[This post was written in 2009 and remained unpublished until 2023].
svAti tiruNAL is a composer whose compositions have delighted musicians and rasikas alike for a long time. His compositions, which are generally in sanskRt are usually simple but the lyrics have deep meaning and at times complex compound structures. We find wonderful metaphors in his compositions, for example, in the kriti mAmava sadA varadE in the rAgam nAttakuriJji, the anupallavi is : "zamala giri kulizE". zamala means sin or impurity. giri, as you may know means mountain. "kuliza" means thunderbolt. So, zamala giri kuliza means "One who is like a thunderbolt to the mountain of sins." Aha! What kalpanai!
Most of svAti tiruNAL's compositions have been notated and perhaps, even set to tune by Semmangudi mama and K.S.Narayanaswami. gAGgeya vasana dhara is a beautiful composition that I learnt recently from my grandmother, a vaiNika gAyakI who is a veritable treasure trove of svAti kritis. She learnt saGgItam at the svAti tiruNAL Academy at Travancore (presently at Thiruvananthapuram) when Semmangudi mama was the principal.
hamIr kalyANI is a beautiful rAgam. Although it is rAgam from Hindustani music, Carnatic composers have adapted it very well to the needs of Carnatic music. One must actually hear a rendition of venkaTa zaila vihAra by brindamma to see how well some schools have "carnaticized" a rAgam like hamIr kalyANI. You might also be surprised to know that the composition parimaLa raGganAtham of dIkSitar has phrases like S R G M2 P, with lots of gamakams as against the usual piDi: S M2 G P in my Chittappa's pAThAntaram. But this composition preserves the Hindustani flavor.
caraNam: vAraya pApamakhila mayi mAmita mohana-mRduhAsa! pAtavijaya! khala- phaNivihaga! parilasa mama hRdi pannagEndrazaya! sAdhujanAvana! sarasijabhava-valavidalana-parinuta! kRpAvAsa! bhave kSipa mA viSaye!
pallavi:
The kriti starts off with mahAviSNu's nAmAs: gAGgEyavasanadhara: "gAGeya" actually means "born out of gaGga"; however some dictionaries suggest "golden". The latter meaning makes more sense here as this is a kriti on hari; although hari and haran are one and the same! Hence this nAma would mean: " One who wears (dhara) a golden garment".
padmanAbha: He in whose navel (nAbhi) the lotus (padma), the source of the universe stands or One whose navel is beautifully shaped like the lotus or One who shines in the middle of the heart lotus of all. These translations have been taken from Adi Sankara's bhASyam on the viSNu sahasranAmam.
navajaladAGga: One whose body (aGga) is like the new (nava) cloud (jalada). mahAviSNu is generally accepted as dark hued, in fact as dark as the freshly formed cloud. The famous zlOkA zAntAkAram... has the nAmA meghavarNa, meaning One who has the colour (varNa) of a cloud (megha).
The composer says: mAm ava i.e Deign to protect (ava) me (mAm) , oh navajaladAGga! Oh padmanAbha! Oh gAGgeyavasanadhara!
anupallavi:
The anupallavi has only nAmAs:
raGgasthala-phaNiphaNa: One who used the erect hood (phaNa) of a serpent (phaNi) as a dancing floor ( raGgasthala). This obviously refers to the Kaliya episode from the zrImat bhAgavatam. This can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaliya
rAmaNIyaka: One who is beautiful and charming.
guNAlaya: One who is the repository (Alaya) of good virtues (guNa)
Talking of the virtues of nArAyaNa, I am reminded of tyAgarAjasvAmI's description of zri rAma's virtues. In the kriti mummUrttulu, tyAgarAjasvAmI says:
which roughly means: The trinity in agitation weighed their own famous virtues against zrI rAma's with a scale and found that there was no balance! zrI rAma's guNas outweighed even the virtues of the trinity all put together! Aha! enna kalpanai!
caraNam:
Here, svAti tiruNAL says : Kindly cover up i.e put an end to (vAraya) all (akhila) my (mayi) sins (pApam) . Describing the Lord as : mAmita: mA + mita i.e without measure,
mohana : The charming one,
mRdu - hAsa: One with the gentle (mRdu) smile (hAsa),
pAta-vijaya: One who is victorious (vijaya) over ruin (pAta). This can also be translated as Protector of Arjuna, who is also called vijaya,
khala-phaNi-vihaga: This is another wonderful compound. khala means " wicked" phani refers to a serpent. vihaga refers to garuDa, or the eagle, the king of birds. So this nAma could mean " One who is to the wicked, like an eagle is to a serpent",
svAti tiruNAL says : shine (parilasa) in my (mama) heart (hRdi).
The madhyama kAla sAhityam is intriguing and reminds one of muthusvAmI dikSitar. The nAmAs here are as follows:
sarasijabhava- valavidalana- parinuta : One who is praised (parinuta) by the One born out of the lotus : sarasijabhava, i.e Lord brahma and the One who ripped apart (vidalana) the demon vala i.e indra. We all know the famous Indra- vRtra episode from the purANAs. However there is another version of this story, one that is found in the Rig Veda. According to this version, vRtra had kept the waters of the captive, until indra had destroyed him. vRtra also had a brother by the name vala. vala was supposed to be the soul of a cave in which demons called the paNi 's had hidden celestial cows. indra defeated them in battle and also split open the cave vala. Hence he is called vala - vidalana.
kRpAvAsa: One who is the repository (vAsa) of compassion (kRpA).
zrI svAti appeals to the Lord thus: Please do not (mA) throw me (kSipa) into the sphere (viSaya) of worldly affairs ( bhava).
Do leave a comment if you found any errors. Hope you liked the new theme.
May the all pervading protector of the universe, the satya saGkalpa help us cross this bhavasAgara !
[I wrote this post in 2012 but never published it until 2023].
I was more than overjoyed to be attending the Cleveland Aradhana Festival- my first time and what an experience it was! First of all, I must congratulate Shri Sundaram and team for their yeoman service to Carnatic Music and the excellent organisation. I was there for 3 days - unfortunately I had to miss the concerts of Shri NSG, Sri Ranjani and Alamelu Mani whom I wanted to listen to, eagerly. However, I did catch Sri Ranjani's concert online - it was sublime. Her rendition of parimaLa ranganAtham and the kAmbodi alapana were classy and displayed not only her vidwat and lineage but also her hard work and dedication.
P.S. I am writing lists from memory - may have missed out on some things.
Thursday, 12th April:
Karthik Suresh Iyer
1. tuLasi daLa
2. brovasamayamidE - Gowrimanohari - RNS
3. adi nIpai
T Gireesh - Brindamma's Grandson.
For a fan of Brinda and the Dhanammal Family, this concert was top-notch! What an amazing bEgaDa and varALi! Aha!!
1. aparAdhamula nOrva - rasali
2. shankari nIvE - R
3. ETi janma - RNS
4. mahArAju karammanE - behag
Aishwarya Vidya Raghunath
Very good pathantaram
Highlights: kalaigiyuNTE , koNTEgADu
TNS:
One of the best concerts I have heard! Review already posted elsewhere!
Friday, 13th April 2012: Dr. Ritha Rajan
Highlights: shrI shukra bhagavantam, nIvErA kula, kA vA vA (while sang this, a danceuse performed abhinaya, inspired by Ritha Rajan's music!), tanayuni brOva,
I am blogging after many years (more than a decade). This blog is about my temple visit in Mar 2023. Although I have visited these temples many times in the last 10+ years, the visit in 2023 was special for a few reasons. First, I had the company of my wife. Second, the COVID lockdown meant that I was robbed of these experiences for several years. Hence, this visit in 2023 felt very special and offered an opportunity to turn inward and remind myself of all the great spiritual heritage of these temples, the legends and stories associated with these kshEtras, and the great music that has sprung forth from realized souls in these puNya kshetras. Visiting these kshEtras every now and then is one way to get closer to our composers and get a sense for the source of inspiration for their compositions.
Below is a travelogue in chronological order of my visits.
Brihadeeshwara Temple (Periyakovil), Thanjavur
The bRhadIshvara temple at tanjAvUr or periyakovilis a grand, magnificent, and beautiful temple with a lot of history. I have visited this temple many times since childhood. The main deity is Lord brhadIshvara and his spouse is Goddess brhannAyakI. Of course, ponniyin selvan, that is the great and legendary king rAja rAja cOzha came to mind here since he is the one under whose leadership great temple was constructed over a 1000 years ago.
Below is a documentary on this temple. The gOpuram is special, in that a lot of thinking went behind the installation of the crown-stone - which is a single piece of stone - after rest of the tall gOpuram was built. This is a stellar example of the engineering principles that were applied thousands of years ago.
I sang the following compositions which are associated with the deities here: ambA nIlAmbarI (in nIlAmbarI rAga by poNNiah piLLai), mAyAtIta svarUpiNi (in mAyA mALva gowLa by ponniah piLLai), sATilEni (in pUrvi kalyAni by ponniah piLLai), bRhadIshvarAya namastE (in shankarAbharaNam by muttusvAmI dikshitar), and bRhannAyakI (in AndhALI by muttusvAmI dikshitar).
In Sanskrit, the word "bRhat" means large. Indeed the Ishvara in the form of a linga and the temple gOpuram here are large!
Here is a rendition of sATilEni guruguha recorded during the lockdown days during the pandemic.
In this composition, shrI poNNiah piLLai says,
sATilEni guruguha mUrtini nE A nATanunDi namminAnu
(I have placed my faith on the incomparable (sATi lEni) form of the Lord - who is in the form of the Guru who in turn resides in the cave of the heart - for a long time. Oh Lord bRhadIsha of tanjAvUr, you are one with many noble qualities! Please bestow sweet eloquence upon me!).
And here is a rendition of bRhannAyakI in the rAga AndhALi by Smt. T. Brinda.
After spending time at this magnificent temple and its beautiful gardens, and practicing the grand compositions, I moved on to the bangAru kAmAkshI temple nearby.
Bangaru Kamakshi temple, Thanjavur
This temple is very close to the tanjAvUr periyakovil. It is special for Carnatic musicians since the main idol (vigraha) of kAmAkshI in this temple is the very idol that was worshipped by shrI shyAmA shAstrI. kAmAkshI is kAncIpura-vAsini, that is, One who lives in kAncIpuram. How then is She in tanjAvUr? It is said that this vigraha is made of gold (hence, "bangAru" kAmAkshI; bangAru means golden in telugu) and was originally in kAncIpuram. shyAmA shAstrI's ancestors brought it to tanjAvUr fearing the Nizam rulers.
I sang mAyammA in nATTaikkurinji in this shrine and sang several other shyAmA shAstrI compositions during the circumambulation around the shrine.
It was a divine experience to sing here and pay respects to shyAmA shAstrI. We returned home after this.
Before we move on, let's listen to a rendition of shyAmA shAstri's dEvI brOva in the rAga cintAmaNi.
Thiruvaiyaru
The
main deity in tiruvaiyyARu is panchanadIshwara (aiyyArappa in Taml). ambAL is
dharmasamvarddhani. All greats have sung here, starting from the tEvaram mUvar
(tirujnAnasambandar, appar, and sundarar), mANikkavAcagar, the Carnatic
trinity, and subbaraya shastri. I visited this temple after many years. This time, I sang ninnu vinA gati gAna of subbarAya shAstri,
dharmasamvarddhani of dikshitar, karuNa jUDavamma, ilalo praNatArthi, muccata
brahmA of thyagaraja, and Osai oli ellAm of appar. Very divine place.
An interesting tidbit about the name of this place:
tiru + ai + ARu = (respectable) + pancha + nadI
There are five rivers around thiruvaiyyARu of which one is kAvErI and the other four are more like tributaries of kAvErI. Hence the name tiruvaiyyARu. The four rivers/ tributaries are arasalARu (or airisilARu), vennARu, veTTARu, and kuDamuruttiyARu.
There is a very interesting story associated with this kshEtra about the great saint tirunAvukkarasar who is also known as appar. cEkkizhAr's periya purANam mentions that appar began a trip northward by foot with the goal to reach kAshI and then kailAsa . But his health did not permit him. He prayed to Lord Shiva at kALahastI seeking his help who in turn came in the guise of a saint and asked him to take a dip in a pond nearby. When he took a dip in that pond, appar found himself in tiruvaiyyARu. He rushed to the temple to praise the Lord and it is believed that the Lord aiyyArappa and Goddess dharmasamvarddhanI gave him the vision of kailAsa.
Let's now listen to Osai oli ellAm, a tEvAram of appar which was composed by him in tiruvaiyyARu. The below video is from the famous movie rAja rAja cozhan. The singer is Sirkazhi Shri Govindarajan.
Tyagaraja Swami Samadhi, Thiruvaiyaru
After visiting the main temple at tiruvaiyyARu, we visited tyAgarAja svAmI's samAdhi nearby. It is this very temple where the annual tyAgarAja ARAdhanA is held on the puSya bhaula pancamI day which typically falls during middle of January. The temple was mostly empty when we visited, hence we got a very good darshan, and some quiet space to sing tyAgarAja svAmI's compositions and pay homage to the great composer and saint. I sang rAma nannu brOva, rAma bhakti, sukhi evvarO, Emi nEramu, and muccaTa brahmA.
The construction of this shrine here was led by Bangalore Nagaratnammal. She was also responsible for bringing different groups of people that were organizing the tyAgarAja ArAdhanA together into a single consolidated event. This consolidation was in turn responsible for making the tyAgarAja ArAdhanA an event of national importance.
An interesting feature of this temple is that the inner walls of the prakAra are covered with marble slabs with inscriptions of the tyAgarAja svAmI's kritis in various languages.
Thus ended my trip to tiruvaiyyARu and I headed back home.
Thiruvannamalai
tiruvaNNAmalai is a kshEtra with deep spiritual significance. It is said that “To see cidambaram, to be born at tiruvArUr, to die at vAraNAsi, or merely think of tiruvaNNAmalai is to be assured of Liberation.” Those who know me will rightly have guessed that this will be among the lengthiest sections of this travelogue 😀.
A lot can be said about this kshEtra. You can read more about the legend of this place here.My favorite description of this place is by tirujnAnasambandar in his tEvAram "jnAnattiraLAy ninRa perumAn", which loosely translated means, "the Lord who is the aggregate of spiritual knowledge." tiraL also means cluster, or lump. So this phrase is subtly referring to the aruNAcala hill which cannot be missed here.
In this kshEtra, the aruNAcala hill is worshipped as Lord shiva Himself. aruNa means fire and acala means mountain. So arunAcala literally means "mountain of fire". However, aruNa figuratively refers to the fire of True knowledge (that is, knowledge of the Self) that burns ignorance. Hence aruNAcala is considered to imply "the mountain of knowledge" which is consistent with tirujnAnasambandar's epithet for the Lord of tivuvaNNAmalai.
The Lord here is aruNAcalEshvara (aNNAmlaiyAr in Tamil). This kshEtra is one of the panchabhUta sthalas (shiva temples corresponding to each of the five elements) corresponding to the fire element since the Lord here was originally in the form of a column of fire (read legend of this place here). In his composition aruNAcalanAtham in the rAga sAranga on Lord aruNAcalEshvara, muttusvAmI dikshitar has very beautifully incorporated the use of the Sanskrit syllable "ra" (र्) which is associated with fire throughout the composition. He also very intelligently starts the composition with aruNAcalanAtham smarAmi (I think of the Lord aruNAcalanAtha). He uses the verb smarAmi (I think) rather than other verbs as a subtle reference to the legend that merely thinking of aruNAcala results in liberation.
tiruvaNNAmalai is about a four hour drive from Chennai. I left Chennai around 5 AM and reached tiruvaNNAmalai around 8:30. There is something magical about aruNAcala. When I first got a glimpse of aruNAcala, tears rolled down my eyes without me knowing it. I had not seen aruNAcala for several years and the first glimpse was enough to remind me of all that aruNAcala stands for - the fire of true knowledge, the knowledge of the Self.
I first went to the Ramanashramam, visited the mAtrubhUtEshvara shrine, Bhagavan Shri Ramana Maharshi's samAdhi, and the meditation hall. I meditated in the meditation hall. My mind seemed to have come to a standstill. All thoughts ceased. I ceased to exist!
It was time for the Ashram to close for lunch. I had lunch in the Ashram and then encouraged by an internal inspiration , I began walking up the hill toward Skandashramam which is the Ashram where Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi stayed for many years before coming down to the current Ramanashramam. It was noon and the temperature must have been 40°C or more. I was barefoot and couldn't stand in a spot for more than a second. Nevertheless, the same source of inspiration that created the urge in me to go up also guided me through this climb. I kept chanting Bhagavan's aruNAcala aksharamaNamAlai and aruNAcala pancaratnam during the climb up to Skandashramam. One of the best parts of this climb is the view of the temple from aruNAcala. Below is a video I managed to take. It was a challenge taking this video because I couldn't stand stably for too long in the heat.
Before continuing my narration, let's take a moment to remember aruNAcala who is smaraNAt kaivalya (One who grants Liberation merely upon thinking). Here is a rendition of Bhagavan Ramana Mahrshi' aruNAcala pancaratnam.
After visiting Skandashramam and meditating there, I moved on to visit the virUpAksha cave. The virUpAksha cave is downhill from Skandasharamam. Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi was first brought here from the pAtALa linga shrine at the tirvaNNAmalai temple by devotees. He spent many years here before moving to Skandashramam. After meditating for a while here, I moved back up to Skandashramam and then down to the main Ramanashramam. On my way back up and then down, I kept chanting the aruNAcala aksharamaNamAlai and aruNAcala pancaratnam. In addition, I remembered another beautiful composition of Bhagavan - the appaLam pATTu. Take a few minutes to listen to it before moving on!
I stayed at the Ramanashramam for a few more hours before going to the temple. Lord aruNAcalEshvara gave me fantastic darshan - from very close quarters in the sanctum sanctorum. I couldn't have asked for more. The goddess of this temple is known as uNNAmulai amman or apIta-kucAmba. After visiting the main shrines, I visited the pAtALa linga shrine where Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi spent eighteen months in deep meditation, forgetting his body and the world. On the way to the shrine, during circumambulation, and on the way back, I remembered many compositions that have been composed here. aruNAcalanAtham by muthusvAmI dikhitar, uNNAmulai umaiyALoDum (a tEvAram by tirujnAnasambandar), vAnanai (a tEvAram by tirunAvukkarasar/ appar), and several of aruNagirinAthar's tirppugazh.
Here is a recording of vAnanai by students sung several years ago.
Take a look at one of the gOpurams of this temple.
This gopuram is special even though it is not the main gopuram of the temple. aruNagirinAthar - the composer of tiruppugazh - was from tiruvaNNAmalai. Before becoming a saint, he was entrenched in bad habits. Once, out of deep frustration, he decided to commit suicide by jumping from this very gopuram. However, Lord subrahmaNya - whose shrine is between this and the main gopuram of the temple- is said to have saved him and blessed him to compose hymns. aruNagirinathar went on to compose the tiruppugazh, kandar anubhUti, kandar alankAram, etc.
The way to identify this gopuram is to look at the far left corner- there is a parrot. Upon his death, aruNagirinAthar is said to have transformed into a parrot. Read this for more information (scroll to the end).
Let's now listen to cemmAn magaLai, a verse from kandar anubhUti and Eru mayil Eri, a tirupugazh.
cemmAn magaLai:
Eru mayil:
Did I miss doing the famous girivalam i.e. the circumambulation around the aruNAcala hill? Of course not! I made another trip to tiruvaNNAmalai for this purpose - this time along with family. We started the girivalam at about 8 PM after darshan at the temple. The temple was very crowded as it was the day after the Tamil New Year. It took us over 3 hours to cover to the main shrine and ambAL's shrine. We were very tired after this. And the heat did not help at all. Nevertheless, we embarked upon the girivalam - which is a good 14 km walk - and slowly finished around 2:30 AM after multiple stops on the way. The occasional sight of aruNAcala in the moonlight was really divine.
Bhagavan Shri Ramana Maharshi composed the aksharamaNamAlai while doing girivalam. It was a divine experience to chant this while walking around the hill. I also remembered Bhagavan's other compositions including few verses of the uLLadu nArppadu that I have memorized.
Let's listen to a few verses from uLLadu nArppadu before moving on. Senior devotees of Bhagavan hail the uLLadu nArppadu as a very important composition.
As I left tiruvaNNAmalai for the second time, I remembered Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi's saying "In the end everyone must come to Arunachala."
Thiruvarur
This is among my most favorite temples since tyAgarAja svAmI, muttusvAmI dikshitar, and shyAmA shAstrI were all born in tiruvArUr and must have grown up and played in this temple. It is said that for those who are born in tiruvArUr, moksha is confirmed. The Carnatic trinity were blessed without doubt to be born in tiruvArUr. It’s indeed the play of the Divine grace that they were all born within a few decades of each other and few streets apart from each other in this town. I remembered many legends, stories, and compositions here. Read on....
In tiruvArUr, it is really shiva by name valmIkanAtha that is the main and the older deity. However, over time, shiva in the form of tyAgarAja became more prominent. Both are considered to be the same, so one finds reference to valmIkanAtha and tyAgarAja in the same compositions. They are also referred to as ArUrA and tyAgEsha - one can find those epithets in compositions- especially those of pApanAsam sivan (see for example, parAmukham yEnayyA and malariNai tuNaiyE).
Here is parAmukham yEnayyA of pApanAsam sivan.
valmIka in sanskrit means an ant-hill. The Lord here gets this name because he incarnated into an ant-hill to protect the dEvas from vishNu who set out to destroy them (see legend here: http://www.templenet.com/Tamilnadu/Tiruvarur/vanmika.html). muttusvAmi dikshitar makes reference to valmIkanAtha in his tyAgarAja vibhakti kritis (see for example, tyAgarAja pAlayAshumAm in gowLa rAga).
The tyAgarAja shrine is what tiruvArUr is known for. In fact, the composer tyAgarAja was named after the shiva in the form of tyAgarAja. Lord tyAgarAja - unlike other shiva shrines - is in the form of sOmAskanda (sa+umA+skanda). That is, he is with pArvatI and subrahmanya svAmI, and not in linga form. Other temples also have the sOmAskanda mUrti but they don’t enjoy the same attention as tiruvArUr tyAgarAja svAmI.
tiruvArUr tyAgarAja svAmI is indeed special. According to legend, mahAviShNu Himself created the idol (vigraha), worshipped it, and gifted it to indra. Once, the great king mucukunda helped indra in defeating a demon. In return, mucukunda requested indra to present him with the tyAgarAja idol. indra did not want to part with it. So he created six other identical idols and asked mucukunda to pick the original one. mucukunda picked the right idol. Pleased with mucukunda, indra handed him all seven idols. The idol in tiruvArUr is the one worshipped by indra and mahAviShNu. The remaining idols are said to be in temples around tiruvArUr. muttusvAmI dikshitar’s tyAgarAjAya namaste in bEgaDa has reference to this legend in the first two lines of the caraNam (mukundAdi-pUjita-sOmAskanda-mUrtayE and mucukundAdi-bhaktajana-manoratha-pUrtayE).
Unlike other shiva shrines, tyAgarAja svAmI receives a lot of attention in terms of alankAram (decoration) and vazhippADu (pUja sequence). The evening sequence goes on for an hour or more - similar to how it is conducted for venkaTAcalapati. He is taken out in procession- within the temple and sometimes in the streets (for example, during the panguni uttiram tErOTTam festival when the Lord is taken in procession on the grand temple chariots ) - with a special type of movement called ajapA naTanam. muttusvami dikshitar refers to the ajapA naTanam in tyAgarAja pAlayAshu mAm in the last line of the caraNam.
In many compositions on Lord tyAgarAja, he is referred to as “vIthi viTanka”. See for example, pallavi of tyAgarAja pAlayAshu mAm and caraNam of malariNai tuNaiyE in rItigowla. In Sanskrit, viTanka means “unsculpted”. In the context of Tamil literature (e.g. tEvArams), the phrase refers to the beautiful Lord tyAgarAja who is taken in procession around streets (vIthi).
tyAgarAjAya namaste in bEgaDa also contains a couple of more interesting details about the shrines in this temple. In front of the valmIkanAtha shrine, there is a mirror in which one can find the reflection of the Lord. This is referred to in the caraNam line mukura-bimba-pratibimbita-mukha-sphUrtayE (One whose face’s glow is reflected in a mirror).
The composition also mentions akathAdi-trirEkhAtmakAdhara-pravRttayE - that is, One whose seat is of the form of a triangle with the three edges representing the letters a, ka, and tha. I’m still figuring what this refers to.
The tErOTTam (chariot) festival around March is very famous. The tyAgarAja idol is taken in procession across the streets on the grand temple chariots (tEr). Thousands throng to witness this event every year. We visited the temple on the day right after this year’s tErOTTam to avoid crowds.
Let us listen to tyAgarAjAya namastE in bEgaDa rAga by Shri K.S. Narayanaswami.
Apart from the tyAgarAja and valmIkanAtha shrines, the temple has many smaller shiva shrines. muttusvAmi dikshitar has composed kritis on many of them. Examples include sadAcalEshwaram (bhUpAlam) and hATakEshwara samraksha (bilahari) respectively on the acalaEshvara and hATakEshvara shrines. The famous song vAtApi gaNapatim is also associated with a gaNapati shrine in this temple.
Let us now listen to vAtApi gaNapatim before moving on.
Among the tEvAram composers, sundarar has composed many tEvArams in this temple since he spent many years here. Below is one of my favorite tEvArams by sundarar in kAmbOdi rAga sung by students.
In tiruvArUr, ambAL has two forms. Goddess nIlOtpalAmbA is the consort of valmIkanAtha. Goddess kamalAmbA has a separate shrine and is in yogic posture. muttusvAmI dikshitar has composed on both these forms. Goddess kamalAmbA is among the three forms of ambAL (apart from kAmAkshI and lalitA tripurasundarI) that are in sitting posture. It is with Goddess kamalAmba as the underlying deity that muttusvAmi dikshitar has composed the magnificent navAvaraNa kritis. Each of these kritis is based on an AvaraNa (layer) of the shrI cakra - which is a yantra (diagram) used by dEvI upAsakas (worshippers) in their worship - but refer to kamalAmbA as the physical form of dEvI. kamalAmbA is “vinOda-caranA” (one whose feet display a unique posture) as described in the dhyAna kriti - kamalAmbikE - in tODi. This kriti also includes a reference to the famous temple pond called kamalAlayam (kamalAlaya-tIrtha-vaibhavE).
Let us now listen to a few of the kamalAmbA navAvaraNa kritis.
I sang a few of the navavarana compositions outside of ambAL's shrine in front of the below painting.
In recent times, this painting of dikshitar and kamalAmbA were made in the walls right outside the kamalAmbA sannidhi. In addition, the lyrics of the navAvaraNa kritis in Tamil and Sanskrit have been inscribed in marble in these walls. It was a nice experience singing in front of the painting.
I was unable to visit the homes of tyAgarAja svAmI, muttusvAmI dikshitar, and shyAmA shAstrI as it was getting late. I have visited these several times in the past and hope to visit next time. Nevertheless, the temple at tiruvArUr always has me in awe every time I visit. It’s always a new experience, something new to learn, discover, and study about this temple, its legends, and associated compositions. I am hoping to visit this kshEtra with students and friends some day, sing all the great compositions that were composed here, and get inspired by the greatness of the shrines which very likely would have inspired the Carnatic trinity too.
Kuzhikkarai
After many years, a dream came true. muttusvAmI dikshitar’s annapUrNe vishAlAkshI was composed, not in kAshI as one might think, but in a small town called kuzhikkarai (or kuLikkarai as it is called now). We visited this temple dring this trip and I sang this composition as offering. The main deity of this small temple near tiruvArUr is Lord vishvanAtha. ambAL is Goddess annapUrNA dEvI.
Here is a portion of annapUrNE vishAlAkshI in the rAga sAma. This is from a recording that was taken at the temple:
In the composition, dikshitar has codified the name of the town as “garta-tIra” in the anupallavi which literally translates to “kuzhi-karai” in tamil (unnata-garta-tIra-vihAriNi). kzhikkarai literally translates to "banks of a pit". Apparently, many years ago, this place was a low-lying area. Water would accumulate here during monsoons creating problems for agriculture. Hence people decided to organize agriculture outside of the village, giving an impression that the agriculture is being conducted in the “banks” of a “pit”. Hence the name kuzhikkarai.
This temple is said to be more than 450 years old. It is not old enough for tEvArams to have been sung here. It is said to have been built for those who couldn’t travel to kAshI and is referred to as "madhya kAshI".
muttusvAmI diskhitar's magnum opus shrI vishvanAtham is said to be composed here as well. Let's now listen to a rendition of this caturdasha rAgamAlikA (garland of fourteen rAgas) by the legendary musician M. L. Vasanthakumari.
Following this, I went to Trichy.
Thiruvanaikkaval
The above picture is from tiruvAnaikkAval in Trichy. I visited this temple after many years. This is where jambUpatE and akhilANDEshwari were composed by shrI muthusvAmI dikshitar. This inscription is a very revealing depiction of the temple and its legend. It is found without color in the main sannidhi of the temple.
tiruvAnaikkAval is one of the panchabhUta sthalams (shiva temples corresponding to each of the five elements) corresponding to the water element. Hence the lord is also referred to as “appu-lingam”. appu means water (Apas/ Apah in Sanskrit).
jambUpati literally means the Lord of the jambU. jambU refers to the jambU tree (java apple) which this place is famous for. A special feature of the jambU fruit here is that it is white.
The legend is that an elephant and spider worshipped shiva here. The spider would protect the shiva lingam with a web, and the elephant would bring flowers. Later, they started competing against each other and killed themselves. The Lord, out of his infinite mercy and grace, bestowed human birth to his two devotees. They were born as kings who are then said to have built this magnificent temple.
Since the Lord was protected/ worshipped by an elephant, the place is called tiru+Anai+ kA (place protected by the elephant). In fact this place is said to have many elephants. In jambUpatE, dikshitar refers to the Lord as “sAmajATavInilaya svaybhO” (The svayambhu - that is, self created linga- who resides in the forest of elephants). The picture above clearly indicates a forest full of elephants.
Let us now listen to jambUpatE in yamunA kalyANi.
Such a masterpiece!
In tiruvAnaikkAval, ambAL is called akhilANDeshvarI. She is said to have performed severe penance here to obtain the grace of the Lord. While the attribution of the composition akhilANDeshwarI to muthuswami dikshitar is doubted, the other main composition he has composed here is shrI mAtAh in begada.
akhilANDeshwarI is said to have been in “ugra” or fierce form. In order to appease her, Adi Shankaracharya installed a shrine of Her son, gaNapati, right in front of Her! He also installed two big ear rings with the shrI chakra in her ears. There is reference to this in the composition shrI mAtAh (shrI-cakra-rUpa-tATankE).
Let us now listen to shrI mAtAh. This is a recording from a concert in 2015.
It was wonderful visiting this temple after many years, remembering the above legends and compositions. The Lord here is truly nirvikalpaka-samAdhi-niSTha-shiva kalpakataru - that is, one who is in steadfast unison with the Supreme Entity, and bestows that state upon devotees like the kalpavRksha tree.
Srirangam
After tiruvAnaikkAval, I visited shrIrangam. This is the gOpuram at the great temple here. The presiding deity is Lord mahAviShNu in the form of ranganAyaka/ ranganAtha. My group of students and myself practiced ranganAyakam which is muttusvAmI dikshitar's composition in rAga nAyakI only recently. So it was very timely to visit this shrine and sing the composition. In addition, I sang O rangashAyI, rAju vEDalE, and vinarAda nA which are all part of the shrIrangam pancaratnam compositions that tyAgarAja svAmi composed in shrIrangam during his visit to this place. I also refreshed some pAcurams of toNDaraDippoDi Azhwar that I learned recently.
shrIrangam is hailed by vaishNavas as being the most important among mahAvishNutemples (the corresponding shiva temple is cidambaram). Here, Lord ranganAyaka is in ananta-shayana form (he’s lying down on Adi shESha). This idol (vigraham) is said to have been worshipped by the ikshvAku clan (solar dynasty) in which Lord rAma was born. In ranganAyakam, muttusvAmI dikshitar has reference to this: He says that ranganAyaka is dina-maNi-kula-bhava-rAghavArAdhanam. That is, one who is worshipped by rAghava who was born in the Solar dynasty i.e. dina-maNi-kula. After his victory over rAvaNa and returning to ayOdhyA, Lord rAma presented this vigraha to vibhIShaNa -who was rAvaNa’s brother and had surrendered to rAma much before the war between rAma and rAvaNa. vibhIShaNa intended to carry this vigraha to Lanka from where he hailed but circumstances led him to place the vigraha in shrIrangam. The Lord wouldn’t budge from here. The composition ranganAyakam also has reference to this legend (nata-vibhIShaNam). The temple was built later by kings.
The temple complex is huge. It has many shrines, including for visvaksEna - who is supposed to be the commander-in-chief of mahAviShNu’s army - rAma, dhanvantarI, and rAmAnujAcArya. There’s reference to vishvaksEna in ranganAyakam: gaNapati-samAna-vishvaksEnam (One whose commander-in-chief vishvaksEna is similar in strength to Lord gaNEsha).
An important feature of the temple is the golden vimAna (or shrine) which is supposed to be in the shape of Om - which is referred to as the praNava mantra - or the primordial syllable. dikshitar makes a reference to this as well - praNavAkAra-divya-vimAnam (One whose vimAna or shrine is of the shape of h praNava mantra Om). The structure right above the sanctum sanctorum is made of gold. Lord rAma is said to have handed the entire structure along with the vigraha to vibhIShaNa.
Goddess mahAlakshmI is referred to as rAnganAyakI in this temple and is duly acknowledged in ranganAyakam right in the pallavi.
The main sanctum was very crowded. Watchmen were pushing people around. Yet, I managed to get good darshanam. A memorable incident occurred as I was being pushed out of the sanctum. Although I went empty handed to visit the Lord, the temple priest thrust a bunch of tulasi and flowers into my hands. Considering that to be a blessing from the Lord, I headed back singing ranganAyakam bhAvayEham ranganAyakI samEtam.
Let us enjoy Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer's rendition of this composition.
What a great creation by muttusvAmI dikshitar!
Maruthamalai, Coimbatore
The last temple I visited was marutamalai near Coimbatore. This is a very famous temple of subrahmaNya svAmI. I don't know of compositions by mttusvAmI dikhitar in this place but aruNagirinAthar has made reference to this temple in his tiruppugazh.
Here I practiced many compositions on Lord muruga, including shrI subrahmaNyAya namastE, marukkulAviya, tAmadam yEn svAmI, kArtikEya gAngEya, etc.
Here is a rendition of tAmadam yEn svAmI, a composition of pApanAsam sivan in the rAga tODi. This is from a concert in 2018.
Conclusion
Overall, this was a very memorable trip with many deep experiences. I am grateful to the Supreme for making this happen.
With that, let me thank you for reading and staying with me for so long!
Note: This is a post I began writing in 2009 but never published as I did not get the time to complete it. I am publishing it now in 2019 even though it remains incomplete. This definitely brings back so many memories.
Life at college has easily been the most boring and also the most memorable part of my life! Boring because life at a place like Nagpur is pretty much stereotypical and unless you take the effort to do something, you might end up wasting precious time. Memorable because I learnt wonderful things, I matured spiritually and musically and made good friends. The most memorable time of my four years however was the final year. In the final year I read a lot on advaita and got introduced to Ramana Maharshi's teachings. I owe a lot to Karthik, a dear friend, for this and for all those days of his spiritual companionship! He even inspired himself and me to chant the viSNu sahasranAmam daily.I will surely miss those days when both of us used to chant the sahasranAmam, zArada bhujaGgam and gOvindASTakam together, and more importantly, our mess offs at Gayatri Bhojanalay! I learnt many beautiful kritis and I traveled to a lot of places. In the final semester, I was practically not at college! Nagpur railway station had become my permanent residence and the auto-rickshaw drivers, my best buddies! Of all my experiences during the four years, my temple tour will stand out distinctly as having contributed in a huge way to make the person I am, today.
The idea that I should visit the temples in South India had cropped up in my mind long back in my second year when I used to have musical discussions with Saiganesh, a dear friend and two years senior to me. Sai is an ardent rasika of karnATaka saGgItam and more precisely of muthusvAmi dIkSitar. Only after I interacted with him, I realised the genius and mAhAtyam of dikSitar. Sai used to and still travels a lot (click here for his travellogue) and I thought, why not actually visit the places which were visited by mahAns like dIkSitar, the nAyanmars and AzhwArs?
Vijayanish, another pal happened to come to my room when I was planning my trip in January and said that he would accompany me. This was an added bonus because we could share our expenses and he also had a camera!
We left for Madurai from Nagpur by train and reached Madurai early in the morning. After refreshing at the boarding house in the railway station, (a decent place, actually!) we went to the amman temple before the break of dawn. It so happened that we entered the West thiruvIthi, where there was no shoe stand. So we started walking down towards the north gate and found that the shoe stand there was closed. We then walked towards the east gate and again found no shoe stand! We went to the south gate and enquired, and were told that the shoe stand near the north gate should have opened! This went on until we finished 3 pradakSiNams of the temple before finding an open shoe stand and entering finally! ambAL was seriously testing our patience, nevertheless we took this to be an auspicious beginning to what was going to be a divine experience. When I had visited Madurai, the year before last, I was lucky to see ambAL's mahAdIpAradhanai in the evening; but the sight was not very fulfilling because of the heavy crowd. As we waited in fervent anticipation for the curtains to raise and for us to be able to witness the mahAdIpArAdhanai of the daughter of mAtaGga, I sang mInAkSi mEmudam dEhi, mAmava mInAkSi and mInAkSI paJcaratnam. When the curtains raised, I got a full, clear view of the Goddess being illuminated brilliantly by the light from the dIpam. I almost wept seeing mInAkSi amman's beautiful alaGkAram. I understood why a composition like mInAkSI mEmudam ever came into being.
zrI sundarEzvara however decided not to give us the bhAgyam of being able to witness His mahAdIpAradhanai! We had missed it. However we got to see the special sEvai wherein mInAkSI- sokkanAthar were taken on a procession around the temple. The temple architecture is no doubt beautiful. The nandi manDapam has , and we spent a lot of time taking pictures.
We went to a couple of other temples nearby like the madanagopAlasvAmi temple and the kUdalazhagar temple, where mahAviSNu is in a sitting posture. The rAjagOpuram houses mahAviSNu in sleeping (paLLikkoNDa perumAL) and standing (sUryanArAyana) postures. tAyAr here is Madhuravalli.
Next we went to Thiruppurankkundram. It was here that Lord Muruga was married to zrI dEvasEnA, after His victory against zUrapadma and his brothers. This is one of the "Aru paDai vIDu" of zrI subrahmaNya svAmI. kArttikEya svAmI, here is flanked by candran, sAvitrI and gAyatrI. It is interesting to note that here all members of the paramEzvaran's family are at the same shrine; ambAL is at the centre and murugan to Her right. After this we proceeded, rather doubtfully, to Pazhamudircholai. It was already 10:30 and most temples close at 11. Pazhamudircholai is 40 minutes away from Thiruppurankkundram by bus and all we could do was pray that we would reach on time. By God's grace , we managed to reach here just before the kallazhagar temple closed for the morning. A guy came from no where and pulled us through the crowd to the sanctum sanctorum for just 10 rupees. The magnificent perumAL gave us excellent darzan. sunderarAjar perumAL or kallazhagar as He is called is an old temple, with dark prAkArams untouched in the modern times. This adds to the mystic aura of the huge temple. The sculpture featuring yALis is amazing and the monkeys, very playful! karuppaNNasAmI here is supposed to be the temple guardian. Eighteen steps that lead to the temple door are considered as the manifestation of karuppaNNasAmI and it is believed that one's wishes are fulfilled if he has a look at the steps.
After a couple of pictures, we went uphill to visit kumArasvAmI. This is also one of the "Aru paDai vIDu"'s of Lord murugA. The nUpura gaGga tIrtham flows nearby. This water is considered to be equal to Ganga. The hills surrounding the temple are called vriSbadri as they look like Vrishaba and cow. During the trivikrama avatAra of mahAviSNu, a part of the water that was used by brahma to wash the feet of perumAL passed through the siLambu (ornament worn by dancers on the legs - ghungrU) and fell down here and flowed. Hence the river is called siLambu. This is a perennial river with a shrine dedicated to rAkkAyi amman.
श्रीविद्यां शिववामà¤ागनिलयां ह्रीम्कारामंत्रोज्ज्वालाम् श्रीचक्राङ्कितबिन्दुमध्यवसतीम श्रीमत्सà¤ानायकीम् / श्रीमत्षण्मुखविघ्नराजजननीम् श्रीमज्जगन्मोहिनीम् मीनाक्षीम् प्रणतोस्मि सन्ततमहम् कारुण्यवारान्निधिम् // I (aham) always (santatam) pay my obeisances (praNatosmi) to that ocean of mercy (kAruNyavArAnnidhi), Mother mInAkSi, who is zrividya, and is seated to the left (vAmabhAganilayA) of ziva; Who is effulgent (ujjvalAm)in the form of the hrImkARa mantra; Who is located at the centre most point (bindu) of the zricakra; Who is the queen (nAyakI)of the zrimatsabhA, (which I presume to be the universe), Who is the mother (jananI) of Lord murugA and gaNEza and Who is the delightof the whole universe.
(mInAkSI paJcaratnam -Adi zaGkara)
Note: This post was written by me in 2009 (you can see a comment from then). I suppose I rescinded it at some point for reasons not known to me; but publishing it again now. It has been a long time since I wrote anything. Anyways, hi everyone. I have been traveling a lot during the last few months and there was this one month when I was busy with exams and moving back to Mumbai (I am a graduate now!). I started with a temple tour in the last week of February. Vijayaneesh, a dear friend accompanied me. We must have covered around 40 temples in a week, without hiring taxis, etc. (Buses in TN rock!!!) After that I went to Shringeri-Shakatapuram for my cousin's Upanayanam and also my kutcheri at the Sharadamba Temple. Finally, in the last week of March I went home for about 10 days. Chittappa gave two memorable kutcheris at Thane and Santa Cruz. The following weekend I performed at Chembur Fine Arts. Everything went off well. I will post very soon on my temple tour.
Coming back to the svarajati, it was composed by zri Ponniah Pillai. This may not be the same Ponniah who has composed "mAyAtIta"(mAyA mALava gowLa) or "nI sari sATi" (kalyANi). This should be his grandson who lived in the 20th century. I will upate about this composer as soon as I get more information. (pl . help!!)
A svarajati is called so, because in such a composition, the swara and jati are interchangeable. The rhythm is subtle and generally slow, the musical content is enormous and the laya patterns often interesting. Most svarajatis are masterpieces in terms of the lyrics and bhAva. This is one among this class.
The lyrics of this svarajati are as follows:
pallavi:
nI aruLAyO! tAyE ! nIlAyatAkSiyE !
caranams:
1. nI dAnE nigarillAda mAtA! anAdiyE ! nILum! tamizh- isaiyE!
And here is a rendition by myself from 2009 (Hope it is not too painful. It's certainly not how I would sing now in 2019!) :
Phew! That is a bit of tamizh! It took me ages to understand and decipher the meaning of each word. Here is a rendition of it by myself. I learnt this from Hema Akka, who is a disciple of Chittappa and stays at Mumbai. (Can't thank her enough for sharing this with me!)
This svarajati is actually comparable to amba kAmAkSi in terms of the quality of bhairavi and intensity of the lyrics. The pallavi starts with a beautiful svarAkSaram at nI. "nI aruLAyO tAyE", says Ponniah, meaning, "Oh Mother (tAyE) . Oh nIlAyatAkSi (One with great blue eyes), grace (aruLAyO) me!"
caraNam 1
In the first caraNam, zri Ponniah extols ambAL as " nI dAnE nigar illAda mAta" : You (nI) are the mother (mAtA) with no parallel (nighar illAda) "
"anAdI" : without a beginning : an+Adi. This should bring to mind the phrase "anAdi nidhanam viSnum....." from viSNu sahasranAmam
"nILum" : Long, expansive.
"tamizhisaiyE": One who is in the form of tamizh music.
The adjective nILum can be used for tamizh, which is an expansive language or for isai, which is a veritable ocean. Hence, nILum tamizhisaiyE could mean"One who is the form of tamizh music which is infinitely expansive" or "One who is of the form the infinitely expansive tamizh language and music"
The svarAkSrams in the first line of this caraNam blend smoothly with the mood of the song.
ambAL is described as one without a parallel. Great devotees have always described their iSTa dEvatAs as one with no second because they have seen the Ultimate in their respective deity. That is the objective of the advaita philosophy. saguNatvam gradually develops into nirguNatvam. That is when the sAdhaka has realised the truth. At this point, let us pray for all of us to reach that state!
In the vivEka cUDAmaNi, zrI Adi zaGkara describes the brahman to have no beginning or end, one without second, pure conciousness, without any blemish, quiet and beyond all actions (verse 237). This has been expressed beautifully in this caraNam (isn't ambAL a form of saguNa brahman??)
ambAL is called as "saGgIta rasikA" in many works like the zyAmaLA daNDakam. Here, Ponniah Pillai has extolled ambAL to be the form of tamizh music itself. A reference to verse 66 of Soundarya Lahari (vipaJcyA gAyantI) should be of relevance here.) Adi zaGkara explains the beauty of ambAL's sweet voice that puts even kalaivANi to shame!
caraNam 2
In this caraNam, zrI Ponniah beseeches the Goddess for Her karuNA kaTAkSam:
OhvisAlAkshI, one with wide eyes! Your feet (caraNiyE) grant mOkSa i.e communion (sEr) with the Ultimate (paripUram) !Kindlyshower your grace (aruL) on me (emai), by making me serve (sEvai tandumE) your Lotus Feet (pAda paduma).
and entreats Her as follows: " Grant graciously (aruLuga) to those whoalways (nitam) utter (enuvOr) perpetually (satam) your name(unaiyE ) (actually, this should translate as: Those who always consider you as the Ultimate). Would you not put an end (thavirAyO) to my troubles (vinai) ?
ambAL who is the ultimate truth is permanent and free from changes i.e. nirvikalpa and avyaya. She is eternal i.e nityA.
caraNam 3:
This is the most beautiful of the caraNams, with beautiful swarAkSarams and lyrics:
ambAL is described as: (ah! enna kalpanai!)
pAparaniDap-pAlamarum tAyE: The Mother (tAyE) ,Who is seated (amarum) on the left (pAl) of paramESvara (paran) who has a snake around his neck ( pArppu)!
He says: " Oh Mother (ambA)! Oh pArvatI (nAriyE)! You are the one who , on seeing the galore (migha) of sinful deeds (pApa karumam) in the world (pAriDam), and the world (ulaga) suffering (karAvenum) while being entangled unsteadily ( uzhala) in the evils (durAshaiyil) of the carAcaram, i.e the realms of the animate and inanimate things which are intoxicated by lust (mada), showers grace (aruLuvai mAri) ceaselessly (viDAdu) by fighting against them Yourself (tAnEp pOri) "
This is veritably what the Lord says in the bhagavad gItA :
When there is excessive adharmA in the world, the Lord Himself will take birth amidst us to fight it!
caraNam 4:
Oh nArAyaNi! You are worshipped (tozu) by mahAlakSmI (tirumagaL) and sarasvati (bhArati). You will always grant (us) with delightful music (inimaiyAna isai) , affectionate heart (uLamadAgu nasai) , and harmony with everyone (perugiyODa isai). Kindly grace (us) (aruLAi) by not letting (viDAmE) (us) get bound (sUzha) by passions (pAsam), oh Goddess (IshvariyE)! You are my refuge (aDaikkalam) ! With all modesty (nANAlum) , I pray (tudittu) to You, Oh Goddess Bhairavi; please deign to come (varavE) !
On a light note, the first line of this caraNam reminds me of the argument between the three Goddesses in the movie sarasvati sabadam! The prayer in the following lines is so moving. We badly need good music (this svarajati is one definite example), harmony and peace these days. The mettu of the last line is mind blowing. It gives such a lingering climax to this mammoth composition!
May the Goddess shower us with music of supreme quality and free us from our bondages by blessing us with the knowledge of the Ultimate!
Kindly bring any errors to my notice. I guess many interpretations of most of the words here may be possible. Kindly suggest if you can interpret anything differently. I am no tamizh expert, as my nearest kin would love to vouch for ; I decided to try to translate this svarajati in order to, perhaps, "initiate" some thought process over this brilliant composition.
zri kRSNArpaNamastu!
P.S.: Fonts on this page are disturbing because of reasons I am not able to decipher. Will try to find out soon.
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