TRADITIONS

Traditions are social practices arising from  diverse religious and cultural communities in society. They are essential  to foster and cultivate ethnic awareness,value systems,Art and culture and at a higher level, spirituality. The normal tendency is to pooh -pooh traditions as old fashioned and not "cool"; also as "silly" practices of outdated people, specially women who have nothing better to do with their time. Imagine if all of us were to think like that, our children would just grow up like heathens, without an iota of religious awareness, so necessary for the moral upliftment of the self.

              Traditions are born of a desire to make an offering to an elder or a God as a symbol of veneration, born out of a belief that the efforts and trouble being taken  will please the recipient . Thus there was the ancient Egyptians practice of  burying food, drink, clothes, jewels, furniture even  servants who were alive in tombs along with the dead. This was born out of a belief in LIFE AFTER DEATH and the wish to provide for the daily necessities of ancestors and kings. This subsequently became a tradition practised by affluent families, apparently handed down for centuries.

         Thus traditions got interwoven into religious practices of worshipping gods and goddesses both in individual homes and mass communities fostering a spirit of piety, spirituality and social intermingling, the resulting bonding released people from the stress and monotony of daily routine, giving them a sense of fulfilment and righteousness at the same time. India is a land of  different cultures and as many festivals, celebrations of which occur throughout the year. Thus we have Makara Sankranthi or Pongal to celebrate the Rabi harvest as also to mark the journey of the sun  northwards thus symbolising the transition from winter to spring. our festivals celebrate nature in  a spirit of thanksgiving, her gifts... her changes of seasons,  bountiful harvests etc. We  revere our gods and goddesses , who embodied virtues and taught us values through their conduct. Our great Epics, the Ramayana and  Mahabharatha recount the stories of various gods who taught values to us by subjecting themselves to lethal combats and hardships with demons only to demonstrate to us , mortals that GOOD ALWAYS TRIUMPHS OVER EVIL

    The recently concluded Dussera is one such colourful and popular festival that is celebrated across India, a festival in which men, women and children alike participate with great gusto and enthusiasm. In Northern  India, it is celebrated as Ram Leela, where people participate  and perform in  small plays, songs, narration and recital of various episodes of the Ramayana. On the Vijayadashami day, a huge effigy of Ravana, the Rakshasha is  burnt with great glee, to a cacophony of beating of drums and bursting of crackers. In Eastern India, it is celebrated as Durga Pooja, the worship of Goddess Shakthi, who embodies Nari Shakthi, typifying Women Empowerment. In Western India, the colourful Garba Dance is performed byboth men and women to lilting tunes on  all the nine days of Navaratri. 

           In South India, there is an explosion of artistic, cultural and culinary talents of ladies and children in the Bommai golu display  of Hindu gods and goddesses  It is an occasion for women to worship Ambal or Shakthi. After taking ritualistic purification bath, they chant daily the sacred Lalitha Sahasranama mantra, extolling the divine attributes and prowess of the mother Goddess and offer sweets and savouries as Neivedya. It is to be noted that Dussera all over the country, is an occasion of observing austerity and abstinence as a means of seeking divine grace and protection in a suppliant spirit. Dolls of gods and goddesses of  Hindu mythology are  arranged artistically in step like shelves. Beautiful kolams are drawn in front of the Golu. Married women with their daughters, all dressed and  decked in festive finery, visit the houses of friends and relatives to view the Golu. Songs on the gods and goddesses are sung. They are offered Kumkum, Sandal paste and Turmeric powder as symbols of auspiciousness for married women who are personified as Shakthi.  For girls however, the most exciting part of Navarathri are the different types of delicious Sundal, made of soaked lentils and the glittering, colourful trinkets and baubles which are offered to them.

    Dussera, the umbrella Indian festival, celebrated all over India with the most enthusiasm and religious fervour is a melange of colours, bringing together, the finest of Indian traditions.

    

       

    

 The music In my heart I bore long after it was heard no more. Vani Jairam swept into the world of Hindi Cinema with that breezy Bole Re Pappi Hara from Guddi catapulting both the young singer and the demure school girl who mouthed it with a smile playing on her lips into instant stardom.  That a simple, demure girl from the South  could take on the established Bollywood Greats  with a plaintive yet intensely  poignant Hum Ko Man Ki Shakthi Dena  In Raga Malhar made everyone sit up and take notice.Offers came alongbut Vani was never able to make it to the top. Vani waited for  more opportunities; gateways to more chart busters to reach higher echelons but that was never to be,. With characteristic  practicality, she accepted her situation, perhaps a little wistfully and turned her attention to the south.  Her early numbers went unnoticed . With Malligai En Mannan mayangum, she  arrived onto Mollywood  with a big bang. Her fresh, lilting voice eminently  suited the romantic , pastoral heroine singing simple lyrics , dancing along lush paddy fields. The Seventies and Eighties were her years of glory wherein she worked with Illayaraja, MSV etal. Ezhu swarangalil ethnai ragaam won her her first national award. The list is long; many songs of which I am not aware of.  Who can forget Orey Naal Unnai Naan from Illamai Unjaladagirathu or En Ullil and of course  Naane Naana  yaro Thana. Also the evergreen Meghame, Meghame.  

       Her oeuvre  was  substantial and magnificent, from melancholy ,pastoral film numbers to paeans of piety.  Mere to Giridhar Gopal stirred the hearts of all. 10000 songs in about 5 decades is no mean achievement. She has sung in languages across the board. Honours were heaped on her, yet she wore them with her characteristic simplicity and humility. The wistfulness; the yearning to be recognised  always remained. But Bole Re Pappi and Hum Ko maan Ki Shakthi will always remain etched in our hearts and ears. Vani Jairam may have gone  but her music in our hearts, we will always  bear.

 

Srutilayam N. J. Nandini - Sankari Neeve.wmv

Music Masala

Chennai music season venues are a melting pot of human character.  In the Mylapore Fine Arts, a maami was heard loudly  remarking that she wanted  a good view of Hema, Prema's saree colour combinations. She went on to say that one came to such concerts  to observe such juicy titbits. She had come along with a batch of relatives and what better place than a Sabha venue to do some catching up with in the loudest of tones. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched her adjusting her heavy silk and talking animatedly with a sweeping glittering flourish. " Not a single Hema Prema concert have I missed this season, she gushed in shrill tones. What a melodious voice they both have? Indeed what a pure. Classical style they adhere to ? Of course I head straight for the canteen fifteen minutes into the concert. Better be an early bird to tuck into the sizzling crispies. Else you'll miss out on the good stuff. First and fast everywhere is motto. By the way, is so and so musician wearing a new jewellery for her concerts?....... ", she trailed off.

Elsewhere, as I was making my way to a seat at the start of a concert, a loud whisper calling out my name mystified me. I turned around to find  Bhama, a long lost relative beckoning to me furiously. " Come here ", she said peremptorily." This is a better seat and we can of course exchange musical notes". As I sat beside her, she informed me that she had to make a  note of the ragas because her daughter who learnt Carnatic music would have to be updated. As the artist commenced the varnam, she checked out with me whether it was in the raga kambhodi, nodded knowledgeably as if to say ,"I thought so" and dutifully made a note of the raga in her diary.Music could not hold her for long before she asked me whether I had found a cook. I must have looked bewildered because she went on to say that I had mentioned a problem in our previous meeting which had been a couple of years back.I tried to get my focus on course when she interrupted to ask why the singer was repeating Raga Kambhodi. I politely told her that he was singing Shankara bharanam, not Kambhodi.For the umpteenth time, as I tried to soak in the music wafting to me,  Bhama  came back with an irrepressible, "Oh, Vasanthi, almost forgot to check with you. Is your sister-in-law looking out for an alliance for her son? My cousin's daughter is an ideal etc.etc......"

I realized that music was not going to be my cup of tea at that point of time. Notwithstanding, I reflected on the unique character of the Chennai Music Season  which had something to offer for every palate; the gourmand, the  home-maker on the lookout for the stray piece of gossip and lastly of course, the music aficionado.

The Goddess of Tirunelveli

Rare kriti on a famous temple

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  (From left) The tala structure engraved into the lotus; a view of Sri Nellaiyappar temple and the musical pillar on its northern sidePHOTOs: THE HINDU ARCHIVES

Dikshitar composed the song in the name of GoddessKanthimati, which is not heard often on concert platforms,writes Pradeep Chakravarthy

The kriti, being the main part of the concert, one is spoilt for choice especially among the compositions of the Trinity, who developed the kriti and kirtanai to a majestic form. Both have a Pallavi-Anupallavi-Charanam format. Dikshitar sometimes skipped the anupallavi and ended with a samashti charanam. (eg. kriti, ‘Sri Kantimatim,’ by Dikshitar, that ends with samashti charanam)

Daru (e.g ‘Bhavayami’) is in a similar format but longer and more narrative in structure. There is a minute difference between a kriti and a kirtanai - a kirtanai is only devotional and a kriti may have questions addressed to the deity. However, the differences between these two forms are not commonly agreed.

Chosen here is a rare song set in a rare raga, by a famous composer on a famous temple - Muthuswami Dikshitar’s kirtanai on Kanthimati Amman at the Nellaiyappar temple, Tirunelveli, is not heard often. In raga Hemavati, the song does not have rich references to the local legends of the temple but the rare raga and the placement of swaras evoke the gentle eddying waters of the Tamiraparani that flow beside this sacred temple that has much to do with music.

Dikshitar prostrates before Ambal, the young bride of Sankara and mother of Guruguha. He compares her face to the Bijakshara Hrim, and speaks of her being enshrined in a golden mansion studded with gems. He mentions a series of celestials – Indra, Himavan, Parasurama, Suka and Saunaka - associated with her. He concludes by mentioning the pure waters of the river and the deity being anointed with the waters from 108 kalasas and conches.

Located at 147 km from Madurai, the temple spread over 14 acres, and has a massive gopuram, which is 850 ft long and 756 ft wide. Due to congestion, which has turned the entire agraharam into a crowded, messy commercial thoroughfare, it is hard to imagine that the temple is being surrounded by houses and filled with bamboo forests, the only remnant being the Venuvanam. The temple has 32 sacred water bodies as well. Perhaps Dikshitar’s reference to the 108 Kalasas may be because, the water bodies were actually used for the rituals, in his time.

Approximately next to a river is the dance hall. Among the five halls of dance, the copper (Thamira) dance hall is here, which also has the word copper in it. It is said that it was at this place that the Lord’s dance was witnessed by the Vedas.

Although hardly sung in concerts, the verses on the temple by Appar and Arunagirinathar, the sthalapuranam written in fine Tamil verse by Nellaiyappar Pillai, published in 1944, and Chokkanatha Pillai’s Kanthimathiamman Pillai Thamizh are all worthy of inclusion in concerts.

Separate shrines for the Goddess are a later phenomenon, but here, legend has it that the shrine for Nellaiyappar and Kanthimati Amman share the same date and are connected by the Sangili Mandapam. The Kanthimati amman shrine can be entered separately and functions almost as a separate temple.

The temple deserves more concerts from musicians for the number and variety of music-related inscriptions. Many of the Pandya inscriptions date back to Maravarman Sundarapandyan, when the town was known as Sri Vallabha Chaturvedimangalam. An inscription dated 1,230 records donations to two musicians, who played the Tharai and another who played the Tiru Chinnam and for 10 who played some other instrument (inscriptions were damaged due to insensitive renovation). The donor, like in many cases in these parts, came from Kerala. Perhaps the music of these parts and Kerala were similar in those times. There is also an inscription mentioning a donation to the temple by a maddalam player. This inscription is rated important enough to be carved in stone as well as in copper plates.

Suthamalli Perun Theruvu seems to have been the street where many important people lived in Tirunelveli. Even more remarkable are inscriptions in verse – that can be and were probably set to tune! These are mostly from Thadakanni Chirrudaiyan Uyyanindraduvan Gurukulatharyan. This Gurukulatharayan was an important chieftain and advisor for Maravarman Sundarapandyan and is credited with substantially developing Tirutangal as well. In the inscription here, he says he has given a substantial part of the land to Bikhshatanar so that Bikhshatanar does not need to ask for more. Even ordinary inscriptions gifting perpetual lamps are composed in verse. Another poet – chieftain Kalapalan has used puns in the phrases – Nel Veli (wall of grain) with Sol Veli (wall of words. i.e. a poem) and a Kal Veli (a wall of stones he built around the shrine).

Several inscriptions mention the donors for pillars but the musical pillars don’t have a donor. This rare feature is found in a few other Pandya temples as well. On the maha mandapam walls of the third prakaram are a set of musical notes – thalanka Pramanam of Pichandi Annavi – a resident of Pasuvanthanai village. The notes are engraved into a beautiful lotus flower on the floor. Another inscription mentions a music related word -- Thamara suthimam. Apart from the music-related inscriptions, there are other important ones too.

Many refer to the gifting of flower gardens, which usually have lotuses. Sometimes, a set of 120 flowers is paid as an equivalent to 150 kalams of rice. The reason for gifting lotus meant that one had to build a pond as well, and a water storage device in this parched land was a boon. So not only did the temple have lotus, but farmers also had a water source. An inscription on the gopuram of Kanthimati Amman shrine mentions Rs.45,008, 9 Annas and 18 Paisa, as spent towards kumbabishekam that took place in 1833.

The long corridors of the temple, if aesthetically lit, can prove to be a mesmerising venue for concerts, and one hopes that the temple will, like in the past, reverberate with more music and serve as an inspiration for the present day composers.

Gurucharanaambujha Nirbharabhaktah

The lotus feet of the Guru liberate from the birth-death cycle

Gurucharanaambujha Nirbharabhaktah
samsaradciraadbhava mukhtah

With the passing of my dance guru Radhakrishnan, an era has passed,- the era of dancing chalangais, tinkling nattuvangam,tireless and repeated rehearsals done with feverish pace to the grand finale of an Arangetram or a stage performance.It has slipped away quietly and swiftly, much in the manner of my Guru’s passing, leaving not a trace behind, only the fragrance of a bygone era.

Raadhai Saar, as he was known to his  close circle of students and friends  trained under the legendary Vazhuvoor Ramiah Pillai and took up Nattuvaangam for Kamala Lakshman, the famous disciple of Ramiah Pillai. Thereafter he started teaching Bharatha Natyam in various cities  where many conoisseurs spotted his talent and requested him to come over to their city and start  dance classes, promising him all help.It was one such assignment that brought him to Sindri, close to Dhanbad in Jharkhand, where my father was working. Raadhai Saar belonged to my mother’s native village of Kallidaikurichi in Tirunelveli District of Tamil Nadu, a place equally well known for industial barons who had their roots there as well as patronage of the fine arts. When one is away  and outside the native orbit, one tends to move in an emotional comfort zone, by seeking out people who  belong to your place. Raadhai Saar was known to my mother’s family and he had been told that my mother lived in Dhanbad, even before he embarked on his journey to Sindri.One Sunday, after finishing his classes in Sindri, he stepped out to look up my mother and thereby stepped  into my  childhood world-shaping and nurturing my aesthetic abilities. 

 Mine was a musically inclined family. My mother was a good singer and since I did not have a good voice,she put me into dancing.I had already learnt the basic  Bharatha Natya addavus but at this point of time, my mother was keen that I adapt to the Ramiah Pillai school, with its emphasis on Nritya and Bhava. That was how I started learning from Raadhai Saar. It was hard work in the beginning; to relearn some and redefine many more addavus involving hours of rigorous practise. But Raadhai Saar was untiring in effort and unflagging in his almost child-like enthusiasm. He had the ability to achieve the best results without driving hard, patient and persevering  till the student got the Bhava and Addavu absolutely the way he wanted it. Herein was his greatest ability as a teacher-he was flexible. If a student had a problem in grasping or executing a movement, he would seamlessly alter it to an easier one, not for a moment losing sight of laya or tala. As a trained classical musician, he could effortlessly synchronize addavus with sangathis and mrugaas-for instance, he would choreograph a movement to match the elongated sangathi of the aananda nadanam aadinar pallavi in the Gopalakrishna Bharathi song of that name.

Learning with Radhai Saar was always very interesting. Under Raadhai’s guidance, my mother would sing the padams to which I would dance. Raadhai’s speciality was the Oothukadu Venkatakavi  Padams,  in which he never repeated a sangathi. His  vocal rendering and choreograph of “Parkadal alaimele “ ( immortalized by the great MLV) were exquisite.In those early days of rigorous addavu practice, I rememeber one particular gruelling session when nothing seemed to be going right.Sensing my frustration, Raadhai suddenly broke out into the lively folk dance of Kutrala Kuravinji set to the lilting Aananda Bhairavi song,” Pacchamalai Pavazhamalai”, completely transforming the mood  and need of the hour. 

Guru Raadhai taught  me for  a  short time, perhaps only three years or so but in these three years,I lived and breathed dance which is why, at the end of it, I turned out to be fit for an Arangetram ( Debut Dance Performance). Mine was the first and last Arangetram in the family and it almost became a social occasion, with relatives attending it and my grandparents even making me presents! It was a very happy occasion, with my mother and aunt singing the padams. After the Arangetram, there were a few stage performances but  somehow I started receding from the routine of daily and rigorous practice. Raadhai also left Dhanbad and I also got immersed in my educational pursuits. But we always got news about him. Radhai went on to teach in the Rishi Valley School and other prestigious places. The Tamil Nadu government also awarded him with a KALAIMAMANI title in recognition of his contributions to Bharatha Natyam. By then, my mother had also moved to Chennai  and she once again came in contact with Raadhai, who was leading a semi- retired life-earning pressures were off his shoulders and he was teaching and training dedicated students for the sake of art’s sake. 

Then suddenly last year, a strong desire to meet Guru Radhakrishnan possessed me. After fixing an appointment, I went over to meet him. I was seeing him after a gap of nearly forty years but was happy to see him, pretty much the same. Brisk and active at eighty-two, he was his usual warm self, playing host to the hilt. Together we rewound the past. He talked of his ongoing choreographs and I could catch a glimpse of the old sparkle in him. He insisted that we ( my mother was also with me) have lunch with him, his family hosting us with great affection. While leaving,I presented him with a cache of money, which he accepted after some persuasion. Later on , he was to call me to thank me for the “handsome”present.

That was the last time I saw him. The end came swiftly and peacefully. I always think of him as a competent Bharatha Natyam Guru, innovative yet never veering from his classical roots. Soft-spoken and simple, he lived according to his values. But the greatest legacy that he left  me was the aesthetic awareness that he created in me. Which is why I am able to transport myself into the celestial KANAGASABHAI reverberating with the Lord’s mighty dance, even when I am watching “Nadanam Aadinar” in a concert.

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