Today is Muthuswami Dikshitar's Birth Anniversary

girish_a · Post by **girish_a** » 24 Mar 2009, 09:01

Just wanted to remind rasikas that today (March 24th) is Sri Muthuswami Dikshithar's birth anniversary. Let us offer salutations to the spiritual and musical genius.

tribute · Post by **tribute** » 24 Mar 2009, 09:02

That is good news!! Tribute pays a tribute to Sri Muthuswamy Dikshithar!! =)

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 24 Mar 2009, 09:15

I have been teaching myself chEta shrI in MD's honour. Such a majestic, lyrical composition as is characteristic of his music...

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 24 Mar 2009, 09:39

Great, Bilahari! A good idea. I will at least sing a few to refresh my memory--especially that YK one

cienu · Post by **cienu** » 24 Mar 2009, 10:38

True Arasi .

I know with how much fervour you sing the YK composition

tkb · Post by **tkb** » 24 Mar 2009, 11:26

Thnaks for the info and shall infm Sathya to play his krithis at home today and get the blessings.

sureshvv · Post by **sureshvv** » 24 Mar 2009, 12:03

Smt. Savitha Narasimhan will be presenting a Dikshitar birthday concert on March 30 at Narada Gana Sabha mini hall.

erode14 · Post by **erode14** » 24 Mar 2009, 13:20

Thank you... I will be singing (rather reading!) some of MD's compositions today... Also, I have got a great header for Orkut and Facebook...

Kailash · Post by **Kailash** » 24 Mar 2009, 13:59

Hey guys when we talk about Cheta Shri - I am reminded about Brandamma's rendition of this piece - Classy and great........

Vegaha, Ritha, Rama Ravi, Nandhita Ravi, Alamelu Mani, Aruna Sairam also do a great justice to this piece.....

Especially Nava Champaka........ Looks really beautiful........

srkris · Post by **srkris** » 24 Mar 2009, 19:02

Happy Birthday Dikshita(r) - nothing to beat Balagopala

kedharam · Post by **kedharam** » 24 Mar 2009, 20:33

My all time favs: SrI kAnthimathim and meenAkshi mEmUdham, where MD has exploited divine beauty to the core"¦As one senior vidvAn recently told in all humility: "The great vAggeyakArAs eppadi pAdanumnu kAmichuttu pOita. Engalukku ethula vElai onnum kedaiAdhu. KannA pinnA pAdAma irundhA pOrum. (as long as we render them with integrity to the poetic element treating the sAhithyams with reverence to the composesr who have infused the literary-melodic-rhythmic entities with all the musical wisdom it was intended to have). A sort of the first compass I guess. Go MD!

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 24 Mar 2009, 23:20

My salutations to the great soul...

girish_a · Post by **girish_a** » 24 Mar 2009, 23:26

Some time ago there was a thread about your "last song" - If you had just enough time to listen to one last song before you died, which would you choose?

Hearing Nithyashree sing Ekambresha Nayike made me think "this would be it". How beautiful her voice is, and how beautifully she has sung! I had not heard anyone sing with such bhAva in a long time.

ragam-talam · Post by **ragam-talam** » 24 Mar 2009, 23:39

http://www.geocities.com/vienna/strasse ... tarbio.htm

The year was 1834. In the month of Aswija, on the Chaturdashi preceding Deepavali, Muthuswamy Dikshitar woke up in the early hours, as was his practice, and after yogic practices went to take his bath. He had a vision of Kasi Annapoorneswari. Even as he was gazing on it, the vision vanished. Dikshitar remembered what Chidambara yogi had told him at Kasi: "She will give you not merely feed in this life but 'moksha' thereafter".

Dikshitar felt his end was nearing. He performed Navavarna pooja to the Devi and sang the kriti Ehi Annapoorne. After the pooja, Dikshitar moved on to the drawing room where his disciples had assembled. "Today is Chaturdashi, a day sacred to the Devi. May you all sing kirtanas in her praise," said Dikshitar to disciples. They began singing Meenakshi me mudam dehi in raga Gamakakriya.

"It looks as though the Devi is liberating me from the bonds of this world. Sing the kirtana again," said Dikshitar. They did so. Even as they were singing the sahitya of the anupallavi Meena lochani Pasha mochani, he cast off his mortal coils.

The music is over; but the song is on.

ragam-talam · Post by **ragam-talam** » 24 Mar 2009, 23:41

Are there any kritis composed in praise of Dikshitar?

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 25 Mar 2009, 00:20

Salutations to the great soul, but for whom, our lives would have certainly been poorer!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 25 Mar 2009, 02:29

Kedharam,
Sri kAntimatim is one of my favorites too. More so because I was born near her temple, I guess! Seroiusly, that San......kara yu...vati' steals my heart every time I hear the song!

Shivadasan · Post by **Shivadasan** » 25 Mar 2009, 07:34

When I was a boy Sermadevi Subramanya Sastri, the vainika, visited our home. He sang Sri Kanthimatim and then sang a kriti (his own) in the same raga (I think) in praise of Dikshitar. The starting words were "Deekshitendram"

gobilalitha · Post by **gobilalitha** » 25 Mar 2009, 08:10

My son(MOHAN ,Kamalamba for forumites)used to say that his daily routine includes singing 2 MD songs,while driving from house to his lab in National University, Singapore, which gives him rare peace of mind to start his work in lab. gobilalitha

vainika · Post by **vainika** » 25 Mar 2009, 12:26

ragam-talam wrote:Are there any kritis composed in praise of Dikshitar?

The renowned sanskRt scholar and Dikshitar authority Prof. V Raghavan has composed a mahakAvya or epic poem on MD's life.

Raghavan, V. 1964. Muttuswami Dikshitar Charitra. Journal of the Music Academy, Madras, Vol. XXXV. pp: 228-237

Excerpts of this poem are often rendered in a kAmbhOji viruttam by Prof SRJ in his MD lec-dems.

I'm not sure if the entire poem is available online, though. Fellow rasika Vidya might know...

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 25 Mar 2009, 12:55

I think there is a kOTishvara ayyar krithi on Dikshitar - svAmi dIkshita sadgurO in dEvamanOhari.

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 25 Mar 2009, 14:39

kedharam · Post by **kedharam** » 25 Mar 2009, 18:07

I do get chills whenever TNS launches into "Shuka Shounakaadi Sadaaraadhithaam Shuddha Thaamraparnee Thatasthithaam"

ragam-talam · Post by **ragam-talam** » 25 Mar 2009, 18:20

Ananda natana prakasam in Kedaram is another wonderful kriti of Dikshitar.

I read somewhere that when MDR sings it you get the feeling of an elephant walking majestically.

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 25 Mar 2009, 18:33

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 25 Mar 2009, 19:59

I do remember, Cool. It was majestic.

rajesh_rs · Post by **rajesh_rs** » 25 Mar 2009, 20:37

It is good to be informed of the great man's birth anniversary. It is only fitting to wish in his spirit that more inspired souls may create great music.

Almost a year ago I taught myself Sri lakshmi Varaham Bhajeham (Abhogi). It is a lovely kriti that brings out the essence of Abhogi.

ragam-talam · Post by **ragam-talam** » 25 Mar 2009, 21:17

prashant wrote:I think there is a kOTishvara ayyar krithi on Dikshitar - svAmi dIkshita sadgurO in dEvamanOhari.

Does anyone have the sahitya for this kriti?
Lakshman-ji?

vainika · Post by **vainika** » 26 Mar 2009, 19:12

Heads-up on a Dikshitar Jayanti concert at Naada Inbam on Monday March 30th, 6 pm. The program will feature renditions of some rare kRtis, with significance of selected lyrics explained by a sanskRt scholar Dr. Sivashree Gopalakrishnan, who has written her dissertation on the sAhitya of MD kRtis.

Kalpakam Swaminathan and L Ramakrishnan - Veena
Vasumathi Desikan, Vijaya, and Sivashree Gopalakrishnan - Vocal
Amritha Murali - Violin
Tanjavur Kumar - Mrudangam

Venue: Raga Sudha Hall, 85/2, Luz Avenue, Luz, Mylapore, Chennai

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 26 Mar 2009, 19:49

I'm missing this by a day! Sorely disappointed

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 26 Mar 2009, 20:16

All the best for the concert Ramki!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 26 Mar 2009, 20:31

Ramki,
When I heard Kalpagam Mami during the season (what a concert it was!), you were in the audience. Will miss listening to your playing with her. Hope I get the chance end of this year.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 26 Mar 2009, 20:33

Best Wishes Ramki!

ignoramus · Post by **ignoramus** » 26 Mar 2009, 21:33

Ramki

all the best. i am away that monday, and i have started regretting already

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 26 Mar 2009, 21:34

All the best, vainika! Knock (strum?) it out of the park!

vainika · Post by **vainika** » 27 Mar 2009, 01:26

thanks very much

cienu · Post by **cienu** » 27 Mar 2009, 08:30

Ramki,

All the best. I would have loved to hear Kalpagam Mami

baboosh · Post by **baboosh** » 28 Mar 2009, 15:44

ragam-talam wrote:Are there any kritis composed in praise of Dikshitar?

In 1975 MA season was dedicated to Dikshitar being his Bi centenary year.Then I heard MBK composed a Krithi beginning with Chintayami santatam Sri Muddusvami dikshitam.

vidya · Post by **vidya** » 29 Mar 2009, 23:08

Not withstanding the MA's decision to celebrate 1975 as the birth anniversary , there isn't much of a consensus on what the English date of Dikshitar's Birth Anniversary is (24,25,26 - 1776 and some still use 1775). For this reason, I prefer to use the Panguni kRtika referencer which falls on March 30th and also believe that the correct English date to be 26.3.1776 which I think matches the panguni kRtika and manmatha year.
On this occasion Dr.PPN and I are happy to release to the public domain another work The Dikshitar Kirtana prakashika of Shri.Tiruppamburam Natarajasundaram Pillai. The mirrored locations are:

http://guruguha.org/dkp_p.pdf
http://www.ibiblio.org/guruguha/dkp_p.pdf

For those of you who do download a copy, let us know of any typos / errors.

Vainika,
What Prof.SRJ sings is a kAmbhOji shabdam not a viruttam. A shabdam is a dance composition that is a different genre than the viruttam It goes thus (quoting from memory):
guruguhanugrahIta mApura dhanya janma makhIshvara
tiruttaNI sthala labda madhumaya kavitA vaibhava
kRtibhiradbhuta rAga mUrtiH akila harihara dEvatA
nutibhiramara yashasprakIrtiH tyaga kamalA bhakta namOstutE
Dr.Raghavan's (whose birth centenary was last year - see dedication in the DKP) kavya is not available online. I believe a copy of it may be available via Dr.V.Raghavan center for performing Arts.

Ragam-thalam,
http://guruguha.org/mdsongs.php

vainika · Post by **vainika** » 30 Mar 2009, 02:45

Thanks Dr. PPN and Vidya for helping bring this work to light! I quickly scanned some of the notations (chEtas, bRhannAyakI) and they appear similar to the SSP, except that the o instead of , signifying duration of note takes some getting used to.

srkris · Post by **srkris** » 30 Mar 2009, 03:00

Vidya, many thanks to you and Dr. PPN for the work.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 30 Mar 2009, 08:21

Vidya - awesome work, and a wonderful anjali!

Do you know of anyone who's choreographed this Sabdam? And, as far as Sabdams go, it is very short isn't it? They typically have several caraNams.

vidya · Post by **vidya** » 30 Mar 2009, 08:54

Thanks.
Rshankar,
All I know is that these four lines of this shabdam are sung by him as a concert opener. Since the fourth line ends with a namOstutE and shabdams are supposed to end with a salutation, I assumed this was all that it had. Not sure if there are more stanzas or not. I am not aware of the stipulations of the average length of a shabdam - Are there any? I am guessing that may be Smt.Nandini Ramani or Smt.Priyamvada Sankar - (Dr.Raghavan's daughters) may have choreographed this.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 30 Mar 2009, 09:29

vidya
A silly question , is it ok to sing shabdam in the beginning of a vocal or instrumental concert . Has any one done it?

vidya · Post by **vidya** » 31 Mar 2009, 08:13

rajeshnat,
Yes.in a music concert it serves the same purpose as an invocatory shloka etc and hence there is no sequence-sensitivity as in Bharatanatyam.

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 31 Mar 2009, 11:29

Awaiting a write-up on this concert...

ramakriya · Post by **ramakriya** » 02 Apr 2009, 21:48

baboosh wrote:
ragam-talam wrote:Are there any kritis composed in praise of Dikshitar?
In 1975 MA season was dedicated to Dikshitar being his Bi centenary year.Then I heard MBK composed a Krithi beginning with Chintayami santatam Sri Muddusvami dikshitam.

And in line with MD tradition, the kriti has rAga mudre, and use of both gOpucchayati, and SrOtOvAhayati.