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Home , Adi tala, Bilahari, Harikatha, Patnam Subramania Iyer, Punnagavarali, Sadasiva Brahmendra

PAPER 14

KIRTANAM and

MODULE 1 The Importance of KIRTANAM in repertoire

KIRTANAM

Singing The Praise of God Is Keertana / कीर्तन. Keertan Is a Sanskrit Word .It means telling the Glory of God. In Southern Part India Keertana, came to be known as Kirtanam / कीर्तनम Or Keertanai / ककर्तनै with a regional touch. The different names with Adjectives attributed to gods are known as Kirtanam. Keertan Singing is a common feature in the pan Indian Tradition. It Is Sung In Temples And Religious Congregations. This Musical Form Is Prevalent In The Regional Languages All Over India. Irrespective Of the Type of Music Whether Hindustani or Carnatic, Keertan Takes a Special Place in the Repertoire of Music, Dance, Harikatha / हररकथा and Concerts. The Recitation And Chanting Of Vedas By A Group Of Priests As Part Of The Rituals Can Be Considered As The Early Example Of Collective Singing Of Devotional Music. Devotion Is a Universal Feeling and the Supreme Prayer to Attain God’s Feet. There are Threefold Margas to approach The Infinite .They are Gyanamarga / ऻानमागत (Intellectual Path), Karma Marga / कमत मागत (way of action) and The Bakhtimarga / भक्तर्मागत (Devotional Path).The devotional path is considered the ideal and easiest to approach god. The attractive form of displaying devotion is by singing his praise. Hence kirtanas are the best musical form in the sphere of devotional music.

Structure of the kirtanam Kirtanams are set in simple (tunes) to make easy for everybody to sing. The talas set are also simple and rhythmic. This art musical form consist of / ऩ쥍ऱळी, annupallavi / अन्नुऩ쥍ऱळी and / चरणं. Many kirtanams / कीर्तनं do not have but consist of several . If there are any / स्ळर or jathi / जर्ी passages after anupallavi it is again repeated after the charanam. This highlights the beauty of the music and dance th choreography. The kirtanam singing came to vogue from 16 century a.d.kirtanams must have derived from the musical form prabandas / प्रबंध. The simple language in the sahityas / साहह配य with equally flowing melody coupled with spiritual flavor gained popularity to this form .the adhyatma sankirtanas / अध्या配म संककर्तना and sringara sankirtanas / �ींगार संककर्तना can be taken as the earliest keertana compositions .during this period probably the gadya –padya sahitya / ग饍य-ऩ饍य साहह配य was introduced in keertana for the first time. The gradual transition took place from recitative music to lyrical music .the poetical expression was replaced with musical expression. The philosophical kirtanas of purandaradasa / ऩुरान्दरादासा, badrachala armadas / भद्राचऱ रामदास and other such composers are filled with musical expressions. The divyanama kirtanas / हदव्यनामा कीर्तन of / 配यागराज consists of pallavi and charanas. Some of the kirtanas by muthuswami dikshadar have samashti charana which is in a combination of anupallavi and charana. Uthukadu venkatasubbiers kirtanas have svara and jathi passages enhancing the sahitya. Compositions The kirtanams are composed in praise of Lord Ganesha, Shiva, Nataraja, Devi, , , Krishna, , Kartikeya, Ayyapan, Lakhmi, Saraswathi, Guru etc. The description of the lord’s beauty, valour, compassion, competence are incorporated in an enhanced form. The verses will be of poetic nature full of similes and adjectives. Some will have philosophical descriptions. The kirtanams are sung by the bagavatas / भागळर् in the kathalakshepam / कथाकऱाऺेऩम or harikatha / हररकथा programs. The Bhagavathas recite stories of gods and kirtanam singing in the apt situations in middle of the story telling supports and enhances the beauty of the harikathas. Hence kirtanams became an integral part of harikatha. Kirtanams were also sung in the bhajana sampradaya in between the . Bhajans are the songs sung in praise of gods. The lines are first sung by the main singer and it is repeated by others. Sometimes same line is sung several times in unison and end with a namavali / नामाळऱी. It is always with very simple musical notes and without complicated musical intricacies. To break the monotony kirtanams were sung in between by the main singer. Kirtanams were also sung in music concerts since there is scope for alapana / आऱाऩना and kalpana / क쥍ऩना स्ळर. So far there are no evidences available about kirtanam being performed in the temple or court dance programes. The tevaram / र्ेळारम hymns, thiruvachgam / तर्셁ळ楍गम, pasurams / ऩासुरम, thirupgazh / तर्셁ऩुगल, thirupavai / तर्셁ऩळै, mallari / म쥍ऱारी, tillana etc. were performed in the temple. The padavarnams, chowka , padams, javalis, were frequently performed th dance forms in the court. In the beginning of the 20 century sadir was evolving as bharathanatyam for the public to enjoy the traditional art form. To add to the respectability of the dance form, kirtanam was introduced to the dance repertoire. It was novel and apt to perform kirtanam of a presiding deity in a particular kshetra / ऺेत्र where the dancer was performing. A dance festival in a temple always had one or more kirtanams performed in praise of that main deity. Kirtanams are full of bhakti rasa.it is apt for young children to perform kirtanams in a programme. It is comparatively easy for children to perform bhakti rasa than different varieties of sringara rasa as in padams and javalis. Kirtanams taken up for dance are fast and vibrant with svaras and jathis. The dance choreographer takes the liberty of adding a sloka in the beginning of the kirtanam or adding a jathi passage where ever needed. This highlights the beauty of the music and dance choreography. There is scope for the dancer to bring out the different bakhti rasas, karuna and joy in the kirtanas. Kirtanams are also sung and danced in bagavathamela natakams. Bagavathamelas are based on mythological stories of gods and is annually performed only in temples. Hence kirtanas are the integral part of these natakams. Kirtanam is the chanting of gods’ name, glory, form and quality. Sravanam is hearing and kirtanam is chanting or preaching. Singing kirtanam is to be associated with the almighty. By listening his praises constantly it is registered in the mind. Sincere devotion expressed in the form of music is considered the easy way to attain salvation. The songs in prahlada bakhti vijayam of saint tyagaraja reveals the different forms of devotions. There are nine modes of devotion. They are---  Sravanam / �ळणम---listening to his praise. Purandaradasa’s keertana katha sravana mado / कीर्तन कथा �ळण मादो in raga and is the best example describing the sravanam.  Smaranam / स्मरणं—meditation. Tyagaraja’s song smarane sukham /

स्मराने सुखम in janaranjani raga and adi tala brings out the essence of smaranam.  Kirtanam / कीर्तनम---singing or telling his glory. Harinama keertane / हरनाम कीर्तने in raga adi tala of prandaradasa is a good example of kirtanam.  Vandanam / ळन्दनं---prayer in prostration. Swathi tirunal’s song vande / ळन्दे देळा in begada raga and jhampa tala describes vandanam.  Archanam / अचतनम---worship through rituals. For example

tyagaraja’s composition namakusuma mula / नामकु सुम मूऱ in sriraga and desadi tala.  Padasevanam / ऩादसेळानाम—service at his feet or serving humanity. For example purandaradasa’s song bindeninna padava / बबन्देतनन्ना ऩाड़ळा in mohana raga and ata tala.  Dasyam / दास्यम—being his servant. Tyagaraja’s composition

tavadasogam / र्ळदासोगम in raga / ऩुन्नागाळाराऱी राग and adi tala / आहद र्ाऱा brings out the devotion.  Sakhyam / सख्यं---being his friend, friendly to mankind. Swathi tirunal’s song bhavati visvaso / भळतर् वळश्ळासⴂ in raga and ata tala expresses the devotion.  Atmanivedanam / आ配मतनळेदनम—surrender of oneself. Tyagaraja’s

composition ragunayaka / रागुनायक in hamsadwani / हंसध्ळतन raga and adi tala brings out the essence of bakhti. The musical composition kirtanas give the essence of the navavidha bhakti. A philosophical content given in a musical form is easy to register in mind .the repetition of kirtanas gives a holistic experience of bhakti. Temples have contributed in preserving this musical form. The sthala kirtanas / स्थऱ कीर्तन or kshetra kirtanas / ऺेत्र कीर्तन are the compositions in praise of the presiding deity of that shrine. Many vaggeyakaras (composers) have composed songs on the particular deity for their ardent devotion towards god. These kirtanas describe spiritual aspects of the presiding deity, historical aspects of the kshetra, the mythological stories pertaining to that temple, about the sthala vruksha / ळऺृ (tree), pushkarani / ऩुष्करनी (sacred tanks), the festivals, special poojas, music, dance of the temple and many more such details. The sthala kirtanas are of two kinds, one being the songs in praise of the presiding deity of a temple, ishtadevatas and gods and goddesses of various shrines. The second one is the group kirtanas which are usually a set of five, seven, nine, twelve and sixteen songs in praise of a particular deity. Each song is a unit in the garland of songs (keertana malas). The temples which have the privilege of being visited and sung by great saints and composers are called ‘padal petra thalangal’. The musical trinities of sri tyagaraja, syamasastri and muthuswami dikshadar have composed numerous kirtanams with full of bakthi bava. Among the musical trinities muthuswami dikshadar has composed a large number of group kirtanas. They are: 1. Vibhakti kirtanas / वळभक्तर् कीर्तन are a group of eight vibhaktis

(cases) in praise of lord subramanya / सुब्रमन्य. 2. Nineteen kirtanas in praise of lord Ganapathi of different forms. 3. A set of twelve kirtanas in praise of lord tyagaraja / 配यागराज the presiding deity of tiruvarur / तर्셁ळ셁र and other kshetras / ऺेत्र. 4. A set of nine kirtanas on Lord Subramanya. 5. abhayamba navavarna keertana / अभय륍मा नळळणत कीर्तन (nine songs) in praise of goddess abhayamba ,the presiding deity of mayavaram. 6. Three kirtanas on mayuranatha of mayavaram. 7. The pancha linga kirtanas / ऩंच लऱंग ककर्तनम in the praise of five lingas prithvi, vayu, appu, teyu and akasha. 8. The navagraha / नळग्रह keertana in praise of the nine planets. The first seven songs on seven planets are set in suladi sapta talas and the last two songs in rupaka tala. 9. The kamalamba / कमऱा륍बा navavarna kirtanas are nine kirtanas in praise of goddess kamalambika the presiding deity of tiruvarur. The first song is the dyana keertana and the last song is the mangala keertana. 10. Lord brihadeswara and his consort brihannayaki the presiding deities of the Tanjore brihadeswara temple is praised in a set of thirteen songs. 11. A set of five kirtanas in praise of five lingas in the prakara of the tiruvarur temple. This is called the prakara panchalinga kirtanas. 12. A group of nine songs devoted to goddess saraswathi. 14. A set of five songs on goddess lakshmi. 15. A group of eight kirtanas on goddess meenakshi of . 16. Four kirtanas in praise of goddess kamakshi of 17. Three kirtanas on goddess mangalambika of . 18. Eight kirtanas on lord rajagopala of mannargudi. 19. A set of fifteen kirtanas in praise of sri rama. has incorporated intricacies and details of musical excellence in many of his kirtanas. For example his abhayamba navavarna kirtanas. The last song is the mangala keertana which is written in Sanskrit, Telugu and Tamil. This type of composition set in more than one language is called the manipravala. In the first song of this navavarna the musical instruments like bheri, maddala, vina are mentioned.in the second song the goddesses is described to be pleased by bhava, raga, tala. According to mythology this goddess is said to have performed in this shrine the gauri tandava to the musical accompaniments of bheri, maddala and vina .Such details are incorporated in the song. Tyagaraja (1767-1847) was born in Thiruvarur in the Tanjore district . His maternal and paternal grandfathers were musicians and vaggeyakaras (poets).His music guru was sonti venkataramanaya. He was an ardent devotee of rama and his songs are fervent with bakhthi. Sri tyagaraja has composed several and kirtanas in telugu and sanskrit. Sri tyagaraja has sung group kirtanas in praise of lord pranatharthihara / प्राणनाथारर्ीहारा and godess dharmasamvardhani / धमतसंळ셍धतनी, the presiding deities of tiruvaiyar, where he was living. They are a set of sixteen songs. He has composed a set of five songs in praise of sri ranganatha / रंगनाथ the presiding deity of srirangam / �ीरंगम. He has composed keetanas on many gods and goddesses ,the presiding deities in and around tanjore and kumbakonam .The most famous among his group kirtanas are the pancharatna kirtanas. These are set in five Ghana ragas on his favourite deity sri rama. These are called the five gem kirtanas .they are sung by all the musicians in unison at the tyagaraja utsavam celebrated at tiruvaiyar annually in the month of January .these are five distinct kirtanas with a unique structure, sequence of angas and the development of the rich musical theme. His utsavasampradaya kirtanam and divyanama sankirtanams are very popular. The great vaggeyakaras with extraordinary ability and transcendental experience considered music as a path to salvation. They went to several shrines on pilgrimage and sang soulful kirtanas on those deities. These compositions contribute to the rich repertoire of bakhthi music. Tallapakkam (1408-1503a.d) composed thousands of kirtanas fragranced with bakthi bhava. He formulated the construction of kirtanas. His kirtanams are classified as adhyatma and sringara kirtanas(madhura bakhti).his adhyatma kirtanas are based on the philosophical school of vishishta adhvaita. His sringara keeratanas portray lord venkateswara’s valour and romantic adventure with alamelu manga. His compositions were written on copper plates .most of his compositions are in vernacular Telugu and some in Sanskrit. Among his thousands of kirtanas only few hundred are available and are sung in music and dance concerts. He started to compose from the age of sixteen and wrote keertana till his death. Many of his songs are sung in music, dance, harikatha and dance dramas. To name a few songs bavayami gopala pala / भळालम

गोऩाऱा ऩऱा, mudugare yasodha / मुदगु ारे यसोदा, mukate / बह्मा मुतर् े are popular and danced in kuchipudi and bharathanatyam concerts even today.

th In Kerala the harinama kirtanams came to be sung in 16 century A.D. they are devotional philosophical songs in Malayalam language. The pioneer in composing harinama kirtanam in Malayalam was thunchaththu ramanujan ezhuthachan. Purandaradasa (1480-1564 A.D.) Born in was pioneer in formulating the basic lessons for the carnatic music. He is called the pithamaha of carnatic music. Apart from svaravalis / स्ळराळऱी, alankaras / अऱंकार, gitams / गीर्ं he has also composed many kirtanams. In language his compositions are popular as dasaru padagalu. th Arunachalakavi / अ셁नाचऱकवळ of 17 century A.D., wrote ramanataka kirtanam in Tamil these kirtanams brings out the complete story of with emotions. Hence it is very suitable for dance compositions. The lyrics and the music gives ample scope for sanchari bhavas / संचारी भा व depicting various rasas. His kirtanams / कीर्तनं are sung in music, dance and harikatha concerts. He sang the ramanataka kirtanam in the court of king tulaja of tanjore. Muthu tandavar / मुथूर्ांडळर was a great devotee of nataraja of chidambaram. Apart from padams he has created sixty kirtanams in th Tamil. He lived during 17 century in seergazhi, tanjore district. He was the contemporary of vijayaragava nayak. His songs are intense with spiritual fervour. His songs are sung in music and dance concerts. Narayana tirtha / नारायण र्ीथत was a saint who lived in varahur , tanjore district during the later part of 17th and early part of 18th century A.D. his kirtanas were filled with krishna bakthi. The poetry and music of these kirtanas flows like ripples in water. Hence it is known as krishna leela tarangini / किष्णऱीऱा र्रं셍गणी. There are one hundred and fifty five kirtanas figuring in krishnaleela tarangini. The songs consists of dvadasa tarangas or twelve cantos. The subject of this work is based on dasamaskandam / दऴमस्कंदम of srimad bagavatam / �ीमद भागळर्म. The songs in this opera are in keertana form in sanskrit. Each song is preceded with a sloka. The songs are structured with pallavi, anupallavi and charanams. The jathis interwoven with music adds colour to the compositions. These kirtanas are very apt for group choreography in dance. The songs are adapted in dance, music concerts and bajana sampradaya. His songs are sung with great humility and devotion. For e.g. the song purayamama kamam in raga and adi tala is a regular and common feature in the daily pujas at many households. The following kirtanams are popular in music and dance concerts both in and Tamilnadu. For example: kalaya kaliyanani / कऱय कालऱय नानी ---- kedaragowla raga / केदारागोळऱा राग ----adi tala / आहद र्ाऱ

Krishnamkalaya sakhi / कृ ष्णामकाऱय सखी----mukhari raga / मुखारी राग-----adi tala

Kshemamkuru santatam / ऺेमा륍कु 셁 सन्र्र्म--- raga / साळेरी राग---adi tala Govinda ghataya / गोवळंद घट य---kamboji raga / क륍बोजी राग ---- jhampa tala Jayajaya gokula bala / जयजय गोकु ऱ बाऱा---kurinji raga / कु ररजं ी राग---adi tala Saranam bhava karunam / सरणं भाळ क셁णं ---saurashtra raga / सौराष्र राग ----adi tala. The kirtanas describing the krishna leela are fragrant with bhakti rasa. Gopalakrishna bharathi(1810-1896)was born in narimanam .He spent his entire life in anandathandavapuram near mayavaram, Tamil Nadu. He has composed many tamil kirtanams. His famous musical opera in tamil nandanar charitram with a socio religious theme is in the keertana format.his ancestors were great veena exponents and scholars in sanskrit. Guru armadas / रामदास taught him the nuances of Hindustani music. His musical compositions were well received by the audience. Many musicians sang his compositions in the concert during his life time itself. He willingly composed musical compositions for the artists according to their requirement. His compositions were sung in kathakalakshepam, music and dance concerts. Natanam adinar / नटनम आडीनार in vasanta ragam ata talam, sabapathiku veru deivam / सभाऩ셍थकू ळे셁 दैळं in ragam and rupaka talam, eppovaruvaro / इप्ऩोळ셁ळरो in jonpuri ragam and adi talam are some of the famous kirtanams performed by bharathanatyam dancers. A unique type of songs are the ninda sthuthi / तनदं ा स्र्ुतर् kirtanams. In the sahitya the composer takes the liberty to scold and question the god for the miseries in the world and how to overcome and attain salvation. Papavinasa mudaliyar has composed two such kirtanams in poorvikalyani and raga and misra chapu tala invoking god tyagaraja the presiding deity of tiruvarur temple. The other composers of kirtanams were vijayadasa, bhadrachala ramadas, sadasiva brahmendra, swathi tirunal, uthukadu venkatasubbier, neelakanta sivan, , , koteeswara iyer, muthiah bagavathar, subramania bharathi and . The terms nama kirtanams and namasan kirtanams refer to individual and collective singing of gods’ praise. The technical qualities and perfection in music, the presence of sweet voice are considered secondary while the expression of sincere devotion to god is the prime essence of the kirtanams. Saint purandaradasa in his song says that god derives happiness with soulful music rendered with bakhthi. It is said in a hindu scripture in the form of a sloka that god’s abode is neither in vaikunda nor in the hearts of yogis but in the hearts of his devotees who sing with devotion his praises. Sri chaitanya was a great saint who propagated and popularized singing the glories of god and thus evolved the cult of namakeertana. Vittalanamakeertana is singing the praise of lord krishna the presiding deity in pandarpur is very popular. The saints declare that if the devotee sings with devotion the god begins to dance. The name and the form of the gods are considered to be an important aspect of concentration. It is believed the namakeertana help to attain the three fold concentration of mind, body and speech. This kind of cult became popular in the tanjore regions in the name of namasiddantha and namasankirtanam. In a samkeertana and namakeertana everybody can participate in singing. Namakirtanas flowered as an attractive form of worship and the systematic rendering of performing bhajana emerged as a consequence. The modern bhajana repertoire includes divyanama kirtanas of many composers from north and south india. With the advent of the maratta rule in tanjore the influence of marathi keertan was felt in south india. The keertans composed by saints like namadev, tukharam, pundarik and others in marathi and hindi languages are still popular in the music and harikatha concerts.

Conclusion Keertnas of many composer are yet to be discovered and published. Many songs of uthukadu venkatasubbier and annamacharya are yet to be published. There are some manuscripts containing kirtanas in Telugu, maratti and sanskrit in the tanjore saraswathi mahal library which have unknown authorship. The musical notation and other details are also not found. For example there is a collection of fourty nine songs called vanchinatha kirtanams in praise of lord vanjiyam the presiding deity of a siva temple in tanjore district. They are in fine sanskrit script with the mudra (stamp)vanchyanatha in all the songs. They are highly devotional in nature and some songs have jathis interwoven. Another manuscript in the name of samskrita keertanani contains one hundred and fourty seven songs in praise of lord nataraja, shanmuka and Goddess sivakami. The songs are very poetic and set to rakthi ragas with full of devotional content. The names of the ragas are mentioned but notation is not available. These and many more kirtanas are yet to be published with music and notation. Kirtanams are the best devotional form of music and part of our precious heritage.