mentioned above unfolds in a grand manner. With musical aesthetics, poetic nuances and lyrical content falling in place – each of these songs resembles the presentation of a well made documentary feature. It is exhilarating to realize that such a sublime form of expression – (emanating from a single individual – hitherto unsurpassed in creative brilliance) was born about 200 years ago, and that these creations have survived to tell the unchanging story of these monumental centers of worship.
The serene Kumudakriya raagam and its flow in the kriti Ardhanaareeswaram provides the appropriate background for a narration describing Tiruchengode and the shrine to the Ardhanareeswara form of Shiva – a shrine where the last puja of the night is of special significance; the mention of the Kadamba tree which constitutes the stala vriksham at Madurai – the list goes on and on.
It was Tiruvarur where the composer spent a significant period of time. 16 kritis on the various attributes of Ganesha, the nine Navavarana kritis on Kamalamba and the set of kritis on Tyagaraja – and more constitute a musical documentation of the religious life of Tiruvarur as it prevailed then. Mention must be made of the kriti Tyagaraja Maha Dwaja where details regarding the annual festival involving the procession of deities in chariots and other decorated mounts – are expressed through music. Needless to say, the Tiruvarur temple still carries vibes from this not too distant musical past (in addition to the vibes from the distant past of the Golden age of the Chola patronage).
Outside of the Agamic fold, Deekshitar’s language and music give expression to Hariharaputram – weaving beliefs centered around Dharma Sastha held in reverence as Ayyappan in Kerala. There are also kritis dedicated to Bhrahma, Renukaambaa and to Sundaramoorthy Nayanaar – of the Tevaram trinity.
Musicians Directory
by Ajith Namboothiri on Friday, July 15, 2011 at 5:42pm an ardent researcher and true Lover of "Pure Music"
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SANGEETHAGURUKULAM planning to prepare a directory of musicians of Kerala. All genres of music like classical,kathakali,film music, folk music can register their names. Entry will be free . Interested can send their detailed Bio data to sangeethagurukulam@gmail.com Music-the rivering
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I wanted to know more about the Musciacians of Kerala, my native state-”God’s Own Country”.
Pressed a google search and it came with an out put of more than About 180,000 results (0.28 seconds)
First in the lane came Wikipedia as usual, the exerpts from the content is given below
Then a lot of individual sites… I crammmed and pinched my cheeck, but I got every thing except What I wished for.
Fortunately, Shri Ajith Nambudiri, Senior Producer in Amrutha TV, amous for his SRUTHI LAYAM programmes have took an initiative to procure the Names of Music Stalwarts in finger tips.
Let us please help him in his bringing out his directory of Musicians at the earliest. ! Shri:Ajith Nambudiri
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Music of Kerala has a long and rich history. Kerala is a state which lies in Southern India. The music of Kerala not necessarily directly imply to poetry in Malayalam language, the official and most widely used language in the state, despite the fact that most of the music in Kerala is poetry driven. Kerala has a rich tradition in Carnatic music as well, though that branch of music was formed in Tamilnadu and uses Kannada, the language of Karnataka, both Tamilnadu and Karnataka being neighboring states of Kerala. Songs formed a major part of early Malayalam literature, which is believed to have started developing by 9th century CE.[1] The significance of music in the culture of Kerala can be established just by the fact that in Malayalam language, musical poetry was developed long before prose. With the development of music in the region, different branches were formed out of it. The most basic branches are classical music which is primarily Carnatic music oriented, and popular music includes film songs and album songs. Then there is music like chenda melam , which despite its religious nature, enjoys status of classical music as well as popularity.
Classical Music
Kerala is musically known for Sopanam. Sopanam is religious in nature, and developed through singing invocatory songs at the Kalam of Kali, and later inside temples. Sopanam came to prominence in the wake of the increasing popularity of Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda or Ashtapadis. Sopana sangeetham (music), as the very name suggests, is sung by the side of the holy steps (sopanam) leading to the sanctum sanctorum of a shrine. It is sung, typically employing plain notes, to the accompaniment of the small, hourglass-shaped ethnic drum called idakka, besides the chengila or the handy metallic gong to sound the beats. Sopanam is traditionally sung by men of the Marar and Pothuval community, who are Ambalavasi (semi-Brahmin) castes engaged to do it as their hereditary profession. Some famous sopanam singers are Neralattu Rama Poduval, Janardhanan Nedungadi and Damodara Marar.[2]
Kerala is also home of Carnatic music. Legends like Swati Tirunal, Shadkala Govinda Maarar, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar, Yesudas( Jesudas), Palghat Mani Iyer, Vidwan Gopala Pillai, Chertala Gopalan Nair, M. D. Ramanathan, T. V. Gopalakrishnan,Sankaran Namboothiri and T. N. Krishnan are renowned musical exponents from Kerala.[3] Among the younger generation, child prodigy violin wizard L.Athira Krishna and Carnatic vocalist P. Unnikrishnan have made their musical impact in the international arena, thus keeping the regal tradition of Carnatic music alive.
Kerala also has a significant presence of Hindustani music as well.[4] The king of Travancore, Swathi Thirunal patronaged and contributed much to the Hindustani Music
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Pulluvan Pattu
Main article: Pulluvan Paattu
The pulluvar of Kerala are closely connected to the serpent worship. One group among these people consider the snake gods as their presiding deity and perform certain sacrifices and sing songs. This is called Pulluvan Pattu. This is performed in the houses of the lower castes as well as those of the higher castes, in addition to serpent temples.
The song conducted by the pulluvar in serpent temples and snake groves is called Sarppapaattu, Naagam Paattu, Sarpam Thullal, Sarppolsavam, Paambum Thullal or Paambum Kalam. The main aspects of this are Kalamezhuthu (Drawing of Kalam, a ritual art by itself), song and dance.
Kathakali Music
Main article: Kathakali Music
The language of the songs used for Kathakali is Manipravalam. Even though most of the songs are set in ragas based on the microtone-heavy Carnatic music, there is a distinct style of plain-note rendition, which is known as the Sopanam style. This typically Kerala style of rendition takes its roots from the temple songs which used to be sung (continues even now at several temples) at the time when Kathakali was born.
Ottamthullal Songs
Main article: Ottamthullal
Ottamthullal songs are meant for the performance of the artform called Ottamthullal. The Ottamthullal artist has to sing and dance to his music. Unlike in the case of Kathakali, the language is not heavy sanskritized Malayalam and the lyrics are set to rhythms that range from simple to rare and complicated.
Mappila Pattu
Main article: Mappila Songs
The Malabar region of the state, with a large Muslim population had developed a signature music stream based on the Hindustani style. The stream consists of a variety of forms like gazals and mappila pattu, and also music for authentic Muslim dance forms such as oppana and kol kali. The poetry forms a main part of this stream of music, which is primarily in Malayalam with the use of Arabic words in between which is known as arabimalayalam. Mappila songs have a charm of their own as their tunes sound a mix of the ethos and culture of Kerala as well as West Asia. They deal with diverse themes such as religion, love, satire and heroism.
Malayalam film music
Film music, which refers to playback singing in the context of Indian music, forms the most important canon of popular music in India. Film music of Kerala in particular is the most popular form of music in the state.[5] Before Malayalam cinema and Malayalam film music developed, the Keralites eagerly followed Tamil and Hindi film songs and that habit has stayed with them till now. The history of Malayalam film songs begin with the 1948 film Nirmala. The film’s music director was P.S. Divakar and the songs were sung by P. Leela, T. K. Govinda Rao, Vasudeva Kurup, C. K. Raghavan, Sarojini Menon and Vimala B. Varma, who is credited as the first playback singer of Malayalam cinema.[6]
The main trend in the early years was to use the tune of hit Hindi or Tamil songs in Malayalamsongs. This trend was changed in the early 1950s by the arrival of a number of poets and musicians to the Malayalam music scene. People who stormed into the Malayalam film music industry in the 1950s include musicians like V. Dakshinamurthy (1950), K. Raghavan (1954), G. Devarajan (1955) and M.S. Babu Raj (1957) and lyricists like P. Bhaskaran (1950), O.N.V. Kurup (1955) and Vayalar Rama Varma (1956). They are attributed with shaping Malayalam film music stream and giving it its own identity.[7] Major playback singers of that time were Kamukara Purushothaman, K.P. Udayabhanu, A.M. Raja, P. Leela, Santha P. Nair, P. Susheela and S. Janaki. Many of these singers like A.M. Raja, P. Susheela and Janaki were not Malayalis and their pronunciation was not perfect. Despite that, these singers received high popularity throughout Kerala. In later years many non-Malayalis like Manna Dey, Talat Mehmood, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle and S.P. Balasubramaniam sang for Malayalam films. This trend was also found among music directors to an extent, with outside musicians like Naushad, Usha Khanna, Salil Chaudhary, Bombay Ravi and Ilaya Raja.[8] This can be attributed to the fact that film music in South India had a parallel growth pattern with so many instances of cross-industry contributions.
K.J. Yesudas, who debuted in 1961, virtually revolutionised the Malayalam film music industry and became the most popular Malayalam singer ever. He became equally popular with classical music audience and people who patronised film music.[9] He, along with P. Jayachandran, gave a major facelift to Malayalam playback singing in the 1960s and 1970s. Malayalam film music also received heavy contributions from musicians like Johnson, M. G. Radhakrishnan, Raveendran, S. P. Venkitesh and Ouseppachan, lyricists like Sreekumaran Thampy, Yusuf Ali Kechery, and Kaithaprom Damodaran Namboodiri, and singers like M. G. Sreekumar, G. Venugopal, K. S. Chithra and Sujatha Mohan. A notable aspect in the later years was the extensive of classical Carnatic music in many film songs of the later 1980s and early 1990s. Interestingly, that particular period is also considered the peak time of Malayalam cinema itself and is quite widely known as the Golden Age of Malayalam cinema,[10] a period in which the difference between art films and popular films was least felt. Similarly, classical Carnatic music was heavily used in several popular film songs, most notably those in films like Chithram (1988), His Highness Abdullah (1990), Bharatham (1991), Sargam (1992) and Sopanam (1993).
At present, the major players in the scene are young talents like musicians M. Jayachandran, Deepak Dev, Alphonse, Jassie Gift, Biji Pal, Shyam Dharman and Shaan Rahman; lyricists late Gireesh Puthanchery, Vayalar Sarath and Anil Panachooran, and singers Madhu Balakrishnan, Afsal, Vidhu Pratap, Franco, Vineeth Sreenivasan, Manjari, Gayathri and Jyotsna, along with stalwarts in the field.
The national award winning music directors of Malayalam cinema are Johnson (1994, 1995) Bombay Ravi (1995)and Ouseppachan(2007). The 1995 National Award that Johnson received for film score of Sukrutham (1994) was the only instance in the history of the award in which the awardee composed the film soundtrack rather than songs. He shared that award with Bombay Ravi who received the award for composing songs for the same film. The lyricists who have won the national award are Vayalar Ramavarma (1973), O. N. V. Kurup (1989) and Yusuf Ali Kechery (2001). The male singers who got national award are K. J. Yesudas (1973, 1974, 1988, 1992, 1994), P. Jayachandran (1986) and M. G. Sreekumar (1991, 2000). Yesudas has won two more national awards for singing in Hindi (1977) and Telugu (1983) films, which makes him the person who has won the largest number of National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer with 7 awards, closely trailed by S. P. Balasubramaniam with 6 awards. The female singers who have won the award are S. Janaki (1981) and K. S. Chithra (1987, 1989). Chitra had also won the award for Tamil (1986, 1997, 2005) and Hindi (1998) film songs, which makes her the person with the largest number of National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer wins with 6 awards, closely trailed by P. Susheela with 5 awards.
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References
1. ^ Sreedhara Menon, A.. Kerala Charithram. Kottayam, Kerala: D.C. Books. p. 494.
2. ^ Rolf, Killius (2006). Ritual Music and Hindu Rituals of Kerala. New Delhi: BR Rhythms. ISBN 81-88827-07-X.
3. ^ Rolf, Killius (2006). Ritual Music and Hindu Rituals of Kerala. New Delhi: BR Rhythms. ISBN 81-88827-07-X.
4. ^ “Music”. Keral.com. Archived from the original on 2 August 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080802081714/http://www.keral.com/movies/music.htm. Retrieved 2 January 2009.
5. ^ “Music”. Keral.com. Archived from the original on 2 August 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080802081714/http://www.keral.com/movies/music.htm. Retrieved 2 January 2009.
6. ^ K. Pradeep (25 April 2008). “Family affair”. The Hindu. http://www.hindu.com/fr/2008/04/25/stories/2008042550380400.htm. Retrieved 2 January 2009.
7. ^ Jason Kaitholil. “Cinema History”. AMMA (Malayalamcinema.com). http://malayalamcinema.com/Content-4/CinemaHistory.html. Retrieved 2 January 2009.
8. ^ Jason Kaitholil. “Cinema History”. AMMA (Malayalamcinema.com). http://malayalamcinema.com/Content-4/CinemaHistory.html. Retrieved 2 January 2009.
9. ^ “K.J. Yesudas”. Chennai Online. http://archives.chennaionline.com/musicseason99/profile/yesudas.html. Retrieved 2 January 2009.
10. ^ Jason Kaitholil. “Cinema History”. AMMA (Malayalamcinema.com). http://malayalamcinema.com/Content-4/CinemaHistory.html. Retrieved 2 January 2009.
11. ^ eastcoastvijayan.in
12. ^ malayaleethealbum.blogspot.com
13. ^ yuvathemusictrio.blogspot.com
14. ^ thehindu.com
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Literatures will help. But more will be those heard and learned from the experienced.
So Once again, a” Musicians Directory” is our necessity.
and Let us all help by supplying any informations, any little bit, tit bits, that we have to share , with Shri ajith Nambudiri.
All the Best for this ardent Student of Pure Music….!
rain of Music
പയ്യന്നൂര്‍: പോത്താങ്കണ്ടം ആനന്ദഭവനം സ്വാമി കൃഷ്ണാനന്ദ ഭാരതിയുടെ സാന്നിധ്യത്തില്‍ നടത്താറുള്ള തുരീയം സംഗീതോത്സവം ശനിയാഴ്ച പയ്യന്നൂര്‍ അയോധ്യ ഓഡിറ്റോറിയത്തില്‍ തുടങ്ങും. 5.30ന് മാസ്റ്റര്‍ പി.പി. പവന്‍ കുമാര്‍ ഭദ്രദീപം കൊളുത്തും. ഒമ്പതു നാള്‍ നീളുന്നതാണ് സംഗീത വിരുന്ന്. പി.അപ്പുക്കുട്ടന്‍റെ അധ്യക്ഷതയില്‍ എം.പി.അബ്ദുസമദ് സമദാനി എം.എല്‍.എ. ഉദ്ഘാടനം ചെയ്യും. ചടങ്ങില്‍ കൈതപ്രം ദാമോദരന്‍ നമ്പൂതിരി മുഖ്യ പ്രഭാഷണം നടത്തും.
തുടര്‍ന്ന് ടി.വി.ശങ്കരനാരായണന്‍ അവതരിപ്പിക്കുന്ന സംഗീത കച്ചേരി. ഞായറാഴ്ച ആറു മണിക്ക് സിത്താര്‍- ഷക്കീര്‍ ഖാന്‍, ഹിന്ദുസ്ഥാനി സംഗീതം അവതരിപ്പിക്കും. താളയോഗി പണ്ഡിറ്റ് സുരേഷ് തള്‍വാല്‍ക്കര്‍ താള്‍ കീര്‍ത്തന്‍ ആലപിക്കും. തിങ്കളാഴ്ച ഡോ. കദ്രി ഗോപാല്‍ നാഥ് സാക്‌സഫോണ്‍ കച്ചേരി അവതരിപ്പിക്കും. ചൊവ്വാഴ്ച നിത്യശ്രീ മഹാദേവന്‍ കച്ചേരി നടത്തും. ബുധനാഴ്ച മദ്രാസ് പി. ഉണ്ണികൃഷ്ണന്‍റെ സംഗീതക്കച്ചേരി.
വെള്ളിയാഴ്ച യു .ശ്രീനിവാസന്‍ മാന്‍ഡൊലിന്‍ അവതരിപ്പിക്കും. ശനിയാഴ്ച ഹൈദരാബാദ് സഹോദരിമാരായ ലളിതയും ഹരിപ്രിയയും കച്ചേരി നടത്തും. സമാപനദിവസമായ 17ന് ഞായറാഴ്ച രാവിലെ 9.30ന് പരിപാടി തുടങ്ങം. സമാപനം കുറിച്ച് പണ്ഡിറ്റ് ഹരിപ്രസാദ് ചൗരസ്യ പുല്ലാങ്കുഴല്‍ കച്ചേരി നടത്തും. തുടര്‍ന്ന് 28 പ്രമുഖ സംഗീതജ്ഞര്‍ ചേര്‍ന്ന് നടത്തുന്ന പഞ്ചരത്‌ന കീര്‍ത്തനാലാപനം ഉണ്ടാകും. പ്രൊഫ. കുമാര കേരളവര്‍മയാണ് നേതൃത്വം.
Renjiveda's Ocean of Love - "renjiTham" 