72 Mekakartha ragas-Koteeswara Iyer

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venkatakailasam
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72 Mekakartha ragas-Koteeswara Iyer

Post by venkatakailasam »

You can find the 72 Melakatha Ragas composed by Koteeswara Iyer at this link.

Even though many may be aware of these, I am coming across this for the First time.

The keerthanas are on Lord Muruga

Has any artist rendered this?

http://www.carnatica.net/lyrics/koti72.pdf

I may be enlightened!

venkatakailasam

arasi
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Re: 72 Mekakartha ragas-Koteeswara Iyer

Post by arasi »

VK,
Thanks for putting up the lyrics. Very helpful for those who do not have access to them. I for one can't find my copy here at home!
S.Rajam's (he was taught these songs by Koteeswara Iyer himself) are available on the web. Neela Ramgopal has recorded every one of the mEla kartA rAgams, not just of Koteeswara Iyer's but also of Tyagaraja, Vasudevachar and others.
Though not in all rAgams, our fellow member late Ramaraj, Ashok Madhavan and others have composed in them. I have a few too.

Gamakam
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Re: 72 Mekakartha ragas-Koteeswara Iyer

Post by Gamakam »

Arasi:

S.Rajam did not learn it from Kotiswara Iyer directly. He learnt it from R.M.Sundaram (I think he is related to Kotiswara Iyer) and from the notations published by Kotiswara Iyer in his book 'Kanda Ganamudham'. From I what I could gather from S.Rajam sir, R.M.Sundaram's versions were more elaborate and had more sangatis than the versions published in the book.

arasi
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Re: 72 Mekakartha ragas-Koteeswara Iyer

Post by arasi »

Gamakam,
Thanks for giving more accurate information. Fellow-member and S. Rajam's student Vijayalakshmi Subramaniam will be able to add to this, I hope.

venkatakailasam
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Re: 72 Mekakartha ragas-Koteeswara Iyer

Post by venkatakailasam »

I think that there is some difference between Mahavaithiyanatha Iyer's melakartha and others in that he has composed only one song with 72 ragas
and as such it is termed as Melakartha ragamaligai which is rendered by Smt Vedavalli.
.
Smt Neela Ramgopal has rendered 11 songs in three volumes -Thyagaraja-5 ragas, Koteeswara Iyer 2 ragas ,Dikshadar/ P.sivan/ Vasudevachariar -1 each.
Eventhough they are called melakartha ragas, they are not melakartha ragamaligai as was the case with the composition of MahaVaithyanatha Sivan.

Corrections are welcome.

venkatakailasam

sanjana
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Re: 72 Mekakartha ragas-Koteeswara Iyer

Post by sanjana »

hi

kindly contact smt. bushani kalyanaraman, who i hope ,has a copy of all the melakartha ragas rendered by shri. kalyanaraman..

sanjana

viji subramaniam
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Re: 72 Mekakartha ragas-Koteeswara Iyer

Post by viji subramaniam »

It was indeed Rajam Sir's one big regret in life that he never learnt from Kotiswara Iyer. He had seen him many times around the Mylapore tank but never realised his greatness then, he would say. He did learn them from RM Sundaram, a relative of Kotiswara Iyer. Rajam SIr has published all his compositions in a very neat volume.( Earlier, he would give xerox copies of the book-- covering only photocopying charges!) He has also rendered all the 72 , with raga niraval and swaras. This is available as a Swathi Soft solutions release.

kartik
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Re: 72 Mekakartha ragas-Koteeswara Iyer

Post by kartik »

It is such a pity that the Government could do nothing to preserve the small house of the great mahanubhava in Mylapore.(Is it a godown now?)

cmlover
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Re: 72 Mekakartha ragas-Koteeswara Iyer

Post by cmlover »

Thanks Viji/Gamakam for that information. I thought Rajam Sir had learned them directly from Kotiswara Iyer.Of course his rendering is a monumental contribution. By the by are there any audio available of Kotiswara Iyer's self rendering?

rshankar
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Re: 72 Mekakartha ragas-Koteeswara Iyer

Post by rshankar »

venkatakailasam wrote:I think that there is some difference between Mahavaithiyanatha Iyer's melakartha and others in that he has composed only one song with 72 ragas and as such it is termed as Melakartha ragamaligai which is rendered by Smt Vedavalli.
The mELa cakra rAgamAlika (starting with 'praNatArtihara prabhO purArE') was rendedred in cakra cycles by Smt. MSS at the MMA; hers was the first recording of the entire magnum opus.

Sivaramakrishnan
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Re: 72 Mekakartha ragas-Koteeswara Iyer

Post by Sivaramakrishnan »

At a function in Feb held in Chennai in memory of S Rajam,the invocation was rendered by a group of senior disiples of SR and the song was Koteswara iyer's 'Arul seyya vendum ayya' in Rasikapriya.

A fitting tribute to both the greats!

venkatakailasam
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Re: 72 Mekakartha ragas-Koteeswara Iyer

Post by venkatakailasam »

Shri. rshankar

I am having the song referred to by you. If required I can send the link through mail-your mail Id is with me.

meanwhile you can listen to the same in my blog at
http://myblogkumara.blogspot.com/

under Smt. MS subhulakshmi -Continuation.

regards

venkatakailasam

smala
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Re: 72 Mekakartha ragas-Koteeswara Iyer

Post by smala »

shankar, apparently Musiri sang it first. Would like to see the commentary mentioned at the end.

*****
72 - Mela Ragamalika:

In any case, Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer's greatest contribution to Carnatic music is of course, his famous 72-mela ragamalika. But this was not the first, single composition covering all the 72 mela ragas. One Lavani Venkata Rao, a court poet in the Tanjavur kingdom, a scholar in Marathi, Tamil and Telugu, and a brilliant exponent of Lavani (a type of Marathi folk style) singing, composed a version of the 72 mela ragamalika, called Bahuttara Melakarta in Marathi. This composition begins with the phrases 'Sriman Jokari Rajya Vishnusama' and incorporates the Raga mudra (name of the raga) in each line of the Charanam. The theme is erotic and is in praise of Sakharam Saheb, the son-in-law of the ruler. Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer was entrusted with the task of setting this composition to music. He accomplished this with great ease in a short period of seven days and was awarded Rs. 2,000 (a huge sum in those days), besides other gifts. It is said that Lavani Venkata Rao played the mridangam for Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer his rendition of this composition. However, Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer did not relish the erotic nature of the theme and the nara stuti (singing the praise of a human being) in this composition, and therefore wrote a suitable alternate sahitya (lyrics) in praise of Lord Pranatarthihara (Siva) of the mammoth temple at Tiruvarur. This is the version currently in vogue as the 72-mela ragamalika.

The entire ragamalika is set to Adi tala. The Pallavi is sung in Sriragam, followed by some beautiful jati phrases in Tillana style. There is no Anupallavi and the Charanam has 72 lines, one for each melakarta, with the raga mudra skillfully inscribed in each line. At the end of each mela raga, there is a Chittaswara, and further, to enhance the beauty of the composition, his brother Ramaswami Sivan added additional Chittaswaras at the end of each line, whose poorvanga (first half) is in the same raga, but the uttaranga (second half) is in the next raga. At the end of each Chakra (6 raga cycle), the Pallavi is repeated. At the commencement of the Prati madhyama series, the jati phrases are also sung.

This is not a piece we hear often in concert platforms. Occasionally in the past, one or two Chakras of this lengthy composition has been rendered by Musiri Subramanya Iyer and M S Subbulakshmi. Recently (June 1989), the Gramaphone Co. of India (HMV) released an album (LP No. ECSD 40552), and simultaneously a 60-minute casette (No. HTCS 03B 3346) under the title 'Mela Ragamalika Chakra', where M S Subbulakshmi has melodiously rendered this divine ragamalika, with all the above-mentioned features and Chittaswaras.

The theme of this Ragamalika is Advaitic and highly philosophical and luckily, a full-fledged commentary in Tamil, known as Sivapriya, written by Gurumurti Sastrigal of Varahur, is available.

--From carnatica.

smala
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Re: 72 Mekakartha ragas-Koteeswara Iyer

Post by smala »

rshankar wrote: The mELa cakra rAgamAlika (starting with 'praNatArtihara prabhO purArE') was rendedred in cakra cycles by Smt. MSS at the MMA; hers was the first recording of the entire magnum opus.

Here's the AIR recording by Musiri prior to MSS.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4cZ5SEIqOc

arasi
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Re: 72 Mekakartha ragas-Koteeswara Iyer

Post by arasi »

shyama-priya,
Loved it. Wished it had gone on to include some more rAgams. I have heard Sanjay sing it for a longer time with more rAgams, but I'm not sure if it contained all the rAgams. Sanjay sang it in Parthasarathy Swami Sabha. Was it a couple of years ago? Would like to hear it again.

Vkailasam,
A pity, I can't hear what you have posted of MSS.

venkatakailasam
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Re: 72 Mekakartha ragas-Koteeswara Iyer

Post by venkatakailasam »

You may haveto wait for a couple of minutes for the thread to load.

Now I have posted : MSS/Musiri and Vedavalli -all three at one place under 72 melaragamalika
At: http://myblogkumara.blogspot.com/
If interested you can try.
venkatakailasam

smala
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Re: 72 Mekakartha ragas-Koteeswara Iyer

Post by smala »

Pl post direct link for your 72 melaragamalika. hard to find on the blogspot. Musiri is already on youtube - adding your own audios there would be more helpful.

CRama
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Re: 72 Mekakartha ragas-Koteeswara Iyer

Post by CRama »

Musiri has sung one or two charas only. MSS has sung one chakra of the ragamalika in many of her concerts. I also heard that she sang each chakra in each of her Academy concerts continuously for some years- except a break in one year when she did not sing due to Rajaji's demise. She was the first singer to release the entire magnum opus as a single casette.

smala
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Re: 72 Mekakartha ragas-Koteeswara Iyer

Post by smala »

Is this cassette still available for purchase or is it available in CD - would like to hear the entire song, if possible.

CRama
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Re: 72 Mekakartha ragas-Koteeswara Iyer

Post by CRama »

The CD of the Melaragamalika must be available for purchase in all CD shops.

venkatakailasam
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Re: 72 Mekakartha ragas-Koteeswara Iyer

Post by venkatakailasam »

Giving Direct link is not Considered desirable. If any body is interested they can browse the site for which reference is given as the case in other sites .
venkatakailasam
Last edited by venkatakailasam on 19 Apr 2011, 10:27, edited 2 times in total.

anandasangeetham
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Re: 72 Mekakartha ragas-Koteeswara Iyer

Post by anandasangeetham »

My grandfather Sri O V Subramanian sang two chakras in a concert at sastri hall mylapore.This was some twenty years back when he was around 74-75 years old. He was given vocal support by OST, violin by Sri V Thiagarajan, Mrudangam by Sri T K Murthy. At the end Shri T K Murthy commented that he used to sing all the chakras during practice sessions with the musical greats. This concert was recorded by the sabha I understand.

arasi
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Re: 72 Mekakartha ragas-Koteeswara Iyer

Post by arasi »

VKailasam,
Thank you for all your offerings. Had a lovely listening hour with it!

anandasangeetham,
Wonder if the sabha (?) still has a recording. Nice to know we have another member from a grand musical family. Do you sing too? A silly question! I mean, do you perform too?

smala
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Re: 72 Mekakartha ragas-Koteeswara Iyer

Post by smala »

venkatakailasam wrote:Giving Direct link is not Considered desirable. If any body is interested they can browse the site for which reference is given as the case in other sites .
venkatakailasam

Looks like you removed the link posted yesterday - it helped to get to the music directly. Luckily I got it before removal and was able to enjoy it for some time. BUT - Your site was hard to browse before that link so - can you return the direct link?

I was able to download four parts of Smt. Vedavalli's melaragamalika - now I can't find any tab on 72 melaragamalika on your page to get the rest!

Giving direct link "not considered desirable" ? Never heard this one before! All links I post are direct links and so do many in rasikas.
Last edited by smala on 20 Apr 2011, 02:40, edited 6 times in total.

smala
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Re: 72 Mekakartha ragas-Koteeswara Iyer

Post by smala »

CRama wrote:Musiri has sung one or two charas only. MSS has sung one chakra of the ragamalika in many of her concerts. I also heard that she sang each chakra in each of her Academy concerts continuously for some years- except a break in one year when she did not sing due to Rajaji's demise. She was the first singer to release the entire magnum opus as a single casette.
CRama - Musiri has sung more than one or two chakras - check it out. Also, the MSS version posted in the channel has chakras from 25 to 36 only, not the complete magnum opus which you say is available commercially. Just FYI.
Last edited by smala on 20 Apr 2011, 00:20, edited 1 time in total.

smala
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Re: 72 Mekakartha ragas-Koteeswara Iyer

Post by smala »

anandasangeetham wrote:My grandfather Sri O V Subramanian sang two chakras in a concert at sastri hall mylapore.This was some twenty years back when he was around 74-75 years old. He was given vocal support by OST, violin by Sri V Thiagarajan, Mrudangam by Sri T K Murthy. At the end Shri T K Murthy commented that he used to sing all the chakras during practice sessions with the musical greats. This concert was recorded by the sabha I understand.
Would love to hear your grandfather OVS's concert recorded by the sabha - if someone can get access and give us the audio...?

venkatakailasam
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Re: 72 Mekakartha ragas-Koteeswara Iyer

Post by venkatakailasam »

I see no difficulty in browsing through the blog. As per bloger's daily stats, there are nearly 200 to 250 visiters and I have not received any complaints so far.

There is on the left bar, 'Blog Archive'. Just click on the triangle icon facing the right side. Name of all artists will open up.you can choose the artist by clicking on the name.

The difficulty in providing the direct link is that with new files being opened often, the link will no longer be valid.

venkatakailasam

smala
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Re: 72 Mekakartha ragas-Koteeswara Iyer

Post by smala »

Thanks for the directions, Vkailasam - have all Vedavalli's files for the melaragamlika now.

venkatakailasam
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Re: 72 Mekakartha ragas-Koteeswara Iyer

Post by venkatakailasam »

Vedavallis rendering is already at ths link which I had posted at You tube.
Post no.# 48
http://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic. ... 3&start=25

venkatakailasam

anandasangeetham
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Re: 72 Mekakartha ragas-Koteeswara Iyer

Post by anandasangeetham »

I tried getting a copy of the recording but in vain. Hence I am unable to post the recording.

Dear Arasi,

Though from a music family i dont sing. I just love to listen to carnatic music. a die hard fan of MMI,MDR.

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