Ideas for a Seemantham concert?

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tribute
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Post by tribute »

I will be playing Veena in a seemantham(a ceremony for pregnant women). Is there any prescribed format to play in a Seemantham? Are there specific songs that are a must/part of seemantham?
Somebody, please give me suggestions on how to choose songs and other things. Are there any songs that are apt for the function?

mohan
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Post by mohan »

Sri mAthrubhUtam, Dikshitar's krithi in Kannada relates the story of how Lord Shiva takes the form of a woman to help a pregnant woman during childbirth.

My wife used to sing this often during her pregnancy and am happy to note that a baby boy was born last week.

cienu
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Post by cienu »

That is indeed wonderful news Mohan. Congratulations to you and your wife. :)

Incidentally I happened to see Vijay Siva sing a superb Mathrubootham in "youtube" 2 days back, after explaining in detail about the background of the story and how MD was able to crunch the gist of the entire story in just one line.
Last edited by cienu on 23 Mar 2009, 14:57, edited 1 time in total.

vainika
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Post by vainika »

Tribute, assuming this function is in a Hindu family, I would add to Mohan's point by suggesting kRtis on juvenile forms of deities. While on the topic, I can think of N kRitis on bAlakRShNa/bAlagOpAla/bAlasubrahmaNya but not on any goddess in child form. Are there any?

Mohan, congratulations to you and Mrs. Mohan!

Sreeni Rajarao
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Post by Sreeni Rajarao »

In our family, it has been a tradition to sing / sing along with a veena rendition a great lullaby song "jo jo sree krshna."

This is a Purandara dasa pada that my Father Veena Raja Rao had set to kuranji rAga.

I should be able to upload a version. Just a need some time to do so.

mohan
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Post by mohan »

cienu wrote:That is indeed wonderful news Mohan. Congratulations to you and your wife. :)

Incidentally I happened to see Vijay Siva sing a superb Mathrubootham in "youtube" 2 days back, after explaining in detail about the background of the story and how MD was able to crunch the gist of the entire story in just one line.
Thanks for the wishes

Here is the link on you tube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx0TRzel ... re=related

ragam-talam
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Post by ragam-talam »

Perhaps it would be a good idea to play non-Vivadi ragams on this occasion.
Mangala ragas such as Sri, Madhyamavati, Atana would be nice.
Kritis such as Santhana gopalakrishnam would be appropriate I think, although for a veena concert the sahityam aspect is not so evident.

prashant
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Post by prashant »

vainika wrote:I can think of N kRitis on bAlakRShNa/bAlagOpAla/bAlasubrahmaNya but not on any goddess in child form. Are there any?
bhajarE rE Citta bAlAmbikAm, maybe?

Also these krithis are attributed to Dikshitar - bAlAmbikayA kaTAkshitOham - shriranjani / bAlAmbikAyA param nahi rE - kAnaDA. IIRC Dikshitar addresses Devi as bAlAmbikE in a couple other pieces [ghanTA navAvaraNam?].

karuNanidhiyE tAyE - bauLi / mAtA innum vAdA - shriranjani / trilOka mAtA - paraju might be nice songs for this concert since they all refer to Devi in 'motherly' terms. shri mAtrubhUtam is of course most apt for this occasion.

Mohan, congratulations to you, your wife and your families!!!

uday_shankar
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Post by uday_shankar »

Does it make sense to suggest shuddha seemantini for a seemantam :-) ?

Nice kriti...jAnaki ramana.

mohan, congratulations.

coolkarni
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Post by coolkarni »

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Last edited by coolkarni on 28 Nov 2009, 22:02, edited 1 time in total.

PUNARVASU
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Post by PUNARVASU »

Mohan, Congratulations to you and your wife.
Playing veeNai for seemantham is a part of the rituals; good that this particular seemantham will have a live performance. I had to depend on music india online for my daughter in law's seemantham.

arasi
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Post by arasi »

Mohan,
Congratulations to you both! Just a few days ago. I was wondering if the baby was due around this time.
The best to you all!

arasi
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Post by arasi »

Tribute,
cinnanjiRu kiLiyE kaNNammA, jagadOddhArana, kAntimatip piLLait tamizh (nI vArAdirundAl), mAmava mAdhava and other child-oriented songs are apt. A nIlAmbari would add a special touch since the words will not be heard on the instrument and all those present may not catch on to the words. Then again, the care with which you choose the songs would be appreciated by the mother-to be and the family...

rshankar
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Post by rshankar »

Tribute - if the couple who are having their sImantam know the sex of the child, some other songs could be:

Boy:

bAro krishNayyA
oLi paDaitta kaNNinAi vA vA vA
konji konji vA guhane, murugane
rA rA cinnaNNA, rArO ri cinnavADa
muddugAre yaSOdA
OmaNa tingal kiDAvO (especially the caraNam 'ingunni krishNan janiccu...')

Girl:

bhAgyada lakshmI bArammA (especially the caraNam 'sankhye illada bhAgyava koTTu...')
himavAn perum bhAgyavAn, umA gauri tanai kumAriyAi pera enna puNNiyam SeidAnO?
tunban nergaiyil yAzh eduttu nI yemakku inbam Serka mATAyA?
cinnanciru kiLiyE

chalanata
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Post by chalanata »

my choice:
1. rama bakthi samrajyam
2. paluke bangara mayana
3. sobillu sapthaswara
4. mamava madhava deva
5. kripaya palaya chowre
6. seetha kalyana vaibogame
7. swaminatha (brindavani)
8. santhi panchakam in revathi
9. neeraja dhala nayana
10. venkatachala nilayam
11. kosale ragavendraya (mangalam)

rbharath
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Post by rbharath »

the only time i knew off a veenai concert at a seemandam...

the list was

mEru samAna
varadarAjam upAsmahE
mAmava paTTAbhirAma (with a short sketchy alapanai and a shorter tanam)
some short piece to finish off
Last edited by rbharath on 23 Mar 2009, 22:59, edited 1 time in total.

vijay
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Post by vijay »

Mohan many congratulations!

vasanthakokilam
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Post by vasanthakokilam »

Mohan, Congratulations!!

This is the first time I am even hearing that there are concerts arranged in connection with seemandam.

sureshvv
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Post by sureshvv »

mohan wrote: My wife used to sing this often during her pregnancy and am happy to note that a baby boy was born last week.
Congratulations! May you soon be blessed with a baby girl too - as they are so much more fun!

sureshvv
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Post by sureshvv »

tribute wrote:seemantham(a ceremony for pregnant women).
Minor correction. Seemantham is celebrated only for the 1st pregnancy.

Nick H
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Post by Nick H »

Mohan, Happy to hear about your child; wishing you all joy :)

rshankar
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Post by rshankar »

Mohan, Sangeetha - CONGRATULATIONS!!
sureshvv wrote:May you soon be blessed with a baby girl too
Mohan and Sangeetha (Ayyar) do have a cute daughter too!

arasi
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Post by arasi »

Yes, I that's what I thought!

arasi
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Post by arasi »

Bharath,
Any song is fine but for those which lament, complain, has statements about the worthlessness of worldly pleasures! There are countless songs in every language which celebrate bAla (young) krishnA, RamA or murugan. gudittODi vArAi guhanE in Suddha sAvEri is another one.

ragam-talam
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Post by ragam-talam »

sureshvv wrote:Minor correction. Seemantham is celebrated only for the 1st pregnancy.
Apparently Seemantham function used to be celebrated for all issues in earlier times:
http://www.trsiyengar.com/id156.shtml

vidya
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Post by vidya »

vainika wrote:I can think of N kRitis on bAlakRShNa/bAlagOpAla/bAlasubrahmaNya but not on any goddess in child form. Are there any?
Hmm As to why there are more Balasubrahmanyas and Balakrishnas among followers of the Vaidika tradition - the etymology of the word pumsuvana should give you a clue. Technically, Bala is depicted to be approximately 8-9 years of age so bAlambika kRtis don't qualify. It is a very interesting issue you raise as to why the female infantile forms of the deity are not celebrated!! Infact it is only in the Southern tradition of pillaittamizhs - verses from kAntimati pillaittamizh that Arasi refers to, meenakshiammai pillaitamizh where the various stages for both a girl and a boy child are outlined.

Uday,
If jAnakiramaNa qualifies I am sure pAmarajana pAlini in Seemantini would too ;)
Last edited by vidya on 24 Mar 2009, 04:54, edited 1 time in total.

mohan
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Post by mohan »

Thanks to you all for your kind wishes and congratulations. Our Seemanthaputri, Rithika, is 3 and a half and now we have Akshay born on 19 March.

I remember for the seemantham (before our daughter was born) the priest asked us to play some veena music on CD since we didn't have a veena player.

PUNARVASU
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Post by PUNARVASU »

ragam-talam wrote:
sureshvv wrote:Minor correction. Seemantham is celebrated only for the 1st pregnancy.
Apparently Seemantham function used to be celebrated for all issues in earlier times:
http://www.trsiyengar.com/id156.shtml
Yes, but somehow the title 'seemantha putran/putri has come into being ,denoting the first child.
It is called pumsavana seemantham ,I think.
Last edited by PUNARVASU on 24 Mar 2009, 05:11, edited 1 time in total.

bilahari
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Post by bilahari »

Mohan, many congratulations to you and your wife!

Sam Swaminathan
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Post by Sam Swaminathan »

Mohan....congratulations and best wishes to both mother and the child....

To all contributors, thanks a lot for the tons of songs suggested....have copied them to my computer for future reference for my first grand child ( hopefully not too far away !!!)

Sam

tribute
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Post by tribute »

ragam-talam wrote:
sureshvv wrote:Minor correction. Seemantham is celebrated only for the 1st pregnancy.
Apparently Seemantham function used to be celebrated for all issues in earlier times:
http://www.trsiyengar.com/id156.shtml
I wanted to show you all this link. Thanks to ragam talam.
Apparently, we are iyengars and we follow the srivaishnava tradition.

tribute
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Post by tribute »

Thank you all for such a lot of contribution. I did not know there were these many songs!! Thank you really. Although I do not know 75% of these kritis, I will try to learn them soon.
Thanks once again!!

gobilalitha
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Post by gobilalitha »

congrats, Mohan, what's the name? can I suggest vaghulabaranan? gobilalitha

gobilalitha
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Post by gobilalitha »

congrats, Mohan, what's the name? can I suggest vaghulabaranan? gobilalitha
In foreign countries , especially ,USA nd uk, baby shower is like seemantham withourt a reigious aspect. How do they celebrate, singing, dancing ? gobilalitha
Last edited by gobilalitha on 24 Mar 2009, 08:45, edited 1 time in total.

tribute
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Post by tribute »

Another doubt I have is:
The concert duration is about 45 minutes.
Do I have to necessarily play kalpanaswarams or neravals elaborately?
Or Is it enough to just include raga alapana and tanam?
I thought a neraval might be good in some songs.
Please give your suggestions.

arasi
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Post by arasi »

GBL,
He is going to be called Akshay.

About baby showers--it varies. Even in Indian families, bridal showers are given. i recently went to a vaLai kAppu and pUccUTTal which was fun, with singing and having fun and food! There can be more than one baby shower though, or none at all. In the East or West, the whole idea is to humor the woman and make her feel special when she goes through pregnancy. And good food! In all celebrations all over the world, food is the thing :)

rajeshnat
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Post by rajeshnat »

Mohan & family,
best wishes !!!

mohan
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Post by mohan »

gobilalitha wrote:congrats, Mohan, what's the name? can I suggest vaghulabaranan? gobilalitha
Thanks for the suggestion - unfortunately it came a little late :)

sureshvv
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Post by sureshvv »

arasi wrote: the whole idea is to humor the woman
Did you mean honor? Freudian slip?

arasi
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Post by arasi »

Suresh,
I think honor is a vague word in this case. Humoring is more needed when a woman is pregnant. Honoring her for the happiness she brings to the family by bearing a new member for the clan is fine, but we women are aware of the mood swings and morning sickness most of us go through during the first half of childbearing. So, to make a fuss over the woman and celebrate her was what I was thinking about. Keep her happy, and you will have a happy baby too! Call it a Freudian slip or a bit of psychobabble :)

chalanata
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Post by chalanata »

and what is a Freudian slip by the way? I thought when someone tries to speak a good word concealing the ill will and expresses by mistake his ill intention such a slip is a Freudian slip. Experts can clarify though there is a slight deviation.

vasanthakokilam
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Post by vasanthakokilam »

The very loose meaning which is what many people use it for is 'slip of the tongue'. A semi technical common usage is "you want to say something but say something else, and that something else is due to some fixation". ;)

As Arasi had replied, there is no "slip" of any kind here.

sureshvv
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Post by sureshvv »

I think it is more a "slip of the mind" than the tongue. Like chalanata said, it is also when the real feeling about something comes out in spite of the person's best effort to conceal or couch it in a nicer manner. I don't think it needs to be just ill will or intention that is concealed.

sureshvv
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Post by sureshvv »

ragam-talam wrote:Perhaps it would be a good idea to play non-Vivadi ragams on this occasion.
On the other hand, it may be a good opportunity to break some age-old superstitions :-)

sureshvv
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Post by sureshvv »

rshankar wrote:
sureshvv wrote:May you soon be blessed with a baby girl too
Mohan and Sangeetha (Ayyar) do have a cute daughter too!
Great! I said that only so that when these forum archives are unearthed a few millennia from now, no trace of gender bias is perceived.
Last edited by sureshvv on 25 Mar 2009, 01:24, edited 1 time in total.

sureshvv
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Post by sureshvv »

arasi wrote:Humoring is more needed when a woman is pregnant.
That may well be true but they like it more when you tell them you are honoring them ;)

arasi
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Post by arasi »

honoring the word too, I guess: in sickness and in health :)

rvmony
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Post by rvmony »

There is one santhana gopala keerthanam in Bilahari by Meenakshisutha..

Balam Chinthaye..
Santhana rajagopala bhuvana paripala
sri rama lola..

Bombay Hari used to sing in bhajans..
the diety is Guruvayorappan..


R Veeramoney
Trivandrum

malavi
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Post by malavi »

Santanagopalakrishnam in kamas by MD is usually sung in valaikappu an seemantam functions

Balebalendubhushani is also asuitable one.

prashant
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Post by prashant »

vidya wrote:Technically, Bala is depicted to be approximately 8-9 years of age so bAlambika kRtis don't qualify.
Thanks Vidya for that info.

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