PPRECIATIO ,OTE. S. Rajam with SRUTI Staff

Natabhairavi & Its -s

Varga : Septatonic (Sampurna) : Sa-ri-gi-ma-pa-da-ni-sa : Sa-ni-da-pa-ma-gi-ri-sa Rakti prayoga-s : pa-da-ni-da ; gi-ma-pa-da-ni-da ; ma-gi-gi-ri-ri atabhairavi is a suddha madhyama mela , the twentieth in N Venkatamakhi's scheme. It uses chatusruti rishaba, sadharana gandhara, suddha daivata and kaisiki nishada. It is not a raga often heard; rather it is a proud parent of more famous progenies. There are only a few compositions in in vogue. Among them: 's Chetulara (Telugu); Ramanathapuram Sri- nivasa Iyengar's Parulaseva (Telugu); 's Sri Valli Devasenapatey (Tamil); and Balamuralikrishna's Nalina nayana. The Tyagaraja- is nowadays generally rendered in and also. The Bhairavi version can be heard performed on the flute at the opening of the saint's aradhana in Tiruvaiyaru every January. This convention began apparently when the late Palladam Sanjeeva Rao used to open the proceedings. To start anything with Sanjeeva Rao's flute was, in those days, firmly believed to be most auspicious. Chetulara has also been a favourite of nagaswara vidwans Tiru- marugal Natesan (T.N. Rajarathnam's uncle) and the Kiranur Brothers played the song in the original Natabhairavi mode. Pipers who came later switched to playing the song in Bhairavi, presumably because of a difficulty, which I shall mention presently. Despite this difficulty, many nagaswara vidwans have chosen Natabhairavi as the vehicle for dis- playing their creativity in ragam-tanam-pallavi. The difficulty I referred to is in playing or singing the suddha dai- vata note in the ascent. I believe this explains why the deriviative raga-s of Natabhairavi which omit the suddha daivata in ascending phrases and swara combinations are very popular, while the parent Chetulara has been rendered into English by C. Ramanujachari (The Spiritual Heritage of raga itself is not. Possibly this is why most of the composers, travelling Tvagaraja , a publication of Sri Ramakrishna on the high road of music, have bypassed the main Exit-20 and taken Math, Madras 600 004) as follows : its subsidiary exits. I shall decorate you with my own hands so Nowadays, Sri Valli Devasenapatey is very popular. Credit for this beautifully as to elicit the admiration of even must go to the two senior music-makers from Damal, namely Pat- and other devotees and enjoy the sight myself. You *"ill have golden anklets for your tammal and Jayaraman. Both of them have been rendering the kriti feet, high class golden clothes for your dress; beautifully—and often. your tuft will be decorated with sweet-smelling parijata flowers; I shall kiss your beautiful face; Other songs in Natabhairavi to be noted are : Amboruha by your loins will have a girdle of golden beads; Koteeswara Iyer; Bhajanai seivome by Papanasam Sivan; and Vega- your forehead will be bedecked with tilaka and nannu brova by Pallavi Sesha Iyer. a pendant; I shall hug you the beautiful one to my chest, your frontal tuft will be encircled with According to Ragapravaham, Natabhairavi has more than 220 deri- precious pearls and your body besmeared with viative raga-s. Quite a few of these probably belong more appro- sweet-scented sandal paste. Saraswati will come 37 priately to other mela-s. For example, is today generally and fan you then. In that exaltation I shall accepted as a deriviative of Todi. Similarly, Kannada (e.g. Dikshitar's exclaim "well-done". Sri Matrubhutam and Tyagaraja's Bhajare bhqja manasa) is linked to Sankara- I shall cast aside everything else. bharanam. Udaya Ravichandrika and Suddha Dhanyasi are really Kriti-s of Telugu composer Meesu Krishna synonyms for the same raga, but the former is considered as a janya of Iyer, usually in very rare raga-s, were popula- Todi while the latter is said to have more parents than one. rised by Alathur Venkatesa Iyer, father of one of the Alathur Brothers, by adding startlingly beau- Most of the raga-s listed as janya-s of Natabhairavi exist only as tiful chittaswara-s to them. This is an example swara skeletons. Fewer than 20 of these raga-s have been endowed of the need for the efforts of not only a creative with flesh, blood and soul by creative composers and brought to life. composer but also of one or two performers to Most prominent of these are Bhairavi, and . bring out the latent beauty of any raga. Each of these deserves a separate chapter and I will not discuss them, but restrict myself to the others here. The best known kriti is Nagumomu ganaleni by Tyagaraja. In the olden days, Musiri Subrahmania Iyer used to render this com- position but in chatusruti daivata. The version became popular. I learnt the correct version with suddha daivata, which is more difficult to render, from Papanasam Sivan. Stalwarts like Mudikondan Venka- tarama Iyer sang this correct version only. 's Bhajare re manasa is also very popular. Another song in this raga worth mentioning is Veenaberi by . It is not sung or performed often, because of the difficulty I mentioned earlier. Tyagaraja's Sallare Ramiah and Adaya Sri and Syama Sas- tri's Mayamma are often heard and enjoyed. Dikshitar has composed Kusumakara and Sri Kamalamba jayati The latter, a navavarna kriti, makes the limited potential of the raga appear boundless. Swati Tiru- nal's Pannagendra also merits mention. Amrutavahini Sri Rama padama by Tyagaraja stands almost alone as an example. The song, very popular some decades ago, seems to be having a revival. Good versions are those offered by D.K. Pattammal and D.K. Jayaraman. Bhuvana Gandhari It has five notes in the ascent and six or seven (depending on the authority cited) in the descent. There is but a single composition in it known to be available, namely Meesu Krishna Iyer's Paramatma ni, which the Alathur Brothers used to sing nicely.

Ghanta Dikshitar's Sri Kamalamba offers a fine image of this raga. Tyagaraja has composed eight songs in it. Ghantarava or Gopikavasaniam Under the latter label, Dikshitar has composed Sri Balakrishnam, It is sung but rarely. Hindolavasantam Tyagaraja's Rara Sita ramani manohara is one of the two songs most heard in this beautiful raga. The words of the song, beginning with 'Oh lotus-eyed one, do come before me and give me a kiss', match the melody. The other song is Dikshitar's Santanarama- swaminam, also lovely. Jayantasri This raga gained fame thanks to GNB's rendition of Tyagaraja's Marugelara. It is worth trying to get a recorded copy of GNB's version. An alternative is to listen to MLV singing it. Another song heard in this raga is Vasudevachar's Sridhara pahimam. Jingala Tyagaraja's Anathudanu ganu is the only one offered in the concert circuit. Many sing it. Kokilavarali Tyagaraja's Samugananilva was popularized by Musiri Subrahmania Iyer. Another composition of his in this raga is Dasaratl

Use of pratimadhyama in Natabhairavi will Manji Dikshitar's Ramachandrane gives an excellent account of the make it . Many of its sanchara-s raga, but what can be heard more often are Syama Sastri's Brova- are also found in Shanmukhapriya. vamma, which is outstanding, and Gopalakrishna Bharati's Varuga- The Hindustani raga Jeevanpuri, which lamo, from his Nandanar Charitram. These two songs brim with bhakti belongs to the thai, resembles Natabhai- 38 and often move listeners to tears. ravi. In Jeevanpuri. %u is n«.l used in ascent. Marga Hindolam Tyagaraja's Chalamelara and Dikshitar's Chan- drasekharam, both heard often, give the listener ample opportunities to discover the beauty of the raga. How moving this melody can be! Though it is typically SONGS IN MUKHARI used to portray sadness I've heard a happy version or two too. BY TYAGARAJA There are 10 compositions of Tyagaraja in this raga. Elavaiaram ChintLstunnade • Elavataram • Entani ne • and Entanine are, of course, well-known. Induka itanuvunu • Karubaru • Kshinamai • Muripemu galige • Sangita sastra jnanamu • Dikshitar has three well-known pieces : Pahimam Ratnachalanaya- Sarasiruhanana • Talachi nantane kam in slow tempo, Sri Saraswati and Govindarajam. Subbaraya BY PAPANASAM SIVAN Sastri's Emani ne is a moving piece, too. Papanasam Sivan has bequeathed eight songs in Mukhari and various others one or two. Adimai enai • Alavillaiye • Chollu papa • There is an ashtapadi also available in it. Devi undan • Enda vidam • Paramugam taguma • Saranam Ayyappa * Sivakamasundari Nagagandhari This raga is known also as Hindustani Asaveri. One BY OTHER COMPOSERS should listen to Dikshitar's Sarasijanaba sodhari to get a good idea of it Chidambara darisanama by Gopalakrishna Bharati Nararitigoula Dikshitar has composed two songs, Nilotpalambam Eppudu kripa by Patnam Subrahmania Iyer and Sri Nilotpalanayaki in this raga which is but Ritigoula with Karunarasa and Sivagurunadhanai by Kumara Ettendra suddha daivata. Ososi (padam) by Muthu Natesan Navaratnavilasam A creation of Muthuswami Dikshitar, named Emandune (javali) by Dharmapuri Subbaraya Iyer after his song Navaratnavilasam. The late Srikazhi Narayanaswami Pil- lai, a violin vidwan whom critic C.R. Srinivasa Iyengar compared favourably with Tirukodikaval Krishna Iyer, used to play this song and raga marvellously, says my colleague T. Sankaran. Unfortunately no recording of it is available. Who hasn't heard this raga ? Tyagaraja's Mokshamu galada is an outstanding composition and who hasn't felt its impact ? As for Mari mari ninney—do not confuse it with the ver- sion tuned by Elayaraja for the film Sindhubhairavl Suddha Desi The raga is closely allied to Mukhari. Tyagaraja has composed two songs: Endu kougalintura and Raghunandana Raja- mohana. Neither is heard often.

Attention Subscribers! If you, a subscriber, do not receive your posted copy, please drop us a post card, with your name and subscription number. We will be glad to send a Choicest Collection in Town! replacement copy. If there is a change in your address, please notify us RAJA RADIO & ELECTRICALS immediately. We are not responsible for delivery of the magazine if such a notification is not sent.

We maintain a separate account for each subscriber. We notify you when your subscrip- tion is due to expire and at that time let you know if you have a RAJA RADIO & credit balance with us. ELECTRICALS Send all your communica- 229. Royapettah High Road tions on subscription matters to Madras 600 014 Ph : 841533 our Circulation Manager at the business office address. In ail communications be sure to indi- cate your subscription number.

Thank yon.

39