Dasavidharaga Navati Kusuma Manjari - Panchamukhi and Shanmukhi Demo by Dr Shreekantham Nagendra Shasty & Troupe

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saiganesh
Posts: 45
Joined: 04 Feb 2010, 13:28

Dasavidharaga Navati Kusuma Manjari - Panchamukhi and Shanmukhi Demo by Dr Shreekantham Nagendra Shasty & Troupe

Post by saiganesh »

Dashavidha Raga Navati Kusuma Manjari :

Vaggeyakara : Shri Adibhatla NarayaNa Dasugaru
Concept and demonstration :Vid Dr. Shreekantham Nagendra Shastry and His troupe
Venue and Date : 21.01.2016,Brindavan Gardens, Guntur, AP



Introduction :

"Dashavidha Raga Kusuma Manjari " - A Musical Essay composed by "Laya Brahma" "PanchaMukhi Parameshwara" Shrimad Ajjada Adi Bhatla Narayana dasugaru, is a rare musical wonder ,, in which Shri Das has expertly brought together theoretical and practical aspects of Karnatik Classical music and given us a Complete work which in nutshell achieves "Lakshya - LakshaNa" Samanvaya , confluence of Theory and practice. A musical work of this vast range and inherent depth is very rare in our literature and also in oral traditions.
The very importance of Manjari lies in creating Lakshya (Musical form) for many ragas which are only to be found in Shaastra (Theory). Structure of Manjari can be briefly explained as follows. It has a total of 10 Navatis in 10 types of Raga- classes (Jaathi), each Navati comprises of 9 ragas making it to a total of 90 Ragas in entire composition.Language used are Samskrit (In AarohaNa maalika) and Telugu (In Avarohana Maalika), which also demonstrates Shri dasugaru's lyrical and musical prowess. Shri Dasugaru has included "Raaga Mudra" in each raaga's composition similar to that of Muttuswami Deekshita's tradition , in such a way that "raaga mudra" comes as a reference to "Bhagavati/Devi".

Shri Naryana Dasugaru named this musical essay as Panchamukhi, which also refers to 5 faces of Bhagavan Shiva Namely, Sadyojata,Vamadeva, Aghora, Tatpurusha and Ishana. Panchamukhi has 5 taalAngas which are to be performed at once in 1 cycle(Avarathanam) by using various physical movements which includes hands, thighs ,head. A 6th anga can also be used and then it can be called "Shanmukhi" . In our classical texts this can be referred as "Laghu shekhara" which is a part of "Taala Shodashanga".

Manjari has enormous scope and possibility to demonstrate in 5 types of Laghus and also in all SuLaadi Sapta taalas. Scholars and Musicians alike have hailed this musical essay as " Peerless, Unique and Unprecedented" which is no exaggeration. Shri Narayana Dasugaru had performed Manjari in Shanmukhi by keeping "lemon fruit" on his head during 14th anniversary of "Vijayanagaram Maharaja college of Music" (01.02.1933) of which he was a principal.

Uniqueness of Presentation by Dr. Nagendra Shastry and Team :

After a gap of almost 83 years ,Dashavidha raaga kusuma Manjari demonstration was carried out by Dr Nagendra Shastry , torch bearer of Chintalapalli Music tradition of karnataka and his disciples. Program started with detailing of "Dasavidha raga Navati Kusuma Manjari" and its specialities be it in terms of Raga /Laya and the scope that it offers for musicians and researchers for further study and practice. Specialty of this presentation was 9 participants demonstrating Navatis at once. Each individual was conceived as a form of Navati. All the 9 participants demonstrated Navati in Panchamukhi and Shanmukhi taaLas in Avadhana paddhati . I.e. 5 or 6 different Talangas demonstrated through different parts of the body (Hands, Thighs, Shoulders, Neck and palm) simultaneously which was first of its kind in Karnatik classical music history and which was appreciated by Vidwans and Rasikas alike.

It can also be noted that there were 5 observers who were assigned the responsibility of keeping an eye on each taalanga and testify if all 9 participants adhered to taalam with reference to each talanga. Sri Malladi Ramprasad (famous Karnatic vocalist), Sri Bhusurapalli Venkateswarlu (famous mridangam and ghatam player), and Sri Kota Sachitananda Sastry (famous Harikatha artiste) were among the observers, Troupe showed different possibilities and facets of Manjari in its presentation.This was first of its kind presentation of Panchamukhi and shanmukhi demonstration in GoshTi. Dr , Nagendra Shastry's attention to detail was evident as there were many subtle changes which were done in Composition to take care of Literary and notation misalignment, MeLantara (Eg: Vasantha) , Raga name corrections etc which added more value to overall effectiveness of presentation.

Regards,
Saiganesh

rajeshnat
Posts: 9906
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Re: Dasavidharaga Navati Kusuma Manjari - Panchamukhi and Shanmukhi Demo by Dr Shreekantham Nagendra Shasty & Troupe

Post by rajeshnat »

saiganesh wrote: The very importance of Manjari lies in creating Lakshya (Musical form) for many ragas which are only to be found in Shaastra (Theory). Structure of Manjari can be briefly explained as follows. It has a total of 10 Navatis in 10 types of Raga- classes (Jaathi), each Navati comprises of 9 ragas making it to a total of 90 Ragas in entire composition......

Shri Naryana Dasugaru named this musical essay as Panchamukhi, which also refers to 5 faces of Bhagavan Shiva Namely, Sadyojata,Vamadeva, Aghora, Tatpurusha and Ishana. Panchamukhi has 5 taalAngas which are to be performed at once in 1 cycle(Avarathanam) by using various physical movements which includes hands, thighs ,head.
Is this dance like a kathakali padam one that was posted by Jayan (braindrain) some time back?

I want to quickly make an assessment is there more of dance quotient that will get into way of music

Any video pointers saiganesh??

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