ILaiyaraaja- The Spiritual Musical Scientist

It may sound strange, odd or even bizarre if I say that spirituality is one of the most abused words. Not many, who talk about spirituality, seem to know the real meaning of spirituality.

Is spirituality related to God or belief in God alone?

Is it selfishness? Or is it caring for others?

Is it meditation or other rituals?

Or is it saying My God is great and that Yours is the worst?

Let us look at these verses of Kamban before attempting to answer the aforementioned questions.

கல்லிடைப் பிறந்து போந்து கடலிடைக் கலத்த நீத்தம்,

எல்லைகளில் மறைகளாலும் இயம்பரும் பொருள் ஈதென்னத்

தொல்லையில் ஒன்றேயாகித் துறைதொரும் பரந்த சூழ்ச்சிப்

பல்பெருஞ் சமயம் சொல்லும் பொருளும்போல் பரந்ததன்றே.

தாதுறு சோலைதோறும் சண்பகக்காடுதோறும்

போதவிழ் பொய்கைதோறும் புதுமணத்தடங்கள் தோறும்

மாதவி வேலிப் பூகவனந்தோறும் வயல்கள் தோறும்

ஓதிய உடம்பு தோறும் உயிரென உலாயதன்றே.

The river which originates from the Hills, flows through the fields, gardens, dense forests and is known by different names depending on the place it flows through and the form it assumes. Likewise, the Divine is one, though different names are given by different religions.

There are many inner meanings to these verses, and I do not want to get into that now. What I would like to highlight however are a couple of things and these will be said after looking at yet another Tamizh verse.

அகனமர்ந்த அன்பினராய் அறுபகை செற்று

       ஐம்புலனும் அடக்கி ஞானப்

புகலுடையோர் தம் உள்ளப் புண்டரிகத்து

      உள்ளிருக்கும் புராணர் கோயில்

தகவுடை நீர் மணித்தலத்துச் சங்குள வர்க்கந்

       திகழச் சலசத் தீயுள்

மிகவுடைய புன்கு மலர்ப் பொரியட்ட

       மணஞ்செய்யும் மிழலையாமே. 

     

Composed by a poet who is supposed to have had the divine blessing at a very young age and whose name itself has a connection with enlightenment, this verse interestingly has two parts and a deeper look would suggest the link between the two parts.

In the first part, Thirugnansambandhar defines a real and genuine Bhakta as the one who controls the five senses and the six enemies residing inside-which are lust, anger, meanness, desire, ego and jealousy. He says such people are full of love and that the Divine resides in their lotus like heart.

In the second part, he describes a wedding. Yes, wedding of the Nature. He sees the temple pond at Thiruveezhimizhalai. The crystal clear water reminds him of a carpet; the huge white flowers, of conches; the Lotus right at the centre of the pond, of the sacred fire; the tiny flowers from the punugu tree which fall on the pond, of the sacred rice.

Seen through the poet’s eyes, this is a wedding!

Now, read the two parts and you can connect and relate the two. I am not getting into the hidden meanings now as there is a joy in self discovery. Moreover, such verses are left to one’s own interpretations.

But I would like to mention the commonalities between the verses of Kamban and the one of Thirugnansambandhar.

Both sing about the Divine. Both see the Nature from a different angle and appreciate the beauty. Both are musical in that melodious language called Tamizh. Most importantly, one gets to know the real meaning of spirituality in the words of both the great poets.

Now, let us go back to the beginning. After all, isn’t it the Beginning which leads us to everything in life?

What is Spirituality?

 Always having a calm mind as crystal clear as a river, loving all, realising that the Divine is one and that it resides within oneself. And yes, worshipping and appreciating nature.

Now, what happens when somebody who is spiritual, also analyses everything and keeps discovering new things from time to time?

Can he/she then be called as a scientist?

And what happens when spirituality combines with artistic sensibility and with science?

Wouldn’t it then result in some beautiful and immortal works?

In my opinion, Kamban and Gnanasambandhar belong to this category.

And in this 21^st Century if somebody is an embodiment of these qualities, it is ILaiyaraaja. That is why, his compositions are liked equally by a layperson as well as by a pundit.

In some of my earlier Geetanjali special posts, I had mentioned that even agnostics and atheists feel the Divine through music. That spirituality runs as an undercurrent in ILaiyaraaja’s music may not be known to many but the fact remains that people get attracted to his music because of this spirituality in his compositions. There are at least two more reasons for his music sounding great. One is the fact that he himself is a connoisseur. Two is his proclivity to doing things which are different and his propensity to experiment without in anyway compromising on the classicism.

The special song of this year’s Geetanjali is an example. Or rather it is just yet another example of his analytical mind and his sense of aesthetics coupled with spirituality.

In ‘Ponnil Vaanam’ from the film Villuppattukkaran(1992 ), there is that sense of awe about Nature, there is melody and there is spirituality. Above all, there is a very different ragam.

There are thousands of ragas in Carnatic music but only some hundreds are used. Out of this, only some are very frequently used. In film music, no other composer has used ragas like ILaiyaraaja not just in terms of quantity but also in terms of quality. Though he has used many popular ragas, he has also used some very rare ragas, some of which were never used even by any classical musician.

The raga called Khamas is very popular in Carnatic Music. ILaiyaraaja has used this raga very classically in a couple of his compositions. People who follow Geetanjali will remember the special song of 2009-Maargazhi maadam mun pani veLaiyile- based on this raga. But there is yet another raga whose second name is the same as this raga and yet not many are aware of this raga. What is surprising is that this raga whose name is Karnataka Khamas has 6 swaras in both arohana and avarohana and is not popular despite the structure being so simple. As far as I know, no classical music composer has used this raga. In film music too, it is ILaiyaraaja alone who has used this raga and has composed 20+ songs in this raga.

The raga sounds like Bahudari and I have come across posts in the net which mentions the songs in this raga as being based on Bageshree or on Sriranjani. The connection between the latter and this raga anyway cannot be missed. If the panchamam of Karnataka Khamas is assumed as the aadhara shadja, one gets Sriranjani as per the principles of Graha bedam.

Let us now look at this song and see how it sounds.

The imagistic brevity of the prelude is striking. It just has the string sound from the keys, the vocals which of course does only the akaaram and the flute. The ubiquitous bass guitar is of course used in lieu of percussion instrument.

Revolving around the panchamam and the shadjamam, the keys produce the sound of the stringed instrument which shines with radiance. It resembles the sound of the bells. Can any beginning be more auspicious than this?

The intrinsically distinctive voice of Janaki starts the akaaram. Like a very obedient child, the flute follows each and every note of hers, meticulously. The movement in the 3-beat cycle Tisram sans any percussion instrument makes the experience special. It is made more special with the sound of the bass guitar which backs the vocals and the flute, with great involvement. The sitar follows and makes our heart tender with its supple sound. Is it pulling the special chords in our heart?

With a sense of composure and poise, the Pallavi starts. And now we see the Laya Raaja. In fact this Laya Raaja who refrained from using any percussion instrument in the prelude, uses the Tabla which first plays the ‘ta ki ta’ along with the first phrase ‘Ponnil’. Immediately the 3 is divided into 6 micro beats and the percussion plays ‘ta ka/ta ka dhi mi’. After this, it is ‘ta ka dhi mi/ta ka’ with the stress on the first and the third syllable with the fifth syllable being played rather subtly. The second, fourth and the sixth are left blank. The morsing which is known for its unique sound is played for every alternate cycle and only sounding the third syllable. This is what is Laya Raaja mandiram!

The first interlude is an ideal balance of depth and sensitivity. To start with, the violins in higher octave touch some notes of Harikambhoji rather innocuously. One sees the contours of western classical music as the strings from the solo violin are sounded with fingers in the background. This technique is called as the pizzicato in western classical music parlance. The beguilingly charming flute gives resplendent shades of the raga with the sitar repeating the melody in its unique way. The flute plays another set of notes before a unique combination of the keys, sitar and the bass guitar illuminates the interlude and guides us to the first CharaNam which itself has a pleasant surprise in store.

We get to taste the beauty of yet another raga in the first two lines. No, the raga as such doesn’t change here. Let me explain. As mentioned earlier, Karnataka Khamas is a raga with 6 swaras. Take the swara ‘ma’ out of it and we get Valaji, a rather popular raga. Here, the Maestro obscures the swara ‘ma’ and makes us feel Valaji.

The CharaNam gathers momentum in the second half with the percussion going in the faster mode. Intensity of feeling.. or is it intense feeling?

We see the subtleties of expression in the second interlude. The keys and the bass guitar join together and ripple reverberatingly. Even as this is on, the flute enters with slim line elegance and moves with zest. It is pizzicato yet again but this time it is more prominent with the strings of the violins sounded with gusto with fingers. The superimposed higher octave violins play with gay abandon albeit with an indescribable passion. The flute intercepts again giving slices of silkiness.

The river dances in tisram in the second CharaNam.

Is water a metaphor for our Life?

Or is it for spirituality?

Ask Kamban or Gnanasambhandar..

Or better still ask Gnanadesikan.

Or keep listening to his compositions.

You will find an answer..

PS: This post and the previous Tamizh post were written exclusively for Geetanjali-2016 and was read out before an invited audience on the 28th of August 2016.

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