Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Carnatic composers (other than performing vidwans)
Post Reply
bhakthim dehi
Posts: 539
Joined: 24 Feb 2014, 21:28

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by bhakthim dehi »

Check in sangeethapriya.org

narayara000
Posts: 308
Joined: 13 Jul 2015, 06:59

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by narayara000 »

There are no recordings of any of these krithis on sangeethapriya.

bhakthim dehi
Posts: 539
Joined: 24 Feb 2014, 21:28

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by bhakthim dehi »

Contact me personally. I ll try giving u some of the recordings which I possess.
This is the first time I across this krithi Ramayana bhagavatha in,sahana. Where is this, ( I mean which book or site) listed?

narayara000
Posts: 308
Joined: 13 Jul 2015, 06:59

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by narayara000 »

I have sent you an email.

keerthi
Posts: 1309
Joined: 12 Oct 2008, 14:10

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by keerthi »

The kamas song should be daNdanAthayA rakSitOsmyaham not daNdanAthayA rakSa mAm, as can be found in books as well as certain oral parampara-s. The bhinnaSaDja song too suffers from such mistakes in printed versions.

Suryasriram
Posts: 59
Joined: 11 Sep 2015, 22:27

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by Suryasriram »

@narayana000 I think you mean Ramakrishnena Samrakshitoham?

Lakshman
Posts: 14019
Joined: 10 Feb 2010, 18:52

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by Lakshman »

shrI krSNO mAm rakSatu is available in concert # 4151 (01 uploader) sung by Baby Sriram at the Sangeethapriya site.

narayara000
Posts: 308
Joined: 13 Jul 2015, 06:59

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by narayara000 »

Thanks.

srinidhi
Posts: 227
Joined: 09 Feb 2010, 08:59

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by srinidhi »

In Kayarohanesham and Ambaneelayatakshi, Sri MD refers to the kshetra as Shivarajadhani while in Soundarajam Ashraye he names it as Nagapattina.

DId the place have two names and Shivarajdhani got obscured over a period of time while Nagapattina remained?

bhakthim dehi
Posts: 539
Joined: 24 Feb 2014, 21:28

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by bhakthim dehi »

Shivarajadhani is the term usually used in Shaiva literature. This term do not find its presence in any of the works by Vaishnavite poets. So he used the former term in Amba neelayathakshi, a song dediacted to Ambaal and not in Soundararaajam.

srinidhi
Posts: 227
Joined: 09 Feb 2010, 08:59

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by srinidhi »

Thank you

narayara000
Posts: 308
Joined: 13 Jul 2015, 06:59

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by narayara000 »

Does anyone have a recording of brhadISa kaTAkSEna prANinO jIvanti, in jIvantikA, the 48th melakarta?

narayara000
Posts: 308
Joined: 13 Jul 2015, 06:59

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by narayara000 »

Is Sri Sukra Bhagavantham an authentic Dikshitar krithi?

There seems to be no ending rhymes in the charanam like there usually is

sankark
Posts: 2321
Joined: 16 Dec 2008, 09:10

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by sankark »

http://www.carnaticcorner.com/articles/ ... ble_MD.htm

It is a surprise to find srI krishnam (updated: forget srI krishnam, already discussed in earlier posts) and harihara putram in that - both relatively popular ones! What's the learned members opinion on that?

bhakthim dehi
Posts: 539
Joined: 24 Feb 2014, 21:28

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by bhakthim dehi »

Rupamu juchi is notated by Subbarama Deekshithar and hence becomes authentic.

RSR
Posts: 3427
Joined: 11 Oct 2015, 23:31

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by RSR »

Dheekshithar is known to have composed many ragamalikas himself. May I have some information about them? and if possible, links to renderings?

RSR
Posts: 3427
Joined: 11 Oct 2015, 23:31

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by RSR »

in continuation of @366-> stumbled upon this part in a blog post..."
http://sureshs65music.blogspot.in/2009/ ... w=flipcard

Dikshitar fans will bash me up if I do not mention the ragamalikas that he has composed. And how can I forget to mention them, when one of them, 'Sree Vishwanatham' happens to be my most favourite amongst all ragamalikas. We were very lucky to once hear SRJ talk in detail about this ragamalika.
(Of the trinity only Dikshitar has composed ragamalikas. He has composed 5 ragamalikas).
'Sree Vishvanatham' is a chaturdasa ragamalika. As the name indicates it has 14 ragas in it. The intensity and seriousness of this composition has to be heard to be believed. Everything that we love about Dikshitar is present in this composition. Every line reveals his great scholarship and this is a text book lesson on how to compose a ragamalika without trivializing it. Dikshitar does every trick that singers nowadays adopt, like coming back in the descending raga sequence but nowhere is this just a trick. It is done majestically, with all earnestness and with such astounding beauty. If you do not yet possess this grand krithi and
if you happen to chance upon a CD / tape of MLV singing this krithi, don't hesitate. Just pick it up. This will be a treasure in your CD chest. MLV does great justice to this monumental composition and never have I heard it only once when I have put on the tape. It has to be repeated atleast a few time before I can stop. Such is my addiction to this composition. In case you haven't heard this krithi, time to click on the youtube video below to listen to MLV's rendition.


==============================================================================================
MLV rendering ...(Sri Vishwanaatham Bhajeham)
upload by Champa Vaitheeswaran
https://youtu.be/1-1dgKw3Ijs

The full lyrics have been given there as a comment by
Varagooran Narayanan

It would be very nice to have the ragam name for each.

RSR
Posts: 3427
Joined: 11 Oct 2015, 23:31

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by RSR »

The Chaturdasa Ragamalika, 'Sri Viswanatham' is a string of 14ragas.
The composition is in praise of Lord Viswanatha.
The pallavi comprises of, two ragas, Sri and Arabhi.
The Anupallavi takes four ragas namely Gauri, Nata, Gaula and Mohana.
The charana is composed in
eight ragas, Sama, Lalita, Bhairavam, Saranga, Sankarabharanam,
Kamboji, Devakriya and Bhupala.\
At the end of the composition there is
a combination of all the 14 ragas in the reverse order from Bhupala to Sri raga.
The way Muthuswami Dikshitar has incorporated the raga mudra into the sahitya is simply amazing.
The above information is from a Shadhganga paper on the krithis of Muthuswamy Dheekshithar,
https://sites.google.com/site/ncvasanth ... hikshithar

vgovindan
Posts: 1865
Joined: 07 Nov 2010, 20:01

Re:

Post by vgovindan »

shadjam wrote: 27 Jul 2007, 02:23
gsriram wrote:rakta gaNapatim (mOhana) has the phrase "parashurAma kSEtra prabhAvam" and a reference to pAyasAnna, which may refer to some temple in Kerala.
rakta ganapati temple is in Trivandrum.
I have received a query about Rakta Ganapati Temple. I could not trace the temple in Google Search.
Can somebody throw light?

ajaysimha
Posts: 831
Joined: 19 Apr 2018, 18:16

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by ajaysimha »

Dikshitar Kriti - Svetaranyesvaram - Raga Arabhi
is there any vocal recording of this song ?
i could only find the vina recital by smt e gayathri which is available on YouTube

please do suggest.

Carthik Shankar
Posts: 1
Joined: 09 Jan 2017, 12:28

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by Carthik Shankar »

Greetings!
I'm looking for vocal recording of the kriti- Sri Shoolinim - Raga Shaila Desakshi
Even the Sangeetapriya page is not functioning for downloading this composition.

Please do share the audio. :)

SrinathK
Posts: 2477
Joined: 13 Jan 2013, 16:10

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by SrinathK »

In the light of the recent threads on rAgAs, this thread really needs a bump up. Consider that 230 kritis of Dikshitar are available from the two books SSP and DKP. While guruguha.org has a list of 484 of them, karnatik.com mentions 520 even - and I do not know how much more that would go up if one can identify all the multiple versions of many kritis. Quite a lot of them are in modern tunes and versions of rAgAs too - and many even describe places that Dikshitar never actually visited.

We have seen what happened to the kritis of Thyagaraja as well. Many of them are changed, but most are usually his only.

Considering all this, I really have to swallow a bitter pill and consider that half of the kritis attributed to Dikshitar are really composed by others with his name and mudra - it is actually far more likely than you think considering the caliber of many musicians. To truly find out, one would have to do some analytics work - i.e. trace each song back to the musicians who were first known to have sung them, and see where the trail goes cold. Similar stories exist in other paramparas as well.

I am now inclined to think that many musicians used the trinity mudras to popularize their own (rather radically different and modernized)compositions in the name of over zealous bhakti or trying to make a show of "humility" in keeping their own names buried - but this was (and is) actually quite an unethical practice, especially when the original music was still extant.

Our musicians and many rasikas have always delighted in using the word "tradition", but with all due respect to their own genius, we now know what they've really been doing.

RSR
Posts: 3427
Joined: 11 Oct 2015, 23:31

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by RSR »

@SrinathK

I would like to share two weblinks on the life and creations of Muthuswami Dikshitar.
https://sites.google.com/site/ncvasanth ... hikshithar ( from Shodhganga)
-------------------------
https://sites.google.com/site/ncvasanth ... araos-blog
-------------------
and a nice one ( can be sorted on the basis of raagam)
at
http://www.sangeethapriya.org/tributes/ ... ithis.html

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

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by rajeshnat »

Thank you Nandini Ramani . In Oct 04th ,2019 Friday Review of The HIndu , navarathri focus on composers was absolutely fantastic. This writeup is absolutely fantastic , i just intensely remembered my trip to Tiruvarur.

https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/ ... 584416.ece

RSR
Posts: 3427
Joined: 11 Oct 2015, 23:31

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by RSR »

@372
@SrinathK
The article cited may be of interest to you.
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=33556

RSR
Posts: 3427
Joined: 11 Oct 2015, 23:31

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by RSR »

This month ( October-2019), I began a website for my reference as a hobbyist, for Renowned composers of Carnatic Music.
https://sites.google.com/site/4carnaticmusic

Though Annamacharya is supposed to have lived around 1400 at Thiruppathy, it was part of Vijayanagar empire then and was a follower of Saint Ramanuja, ,.. authentic information is hard to come by and his lyrics sans tunes have been tuned only some 70 years back. So, Saint Purandaradasa ( Madhvacharya system) continues to be the trail-blazer of Carnatic music (1500 AD) peak of Vijayanagar empire under Krushnadeva Raya .
We have authentic or near authentic records of lyrics+tunes , from the Trinity period only.
Though there are 72 MK scales, only 32 scales are non-vivadi. and the remaining 40 are vivadi and just result of mathematical nature.
My quest is for doing away with the third variant of r, g, d and n. and adopt the much simpler notation of s r1 r2 g1 g2 m1 m2 p d1 d2 n1 n2 and S. ( as they do in HM).
Though the Trinity have composed one or two kritis in all the 72,mk scales, when we analyze their preferred scales , I found that Thyagaraja used mostly non-vivadi scales and that too, mainly from the M1 based set.
https://sites.google.com/site/4carnatic ... thyagaraja
------------------------------
So, I wanted to find out if Muthuswami Dikshitar also followed the same principle and preference.
I based myself on the list prepared by
http://www.medieval.org/music/world/car ... hitar.html
and arranged them according to the usual MK pattern.
as shown in the table in
https://sites.google.com/site/4carnatic ... any-ragams

Excluding the 'nottu swaram' songs ( 40) and ragamalikas, I found that there are about 510 and ragams about 200.
-----------------------------------------------
I find that like Thyagaraja,, Dikshitar also chose the standard non-vivadi M1-suddhamadhyama scales like Sankarabarabaranam, Harikambodhi, Karaharapriya, Mayamalavagowla, Natabairavi , .
and most of his kritis and janya ragams fall in this category. Not only that. He does not seem to have used many janya ragams!
from a great number of Parent scales at all!
------------------------------
Preparing such a list for Shyama Sastry kritis , should be comparatively easy as the list has about 70 kritis only. He too has preferred non-vivadi scales. The trinity have given importance to KalyaaNi in M2 group.
------------------------
Should we confine ourselves to SSP? I am afraid that many great songs will then , not be of MD. ( SSP can be used as basic material as it is relatively modern, but cannot be taken as all-inclusive). The attempt is still going on. It will be nice if we can give youtube links to as many kritis of MD as possible, as rendered by Doyens of Carnatic Summer.
---------------------------
Let us not approach the creations of the Trinity, from either musicologist approach or literary-religious-geographical-mystical angle, but learn to appreciate and share their music by the best available rendering.

RSR
Posts: 3427
Joined: 11 Oct 2015, 23:31

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by RSR »

Complete list of Muthuswami Dikshitar kritis in Sanskrit ( devanagari script- pdf ) can be downloaded from the following link.
http://carnatica.in/lyrics/mdcomp_sansk.pdf
-------------------------------------------------------
Compiled and typeset by
Sri.P. P. NARAYANASWAMI
English transliteration
http://carnatica.in/lyrics/mdcomp_eng.pdf

RSR
Posts: 3427
Joined: 11 Oct 2015, 23:31

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by RSR »

MUSICAL ANALYSIS OF SUBBARAYA SASTRI KRTI-S
https://sg.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10 ... er%202.pdf
( link provided in vishnu vasudev article)

Lakshman
Posts: 14019
Joined: 10 Feb 2010, 18:52

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by Lakshman »

Why is an analysis of Subbaraya Shastri's kritis posted in this topic?

RSR
Posts: 3427
Joined: 11 Oct 2015, 23:31

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by RSR »

@379
Sorry. ! Oversight.
Unable to edit now........... Mod may kindly delete it as I have placed the same in Subbaraya Sastry thread just now.


kmrasika
Posts: 1258
Joined: 10 Mar 2006, 07:55

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by kmrasika »

Just thought to ask, is the composition presented in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dji0O9yoXq8 an authenticated one? @Lakshman @RSR

RSR
Posts: 3427
Joined: 11 Oct 2015, 23:31

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by RSR »

@382
@kmrasika
I am no research worker but I do not think it could be that of MD.
Just because it is found in the family of his disciples, one cannot accept that.
People like Sri.Srintah and carnatica site will be better offer opinion.

SrinathK
Posts: 2477
Joined: 13 Jan 2013, 16:10

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by SrinathK »

kmrasika wrote: 04 Aug 2020, 17:12 Just thought to ask, is the composition presented in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dji0O9yoXq8 an authenticated one? @Lakshman @RSR
Please read the entire video description which I cannot copy on my phone unfortunately. There is a source from Tanjore Quartette. The manuscript is unfortunately not complete.

Given that the Trinity had such a long presence in music, many have felt that the present corpus of available compositions is not their full output by a long stretch. Of course this created some urban legends like Thyagaraja taught 24000 compositions (right, where did 97% of them go??). But anywhere from 1.5 to 2x the output may be more realistic. So we have to keep looking...

Lyrically this is not a kriti but a sharanu daru and it was part of a type of compositions form called nirupanam which was prevalent in the Trinity period. The lyrics and melodic lines are very much on the level of MD's standards and the raga mudra is cleverly hidden in the last line. I don't see any basis for suspicion.

The Dikshitar lineage was a bridge between many old forms of compositions and the newer types of compositions. After them these compositional forms have virtually gone extinct.

Now about authenticity, I have had many people in my circle tell me over some of the old versions I have shared so far that "Just because there is a source for this doesn't mean it's authentic". Or "Why has it changed so much and no one noticed?" Almost always this is because some familiar name said they "felt skeptical" Or "Big names cannot be wrong."

Forget actually doing any research all, none of them have any interest for detailed discussions btw... It's just that being skeptical sells.

Further investigation into the origin of such statements and where they came from reveals, more often than not, that no one actually did any research into the matter or published anything they found or why they actually made such claims. Certainly the ones making the claims did not give any information and sometimes they themselves are making statements on hearsay. And yet many people will hang on to these statements and dismiss other research made simply because "Big name cannot be wrong".

This is merely opinion without research. Not all skepticism is equal. For ex., I also have my doubts over some compositions of Dikshitar like the chararam of Santana ramaswaminam which seems to be melodically inferior to the pallavi and anupallavi. Also the lyrics don't seem to be at the same level either, somehow it seems to be inspired too much from the pallavi and anupallavi than an original line that would have Dikshitar's personal touches, of which there are plenty in the pallavi and anupallavi.

This only appears in the tamil edition of the SSP and the charanam was given by TLV in fact. So is this genuine or a patch up? Melodically I can see for myself what happened to this kriti. We can look at SSP and see what has been done - clearly sped up to madhyamakala, many gamakas and small phrases flattened over. Lyrically only a language expert can answer properly.

I conclude therefore from listening to the renditions that the song was originally in a slower tempo, sped up to a faster tempo, simplified as a result and then the charanam might have been melodically "audioshopped" in. The lyrics I need a better expert to confirm. This charanam does not appear in either the Telugu or the latest English edition either.

It will take more than that to completely answer the question and we might not get a complete answer to this, though I might be close. But if we are expressing a doubt we must dig deep and find out just what could be the causes of doubt. One should also look at where such doubts could have come from.

In the case of Thyagaraja we can very clearly confirm that the entire so called Saptasthalam kriti set is a very obvious fake set of spurious compositions, and badly composed at that. So in that case skepticism would have been very much valid. I needed someone to translate the lyrics before I realized the extent of this. Without that kind of data, it is just that, a doubt.

And yet even big musicians have sung this up and till recently and they claim they've researched the compositions. If they really researched them they'd probably not have sung them... All 'research' isn't research. In fact many musicians are not transparent with where they are obtaining the compositions and tunes to some of their latest numbers.

One musician claims to be singing mAyE based on SSP tarangini. I open the SSP and see for myself that it is totally different both in raga and composition. Just a modified version of the modern tune. Is this 'research' or the latest scam? This is the latest trend appearing, particularly regarding MD compositions.

The SSP is available in guruguha.org in full, anyone can download it or read it online and see for themselves. The notations are not that difficult. But still this is the start of a new unhealthy trend. Fake SSP versions. These are the same people who will say CM is not about books and lakshanas and I can tell right away that is an uninformed opinion. They have actually not read a single page in any of these books to see what they have to offer and then come to any informed conclusion, but talk like high priests. These are also the same type of people who throughout history have changed many things to suit their fancy. Of course they would say that. :twisted:

Skepticism and research borne conclusions / opinions aren't the same thing. Research is hard work. Research must remain open to what it doesn't know and be willing to accept new evidence down the road. At no point should anyone state blatant untruth knowing fully well the audience will never know.

We have a group led by Dr. T R Aravindhan where one thing we realized we should do is to try and trace every composition sung in the name of Dikshitar back to its source. Knowing who first sang it will be helpful.

Actually I joke that we very badly need some technology similar to blockchain to monitor all these changes. The issues facing us are at that scale that only such a system would help us track every composition and every change and sangati by each musician in their long career. At least for research we must make something on a smaller scale.

kmrasika
Posts: 1258
Joined: 10 Mar 2006, 07:55

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by kmrasika »

@SrinathK Thank you for your detailed response. Concur on the point that musicians should delve further on the pieces they present. The reason for the question was that MD did come from the time these forms existed.

Yes, there are attributions of authorship of compositions to MD, e.g . the
varṇa-s rūpamujūci in tōḍi and one in śaṅkarābharaṇa.

SrinathK
Posts: 2477
Joined: 13 Jan 2013, 16:10

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by SrinathK »

There are 2 sources for rupamu juchi to Dikshitar. One is SSP and Subbarama Dikshitar who has mentioned it twice and the other is the book by Guruguha Gana Vidyalaya, published by Anantharama Iyer, disciple of Ambi Dikshitar(??) which while including several compositions of Ramaswamy Dikshitar, also mentions this to be a composition of Muthuswami Dikshitar. This book also has the other varnam.

The family of Thanjavur Quartette also consider this to be MD's composition.

I am aware that this varnam has been claimed to be his father Ramaswami Dikshitar's creation and one claim is also that it was composed by a disciple of RD named Muttuswami Nattuvanar. But more data is needed on that. One also needs to see the style of compositions of Ramaswami Dikshitar as MD's style was rather distinct from the rest of the Dikshitar family.

kmrasika
Posts: 1258
Joined: 10 Mar 2006, 07:55

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by kmrasika »

@SrinathK : Yes, there may be attribution of the tōḍi varṇa to RD. A Sundaram Iyer's books also feature some of the songs of RD and AD. The other varṇa attributed to MD is gaṇanāthāya namastē in śaṅkarābharaṇam.

nAdopAsaka
Posts: 878
Joined: 20 Jul 2020, 17:05

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (the Yuv-ati Krithis)

Post by nAdopAsaka »

In the footsteps of Nadajyoti Muthuswamy Dikshitar..

Diksitar is fascinating among the great Carnatic vaggeyakaras or "tone-poets" (at least to me) because he appears to balance "premeditation" with "spontaneity". In contrast, the more mercurial Tyagaraja throws all caution and propriety to the wind, in his musical dialog with his own devatas...pancharatna kritis notwithstanding.

Dikshitar seems to have had a formula, setting off for a temple complex, armed only with his veena , his grammar and his arsenal of vocabulary and temple details, then forces himself to invoke raga mudra, also varying gait with madhyama-kaala. He fixates on temple icons and is somehow inspired by images, stories, myths, ancient texts etc. etc. to produce one gem after another. All the kritis so produced are original, chaste and impeccable and distinct.

Perhaps the raga choice is an element to examine the tone-poets state of mind.

In this respect, Dikshitar can be wonderfully, almost obsessively anal..as we know from the Gowla-antya kritis sung to the Nilotpalamba devi. A manohari-antya set of kritis may also exist.

I find and describe below another set where the word yu-vati is used with ragas of raga name ending in -ati.. The consort is different in each case but the Devi is described in each case as their yuvati. There are only about 10 or so such usages of this word in all the 400 odd kritis..

I made a list with "Kriti starting word" - "Raga" - "yuvati word/consort used"

1. brhadamba-Bhanumati-mahadeva-yuvati
2 sharavati tatavaasini-Sharavati- vidhi-yuvati
3 parandhamavati-Dharmavati- paramesa-yuvati
4 kalavati kamalasana-Kalavati- kamalasana-yuvati
5 vamshavati-Vamshavati-shiva-yuvati
6 shri kantimati-Hemavati- shankara-yuvati
7 hariyuvati-Hemavati- hari-yuvati
8. lalita parameswara-Surati-kameshvara yuvati

Following two do not appear to be fully aligned with above

9. paranjyotismati-Jyoti-parameswara-yuvati., although Jyoti is somewhat close phonetic ending to ATI sound

10 saraswati vidhi yuvati-Hindolam -vidhi-yuvati...this seems like a non-starter, althoug notably hindolam raga-name comes up as hindola-dyuti in Dikshitars other hindolam , the Neerajakshi masterpiece..

Surprisingly his kritis in ragas Sarasw-ati, Madhyamav-ati and Bhushav-ati do not refer to the yuvati (i.e maiden) form of the goddess....maybe it reflects the age of Dikshitar when he arrived/composed these kritis ? ..admittedly hard to think of Dharmasamvardhani devi as a yuvati !! And Dikshitar is always a stickler for accuracy and chaste to not mix ideas and symbols !

Perhaps its just that rhyming reasons drove the repeated use of word "yuvati" since Dikshitar is somewhat bound by his rule to invoke the raga name/mudra in the kriti.

Yuvati is a pretty and lyrically cute word with more depth than say "baalaa" or "kanyaa"...it seems to refer to a goddess coming of age as a consort...in addition the phonetic connection with raga name made above seems unmistakeable.

Of course it's always amazing how Dikshitar kept everything organized neatly without any modern tools that we use !

nAdopAsaka
Posts: 878
Joined: 20 Jul 2020, 17:05

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (the Yuv-ati Krithis)

Post by nAdopAsaka »

A minor follow-up to Yuv-ati word based rhyming..

Generally Dikshitar follows the so-called Asampurna mela paddhati.

However it seems from one of the Hemavati kritis below .. Hariyuvati.. , he is willing to forgo the klunky "Deshisimharavam" word from the Asampurna paddhati in favor of the more common name... even his prowess is inadequate to incorporate the tongue twister..

Separately, it may be noted that in a couple of "Pantuvaralis", he refers to both KasiRamakriya -in Ucchista Ganapatau - at nagna Ramakriya and also an oblique reference to Kamavardhani-in Ramanatham Bhajeham - at parvata-Vardhani.

So poetic/rhyming needs appear to transcend some aspects of these conventions. (..although the blanket ignoring by Dikshitar of full Kharaharapriya scale seems to be almost dogmatic for such an innovative mind, just my thought )

The need to inscribe raga mudra might seem at first as a teaching aid (bit hard to imagine any of his students being novices in need of such pointers) or that Dikshitar was aware that some ragas could be new melodies to his listeners (Devaranji, Nasamani , Tarangini etc .)

incidentally this is a fine example of the Nasamani, celebrating the Lalita Devi's nose-ring !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OKFhCa0q48

by the polyglot S Rajam.
The raga (and nose-ring) positively glows within the first few phrases.

Is it more likely Dikshitar was trying , however feebly, to ensure with raga mudra that the kriti is NOT sung in another raga ?! Some (mis)adventures along these lines have been considered in past.

Most of the other composers of this caliber have generally avoided using raga mudra as a feature,

Raga mudra examples of Dikshitar are in some cases somewhat contrived or alternately inspired (cf. cit-prati-bim-Be Gala-jita in Sri Matah Shiva begada or sams-ara bhit-yapahe for his Arabhi) ..most of these are well known for several decades..

nAdopAsaka
Posts: 878
Joined: 20 Jul 2020, 17:05

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (kamboji Ata-taala Krithis)

Post by nAdopAsaka »

In the footsteps of NadaJyoti Muthuswamy Dikshitar..

On looking at the talams employed by Dikshitar a somewhat remarkable feature emerges...

There are very, very few kritis set to Ata Talam..!

In fact just about ALL of them are in Kamboji raga !!! (for example referring to PPNarayanaswami compendium)
namely
KasiViswesavara, -Kalabhairava set
ShriValmikalingam -Panchalinga set and
Kamalambikaayai - Navavarana set

Of course Dikshitar has magnificent Kambojis in other talams too (Subramanyaya, Kailasanathena, Marakatavalli etc)

But the scarcity of this talam usage (maybe i think the only others are Paras-Friday graha kriti and Aryam Abhayamba Bhairavi) in the other 400-500 kritis is highly suggestive.

Kamboji of course is a great raga, and deserves the attention given by Dikshitar (and the other great vaggeyakaras).

According to Prof. SR Janakiraman, an eminent scholar and also an able performer (who was co-student along with the giant MDR of TigerV), Kamboji is a primordial sound/raga, treasured also by ancient Tamil Shakta worshippers.

Some measure of this is shown by Dikshitar in the choice of Kamboji as one of the Kamalamba navavarana kriti where the Kamboji is positioned as number 4 in the sequence prior to the great union of Siva and Shakti that is the focal point of Devi upasakas...How wonderfully he prepares the devi for this union ..sakumkumadi lepanayai characharadi kalpanayai ! .(culminating in the Ahiri ref. shiva-akara mancha stithe !! etc).

Notice that while Dikshitar clearly adored Kamboji he simultaneously shunned Hari-Kamboji ! (the mela raga) which, fortunately , Tyagaraja managed to inject with his unique Rama Bhakti and bring to full flower, Enduku nirdaya etc etc.

The question can arise ..Did these three Ata-taala Kambojis of Dikshitar predate the famous Ata-taala Kamboji varnam (Sarasija Nabha attributed by some to Maharaja Swati Tirunal and by others to one of Dikshitars students Vadivel ? of Tanjore quartet) or were they written after Dikshitar became aware of the varnam and saw how attractive Kamboji could be when treated with this talam ? Or did they influence the construction of the Ata-taala varnam ?.

Of course Maharaja was only 20 years old when Dikshitar passed away.

A fine rendering of KasiVisweswara by Chittoor Subramania Pillai is on the youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IJfiA06XVM

nAdopAsaka
Posts: 878
Joined: 20 Jul 2020, 17:05

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Abhayamba Krithis)

Post by nAdopAsaka »

In the footsteps of NadaJyoti Muthuswami Dikshitar..

Group kritis offer further aspects of the tone-poets marshalling and channelling of inspiration.

No one matches Dikshitar for this approach although Maharaja (Swati Tirunal) has some good examples and perhaps Tyagaraja as well Kovur pancharatna and others.

While the Kamalamba set is a well known treasure, the Abhayamba set is less often heard, but has perhaps more and deeper complexities.

A fine example of the entire Abhayamba 10 pece set in one place has recently become available.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... BdVbjgDlOq

As an aside both the accompanists are stalwarts and the vocalists also do a great job, (with no narcissism !), so the lyrical and musical beauty is revealed.

It is interesting to note that in the Yadukula Kamboji kriti of this set, sung to the horse-riding devi (of the Mayuranatha (mayiladuturai) temple), Dikshitar openly uses the phrase "GaMaPaDa-di nuta" !! to proclaim that Yadukula Kamboji in Dikshitar sampradaya includes gandharam in arohana !

Yadukula Kamboji
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAqxbmx ... Oq&index=5

I am hard put to find another example of such swara-akshara, i.e where swara syllables are used as poem words, in other Dikshitar kritis. Seems like there could be more ?
If not then Dikshitar is going out of his way to expose this feature of the arohana. He also does not give the Yadukula Kamboji raga mudra, so perhaps this distinctive phrase is indicative for that as well.

As an aside Ashvarudha, i.e horse-rider doesn't seem a standard mount for a Devi, usually it is lion, tiger for some forms Durga etc. Something to check on. Perhaps this unique feature caught Diskhitars eye at Mayuranatha temple ? Horse seems like an import from central asian steppes ! Hindu mythoology has bull, mouse , garuda etc as more typical mounts..

The Kedaram kriti "ambikaayaa.." is particularly significant for Tantric aspects, and Dikshitar summarises with a beautiful charanam this "shiva sammelana" !.
Kedaram
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2norDXX ... Oq&index=3

Kedaram is normally associated with Dikshitars more famous kriti to the dancing Shiva (Nataraja) of Cidambaram.
Notably this particular Mayuranatha temple pays homage to a Shiva who danced as a peacock !
Dikshitar preserves this dancing aspect in "ambikaayaa" kriti/gait !!.

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

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by rajeshnat »

Some more info on abhayamba mayuram exclusive lecdem concert. Scroll also to posts 14 and 15 where vidushi jayalakshmi sekar has given some writeup on each abhayamba krithi

viewtopic.php?t=23138
Last edited by rajeshnat on 19 Sep 2020, 06:49, edited 1 time in total.

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

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by rajeshnat »

nadopasaka
You have just written 4 posts.They are informative and crisp.

One suggestion at the start of each post just give a small logical title like say

Abhayamba Kritis and mayuram
------------------------------
With that title it will be very useful to refer it later and we can search after many years later too

Please continue writing and keep the same frequency. I am assuming you are a musicologist or a performing vidwan vidushi or a vaggeyakkara . Thank you

nAdopAsaka
Posts: 878
Joined: 20 Jul 2020, 17:05

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by nAdopAsaka »

Dear Rajeshnat, Thank you for your comments and guidance. I will adhere to your suggestions.
Thanks also for your linked topic...I am still feeling my way around this vast site.

I am no performer or even formal musicologist, much less a vaggeyakara.

But I think Carnatic musical structure is such that it tends to make all sincere rasikas enlightened about musicology aspects. As they say, intelligent people make better lovers !

Best wishes and regards

nAdopAsaka
Posts: 878
Joined: 20 Jul 2020, 17:05

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by nAdopAsaka »

Guru-shishya parampara. How-or-Is this acknowledged by the Great vaggeyakaras ?

Guru-shishya parampara is central to Carnatic music. How is this recognized or acknowledged by the great vaageyakaras such as Muthuswami Dikshitar or Tyagaraja ??, who are considered uniquely “Swayambhu” – seemingly self-made (someone has said somewhere that a self-made man is as improbable as a self-made egg but lets ignore that quip in this context).

Some obvious parental connections can be set aside ..Dikshitar's father Ramaswami Dikshitar, himself a musician of major stature, having put together a 108 tala ragamalika (a scary endeavor whose difficulty can be understood by the fact that it has not been undertaken often in last 300 years since !) and also other innovations (Hamsadhvani etc) .
Perhaps Dikshitar appears to make indirect reference to his father via the “Santana Ramaswaminam” in Hindolavasanta kriti. Likewise “Girirajasuta Tanaya” in Bangala is thought of as referring to Tyagarajas mother.

Neither of these two kritis is really about acknowledging musical preceptors/gurus and further, I don’t think Tyagaraja's immediate family had the music “gene”.

Both Dikshitar and Tyagaraja use the major “teaching” raga MayamalavaGowla as backdrop for recognizing "gurus".

For example Tyagaraja vigorously addresses this specifically in the kriti “Viduluku Mrokkeda” listing about 20+ names of those he considers as his music-preceptors. And of course he has several kritis to Narada, the musical sage, as a Guru, e.g.”Sri NaradaMuni Gururaya” in Bhairavi or “Naradaguru Swami”in Darbar etc.

However, in the case of Dikshitar the guru referred to in the majestic Mayamalavagowla kriti is not his musical tutor, but his spiritual tutor Cidambaranatha Yogi of Benaras (cf. Cidananda Nathoham in “SriNathadi Guruguho”).
For further example VenkitaMakhi Dikshitar, the author of Chaturdandiprakasika and ancestor of Muthuswami himself appears ignored, although he maintained Asampurna mela etc. concepts/paddhatis.

In addition a few references to Narada by Dikshitar appear only to be about Narada himself extolling one or the other deity….a common example is “nava-tulasi malam, Naradadi-nuta jalam” in the supremely serene Dwijavanti Cetah Sri Balakrishnam.

Notably, in contrast Dikshitar has no problem obliquely referring to his immediate patron/sponsor Vaidyalinga Mudaliar e.g. in the Caturdanda Ragamalika and perhaps 1-2 other places.

Both Dikshitar and Tyagaraja appear to have organized or attracted around themselves multitudes of student-devotees, who subscribed completely to the notion of Guru-shishya parampara, considered a major facet of the Carnatic tradition.

The somewhat subdued acknowledgment or “Guru-Dakshina of sorts” (via embedding references in their music/kritis) of this central theme in Carnatic music is quite suggestive of the mind of the tone-poet and also their "ego".

They seem to attribute their own talents and musical gifts to esoteric sources, rather than any formal teachers. This is a bit surprising (to me) in particular for the case of Muthuswami Dikshitar, who is considered steeped in classical traditions, at least for many other features of his musical legacy.
Last edited by nAdopAsaka on 21 Sep 2020, 17:16, edited 1 time in total.

Govindaswamy
Posts: 120
Joined: 21 Feb 2010, 06:55

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by Govindaswamy »

This interpretation is given to Thyagaraja’s song GirirAja sudhA tanayA. GirirAjakavi was his maternal grandfather. His sudha (daughter) was T’s mother. Her tanaya was none other than Thyagaraja himself. Was Thyagaraja saying that he himself is Vinayaka.

nAdopAsaka
Posts: 878
Joined: 20 Jul 2020, 17:05

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by nAdopAsaka »

It seems that this is "not impossible", such transference.

In the terrific Madhyamavati "Vinayakuni Valenu", Tyagaraja asks for the same protection from the goddess as she would give Vinayaka. He also uses the term anatha-rakshaki, as if to emphasize his own state as helpless. (There is some tale of an estrangement of Tyagaraja from his family, as he became more mendicant, instead of more capitalist).

The composers choice and usage of name/mudra (e.g Guruguha-janakam usage in some Dikshiitar kritis) is also a pointer. I think the carnatic composer is not just a neutral observer or mere conduit but an intimate participant. They are one with the raga/Nada.

nAdopAsaka
Posts: 878
Joined: 20 Jul 2020, 17:05

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (NavaGraha-or-SaptaVaram Kritis)

Post by nAdopAsaka »

NavaGraha-or-SaptaVaram Kritis

In the footsteps of NadaJyoti Muthuswami Dikshitar..

There is some confusion whether the 2 Chaya Graha (Rahu/Ketu) kritis were incorporated after the Sapta Varam kritis of Dikshitar were formulated, to then become the full set of 9 or famous Navagraha kritis.

We can discuss the 2 Chaya Graha kritis separately, per their language and other ideas.
For example Dr. S. Ramanathan , a legendary teacher, scholar and performer has also discussed in past along with many other discussions.

At this time , we can just note that the ChayaGraha kritis employ melakarta ragas, Shanmukhapriya and Ramapriya and they both use the same rupaka talam, whereas the other Seven varam kritis use janya ragas.

More interestingly, the use of each of the Sooladi Sapta Talas for each of the 7 bodies (and therefore each day of the week, i.e. varam, varam) is part of the order being exerted by Dikshitar, ever the visionary composer in organizing his inspiration towards these important "deities". I do not regard this as an artificiality or contrivance, but a reflection of gait associated with planetary transit of the heavenly bodies , which is key to the underlying horoscopical theme of the graha kritis.

It is said that originally Brihaspate in Atana was created by Dikshitar as a mantra of sorts so his sick student could propitiate the fearsome sage/Guru, Brihaspati. Then , it is said, he addressed the other planets.

I wanted to comment on the raga choices made, although at first glance Surati as a "Mangalam" kriti or Asaveri as a nighttime or Chandra kriti appear natural. Saurashtra too perhaps for the sun. But given that this is Dikshitar we should look for a more "global" order in this set.

I made a comparison (below) to illustrate a curious aspect (at least to me) regarding the janya raga used and its status as bhashanga and the number of satellites I speculate known at time of Dikshitar for each planet.

SaptaVaram kritis - Raga-Tala-Bhashanga swara and Number of Satellites of each planet !

Sūryamūrtē -SUN (Saurāṣhṭram, Tāḷa Chatusra Dhrūva)
Bhashanga Swara 1 Satellites >1 (although not a planet)

Chandram -MOON (Asāvēri, Tāḷa Chatusra Maṭya)
Bhashanga Swara 1 Satellites 1 (if moon-earth are considered satellites of each other)

Angārakam -MARS (Suraṭi, Tāḷa Rūpaka)
Bhashanga Swara 1 Satellites >1 (2 discovered in US in 1877 after Dikshitar passed away)

Budham -MERCURY(Nāṭakuranji, Tāḷa Misra Jhampa)
Bhashanga Swara 0 Satellites 0

Bṛhaspatē -JUPITER(Aṭhānā, Tāḷa Tisra Tripuṭa)
Bhashanga Swara 2 Satellites >2 (4 Galilean moons known to West in 1600, perhaps only 2 known to Dikshitar ?)

Shrī Shukra-VENUS(Paraju, Tāḷa Khanda Aṭa)
Bhashanga Swara 0 Satellites 0

Divākaratanujam-SATURN (Yadukulakāmbhōji, Chatusra Ēka)
Bhashanga Swara 1 Satellites 1 (as the composite "disfigured" ring-of-saturn ?, kala-danda peedita etc.)

Of course Dikshitar was consorting with various English authorities, making up English notes (Nottuswaras), using violins etc. etc. so he may have learnt of western astronomical observations from these telescope/sextant wielding western navigators. Or he was already sensitive to these distinctions from whatever horoscopical texts he used.

Bhashanga swaras are used periodically/intermittently. Just as the periodic transit or movement of planets as well as their satellites.

Based on this , there appears to be a relation between the choice/use of bhashanga raga and the number of satellites of each planet.

Govindaswamy
Posts: 120
Joined: 21 Feb 2010, 06:55

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by Govindaswamy »

The kriti vinAyakuni valenu
is interpreted in more than one way.
1 Protect me as you protect VinAyaka Considering me also as your son.
2 Protect me as vinAyakA protects me. The mild sarcasm in this interpretation is, if your son can protect me why can’t you do it.

nAdopAsaka
Posts: 878
Joined: 20 Jul 2020, 17:05

Re: Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

Post by nAdopAsaka »

Uninhibitedness vs. Formality of vaggeyakaras styles: Do they affect the exploration of Raga bhava in Carnatic kritis ?

"Sarcasm" is a huge and almost intrinsic feature of most of Tyagaraja's kritis and represents a degree of informality of the composer with the deities that is almost totally absent in Muthuswamy Dikshitars approach...

The only anomalies to this in DIkshitar kritis I can think of could be perhaps
1. the varnam "Rupamu Juchi" !, whose authorship has and continues to be debated.

2. the reference "suvrishti" in Ananda-amrita varshini,. This kriti was created to appease a drought/famine, but Dikshitar is careful to ask for just the right amount of rain, to avoid a flood !!....ativrishti, anavrishti etc

In Dikshitar's Lalita kriti Hiranmayim Lakshmi, the use of "Hina Manava Ashrayam tyajami" doesn't qualify as tongue-in-cheek, in my opinion. I'm sure Vaidyalinga Mudaliar's foes would say otherwise, he being Dikshitars patron.

It seems to me that while Tyagaraja taps his emotions effectively by employing such informalities
, Dikshitar is not at a loss for suppressing these as he reaches the NadaBindu..

this is a fine example , the timeless Water-linga kriti done by S. Rajam, shorn of frills and accompaniments
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tH22XFBGpQ

Can be compared to Haridasulu Vedalu, YamunaKalyani of Tyagaraja

Post Reply