ughabhoga

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gobilalitha
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Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 07:12

ughabhoga

Post by gobilalitha »

APPRECIABLE EFFORTH. S. Sudhindra
If you have heard the Dasarapada “Baro Krishnaiyya” by M.L. Vasantha Kumari you would never imagine the kriti without the preceding ugabhoga “Baliya manege vaamana bandante” (of Purandaradasa) which seems an apt selection to introduce the subject of the kriti. Ugabhogas are melody-based compositions that are reminiscent of the 12th Century vachanas in Kannada. Like ‘suladis' and ‘kirtanes', ugabhogas were written and popularised by the Haridasa movement during the early 15th Century.

“Ugabhogadarpana” a book published by Suswaralaya College of Music, is a commemorative of its decennial celebrations, and contains several hundreds of these musical couplets by Haridasas of Karnataka. Says mridangist H.S. Sudhindra, the man behind Suswaralaya: “This biggest collection of ugabhogas in a single book has 836 of them from 63 Haridasas, which include a few from Mahila Haridasas too.”

Although there are books available on ugabhogas by particular Haridasas, Suswaralaya's effort stands out as it is a user-friendly compilation for musicians that will be helpful in several ways. “Apart from all being in just one book, musicians can find them listed in the alphabetical order in Kannada. Further, they are classified under subjects as tatwabodhana, gnana-bhakthi-vyragya, guru stuti, nava vidha bhakti, lokaniti, aitihasika, etc.” Also, if one needs to look up ugabhogas on a particular God, one could find them listed together. “But what could be more beneficial are the one-line meanings of the ugabhogas included in the book with the help of Khagavara Dhwaja Vittala Dasaru, a key instrument of the yearly Haridasa Sammelana.”



The book
Sudhindra's passion for ugabhogas has been eating him up for almost 12 years now, for, whenever he heard the Tamil viruttams from Sethalapathi Balasubramanyam at his mridanga guru Srimushnam Raja Rao's house, he would be moved. “Ugabhogas in Karnataka badly need this kind of recognition,” he would think. “The simple lines have an ocean of meaning. It raises the kriti to great philosophical heights.” Ugabhogas are attractive for those who may not understand the nuances of raga. “Many in the audience pay attention to meaningful lyrics.” The lyrics of ugabhogas are typically devotional or philosophical. “It renders the kriti rich and evocative, heightening its significance,” says Sudhindra.

“Ugabhogadarpana” is compiled by Hamsini Nagendra and M.B. Hariharan and it took these musicians three months of marathon work as they had to refer to at least 250 books of Haridasa sahitya and gather information from stalwarts on the subject. Vocalist M.S. Sheela writes an interesting foreword, and Vidyabhushana (who has the maximum recordings of ugabhogas) explains the importance of the musical form in Carnatic music.

“Ugabhogadarpana” costs Rs. 200. Call 94480-59595/ 23440409 for copies.

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gobilalitha
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Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 07:12

Re: ughabhoga

Post by gobilalitha »

The picture of sri SUDHINDRA appeared above the article in FRIDAY REVIEW of THEHINDU dated14/5. I am not able to copy and paste. I request some forumite friend todo it. gobilaitha

cienu
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Joined: 04 Feb 2010, 11:40

Re: ughabhoga

Post by cienu »


Sreeni Rajarao
Posts: 1283
Joined: 04 Feb 2010, 08:19

Re: ughabhoga

Post by Sreeni Rajarao »

Thanks for the posts informing about the book!

It is clear a lot of effort has gone into compiling these and publishing the book. A commendable project, indeed.

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

Re: ughabhoga

Post by rajeshnat »

gobilalitha wrote:APPRECIABLE EFFORTH. S. Sudhindra

Sudhindra's passion for ugabhogas has been eating him up for almost 12 years now, for, whenever he heard the Tamil viruttams from Sethalapathi Balasubramanyam at his mridanga guru Srimushnam Raja Rao's house, he would be moved. “Ugabhogas in Karnataka badly need this kind of recognition,” he would think. “The simple lines have an ocean of meaning.
Certainly a great effort ,I remember the very first ugabhooga , i used to think it is kannada slokham(never knew the term ugabhooga till the advent of forums) when maharajapuram santhanam sang one in shivaranjani "Anayuka karadare."(lines where draupadi pleads with Lord krishna). The emote of the lyrics and the melody of the music is always intersecting the most in viruththam , slokhams or ugabhoogas.

Personally just a thought on how to make ugabhoogas more popular:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Usually all musicians when they sing viruththams or slokhams or ugabhoogas they restrict usually to the same diety and then wrap up with the krithi of the last rAga of the ugabhoogA. Usually they also constraint it with the same language in the sense you mostly have thamizh krithi after a viruththam or a sanskrit slokham preceding a sanskrit number.

I personally feel this constraint of same language -same diety may be one of the reasons of why musicians not taking up much of ugabhooga , most of them have limited repertoire in kannada language when compared to telugu,sanskrit or thamizh.

Though the same diety constraint is necessary as one cannot wrap a krithi of a different god(let us not break that sampradayam). But the constraint of language can be broken by many musicians ,one way to popularize ugabhoogas ,they can just sing ugabhoogas and then wrap up with a very familiar krithi of sanskrit/thamizh or telugu(this does not mean the musicians need not take kannada krithis , but I guess they can always learn that too as they mature more) .That way the emotive richness of ugabhoogas will be heard more and preserved.
Last edited by rajeshnat on 14 May 2010, 21:36, edited 1 time in total.

rshankar
Posts: 13754
Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:26

Re: ughabhoga

Post by rshankar »

rajeshnat wrote:"Anayuka karadare."(lines where draupadi pleads with Lord krishna).
Not exactly - Sri Purandara dAsaru merely points out to the fact that the Lord chose to come when draupadi called out to him (along with other examples) and therefore sort of extrapolates/insists that he should appear when he, purandara dAsa, the dAsa of the lord's dAsas calls out to him - we discussed it here.

n_anush
Posts: 88
Joined: 28 Jun 2006, 22:50

Re: ughabhoga

Post by n_anush »

where can we get this book in US. can some body help me please

srividhyaganesan
Posts: 4
Joined: 01 Dec 2018, 17:27

Re: ughabhoga

Post by srividhyaganesan »

gobilalitha wrote: 14 May 2010, 12:29 APPRECIABLE EFFORTH. S. Sudhindra
If you have heard the Dasarapada “Baro Krishnaiyya” by M.L. Vasantha Kumari you would never imagine the kriti without the preceding ugabhoga “Baliya manege vaamana bandante” (of Purandaradasa) which seems an apt selection to introduce the subject of the kriti. Ugabhogas are melody-based compositions that are reminiscent of the 12th Century vachanas in Kannada. Like ‘suladis' and ‘kirtanes', ugabhogas were written and popularised by the Haridasa movement during the early 15th Century.

“Ugabhogadarpana” a book published by Suswaralaya College of Music, is a commemorative of its decennial celebrations, and contains several hundreds of these musical couplets by Haridasas of Karnataka. Says mridangist H.S. Sudhindra, the man behind Suswaralaya: “This biggest collection of ugabhogas in a single book has 836 of them from 63 Haridasas, which include a few from Mahila Haridasas too.”

Although there are books available on ugabhogas by particular Haridasas, Suswaralaya's effort stands out as it is a user-friendly compilation for musicians that will be helpful in several ways. “Apart from all being in just one book, musicians can find them listed in the alphabetical order in Kannada. Further, they are classified under subjects as tatwabodhana, gnana-bhakthi-vyragya, guru stuti, nava vidha bhakti, lokaniti, aitihasika, etc.” Also, if one needs to look up ugabhogas on a particular God, one could find them listed together. “But what could be more beneficial are the one-line meanings of the ugabhogas included in the book with the help of Khagavara Dhwaja Vittala Dasaru, a key instrument of the yearly Haridasa Sammelana.”



The book
Sudhindra's passion for ugabhogas has been eating him up for almost 12 years now, for, whenever he heard the Tamil viruttams from Sethalapathi Balasubramanyam at his mridanga guru Srimushnam Raja Rao's house, he would be moved. “Ugabhogas in Karnataka badly need this kind of recognition,” he would think. “The simple lines have an ocean of meaning. It raises the kriti to great philosophical heights.” Ugabhogas are attractive for those who may not understand the nuances of raga. “Many in the audience pay attention to meaningful lyrics.” The lyrics of ugabhogas are typically devotional or philosophical. “It renders the kriti rich and evocative, heightening its significance,” says Sudhindra.

“Ugabhogadarpana” is compiled by Hamsini Nagendra and M.B. Hariharan and it took these musicians three months of marathon work as they had to refer to at least 250 books of Haridasa sahitya and gather information from stalwarts on the subject. Vocalist M.S. Sheela writes an interesting foreword, and Vidyabhushana (who has the maximum recordings of ugabhogas) explains the importance of the musical form in Carnatic music.

“Ugabhogadarpana” costs Rs. 200. Call 94480-59595/ 23440409 for copies.

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Friday Review Bangalore Chennai and Tamil Nadu Delhi Hyderabad Thiruvananthapuram
How do I get a copy of this book?
vidhya_97@yahoo.co.in

Regards
Srividhya

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