Have we begun singing the Dirge for Veena?

[veenajj]

We write this column with a very heavy heart. The genesis of this write up is a disturbing trend that we see in the Carnatic Music firmament.

Organizing Veena Festivals has become the order of the day for Sabhas. Two sabhas in quick succession are organizing veena festivals in the coming months. This, by itself, is welcome. But it is time to introspect deeply and see the modalities and the implication of the Veena festivals.

At the outset, the norm seems to be to have a 30 minute program for each artiste - the rationale being that a number of artistes can then be accommodated. Again, a worthy sentiment.

But the implications are disastrous. No Sabha is inclined towards having full-fledged primetime Veena concerts in the main season or festival. The 30 minute jamboree is taken as an excuse to exclude Veena from mainstream festivals, since they have already done the act of ticking the box by organizing veena concerts. But 30 minute programmes are hardly enough to do justice to the maturity of the artists.

Veena is not only being sidelined but is consciously excluded from mainstream.

Yet we have scores of people waxing eloquent discourses about how Veena is the mother of all instruments and how it is Goddess Saraswathi’s favorite. Crocodile tears are aplenty!

Often lack of crowd (the number quoted is 700 – 800) is seen as a reason for lack of organizer enthusiasm. We ask – how many carnatic music concerts have a crowd of 700 to 800 people? It is an undisputed fact that people do enjoy veena concerts. Lack of crowd is clearly a myth, from what we do get to see in our concerts as well as those of some other vainikas. To reiterate, Classical Music is not popular music – we would be naïve to expect crowds like what one would see for a Hollywood Bowl show. There may be lesser takers for veena (or so they say) in comparison to other forms of carnatic music exposition, but if I claim to be a servant of the art, I am bound in my duty to view things in absolute terms; which means I would be doing a disservice to art in itself if I stop wholly, truly and completely, the patronage that vainikas deserve.

There are a number of very sensitive artistes in the system – all bemoaning lack of opportunity. And what do students of the instrument follow, if there are no concerts to attend? At this rate people will stop learning this instrument as they would have nothing to look forward to as a professional pursuit. For our part, this will be the last year that we will be participating in 30-minute duration veena festivals. We sincerely hope that there will quickly be a reversal of this disturbing trend. Otherwise, all the effort that the vainika community has taken, all the arduous hours of practice, mastering difficult techniques, feeling proud when ending up with bleeding and blistered fingers, trying to bring out the truest of gamakams, trying to practice the trickiest of pallavis, raga alapanais, kritis, thanams, neravals and kalpanaswarams, not to forget the years spent on research, will all go up in smoke.

And dear rasikas, our conversations on this subject with organizers always ends with the refrain that they don’t get people to listen to our (vainikas’) concerts. We get to understand that it will all depend on whether you will be willing to shell out Rs 50 or Rs 100 to attend our kutcheries!! Speak up, please!! Your thoughts will go a long way in this “Anna Hazare” act.

Thank you.
Jeyaraaj and Jaysri

[Nick H]

Thirty minutes per artist is not a concert --- it is a variety show. I can't see that it has any place in carnatic music outside of a school show where there may be a big number of students who need to be given a chance, and that chance must necessarily be just a few minutes.

I'm sure most of us here value the experience of the full concert, in which thirty minutes may not even be enough to present the main piece.

I believe there is only one reason that audiences do not attend veena concerts, and that is lack of opportunity.

[vainika]

I think it's only a matter of time before parents will respond to these 'market' forces by encouraging their wards to take up any instrument but the veena. It would be an unfortunate day when the instrument exists only to add to the ethnic chic of living rooms, or remains in the hands of a few musicians playing for their personal fulfilment.

I laud the move by Sri Jeyaraaj and Smt Jaysri to not participate in mini-concerts of the kind they have described, in future years.

L Ramakrishnan

[arasi]

J and J,
Your words speak as eloquently about your angst as the sound of your vINAs. Nick is right. What these so-called festivals offer to vINA artistes is a time-slot fit for a variety show participant.
The very nature of the sound of the instrument is relaxing and by the time the performers get on the stage with their instruments, tune them and start playing, part of the half hour is gone! Those in the audience hear snatches of music and see a lot of traffic on the stage, artistes ascending and descending, soundmen adding to the distracting scene...
The very essence of vINA--sukham and sowkyam--are totally lost because of these goings-on.
J, your post says it all. I have been to many vocal concerts during the season where the number of people attending, can be counted on one's fingers.
The most important factor of all, for the stressful lives most of us lead today, is the relaxing and therapeutic time we can spend in a place where a vINA is played!
Sponsors, sponsors, sponsors! Promote your products with the gift of a vINA performance to the populace, solely the above-mentioned reason!
J&J and other vaiNikAs: for my part, I will not miss any vINA concert when I come to India...

[shankarabharanam]

Just to add to what the vainikas have said. Forget concerts, even for students who get motivated by participating in competitions are put off by the sabha secretaries. I have been a victim of that. Whether it is Mumbai or Chennai, they didn't accept me in competitions (senior category) by saying that I was the only person. So they couldn't arrange a judge for just one student. That actually discouraged me. But at the end of the I lost hope and learn music because I am passionate about it. I decided not to join the rat race. The satisfaction is immense by just playing some good music and interacting with rasikas. I had in fact presented a paper during my masters on the same subject. Trust me sabha secretaries in Chennai actually said this, "Veena kutchery ku kootam kidayathu. It is waste of money. Athuku vocal ku konjam mavuthu varuthu."

[arasi]

Sankarabharanam,
Your love for music and for the vINA is to be appreciated! It isn't marketable, but any dedicated musician is bound to agree with you (whether voiced or not) that nothing in the world can beat Atma trupti

[PUNARVASU]

Being a passionate 'veena -lover' and a 'veena -learner' I am aware of the scenario. In our veena class ,we discuss this point very often. But as Shankarabharanam wrote, NOBODY can take away the 'atma trupti', the immense bliss we get when we play a song well, or when we reproduce a particularly difficult sangati exactly as our teacher played. But ten or twenty years down the line, the number of veena artists will go down and 'veena' will join the the 'endangered species' list.I am dreading to think of that. I am aware of the excllent wotk the JJ and Brhaddhwani are doing in chennai(there may be others, I do not know) and infact, I was telling a friend of mine who is relocating to chennai shortly from Mumbai that she has excellent opportunities to further her learning in chennai. If I get a chance to relocate to chennai I will take the opportunity just to be in touch with these wonderful veena maestros and learn more. Beyond that there is nothing that we can do.Everything lies in the hand of the 'POWERS' that dominate the music scene.

[Radhika-Rajnarayan]

I do agree with Jaysri and Jeyaraaj about the 'bunch all veena concerts into one festival and forget them' attitude of organisers.
However, I would like to share the experience we had when we organised a veena mini-festival over 4 days - 2 concerts over each of the weekend days (one morning and one evening concert) and one concert each on Monday and Tuesday. The concerts ranged from 2-and a half to 4-and a half hours, plenty of opportunity for the artist and the audience to experience soukhyam, the artists gave their 200%- the concerts were amazing -YET - we had SUCH a poor audience response. Why? Even the rasikas group, who were informed and invited during the rasikas meet, did not care to attend their own fellow-rasikas' concert (with the honourable exception of Nick and Ranjani). Why?
A well-known flautist walked in soon after the beginning of Bhavani Prasad's amazing concert - stayed for 1 superbly-played item and walked out - was the concert not good enough for him?
A few discerning connoisseurs did attend the concerts, David Reck amongst them, but I am sure that the artist would like to see the hall filled up.
And by the way,the concerts were free. So much for the opinion that people are not willing to shell out money for tickets.
So the fault lies not only with the organisers, but the audience too, who WANT to listen to high-voltage-high-wattage vocal music. Maybe most people don't want soukhyam! Maybe they want only 'big brand-names' . Who knows?
I have no answers. Do you, fellow-rasikas?

[cienu]

Further to J&J's post, there was a recent announcement for a Veena competition for junior children in Bangalore for which I had sent my daughter's application. I came to know later that the event was called off as the minimum number of applications for Veena contestants was not met. Sad portends for the future and I tend to agree with J&J prognosis.

[vsarmaiitm]

The analysis is so true. My wife Sujana is a vaInika and when we moved to Chennai 7 years ago we thought there will be ample opportunities !
But it turned out to be not the case. However, I think the patronage of AIR is commendable in this respect. I have heard so many GOOD vIna concerts in recent months on AIR. Many of them are unfamiliar names. There is so much talent which is a good thing. Last season I did some analysis of the conerts in the major sabhas and vIna conerts constitute just 1-2% !! We too heard few sabha secretaries say I like vIna music but there is no support (by means of attendence) from rasikas.

[Rajani]

Dear J & J - I was very moved on reading your post. Being an admirer of the Veena for many years, I do agree that there aren't too many Veena concerts happening, though I feel that poor attendance is a wider malaise, probably due to plenty of Sabhas etc. in Chennai. I wonder if there is a marked difference in other cities between Veena concerts and other instruments, vocal etc. I hope Rasikas from Bengaluru and other places can share their observations on this.

In an age where loudness ( in all senses) gets results, a soft, subtle instrument like the Veena does not have it easy. But I do believe that the core of Veena rasikas will never go away and seeing many talented and devoted musicians like you, many of you also being passionate teachers, I am hopeful that neither will Vainikas.

[srikant1987]

I think a combo -- a vocal concert and a veena concert, one (I don't know which) after the other, especially by artists from the same school (maybe even the same artist!) will help. I mean two separate concerts, not a veena concert in which they sing.

Sometimes, what is really appreciated in instrumental music is how nicely the vocally-conceived intricacies are brought out. This is a good thing to appreciate. Indeed, I find it so much more melting to see the same vocally-conceived sangati NOT on the voice, but on an instrument.

At the same time, an oft-appreciated feature in instrumental concerts is mind-boggling speed -- the veena doesn't provide much scope for that.

[arasi]

With star vocalist TMK popularizing chowka kAlam, vINA might benefit by it too! At least, let's hope so.
Actually, going one step further, how about the idea of his giving a concert with vINA as an accompaniment??

[rajeshnat]

Veenajj
Certainly very sad to hear that too for the sake of not drawing crowds veena is pushed out.Glad you came out and wrote openly on this.

[Radhika-Rajnarayan]

At the same time, an oft-appreciated feature in instrumental concerts is mind-boggling speed -- the veena doesn't provide much scope for that.

Srikant1987, for those who want to experience mind boggling speed, there are plenty of veena artists who can provide that too - Rajesh Vaidya, for one. Bhavani Prasad, for another. D Srinivas of Hyderabad too. All amazing artists.
We have the complete spectrum of veena artists amongst us - people who can make you feel the 'bhramippu', people who can make you feel the 'rasippu', people who can make you cry with the beauty of their music, people who can lighten your spirits in a jiffy with their playing -- the whole lot.
K G Vijayakrishnan has posted a very good suggestion in the vainikas forum - we need more chamber music concerts of the veena, like the ones J&J arrange. More power to these!

[Nick H]

After the really astonishing concert at J & J's home, last week, by KV Ramanujam, they were lamenting that such an artist gets so few concert opportunities. The problem seems to be with instrumental music in general --- just that veena gets the worst deal among the bad deals for instrumentalists.

[srikant1987]

speed, there are plenty of veena artists who can provide that too - Rajesh Vaidya, for one. Bhavani Prasad, for another. D Srinivas of Hyderabad too.

Rajesh Vaidya's music is very blatantly not orthodox. Bhavani ... I don't know if his speed has been making him popular in as great a measure has Rajesh's has. Rajesh's speed is amazing, almost one of its kind.

Among "speedy" but totally classical vaiNikas are Trivandrum Sri Venkataraman (no more with us! ) and some other KSN disciples -- I recently saw a Rugmini Gopalakrishnan youtube kalyANi), and Smt R S Jayalakshmi.

With star vocalist TMK popularizing chowka kAlam, vINA might benefit by it too!

Yes, indeed, Arasi! For all his random comments and "experiments", there are certain qualities he orthodoxly maintains in his music, and I feel they are very understated -- since they are the finer, subtler qualities.

Still, being this orthodox and this popular doesn't commonly happen! Probably the magic ingredient is luck. And some amount of push very early on, together with an always guided growth. The chances of such things happening, with the "prodigy" phenomenon, are falling.

[arasi]

srikanth,
I agree about the percentage of such talent finding fame.
My point is about the vINA getting some exposure (visually too!) on stage. It will be showcased for those who are not used to even 'seeing' the instrument! TambUrA they know, because every TV music program has one (or two in the case of TMK). This fretted, horizontal 'tamburA' might be a novelty to some but beautiful to behold and pleasing to listen to.

[srikant1987]

My point is about the vINA getting some exposure (visually too!) on stage. It will be showcased for those who are not used to even 'seeing' the instrument!

[arasi]

AND, played, of course

[vainika]

, I do agree that there aren't too many Veena concerts happening, though I feel that poor attendance is a wider malaise, probably due to plenty of Sabhas etc. in Chennai. I wonder if there is a marked difference in other cities between Veena concerts and other instruments, vocal etc. I hope Rasikas from Bengaluru and other places can share their observations on this.

I have heard from a few Chennai and TN - based artistes that they have significantly larger and more appreciative audiences in cities like Thiruvananthapuram and Bengaluru.

[rshankar]

J&J - your eloquence makes the issue all the more heart-wrenching. I really hope things get better. In the US, concerts by the likes of Smt. Jayanti Kumaresh have been well attended (well, at least as well as other concerts). Would things be different if the vINa continued to be the preferred accompaniment to the voice?

[veenajj]

Actually the crowd response is very decent in Chennai to veena concerts, though as Radhika mentioned we do not find too many members of rasikas.org attending them, and of course not numbers as large as 700 or 800! Recently we sent a young veena player in her teens to approach a couple of sabhas for a junior slot. They didn't even accept her application saying that they do not hold veena concerts in the season. There are 60+ organizations having Festivals in December in Chennai. Only 4 or 5 operate on the rule that there should be at least one veena concert(of the purely carnatic kind) for every time-slot they have. What if these sabhas too start following suit? Unless there is a rule of thumb for each and every major organization, be it in Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Bangalore or any other, to have a primetime veena concert compulsorily as part of their annual events, ASIDE from those of the "pay and play" kind, we shudder to think what will come about in the years to come. About the US, the organizations could have veena artists touring at least once in two years to expose the people to veena artists, since a sizable part of the carnatic music listener's population is located there. Last but not the least, 30-minute concerts is what we organize for our students who are perhaps learning to sing ragam and swaram, to have them gain some experience of how to sing in front of a small crowd. Established artists deserve a better deal.

Thank you all so much for having participated in the discussion and giving valuable suggestions as well. We shall certainly do our best to keep things going. We all have a duty to give veena its rightful place as a mainstream instrument, and we need to be persistent so that our voice reaches the right quarters.

Jeyaraaj and Jaysri

[ShrutiLaya]

That sounded like a summation, so forgive me if I reopen this topic ..

Often lack of crowd (the number quoted is 700 – 800) is seen as a reason for lack of organizer enthusiasm.
...
Lack of crowd is clearly a myth, from what we do get to see in our concerts as well as those of some other vainikas.

So what, in the opinion of the artists and rasikas here, is the true reason for this? Are we suggesting that the organizers are all uniformly biased against Veena concerts for whatever reason? Including organizers in the India and abroad?

I am bound in my duty to view things in absolute terms; which means I would be doing a disservice to art in itself if I stop wholly, truly and completely, the patronage that vainikas deserve.

.....

Unless there is a rule of thumb for each and every major organization, be it in Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Bangalore or any other, to have a primetime veena concert compulsorily as part of their annual events, ASIDE from those of the "pay and play" kind, we shudder to think what will come about in the years to come. About the US, the organizations could have veena artists touring at least once in two years to expose the people to veena artists, since a sizable part of the carnatic music listener's population is located there.

Honestly, I find this far more disturbing, sort of a "reservation" system for a particular instrument in the programs of independant organizations. Should we then have a quota for each instrument, each style, each *** ?

- Sreenadh

[srkris]

Sreenadh, that was an insensitive post.

The question is about finding ways and means of keeping the veena as a mainstream concert instrument, and not for quota. It appears the flute isn't doing much better either.

[ShrutiLaya]

My apologies. It is just that, as an organizer, I see the problem from the other side. I can confirm that it is not a question of bias, we have never been able to attract an audience for instrumental concerts even by top class artists.

- Sreenadh

[srikant1987]

Actually top crowd-pullers tend to be vocalists, but many instrumentalists get considerably more audience than absolute new-entrant vocalists.

Another thing I'd like to say is that while very frequent performances by an artist (in the same city) might diminish crowds, most instrumentalists are actually so rarely called that more programmes by them will actually help get their names in listeners' minds, make them curious, and pull them to a concert!

[Nick H]

we have never been able to attract an audience for instrumental concerts even by top class artists.

But, when you fail to attract an audience for a vocalist, do you then say that it was because it was a vocal concert? Is it that that some concerts are badly attended ...because some concerts are badly attended?

[sruthi]

A few points first:
> Appreciating Carnatic music (as against popular/film music) takes a bit of knowledge and interest
> Appreciating non-celebrity artistes (as against the celebrities) takes even more knowledge and interest
> Appreciating an instrument like the veena (as against vocal) takes much more knowledge and interest

It is no wonder then, that the veena doesn't get the audience numbers as the other two categories above. Although as the original posters said, people do pay lip service to the veena being the instrument of Goddess Saraswathy etc!

A similar situation exists for that king of instruments, nadaswaram. Do we ever get to hear this instrument these days at any concert? What is being done about it?

What is the solution? Well, perhaps some of us more ardent rasikas can start attending more of these concerts and support them. And spread the word.
Also, the performers may want to educate the audiences a bit on the nuances of the instrument - not to the point of making it a full-fledged lec-dem, of course!
And, definitely don't hold exclusive veena festivals - not yet! Combine them with vocal and other concerts.

Then, maybe slowly, more people will start attending.

But don't hold your breath for that to happen!

(My aunt has been playing the veena for many years, and I have learned a few kritis from her, hence my interest in the veena)

[bilahari]

Sruthi, I'm not sure I agree that appreciating an instrument takes more knowledge and interest? At least in my case, I find instruments more easy on the ears, and my American friends with whom I've shared CM find instrumentalists like TNK far more listenable than any vocalist. I mean, how else did Pt. Ravi Shankar become more popular than Pt. Omkarnath Thakur or any other vocalist?

I completely agree that veena concerts should be coupled with popular vocal concerts to increase their exposure if not their popularity initially.

[Nick H]

> Appreciating an instrument like the veena (as against vocal) takes much more knowledge and interest

This is really not the case. Instrumental music is much more accessible for those who have even no knowledge at all of carnatic music. Ask a foreigner!

EDIT: oh! Bilahari just said that! .

I think there is a need to not treat instrumental music as anything special, but just to include instrumental concerts in programmes. Let us request Sabha organisers who have their own halls, etc, so do not have such a necessity to count the audience numbers, to do this as a service to music and to those who appreciate instrumental.

[rajeshnat]

> Appreciating an instrument like the veena (as against vocal) takes much more knowledge and interest

Shruthi,
I can say this way.

Appreciating an instrument like the veena (as against vocal) at times requires to an extent guidance from another rasika who has already taken up veena .

Appreciating Vocal Concert requires no guidance , you yourself can evolve . I guess the key is the kick that you have identified the raga and krithi all by yourself in vocal , whereas many a times in instruments you dont know the raga or krithi even when it is complete .The instrumentalist do announce at the beginning but you lose the kick upfront.

[rajeshnat]

Sruthi, I'm not sure I agree that appreciating an instrument takes more knowledge and interest? At least in my case, I find instruments more easy on the ears, and my American friends with whom I've shared CM find instrumentalists like TNK far more listenable than any vocalist. I mean, how else did Pt. Ravi Shankar become more popular than Pt. Omkarnath Thakur or any other vocalist?

I completely agree that veena concerts should be coupled with popular vocal concerts to increase their exposure if not their popularity initially.

Bilahari
Very recently when I was in NJ,USA I was talking to a westerner who said he loves carnatic music. I asked him about semmangudi he did not know , but Lalgudi he knows and adores.

For the westerners instruments are easier to take as the sahityam barriers will prevent the enjoyment of a typical vocal, where as for Indian natives we need that . So both you and shruthi are right depending on the population profile.

[srikant1987]

Appreciating non-celebrity artistes (as against the celebrities) takes even more knowledge and interest

It is the "footfall" and not the appreciation that will take more interest and knowledge (meaning awareness of concert schedules) (by and large).

[rshankar]

Not all westerners can take to CM played on instruments. I remember lending Sri LJ's tape (his tillANAs) to a colleague who had spent years playing (western) violin, and he just could not wrap his head around the way the notes were handled!
Bilahari, there are many reasons for Pt. Ravi Shankar's popularity in the west, of which the one you mention is but a minor one, IMO. But I agree with the point you make.

[bilahari]

Yes, Ravi, that was not the best example to use.

Do acoustics have something to do with the lack of enjoyment of veena concerts? I feel the veena is a much more nuanced and delicate instrument in terms of the gamakas it produces, and can best be enjoyed in a chamber rather than sabha setting. The other instruments like violin and flute are not quite so sensitive to the acoustics of the concert hall in my experience anyway.

While I like the idea of having more vocal concerts with veena accompaniment, I think the sound would have to be immaculately balanced for this to work.

Also, has the use of violin for vocal accompaniment increased the popularity of violin solos? I hear there aren't many takers for violin solos either these days.

[Nick H]

Not all westerners can take to CM played on instruments...

Not all Westerners can take to any classical Indian music

Bilahari, you may have a very good point there. Unamplified, how big a room can the veena fill, sufficient to enjoy its sound and subtlety? Amplified, does it still sound like a veena? But... even if the answer is no it doesn't, I still think we should have more veena concerts!

[vasanthakokilam]

Jeyaraaj and Jaysri: Your points and the pain associated with them are fully understood. I have a suggestion. Instead of not participating in those half an hour time slot Veena festivals, team up with 2 other artists and have a 1.5 hour combined concert. In your case, it will be 4 Veenas and in other combinations it will be 3. If the artists are from different schools, even better. There will have to be some coordination artistically which I am sure you are all more than capable of pulling such innovations off in a strictly classical fashion. Something to try. You will have to form your own team, and not some random groupings picked by the organizer, so you are comfortable with the team. This is not a gimmick or anything, a perfectly acceptable classical concert with 3 artists ( possibly from different schools ).

If the public likes the idea and embraces it, good things can result even in these restrictive Veena festivals. I saw an announcement by Radha-Baskar about the Veena festival they are arranging. If she is willing, this can be an appropriate occasion to try this experiment. Speaking for myself, I will definitely be curious enough to check it out.

[srikant1987]

Also, has the use of violin for vocal accompaniment increased the popularity of violin solos? I hear there aren't many takers for violin solos either these days.

I think it works both ways. On the one hand, it gives visibility to individual violinists as they accompany well-attended vocalists. On the other hand, it creates the notion of violin=accompaniment. Why, even keyboard is being accompanied by violin these days.

[arasi]

After listening to what Sreeni sent me by mail, I feel that we can listen to a bit of vINA playing on this thread! With the Dhanammal thread inspiring us, let's hope that we rasikAs make it a point to listen to some vINA (and nAgasvaram) concerts this season!
A soothing kApi here, a rare purandara dAsa kruti, set to music by VINe Rajarao, played by Veena Kinkal, Anoor accompanying her.

Sreeni, or any rasikA who has listened to it--please provide the link. Thanks!

Would appreciate the lyrics, please!

[Nick H]

Since this thread started, I have to admit that I have seen quite a few adverts for veena concerts, as well as one or two of the hour-per-artist type. Of course, it is a bigger confession that I haven't been to one over the past few weeks. I even missed J & J last week.

Anyway, things could still be better in the instrumental/vocal performance ratio --- but they could be worse too!

[Sreeni Rajarao]

After listening to what Sreeni sent me by mail, I feel that we can listen to a bit of vINA playing on this thread! With the Dhanammal thread inspiring us, let's hope that we rasikAs make it a point to listen to some vINA (and nAgasvaram) concerts this season!
A soothing kApi here, a rare purandara dAsa kruti, set to music by VINe Rajarao, played by Veena Kinkal, Anoor accompanying her.

Sreeni, or any rasikA who has listened to it--please provide the link. Thanks!

Would appreciate the lyrics, please!

Arasi avare,

Thank you for sharing with the forum!

I will email you the lyrics (kannaDa and English) and notations (in kannaDa script)

Here's the link :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrimQ-hCWro

[Sreeni Rajarao]

I have posted this under sAhitya section also.

rAga : kApi tAla : Adi composer : purandara dAsa

(using kAkali niShAda in ArOhana is widely prevalent)

swara samyOjane by Mysore L Raja Rao
Published in the book “ HaridAsa kRtimanjari”
Year of publication : 1955


oorige bandare dAsayya namma
kErige bA kandya dAsayya (P)

kErige bandare dAsayya golla
kErige bA kandya dAsayya (A P)

koraLoLu vanamAle dharisidane kiru
beraLalli bettavanettidane
iruLu hagalu ninna kANade iralAre
maruLu mADidantha dAsayya

kappu varNada dAsayya
kandarpapitanembo dAsayya
appikonDu namma manasige bandare
appava koDuvenu dAsayya

mundEnu dAri dAsayya celva
pongoLalUduva dAsayya
hAnge pOgadiru dAsayya
honnungura koDuvenu dAsayya

saNNanAmada dAsayya namma
sadanake bA kandya dAsayya
sadanake bandare dAsayya maNi
saravanu koDuvenu dAsayya

siTTumADadiru dAsayya shiri
purandaraviThala dAsayya
raTTumADadiru dAsayya
tambittu koDuvenu dAsayya