Favourite neraval lines

[narayan]

Purely subjective view of lines for neraval. First of all, I guess the best neraval singer is KVN. That's decided. No? Well, in that case ...

My vote for the best neraval line is muni mAnasa dhAma mrga mada sulalAma in Simhendramadhyamam. Don't know what it is about the line, but I feel like coming back to it, even though I don't really know the song (rAma rAma guNa sIma). The line has all the important vowel sounds, and has a different start to the two halves of the line. Basically one feels like singing a lot of it, is what I can say. The other funny thing about the line is that although the line sung in the song does not contain the madhyamam, there is no confusing it with kiravani. Can't quite explain it. Several people have sung this line and one rendering that I remember hearning is Radha Jayalakshmi.

KVN of course has sung several memorable lines, manasuna dalachi, and even more strikingly, tanuvu tAnu in manasu swAdhIna. vAsavAdi sakala dEva vanditAya is probably his most famous line. I guess those sort of lines require you to really sing the pallavi again to notionally complete the sentence. I've always prefered the neraval when the song is over and done with, otherwise there is strange unfinished business nagging you. Sometimes there is a long neraval (rare these days, of course) and sometimes even a tani avartanam and almost as an afterthought, the song is finished. nIla nIrada sharIra from bAlagOpAla is another great one from KVN. An unusual one from him, which I haven't heard too often from others is karamuna Sara kOdanDa from nannupAlimpa.

S.Ramanathan has sung some masterly madhyamakala line neravals - kAkustham dhImantam etc, and also PanasanAri in Sri gaNapati and of course, rAmabrahma tanayuDau from dorakuna. DKJ also used to do bhAva rAga tAla mOdini and a couple of others. Neela Ramgopal has a strong attempt in madhyamakala neraval in Darbar in the Diksitar song tyAgarAjAdanyam on the sangeethapriya site. Personal experience is that kAmakale vimalE in kAmakshi Srivaralakshmi is a great madhyama kala neraval line.

A staple misra cApu is paTTigOTu etc. from eTula brOtuvo and even though it may not be the best fit in meaning - is what I've heard - it is something that Alathur and several others have felt like singing. A good solid rupakam line is sarivArilOna from kOrina vara in rAmapriya. Technically challenging ones are tAmarasa daLa from ammarAvamma and nIpAdapankaja (from birAna brOva). syAma krsNa from sankari sankuru seems easier to sing.

Sanjay and TMK and others sing several beautiful lines these days, and I need a few years to soak those up and form opinions! These ramblings are from old memories.

Mani Iyer is remembered for melodious neravals in Kapinarayani and Todi and so on, and GNB more for striking swara take offs (mpdns sumati tyAgaraja and g,mpn tApatraya haraNa) although I would be happy to be reminded of famous neravals from him.

Seshagopalan and Balamurali have sung unusual neraval lines in my memory, but not too much that I can really identify with. MDR's rAmabhaktudaiNa in the Sri rAga pancaratna is something that only he can sing.

Here are some neraval lines that I'm underwhelmed by. kAmaksi kanjadalAyataskhi from ninnenamminAnu, vEdasAstra from enduku peddala and even kanTiki sundara from cakkani rAja. Somehow there's a routine feeling to them, usually. I'm sure these are great lines and great renderings in people's experience!

Vote for best neraval rendering, returning to KVN, is tantrI laya swara rAga vilOlulu from nAdOpAsana.

Didn't know where to post this, because it's not just about raga or tala and it's not a technical discussion and ... I didn't really want to list this alongside the Cleveland 'debate', but anyway here it is. Would welcome another home for it, in some other group. Also, as may be clear from this and earlier posts from me, I'm not really an expert on the sahitya and certainly not on the meaning and the bhava. I just like the concept of neraval singing.

[cacm]

Madurai Mani Iyer's & M.S.S's choices for NERAVAL are in my opinion unbeatable. Too many examples to wrote about! VKV

[CRama]

All lines chosen by MSS for neraval are enjoyable ones because of the meaning, right bhavam, right kalapramanam , neraval in two kalams and measured length. Her outstanding neravals
Booloka vaikuntam-O rangasayi
Samaganavinodini-Sarojadalanetri
Sundaresa sugunabrinda-Enatinomu bhalamu
Edutha jananam-Thiruvadi saranam
Narayana namamulanu-Naradamuni
Bhakthileni-Dasarathe
Maal maruga shanmmuga muruga-Karthikeya gangeya
Mepulakai-Ramannaubrovara
Sogasuga mridanga-
Munimanasa dhama-Ramarama gunaseema
Neeraja netraa-Ninne nammithinayya
Mamatha bandhanayuta-Nidhichalasukhama
Thanuvuche vandana-Pakala=nilabadi
Marajanakan-Narayana divyanamam
Bhamaini samudayasrya-Sarasaksha
Neravals in Vande vasudevam, Okaparigokabari,Paramapurusha nirupamana, Sree kamakoti peedasthithe, Ksheerasagarasayana, truly mindboggling
There are many more....

[mahavishnu]

Good topic, Narayan. I am a huge fan of Neravals in general. Although this is a very subjective exercise, I think this makes for a nice discussion. I am glad this took my attention away from the some of the other mudslinging, acrimonious threads.

I would add KVN's Harikamboji to the list; I am especially fond of the neraval line shESuDu shivuniki bhUsuDu lakshmaNa in entarAni. I am presently listening to a recently digitized recording of KVN/Lalgudi/Palghat Raghu from Nadopasana, Sastri Hall in the late 1970s. I had the pleasure of being at this amazing concert. I was seven years old. I was sitting on the floor right in front of the stage with my father, who recorded it on his old grundig reel-to-reel tape recorder. I owe my continued interest in carnatic music to experiences like this. It is every bit as sweet three decades hence.

There are so many others. This one just popped in my head due to the situated recency effect!

[mri_fan]

Intha Soukya in Kapi is my favorite KVN niravel line.

[tyagarajadasa]

Nice topic!

I feel that the best neraval lines are from Tyagaraja Swami's compositions, though I enjoy singing lines like "parama jnAna latAlavAlam..." (of course remembering that it is not paramAAAAjnAna....!) and "madhurApurI nilayE...." from shankarAcharyam and mInAkshi mE mudam respectively.

Then there is this kriti nIdu pAdamE in pantuvarAli that gives nice scope for "odukkal" in its neraval line "vAdulella", much like the line manasuna dalaci and other 3-talli lines in misra chaapu. It is different from the other lines in pantuvarali like vEda shAstra purANa or kapi vAridhi. It is my personal favorite at this point of time!

Also, I have always felt that MMI's neraval singing is much better than his swaram singing. Like the ones for "tambura cekkoni...." or "caduvulanni" and of course "hitavumATalentO"..

I also feel singing neraval for not so sarvalaghu rAgams like nAyaki is a big challenge! And I just love TMK's neravals for the varnams...(just that !)

[venkatakailasam]

The selection of Pallavi lines is to bring out
the musical and lyrical beauty in it.
Perhaps, the lyrical beauty may have to take precedence.
The lyrics, would Provide punch and bhaava. We have seen
very callous attitude sometimes void of real emotion.
Neravals in addition also offer the performers manodharma.

But, Unusual pallavi themes- excerpt from the book of R. Srinivasan, Facets of Indian Culture has been brought out at this link along with other interesting anecdotes by Shri. V. N. Muthukumar and Shri. M. V. Ramana

http://www.sawf.org/newedit/edit08192002/musicarts1.asp

When we talk about Pallavi Singing, we remember Shri KVN and Shri Musiri.

However the rendering by MMI and Shri TNS are consdered by me as superlative.

You can hear at the following links:

E'-SWARA-004-015-MMI-Thiruvadi saranam - Kambhoji-Part IV.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryXNRoDQlG4


E'-SWARA-005-015-MMI-Thiruvadi saranam - Kambhoji part V
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S72XK94aLcM

E'-SWARA--021-Madurai mani Iyer -Sabhapathikku veru deivam-Part II of 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=820anqes-8Q

E'-SWARA--023-Madurai mani Iyer -Sarasa sama dhana-Part II.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8t7BWh_ ... re=related

E'-SWARA-032-Madurai Shri TN Sesha Gopalan-RTP-Suba Panthuvarali part IV
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNPdtgpOV8U


venkatakailasam

[hariniraghavan]

Semmangudi's 'paluku paluku' neraval for rama nee samanamevaru - karaharapriya is superb But MSS's 'bhooloka vaikunta' and TNS's 'badari vana' in Akshaya linga are the best.

[satyabalu]

*"Dheena rakshakam pujitha vaidanatha Shetram"-Angarakamasrayamyakam-Surati-TNS.
*"Jatharupa nibhachela Janmarchitha mamakila"-Deva Deva Kalayamithey-ST-SSI.
"*Rama Sri Thiagaraja prema avathara Sita"- Jesinatheli-Todi-T-SKN. Vedavalli.
* "Kalinil chilambu konja"- Thaye yashoda-Todi-MMI.
*"Venner anidathenna velai pidithathenna"In Thanthirunduvazhum thavamaniye(Composer?)-K.B.Sundarambal.
*"Rupamu prathapamu sarajapamu sallapamu"-Ninnuvina-Todi-T-KVN.
*"Meppula kaikannathavu " Rama nannubrovara-Harikamboji-MSS.
"*Lakshmidevivalachuna lakshmanundu kolusuna "Pantuvarali-T-Neyveli.
" Neela neerada Charira "-Bhairavi-MD-MBK.
*Some beatififul neraval from old vasanthakokilam LPrecords- do not remember.

[CRama]

While remembering the superior neravals of MSS, one neraval I should definitely mention- which I forgot yesterday That is Akalanka neeve in Ikanaina (Pushpalathika)

[ksrimech]

akaLanka nIvE from ikanaina (puSpalathikA) - MSS
sarasIruhAnanam chakravibrAjitam from vandE vAsudEvam (SrI) - MSS
chaturamUriti chaturabAhu from parama puruSa (SaNmukhapriyA) - MSS
jagadEkapatimEna from okaparikokapari (kharaharapriyA) - MSS
tanuvuchE vandana from pakkAlabilabaDi (kharaharapriyA) - MSS
paluku paluku lEkutEnE from rAma ni samAna (kharaharapriyA) - SSI, MSS, LGJ
kamalajAmanOhara SrIkara from SrInivAsa tava charaNau (kharaharapriyA) - KVN
guruDE bhAskaruDu guruDE bhadruDu from nI chittamu (dhanyASi) - KVN
SrI raghuvara jAnaki manOramaNa from nI daya lEdani (dhanyASi) - MSS
tAmasa rahita guNa sAndrA from SyAmasundarAnga (dhanyASi ) - MDR
Sata rAga ratna mAlikanu from ElAvatAramu (mukhArI) - TMK, mallADi bros
kammani phalamosagi from entAninnE (mukhAri) - ARI, RV
meppulakai kannatAvu from rAma nanna brOva (harikAmbhOji) - MSS
rAjita amara pAla from sAkEta nagara nAtha (harikAmbhOji) - MSS, GNB
nArAyaNa nAmamulanu from nAradamuni veDalina (kAmavardhini) - MSS
lakSmidEvi valachunA from apparAmabhakti (kAmavardhini) - MSS, DKJ
tripanTlalanudhIrchi from apparAmabhakti (kAmavardhini) - ARI, KVN
munimAnasadhAmA from rAmA rAmA guNa sIma (simhEndramadhyamam) - MSS
kanakAmbharadhara from paramapAvanarAma (pUrvikalyANi) - ARI, MSS
kanakanaruchi ni rUpamu from anudinamunu gAvumayyA (bEgaDa) - ARI, MSS
sarvadharma paripAlakA from pArthasArathi (madhyamAvathi)- ARI, DKP, DKJ
bhUlOka vaikuNTam idi yani from O rangaSAyi (kAmbhOji) - MSS, SSI, LGJ
AjAnubAhuyuga from nAdupai balikEdaru narulu (madhyamAvathi) - GNB, MLV, MMI, Soumya
rAma nAma manE from banTurIti koluvu (hamsanAdam) - DrSR, MSS, Soumya, TNS
rAja kula kalaSAbdi from anupamaguNAbudhi (aTANa) - ARI, DrSR
nIla nIradha SarIra from bAlagOpAla (bhairavi) - MLV, Sanjay, Soumya

[arunk]

Semmangudi's 'paluku paluku' neraval for rama nee samanamevaru - karaharapriya is superb

Me too (SSI and others) - but that was until I learned the song, and found that the meaning of the neraval line is such that it is not that appropriate. It is basically an incomplete sentence in the context of the song. The phrase used for neraval paluku palukulaku tEne loluku mATalADu - is NOT about rAma but about his brothers - because the sOdaralu gala hari that follows completes the sentence conveying "(O) hari(!), (you) who have brothers whose words are as sweet as dripping honey".

The neraval also cannot be done with the complete sentence since sOdaralu runs beyond the tala boundary, and sOdaralu galahari also isnt long enough to fit another cycle (even if it did, you would have odd number for the entire neraval and that isn't done - or perhaps adds additional difficulties).

Disclaimer: Not that I know anything about actually performing a neraval - but after learning the song, I was sort of "disappointed" that good, appropriate neraval that I thought was there at this part of the song isn't actually possible - even though the "tune" for that part (and of course raga) seem like a great fit. So IMHO if you enjoy the neraval here, you are simply enjoying kharaharapriya and its vast potential for neraval. The words could have been even more nonsensical and many of us would still be mesmerized when it is dressed in kharaharapriya (or other ragas we may like).

Of course, the meaning of the incomplete part "words that are as sweet dripping honey" is ok and makes sense in itself. Just that it is misleading - particularly the song is in praise of Rama as incomparable - but the line isn't talking about his qualities! But am sure all of us would assign it to him too - so perhaps not that blatant a mistake say like the case where 90% of the people sing the refrain line of one the crown jewels - gowLa pancaratnam with an incomplete sentence, conveying an incomplete, and hence meaningless, and even at best a misleading thought. This is worse than above since it is broken off in the middle of a (sort-of) hyphenated word (i.e. hyphenated in this context), and there is a pronunciation slip added on top of that!

When this is done for the refrain line which is repeated like about 10-15 times in the rendition, it seems a bit much even ( ) for me (But when I sing it in a group, I have to conform )

Arun

[balakk]

>the case where 90% of the people sing the refrain line of one the crown jewels - gowLa pancaratnam with an incomplete sentence,

Can somebody further explain this mistake please?

[arunk]

The "hyphenated" word is dora-koDuku => King's Son => Dasaratha's Son i.e. Rama. It is dora (dorai in Tamil) not dOrA as it would come out the way the tune is sung.

The pallavi's meaning is How can Rama (i.e. King's Son) save me, since I have so many faults ??!!? Just singing duDuku gala nannE dora (even after fixing dOrA to dora) I think is plain gibberish without the following koDuku brOcurA. But IMO, even that would not convey the main import of the song without the trailing entO (how?!). The very last part of the 2nd line completes the true meaning - but that can make it somewhat challenging to do every time and tie it to each charanam (although I think possible). So duDuku gala nannE dorakoDuku brOcurA would be the minimum acceptable though it omits the skepticism strain of the entO. But even if Thyagaraja is skeptical about receiving blessing (due to all his faults), we know Rama blessed him .

Arun

[vidya]

Arun
Someone ought to compose a song that goes "I diego dora koduku" which I am sure will be a hit among pre-schoolers interested in CM!

Most favorite neraval line:
Musiri's bhAminI samudAyasya mohana padmanAbha kamalAdharaNI vara (sArasAksha)

Least Favorite line(s)
- drONa karNa duryodanAdi .. in bAlagopala

I know musicians and vidvans have neravified this line and quite well but somehow the profusion of samyuktaksharas and the lack of smoothness of the 'dur' there comes in the way of my view of musical aesthetics. Of course there are workarounds to smoothen the line, to slur the 'dur' etc (This line always reminds me of Prof.SRJ's humorous remark of how not to stress on the "garrr" at "Perum nalla Tyagar" of Papavinasa mudaliar"!)

[arunk]

Arun
Someone ought to compose a song that goes "I diego dora koduku" which I am sure will be a hit among pre-schoolers interested in CM!

- actually cloak it in a kharaharapriya/bhairavi and stretch it out nicely, I am sure lot of us would too !

[rshankar]

Someone ought to compose a song that goes "I diego dora koduku" which I am sure will be a hit among pre-schoolers interested in CM!

Being far removed from a pre-school age child (thank you God!), the context is lost on me...Glad Arun got it.

[rshankar]

My favorite neveral line is Smt. MSS' 'sundarESa suguNa bRnda daSaratha nandana pAvana'...
Least favorite are several....

[arunk]

My favorite neveral line is Smt. MSS' 'sundarESa suguNa bRnda daSaratha nandana pAvana'...

Isn't that missing some words? aravinda nayana pAvana - as I have learnt it.

This one has a nice feel but it has a lot of words which completely fill both cycles of the tala i.e. not a whole lot of stretch room.

But of course the song is awesome, raga is awesome, and with MSS, the singer is awesome.

Arun

[Enna_Solven]

Hope you have listened to this beautiful LecDem by Smt. Vedavalli on niraval:
http://www.sangeethamshare.org/tvg/UPLO ... o-Niraval/

[rshankar]

Isn't that missing some words? aravinda nayana pAvana - as I have learnt it.

Yes of course!

[uday_shankar]

but that was until I learned the song, and found that the meaning of the neraval line is such that it is not that appropriate.

With all due respect to my good friend arun, I think the complaint of sAhitya mangling by someone who doesn't know a particular language intimately has a bogus ring to it.

But first let me make a case for sahitya mangling. It's called musical license. Just like poetic license, there such a thing as musical license where, based on your intimate understanding of a language, you can strech vowels, skip some consonants,etc... while composing music but particularly while improvising in neraval. Two people who understand and speak a particular language with native fluency will have no problem with a bit of "sAhitya mangling" on the part of the other for two reasons:
1) a person who knows a certain language intimately will automatically mangle only in ways that don't compromise the basic flow of that language. For example, I feel confident that I will mangle only in meaningful ways in Tamil and Hindi (and English). As for Telugu, I am certain that I will mangle in completely meaningless ways !
2) the person listening knows that it's all perfectly kosher because he/she know that the person singing "knows what he's talking about" !

The problem with Tyagaraja kirtanas is that they are in Telugu and mostly sung by Tamilians who don't know or care to learn (yours truly included) it. Mere "understanding" of the meaning and pronunciation of the sAhitya is inadequate to effectively do neraval.You have to be soaked in the language like a native speaker. Othewise, being a stickler for sAhitya perfection is likely to stifle your creativity and make the music insufferable.

Under the circumstances, it is actually a good situation that one doesn't understand Telugu very well, the main artist is mangling the sAhitya but excellent musical value is being created ! The alternative scenario, where the main artist who does not know Telugu but his/her creativity is being stifled by an awareness of "correct" pronunciation could make it insufferable. Hence, all the great Tamil stalwarts of the last century made pronunciation errors, sometimes erroneous choices for neraval lines but created memorable neravals in Tyagaraja krits nevertheless.

Lighten up, we're talking mainly of M-U-S-I-C, not Vedic chanting or the queen of England giving a speech.

[uday_shankar]

Also, I don't think the "entire" line has to be sung. Case and point...Madurai Mani Iyer.

A single line, mostly a single phrase, was often taken up and explored. Saay "kalinil chilambu" or "mAnikkam vairam". So the other argument by Arun that the "whole" line should make sense doesn't make sense. Tamil is a language I do understand and I am quite happy listening to these phrases over and over again during MMI's neraval.

[vgovindan]

uday,
'graha balamEmi rAmAnugraha balamEmi'? - (to hell with rAma's anugraha)
'sundArini telusukoNTi' (Mother's name is 'tripura sundAri' - Sri Vidya upAsakas - please note)
'loluku sOdarulu kala' (having oozing brothers - must be the stuff supplied in TASMAC)
'rAma nannu brOvarA' - vEmakO (Or if you wish, change it to 'prEmatO')?
wonderful neravals sung by top musicians - Indeed this is musical L-I-C-E-N-C-E!

[vasanthakokilam]

vidya wrote: Someone ought to compose a song that goes "I diego dora koduku" which I am sure will be a hit among pre-schoolers interested in CM!
Being far removed from a pre-school age child (thank you God!), the context is lost on me...Glad Arun got it.

I did not know either, looked it up .. http://www.nickjr.co.uk/shows/diego/index.aspx Diego is Dora's cousin "...He's a great partner to Dora in her adventures. .... You can count on Diego to run, swing and jump to the rescue of any animals in trouble.."

Arun, looking at VGV's translation, "enTo" seems to be the equivalent of "eththanayO" of tamil.."so much" duduku.. so leaving out enTo is probably less of an issue...In fact, leaving that out a few times and then adding it would add a meaningful punch. ( assuming my interpretation of ento is correct ).

But until I read your post, I did not bother to check the meaning.. repeating the first line again and again does sound odd from a meaning perspective but then that is where Uday's musical license aspect probably comes in.. I just checked Hyderabad Brothers' version.. Though they repeat the first line a few times initially, later on they switch to singing both lines together. I think 'dora vs dOra' can be pinned on musical license without any great difficulties.

[arunk]

Arun, looking at VGV's translation, "enTo" seems to be the equivalent of "eththanayO" of tamil.."so much" duduku.. so leaving out enTo is probably less of an issue..

Indeed. I stand corrected. That does make it expendable.

My point is not that "half-sentences" shouldn't never be taken for neraval. It is more that I would think it is best that the half-sentence isnt meaningless. And best if it reflects the vibe of the full-sentence or song etc. (that part does get subjective).

In the case of paluku-paluku, the part that is picked does have meaning, perhaps even the same vibe etc. - the only thing is it wasn't meant to be for Rama in this song. But as I mention in my earlier post, I don't get caught up too much in it and let it slide - but in my view, this is NOT the most appropriate neraval phrase because of this. Like I said the words could have been even less meaningful and would have had the same musical impact.

In the case of duDuku, the half-sentence (upto dora) if I am not mistaken has no meaning because it isn't even a complete sub-phrase - it is hanging (but I could be wrong).

Actually, I think that if it was even shorter, as simply "duDuku gala nannE....." then THAT would be more meaningful within the context of the song. But the tune is such that you come back to "sa" with dora and hence people stop there (But you can certainly go longer and end in brOcurA and end in sa there).


Arun

[rshankar]

Another nereval line/phrase that I love is 'mAl marugA shaNmugA murugA guhA, magapatiyum vidhiyum tozhum (mAl marugA...)'

[vgovindan]

arun,
The phrase 'duDuku gala nannE dora koDuku brOcurA' could be split as 'duDuku gala nannu' + 'E dora koDuku brOcurA'; the first portion is partially meaningful; similar is the case with the second portion also. This is one of the purposes of splitting words in my blogs. God willing, I also want to incorporate logical sequencing of each kRti so that neravals could be taken up to highlight the spirit of the kRti.

[srikant1987]

I remember rbharath told me some time back that a line taking less than half an octave range or so in the song itself is preferred, because we can use other "regions" more creatively.

It was really enlightening to me.

Are there any other such musical characteristics preferred for a neraval line?

For one, neravals for madhyamakAla lines is difficult, especially you may not be able to stretch and shorten syllables quickly (and meaningfully) enough to land correctly on the eDuppu.

[vgovindan]

I have opened a new topic - Tyagaraja kRtis - neravals.
http://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic. ... 22#p188322

[arunk]

Thanks vgv sir for the corrections to my post.

[satyabalu]

*SSI doing neraval "Triloka mangala kara murthy" in Appan avadaritha kathamrutham -Karaharapriya- Papanasam Sivan.
*Rajarajuniki chelikadayina
Rajasekaruni gopuranilayuni: Sundareshvaruni juchi-Sankarabharanam-Thiagarajar-by Vijayalakshmy subramaniam-Ksherta sangeetham-Chennai- today.(request someone tell the word by word meaning for this passage)

[vgovindan]

sb,
Please refer to http://thyagaraja-vaibhavam.blogspot.co ... -raga.html

[satyabalu]

THQ Govindan! I am able to appreciate the neraval better with the meaning given word by word.

[narayan]

... neravals for madhyamakAla lines is difficult, especially you may not be able to stretch and shorten syllables quickly (and meaningfully) enough to land correctly on the eDuppu.

The lines quoted by rshankar (sundarEsa suguNa brnda and mAlmarugA muruga) and the line quoted by vidya (bhAmini samudAyasya - which is not how I thought it was - live and learn!) are madhyamakAla lines. I've heard two madhyama kala lines from Meenaksi memudam and kalA mAlini kAtyAyani from Paradevata in dhanyasi and a few others. There's actually not a problem in landing correctly anywhere, because the inherent rhythm carries you along and you have to go with the drumbeat. The one I've tried is kAmakalE vimalE in Bilahari from kAmAksi srI varalaksmi (although guruguha.org lists it as kAmAksi varalaksmi). That is just great.

About neraval singers, I guess MSS is a popular one that I need to get more into, although my early initiation to music was through kamala gauri and madurapuri nilaye from her LP set.

[tyagarajadasa]

Among madhyama kAla lines for neraval, my favorite ones are kumAra guruguha in rAmanAtham by Shri NSG, and then kamalApura-sadanA in kamalAmbAm bhaja rE (again by Shri NSG, no recordings available; I heard in a concert) Somehow the kamalE vimalE line has never scored well with me I think it has toooooo many "lE"s!

In such lines, I just love the step-by step development that Shri NSG gives. He usually starts from "ga" and then takes it up to the mEl sA in first speed. Then he would do second speed. That would be really interesting and structured. Rather than just moving up and down the scale in such lines, gradually moving up gives a decent structure to the whole exercise.

[srikant1987]

By madhyamakAla lines, I meant faster lines. Probably duritakAlam. And I said that to "break" the rhythm of the song (that's what I meant by "stretching" and "shortening" -- with respect to the same syllable in the song) is what would be challenging.

[ratanabhinav]

sundaresa suguna brinda - enati nomu phalamu
tanuvunche vandana- pakkala nilabadi
meppulakkai - rama nannu brovara
brindavanantha kritha - pankaja lochana
sannuthanga sri venkatesa - marivere dikkevarayya rama
anatha rakshaki sri kamakshi - vinayakuni valenu brovave
palukupaluku laku tene - rama ni samanamevaru
tyagarajanuta - nannu vidachi
srinivasa ninnu - saraguna palimpa
dhiragraganya - sri rajagopala
narayana namamulanu - naradamuni vedalina
raja rajesha - manasu swadhina
tumburu sangitha - akshayalingavibho
vasavadi sakala deva - sri subramanyaya
rajaraja vara - ma janaki
sandadi yani marachitivo - enduku dayaradura
rama sri tyagaraja prema - jesinadella
thathva bodhana - guruleka etuvanti
sita gowri - ethavunara