Being a huge admirer of Shri Thyagaraja Swamy, one of the
greatest carnatic music composers, I often listen to many of his krithis. I
have always found these krithis to be full of meaning and devotion and have
hence enjoyed them immensely. As I browsed my iPod for some good playlists, I
found Shri T.V.Sankaranarayanan mama's rendition of some exciting Thyagaraja
krithis. I immensely enjoyed this particular playlist as all the songs were
sung very clearly and melodiously. Some songs sung here were Enduku In Raaga
Thodi, Janaki Ramana in Shuddhaseemanthini and Nithyaroopa in Darbar.
As I listened to every piece, the one that really caught my
attention was the song Niravathi Sukhada in Raaga Ravichandrika. The Raaga felt
very refreshing and energizing and I was immediately on the web finding out
more details about both Raaga and krithi. This Raaga is a Janya of Harikambhoji. Since there is a
limited scope for elaboration, it is mainly used for short pieces. Most
of the popular krithis in this Raaga are those of Thyagaraja Swami. Rageshri of
Hindustani Music is said to be the closest to this Raaga. (There is also
another school of thought which says that Rageshri is very close to Natakurinji).
It has Aarohanam- S R2 G3 M1 D2 S,
Avarohanam- S N2 D2 M1 G3 R2 S.
Another famous krithi in this Raaga is
Maakelara Vicharamu, once again composed by Thyagaraja Swami.
In the Krithi Niravathi, Thyagaraja extols Lord Rama. This is the gist:-
PALLAVI- O
Lord who confers unceasing comfort! O Lord of blemishless form! O Lord who
removed the curse on ahalya pronounced by sage gautama!
ANUPALLAVI-
O Lord who built causeway on the Ocean! O Lord saluted by Indra! O Lord, sung by Lord Siva and others, abiding
in the hearts of pious people!
CHARANAM- O Lord whose body resembles the precious stone
emerald! O Lord who is enamoured by the precious lakSmI! O Nourisher of the
people dependent on You! O Lord who has terrifying prowess! O Lord worshipped
by the very hands of Lord Siva (Or O Lord worshipped by mighty men)! O Lord who
is far removed from the people who are given to (qualities of) inertia
(darkness) and passion (action)! O Lord whose feet is praised by this
Thyagaraja!!
Thoroughly enjoyed the
song, attaching a fragment of my rendition and a link to the lyrics.
Note- I have pointed out
and repeated a few nice phrases that I felt showed the Raaga's nature.
No comments:
Post a Comment