ILaiyaraaja-The Sculptor-Part IV

In Mathematics, there is something called Duality. It is nothing but translating one concept into other concept by means of an involution operation.

It is a very interesting concept and I feel it has lot of relevance to the Human life and Nature.

Most of the things we see in this world come in pairs.Let us take the organs in the human body.. Eyes, ears, hands, legs, nostrils.. In fact, the nostrils play a very major role in keeping us mentally and therefore physically fit.

These pairs perform coordinated actions.
We also have pairs that are contrasting by nature.
Black/White, Potential Energy/Kinetic Energy, Head/Tail, Positive/Negative.

In Chinese philosophy, there is something called the Yin/Yang theory-two opposing and at the same time complementary aspects of one phenomenon.

In Quantum Mechanics, we have the wave-particle duality according to which matter and energy exhibit both wave like and particle like properties.

In a similar vein, I feel Dance and Music always complement each other. There are people who say ‘Dance cannot exist without music;but Music can exist without Dance’.
On the face of it, it may appear to be true.

But in reality music is as much dependent on dance as dance is on music. Is dance just body movements? Is it just facial expressions? Is it just jumping around or moving around?

No..It is much beyond all these.

It is a form of expression.

Let us look at Music.Is Music just singing (or playing an instrument)?Is it just Raga/Tala or scales? Is it just juggling of notes?

Music is also a form of expression. The artiste expresses himself/herself rhythmically. Can this not be called as dance? Don’t we say the Swaras danced when that artiste sang?

I am reminded of a Lecture/Demonstration at the Music Academy more than 20 years back when a very famous classical dancer said this:

‘I see Music. I hear Dance’.

Might sound too far fetched and exaggerated.But it is true.

The dancer is a great scholar who has done lot research on dance and folk music and I am sure this statement came straight from her heart.

Music and Dance complement each other.

And that is the reason ILango AdigaL paid importance to music as well while talking about dance.

In the previous posts, we saw how Silappathikaaram covered the various aspects of dance and how ILango AdigaL defined not only the structure of classical dance but also the qualities of musicians and the stage dimensions.

Today, let us see what he has spoken about Music.
In just one verse, he gives the names of the seven swaras as per Tamizh PaN.

குரலே, துத்தம், கைக்கிளை, உழையே
இளியே, விளரி, தாரம் என்றிவை
எழுவகை இசைக்கும் எய்தும் பெயரே
சவ்வும் ரிவ்வும் கவ்வும் மவ்வும்
பவ்வும் தவ்வும் நிவ்வும் என்றிவை
ஏழும் அவற்றின் எழுத்தே ஆகும்

Sa-Kural; Ri-Thuththam;Ga-KaikkiLai;Ma-Uzhai;Pa-ILi;Dha-ViLari;Ni-Tharam.

In another verse, he says PaNs(Ragams) are obtained by arranging the 12 Kovais(swaras) in a specified structure in the ascending and descending scale.

But more than all these, what leaves one wonder struck is his definition of Gruha Bedam-tonic shift. He calls this as 'Kural Thiribu'.

He says 'if the Thuththam(ri) of Mohanam is the base, it would give Madhyamavathi, if the KaikkiLai(ga)is the base it would give Hindolam, the ILi(pa) would give Sudhha Saveri and the ViLari(dha) Sudhha Dhanyasi'.

Is it not amazing that somebody in the Tamizh land defined all these as early as the 5th century?

And 16 centuries later, somebody again from the same land has been giving us some masterpieces. He too like ILango AdigaL is a perfectionist and at the same time innovative.

Duality?

Let us see the next composition from ULiyin Osai today.

It is ‘Kallai Irunthen Silaiyaai En Vadiththai..’

The composition is based on Sudhdha Dhanyasi.

A very interesting Ragam derived from Karaharapriya and its structure is
Sa ga2 ma1 pa ni2 Sa/Sa ni2 pa ma1 ga2 sa.

The composition starts in a very subtle way. We feel the mellowness and the force as we hear the humming. The long flute undulates while the string is infused with melody.

The Pallavi is zestful and tranquil.

As usual, the Laya pattern is interesting.The 8 beat cycle is divided into 2 parts of 4 beats each:Ta – Dhi Mi Ta Ka Dhi Mi with stress on the first ‘Mi’ giving a very special wavy effect.

It is verve and vitality personified.

The first interlude has a simple and ornate structure. It is just the Flute and the Veena mainly but has a quintessential flavour. The Flute has innate grace flamboyance while the Veena is gentle, and powerful. The percussion instrument‘s reply to the Veena is dexterous.

The Charanam is rich and serene. It is pregnant with weighty phrases and is very flexible. It is rock steady and traverses up and down. The Flute piece that is interspersed between the two lines glides smoothly and is tenacious.

The second interlude shows us a gorgeous landscape.

As we hear the Veena and the percussion, followed by the violins and the piano, we see the wide green valleys and the deep ravines.

We see the sun play hide and seek between the hills and the Rain from the Sky.

We see the gushing torrents and the steady slow stream.

It is warm and cold.
It is uncanny and easily comprehensible.
It is Sun and the Moon.

Stone and a sculpture.

And is this not duality?

அவரது இசை கல்லை சிலை ஆக்கும்;சிலையை மனிதனாக்கும்;மனிதனை தெய்வீக நிலைக்கு அழைத்துச் செல்லும்.

His music turns a stone into a sculpture; turns a sculpture into a human; makes the human reach divine state..

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ILaiyaraaja-The Sculptor-Part III

This world is beautiful.

If we take time off from our busy schedule and start looking at things around us, we discover many new things (and old things). Some of these are amazing.

The stars, the moon, the clouds, the sky, the rain, the flowers..

Each and every time we look at these, we feel different; our experience is different; our thinking is different.

Finally it depends on how one perceives things/incidents.

The beauty of life is such that even little things play very big roles.

Take apple for example. What is there in apple? It is just a fruit, a very healthy and tasty fruit at that.

But when this apple fell from a tree, one gentleman thought differently. He started wondering as to why that apple had to fall..

He thought and thought and finally this led to something that formed the basis of Classical Mechanics and modern engineering.

Needless to say that the gentleman being referred to is Issac Newton and that he discovered the Universal Gravitational and the three Laws of Motion.

All of us know the story of the King of Scotland -who while sitting in a hut after being battered, bruised and driven out by King Edward I of England -saw a very tiny creature successfully spin a web after failing seven times. Inspired by this, he gathered his men and despite being badly outnumbered was able to drive out the enemies because of sheer determination.

Robert Bruce and Spider-are the names not synonymous?

Examples galore.

But what these incidents tell us is that life shows us lot of things and it is up to us to observe and learn.

Apple and Spider.. two small things. Look how they have influenced science and history.

That is the beauty of life.

We find that in literature too, small things have played major roles.

A small gemstone influenced an entire epic.

‘Silappathikaaaram’(Story of the jeweled anklets) is considered to be one of the greatest epics in the world of Literature.In the words of the Czech Professor Dr.Kamil Zvelebil,

‘‘The epical poem of Silapathikaaram which by its baroque splendour and by the charm and magic of its lyrical parts belongs to the epic masterpieces of the world and should be admired and beloved by all in the same was as Poems of Homer, the Dramas of Shakespeare, the Pictures of Rembrandt, the Cathedrals of France and Sculptures of Greece’’.

What is this Silappathikaaram all about?

Kovalan and Kannagi lead a happy married life until Kovalan falls for a great dancer Madhavi and begins to live with her.Unable to bear the adoration and appreciation Madhavi was getting from others, he becomes jealous and deserts her.

He is penniless now and returns to Kannagi who offers to sell her anklet- filled with rubies-to get some money. They go to Madurai where Kovalan while trying to sell one of the anklets is caught by the guards of the Pandya King.The Queen’s anklets-which were filled with pearls- had just then been stolen and assuming that Kovalan was the culprit, the King orders his guards to kill Kovalan.

Kannagi throngs the King’s court and proves that her anklets were filled with rubies and not pearls. Realising his folly, the King dies instantaneously. Kannagai goes on to burn the city of Madurai.

Though there lot of great things about the way Ilango AdigaL has presented this simple but complex story, what attracts a connoisseur is the way he has structured the grammar of Music and Dance.

In the previous two posts, we saw the history of classical dance in Tamizh society.

Continuing with this, let us see how ‘Silappathikaaram ‘ has dealt with classical dance.

Ilango adigaL must have been a perfectionist.

He deals with each and every aspect of dance starting from the vocalist, the lyricist, the percussionist, the instrumentalists.

What amazes one is the way he has defined the structure of the stage. Not only has he given the dimensions of a stage but also that he has mentioned about the lighting, and the way the stage has to be decorated.

If the verse

எழுகோல் அகலத்து எண்கோல் நீளத்து
ஒருகோல் உயரத்து உறுப்பினது ஆகி
உத்தரப் பலகையொடு அரங்கின் பலகை
வைத்த இடை நிலம் நாற்கோல் ஆக
ஏற்ற வாயில் இரண்டும் பொலியத்
தோற்றிய அரங்கினில் தொழுதனர்
gives the desired dimensions of a stage,

தூண் நிழல் புறப்பட மாண் விளக்கு எடுத்து ஆங்கு
ஒருமுக எழினியும் பொருமுக எழினியும்
கரந்து வரல் எழினியும் புரிந்துடன் வகுத்து

talks about the lighting.

He then goes on to describe the ‘Pancha Sandhi’ Kavuththuvum-an item that is performed in the beginning to ward off evil forces-and then the 11 different dances called as ‘Pathinoru aadal’..

We shall look at the other descriptions about dance and Music in Silappathikaaram and in other Tamizh texts in the forthcoming posts.

Let us now look at today’s composition from ULiyin Osai.

It is ‘Kallil Uyir Kaattidalaam’.

As usual, there are lot of special things about this composition and we shall see them as we go along..

The sun paints the sky red. Flowers smile. Leaves nod their heads. Waves from the sea welcome us. It is a new day.. It is a new beginning..

The song flowers with a flourish..

The first few lines rendered without percussion(called as ‘viruththam’)is based on the Ragam Bowli.

This Ragam is generally sung in the mornings and is believed to bring freshness.

As the lines ‘Kallil Uyir Kaattidalaam’ start, we see the beautiful Kalyani in the heartfelt rendition by Sriram Parthasarathy.In fact, one sees shades of his Guru’s Guru(Shri.Seshagopalan) in his style of rendering this song.

The line ‘Vadikkindra SilaigaLil’ is wonderfully structured to give a very different effect.
The way the percussion is played just towards the end accentuates the effect.

The violins then breeze in with the Flute shining resplendently. The Veena and Flute combine and this invokes a unique ambience.

In the first Charanam, the Flags of the three major Tamizh Kings-Chozha, Chera and the Pandiya-kings are described. Tiger is Flag of Chozha and the sangathis flow to depict the tiger with the flutes playing welcome notes without any fear.

The Bow now bows in appreciation as the Raga beautifully changes to Dharmavathy. Appreciation here is not just for the Raga change but also for the thoughtfulness.

Let me explain.

Kalyani is the 65th Melakartha and Dharmavathy, the 59th.Every sixth Raga in the Melakratha scale have the same variants of ‘dha’ and ‘ ni ‘and therefore the ‘pa dha ni Sa’ segment(called as Uttaraanga) remains the same.The difference is only in the ‘ri’ ‘ga’ part. Now if the variant of ‘ga’ in Kalyani is changed(from ‘ga3’ to ‘ga2’), it becomes Dharmavathy.. And this is what the master has done.

After the Chera’s Bow, it is the Pandiya’s Fish.

After the Eyebrows, it is the Eyes.

Flute and the Veena act as the eyes and the eyebrows and establish an emotional connection.

The Pallavi again in Kalyani.

The Veena now eddies around Kalyani with the ghatam giving glistening strands of laya.

The meshing of Raga and Laya is gripping and gives us an esoteric feeling.

The intricate setting continues in the next Charanam with a kind of a teaser.

The Raga now changes to Hamsanandi and again there is a pattern.The Variant of ‘ri’in Kalyani is changed and logically it should be Gamanashrama-the 53rd Melakartha(59-6 or 65-12).But the magician now makes the ‘pa’ disappear and it becomes Hamsanandi, another beautiful Raga with the following structure

sa ri1 ga3 ma2 dha2 ni3 Sa/Sa ni3 dha2 ma2 ga3 ri1 sa.

The Raga moves very expressively until it meets a beautiful woman called Vasantha.

Yes, the Genius at work again.

In the line ‘Aananda Soundaryam..’ he changes the ‘ma’ and drops ‘ri’ in the ascent.
Sa ma1 ga3 ma1 dha2 ni3 Sa/Sa ni3 dha2 ma1 ga3 ri1 sa.

This Ragam is Vasantha.

The composition is multifarious with varied motifs. At the same time, there is a pattern and purpose.

It is an exhilarating experience.

It etches tranquility.

It is the language of subtlety.

Yes, juggling of notes is very subtle. The difference between one ‘ga’ and the other ‘ga’ is minute.. as minute as the difference between one ‘ri’ and the other ‘ri’.

Little things.. But don’t they play a big role?

And doesn’t he give life even to a stone with his music?

கல்லிற்கும் உயிர் கொடுப்பதல்லவா அவரது இசை?

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ILaiyaraaja-The Sculptor-Part II

‘‘Put Mind over Matter.’’

This is what the Self-Improvement Gurus tell us.

What guides our lives-the Mind or the Intellect?
Are we all led by our emotions or are we moulded by our thinking?

Well, it is a very vast and deep subject and my intention is not to get into this and find answers.

Let me confine my discussion to fine arts.

Take any art form.

The Artiste feels.
The Artiste emotes.
The Artiste thinks.
The Artiste expresses.

Feelings, Emotions, Thoughts, Expressions.
There is an inextricable link between all these.

And this is what an art form is all about.
Of course, finally the quality depends on how capable, and spontaneous the artiste is..

In my previous post, I had discussed about how fine arts was an intrinsic part of ancient Tamizh culture.

Saaththanaar, author of ‘Kooththa Nool’-which is the first authentic book on classical dance in Tamizh-says

‘Tastes emerge from the feelings within and these are expressed as dance.Feeling is the soul, Taste is the Mind, and expression is the body’.

அகம்உயிர் ஆகச் சுவைஉளம் ஆக
இழைஉடல் ஆக இயல்வது கூத்து.

It is a cryptic verse with very deep meanings but what was written nearly 2500 years ago holds good even now.

And this is applicable to any art form.

‘Kooththa Nool’ has two sections, 'Suvai' and 'Thogai' with 153 and 162 verses respectively and says that the sound, the letters and the music emanated from the Dance of the Lord.

It also says that ‘Om’ is the beginning and the end for everything.

The author seems like a good psychiatrist, philosopher and most importantly an intellectual.

The link between human life and the Nava Rasaas have been described in detail by the author.

The 108 Karanaas and the 12 essential Karanaas, and the synergy between ‘Tandavaa’ and ‘Laasya’ have also been elaborated by the author.

Therefore as mentioned in my previous post, ‘Tolkaappiyam’, the text on Tamizh grammar talks about the classical dance, ‘Pancha Marabu’and ‘Kooththa Nool’ are texts on the Grammar of Classical Dance.

There is also another text called ‘Bharatha Senapathiyam’.

Apart from these texts that are exclusive books on Grammar, classical dance finds a mention in Sangam Literature, works that preach Wisdom and Values like ThirukkuraL, Naaladiyaar etc.,

However, it is the description about Classical Dance in ‘Silappadhigaaram’ that calls for special mention and appreciation.

In fact, the ankle-bell(silambu) plays a major role in the story –though it happens towards the end.

Ilango AdigaL, the author elaborates on the qualifications of a Dance Teacher, Percussionists,Vocalist,Flautist, and the person(s) playing the ancient instrument ‘Yaazh’.

In my previous post, I had given a sample verse on the qualities of a dancer.
More about what ‘Silappadigaaram’ talks about Classical Dance in my next post.

Let us now focus our attention on the Sculptor who has been ardently and tirelessly sculpting mesmerizing music for the last three decades.

Time now to look at the second composition from ‘ULiyin Osai’.

It is ‘Abhinayam Kaatugindra AaraNge..’

The song rendered by the classical musicians Sudha Raghunathan and Bombay Jayashree is another beautiful sculpture.

ILaiyaraaja the Magician, pulls another rabbit from his hat..

Why do I call this magic?

Let me explain about the composition and then we will know.

The composition starts in Ragavardhini, the 32nd Melakartha.

It is a Vivadi Ragam whose structure is

sa ri3 ga3 ma1 pa dha1 ni2 Sa/Sa ni2 dha1 pa ma1 ga3 ri3 sa.

The ‘ri’ is the vivadi note in this raga.

This Raga sounds a lot like Charukesi, the 26th melakartha since six notes are the same except the ‘ri’.

The composition has other ragas as well and I shall touch upon the ragas and their structures as I go along.

The mini ensemble of the percussion instruments in the prelude gives an energetic beginning.

The Pallavi is stupendous with the use of vivadi note right at the beginning sets the tone.

After a mini ensemble yet again, the anupallavi glides smoothly.

The first interlude is stupendous.
It has brilliance as well as beauty.

The violins play only the swaras of Charukesi first. The percussion gives a repartee.
Now, the violins play with the prominent vivadi note giving the shade of Ragavardhini.

After the reply from the percussion, the two pieces are played again now one after the other. The Veena accompanied by a very subtle Flute then plays Charukesi with the violins replying in Ragavardhini. This pattern-but with different notes-is repeated once again.

The Flute then manages to escape from the clutches of Veena and plays a dominant Ragavardhini and then the violins also have the final word and play Ragavardhini with disdain.

Now do you understand why I said it is Brilliant and Beautiful?

The Contrast and the distinction shown by the Master since it is a competition between two dancers..

The first Charanam has pithy passages.

It moves, undulates, swirls, whorls, sways, and takes a curve.
Geometric Motifs!

Just towards the end, there is a short swara singing passage and as we look forward to the next interlude, there is felicitous turn of the passage.

The rhythmic pattern changes to the 5 beat ‘khanda nadai’ and we hear the ‘Ta ka ta ki ta’ with the dominant manjira (cymbals).

This surprise twist takes a further intricate turn as the raga changes to Karaharapriya, the 22nd Melakartha whose structure is

sa ri2 ga2 ma1 pa dha2 ni2 Sa/Sa ni2 dha2 pa ma1 ga1 ri2 sa.

A majestic and a serene raga, the beauty of the raga is shown in just a few willowy sancharaas.

As the line ‘Piththam Thalaikkeri’ ends, we are in for another pleasant surprise.

Using just five swaras-'sa ri ga pa ni'-of Karaharapriya, we get to hear Rathipathipriya, another beautiful Raga.

Now, Abheri-another Raga derived from Karaharapriya omitting ‘ri’ and ‘dha’ in the arohana-darts in as ‘Udanpirappu..’ is rendered.

The sangathis following this are wonderful.

As we lose ourselves in the lovely nooks, the Raga changes again.

Now it is Pantuvarali, the 51st Melakartha whose structure is

sa ri1 ga3 ma2 pa dha1 ni3 Sa/Sa ni3 dha1 pa ma2 ga3 ri1 sa.

So far, we saw Raga Raaja.Time to have a look at Laya Raaja.Though there are lot of intricate patterns throughout, let us look at the pattern that I consider as most beautiful.

The pattern following the line ‘Thadi Edukka thavarum Indri..’is

‘Dhin – Ta – Ka ‘ 3 times and then ‘Ta Ka Dhin – – ‘

And the one following ‘Nilam Nokki..’is

‘– – Ta – Ka Ta – Dhin– – ‘ twice.

The sweeping crescendos reach an acme.

With authentic interpretation of Ragas, the composition appeals to us emotionally.
We feel the vibrations, think and express our appreciation.
The spontaneity of the composer is obvious.

Is this not a genuine artiste’s work all about?

அபிநயம் காட்டுவது பரதத்தில் மட்டுமல்ல.அவரது இசையும்தான்..

Abhinaya is not just in Classical Dance…It is in his Music as well..

ILaiyaraaja-The Sculptor-Part I

It is a well - known fact that Tamizh language is one of the oldest languages in the world.

Not only is it old but also it is very rich in literature.

But what makes Tamizh unique and special is that it has survived the ravages of time and is still spoken by millions of people across the globe. Sometime back I had written about the translation of a 2500 year old ‘Kurunthogai’ poem appearing in London Tube Rail(in my post on ‘Daagam Edukkara’).

Dance and music (or for that matter any form of fine arts) has always been part of Tamizh culture.

‘Tholkaappiyam’, the authentic work on Tamizh Grammar that was written in 500BC by Tholkaapiyar-considered to be a student of the great sage ‘Agaththiyar’ mentions a lot about classical dance.

‘Pancha Marabu’by Arivanaar-which was also written almost the same time as Tholkaapiyam - describes in detail about music and dance. It talks about various hand gestures,abhinaya,kooththu,,naatyam.It also describes the letters to be used for jathis-tha,thi,tho,ki,k.

Then there is ‘Kooththa nool’ authored by Saaththanaar.
This is the oldest available text on the grammar of classical dance.

However, ‘Silappathigaaram’-one of the five major epics in Tamizh-is considered to be a complete book on classical dance.

Though there are lot verses, I am giving below one sample verse that speaks volumes about the quality of the work.

It says ‘One must start learning classical dance at the age of five without any compromise on Musical, Dance and Aesthetic Elements, practise rigorously for seven years and perform at the age of twelve.’

ஆடலும் பாடலும் அழகும் என்று இக்
கூறிய மூன்றில் ஒன்று குறைவு படாமல்
ஏழு ஆண்டு இயற்றி ஓர் ஈர் ஆண்டில்
சூழ் கழல் மன்னற்குக் காட்டல் வேண்டி.

As mentioned earlier, Dance, Music, Sculpting, Painting were part of Tamizh Culture and these flourished under the Pallavaas and then the Chozhaas..In fact, one can even include Temple architecture because even now one can find the dance poses in many ancient temple Gopurams.

The Thanjavur Big temple depicts 81 Karnaas(loosely translated as poses but they are not just poses) out of the 108 karnaas. Nobody has a clue as to why the balance of 27 is not depicted.


You must all be wondering as to what relevance these have in this community.

Time to clarify.

Starting today, I shall be writing on the music of ‘Uliyin Osai’. The story revolves around a sculptor and a classical dancer and a fictional account of the ‘facts’ behind the missing 27 karanaas during the construction of the Big Temple.

I shall be discussing the ragas and the techniques used by the ‘great sculptor’ whose other name is ILaiyaraaja.

A brief account of the evolution of classical dance will also be given everyday.

The first composition is ‘Agandhaiyil Aaduvatha Aadal Kalai’.

Before I take up the composition, I must mention that Shriram Parthasarathy, a disciple of the great Carnatic Singer Neyveli Santhanagopalan-who in turn is a disciple of the legendary singer T N Seshagopalan- has done full justice to the song.

Now for the techniques used by the sculptor.

The composition is based on Rasikapriya, a very special Ragam.

Very special because it is the last (72nd) Melakartha.

Very special because it uses two vivadi notes(‘ri’ and ‘dha’).

Very special because no film music composer has used this raga.

Very Very special because Raaja sir has used it in films after a gap of 27 years.The last time he used it was for the song ‘Sangeethame’in Kovil Pura(1981).

The structure of Rasikapriya is:
Sa ri3 ga3 ma2 pa dha3 ni3 Sa/Sa ni3 dha3 pa ma2 ga3 ri3 sa.

The second technique applied is the Tamizh verse rendered with panache with amazing breath control by the master himself.

The third technique is the Gruha Bedam(or Shruti Bedam).

Let us look at the composition now.

We get to see the perceptible musical impulses as the pallavi unfolds.It is like a breath of freshness.The percussion that follows the first line is tuned to play the raga itself and it climbs up and down like a cute baby.

The Tamizh verse rendering begins as soon as the pallavi is over.The Master renders it with passion, intensity, crystal clear enunciation and pronunciation.
People can not only learn music from him. They can learn the language of tamizh as well.

In today’s world where murdering a language is considered to be an achievement-especially by people in Cinema and the Television- Raaja sir shows the beauty of the language.

In the process, he also mentions about the ancient books on music and dance, the various musical instruments, the seven notes as per Tamizh Music.

We are grooved to our seats mesmerized by the voice, the language, the diction, the expression, and the meanings.

The Master also wonderfully uses Udukkai, Mridangam,Flute, Nagaswaram and Veena when these are mentioned as part of the verse!

The line ‘Eththanai Bhavam Undu Bharatathile’(how many expressions do we have in Bharatam..) is rendered with grace and grandeur, the final sangathi in the end in particular.

The effusive Chitra Veena shimmies as we see the different hues of Rasikapriya.

The crisp and succinct Charanam talks about ‘Silappadikaaram’ and the various dances. As we listen to it with rapt attention and revere, we are in for a very pleasant surprise.

There is a beautiful twist and turn.

The line ‘KaigaLil Oru Bhavam’ starts taking the ‘ni’ of Rasikapriya as ‘sa’ and it becomes Mayamalawagowla, the 15th Melakartha.

This technique called as Gruha Bedam or Shruti Bedam has been used time and again by Raaja sir and I have discussed this technique in detail in this thread in my earlier posts.

Engaged in a dialogue of intricate patterns, the song now goes on to discuss about the various expressions in dance.

Towards the end, it is Shruthi Bedam again as the song goes back to Rasikapriya.

The next Charanam is another beauty.Using the some of the swaras of Mayamalawagowla, it gives shades of Saveri and Lalitha(more of the latter).

It is so delicately crafted that we are engulfed and enveloped by the beauty of the Music.

The entire composition is replete with complexities.

It gives us the intuitively comprehensible image of the classical dance.


It has immeasurable power and weight.

It is composed with instinct and intensity.

Most importantly, it appeals to all of us..

How many expression exist in Music..
And is he not the one who gives all these expressions..

எத்தனை பாவம் உண்டு இசையினிலே
அது அத்தனையும் கொடுப்பவர் இவர்தானே..

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