ritigowla pada varnam

[mohan]

I'd like to share a new dance composition - a pada varnam in ritigaula dedicated to Lord Nataraja, kUttabirAn of Cidambaram.
The Tamil lyrics are by our own Dr Ravi Shankar and it has been set to music by me. We've been working together on this in bits and pieces over email over the last few months. My wife, Sangeetha, has sung it and Bala Sankar is on mrudangam.

I'll leave it to Ravi to post the lyrics and meaning.

Your comments would be appreciated.

[Lakshman]

rshankar: It is great to hear that you are now a composer. Congratulations.

[mohan]

Notation is available here. Once that page is loaded, choose File-Download Original to download the pdf.

[rajeshnat]

rshankar,mohan and sangeetha
The varnam is really great ,reetigowla is a great choice . Congratulations from america the lyrics came and musically got shaped in australia, Carnatic outsourcing at its best .

Ravi
I am assuming this is your first number and you have the theme of thillai natarAjan. Since you appreciate both dance and music , you must have given this sahityam . I am assuming this is the first thamizh varnam in reetigowlai atleast in musical circulation. Best wishes .

[aaaaabbbbb]

rshankarji,
Congratulations! Wonderful creation, suitably set to the pleasing reetigoula.
Looking forward for more.

[rshankar]

Thank you everyone. Much appreciated! Mohan did all the heavy lifting, so he should get the lion's share of the praise; it is the reason why his name appears first in the phrase 'mOhanamAi SankaranuDan ADa'. The phrases he has used are perfect, IMO. Sangeetha has done a great job breathing life into the lyrics.
And yes, Rajesh, it is my first attempt. I will post the lyrics when I get a chance. I am traveling currently.

[Sreeni Rajarao]

Ravi, Mohan (Mr & Mrs!),

Just finished listening to the wonderful item! Very nice! Mr and Mrs. Mohan's team work shines and Ravi, looking forward to a kannaDa composition from you!

Congratulations!

P S : We need to get this thread more visibility - perhaps we should have a mirror thread in General Discussions? I am afraid not many people may be visiting the Dance section on our forum.

Sreeni

[mohan]

Thanks all for your positive comments! Thanks also to ArunK (USA) and Vijay Venkat (UK) for providing some advice to me on rItigaula phrases.

Here are Ravi's wonderful lyrics and meanings:

pallavi
kUttabirAn imavAn magaLuDan tillaiyil ADum
Ananda tANDavam kANa Ayiram kaN pOdumO

Will even a thousand (Ayiram) eyes (kaN) be enough (pOdumO) to behold (kANa) the Ananda tANDavam performed (ADiDum) in cidambaram (tillaiyil) by the lord/god (pirAn/birAn) of dance (kUttu), accompanied by (uDan) by the daughter (magaLuDan) of the mountain king himavAn?

anupallavi
dEvasEnApati kandanai Inra mAdOr bhAgan
kanaka sabhaiyil ADiDum azhagai SollapOmO

Will it be possible to describe (SollapOmO) the beauty/grandeur (azhagai) of this dance being performed (ADiDum) in the golden (kanaka) hall (sabhaiyil) by the lord who created/gave birth to (Inra) murugan (kandanai), the husband (pati) of dEvasEnA [2], the lord who has given away a part of his body (Or bhAgan) to the lady (mAdu), pArvati?

muktAyi sAhityam
kUli vAngi maN sumandu mudugil vazhu ezha pANDiyaniDam aDi paTTu
vErOr pANDiyan SollukkiNangiyE maduraiyil kAl mAri ADiya

Having accepted (vAngi) some wages (kUli), and carried/borne the weight of (Sumandu) a few sacks of mud (maNNum), he also received (paTTu) a beating (aDi) from the pANDiyan king (pANDiyaniDam) that caused a scar (vazhu) to be raised (ezha) on his back (mudugil). (Will even a thousand eyes be enough to take in the lord) who accepted (iNangi) the request (Sollukku) of yet another (vErOr) pANDiyan king, and danced (ADiya) with his right foot lifted up instead of his left (kAl mAri) in Madurai (maduraiyil) (dancing the Ananda tANDavam in cidambaram along with the daughter of himavAn)?

caraNam
ADavallAnin arbhuta naTanam kANIrO

Will you not behold (kANIrO) the amazing/wondrous (arbhuta) dance (naTanam) of the exemplar among dancers?

1. tillai dIkshitarai aDakki ATkoNDa

Will you not behold the wondrous dance of the exemplar among dancers) who was avle to subdue (aDakki) the three thousand rogue priests (dIkshitarai) of cidambaram with his prowess, and compassionate enough to admit them to his grace (ATkoNDa) eventually?

2. SaDaiAda madiADa nadi punalADa, aravADa mangai SivakAmi uDan ADa

Will you not behold the wondrous dance of the exemplar among dancers), whose matted locks (SaDai) fly about (ADa), the moon (madi) on whose locks sways to and fro (ADa), the waters (punal) of the river (nadi) atop his head splashes around (ADa), and the snakes (aravu) on whose body swing wildly (ADa) with his vigorous dancing, and along with (uDan) whom, the lady (mangai) pArvati (SivakAmi) dances (ADa)?

3. yenadu uLLattilO alladu citsabhaiyilO mAn mazhuvEndiya trinEtiran ponnAr mEniyan kAmanai kaNNAl eritta mahESvaran abhirAmi vAmiyuDan nittam nittam ADiDum

Will you not behold the wondrous dance of the exemplar among dancers), the three (tri) eyed (nAtiran), bearing (Endiya) a deer (mAn) and an axe (mazhu) in his hands, the golden (ponnAr) hued (mEniyan) one, the mighty (mahA) lord (ISvaran) who destroyed (eritta) manmatha (kAmanai) by the fire that erupted from his (third) eye (kaNNAl), who is forever (nittam nittam) dancing (ADiDum) in cidambaram (cit sabhaiyilO) or in the space of my (enadu) consciousness (cittatilO), accompanied by (uDan) the beautiful pAravti (abhirAmi) on his left (vAmi)?

4. tAm tAm yenru gaNapati uDan ADa dhIm dhIm yenru bhUta gaNaNgaLum ADa
mAmayil Eri kandan taka dhIm yenrADa ma ga ri sā yena rAgam pADa
aNDa carAcaram anaittumOhanamAi SaMkaran uDan ADiDa ATTu kAlai tUki
taka dhIm taka jhonu tAm yenru tANDava nATTiya rItigaLai kATTiDum

Will you not behold the wondrous dance of the exemplar among dancers), along with (uDan) whom gaNapati dances (ADa) to the jati (enru) ‘tAm tAm’, and Siva’s servitors (bhUta gaNangaL) dance to the jati ‘dhIm dhIm’, and murugan (kandan), ascending (Eri) his mighty (mA) peacock (mayil) dances to the jati taka dhIm, and the svaras ma ga ri sA are sung (rAgam pADa), and the entire universe, the mobile (cara) and the immobile (acaram) of the universe (ANDa) all (anaittum) dance along very captivatingly (mOhanamAi) with the creator (karan) of auspiciousness (SaM), who raises (tUkki) his foot (ATTu kAlai) up above and demonstrates (kATTiDum) the intricacies and methods (rItigaLai) of the tANDava form of dance (nATTiya) to the jati ‘taka dhIm taka jhoNu tAm’?

[rajeshnat]

taka dhIm taka jhonu tAm yenru tANDava nATTiya rItigaLai kATTiDum
...
the intricacies and methods (rItigaLai) of the tANDava form of dance (nATTiya) to the jati ‘taka dhIm taka jhoNu tAm’?

Mohan and Ravi
Incidentlally in the above line when say the singer sings in the concert the ritigalai would be taken as an embedded rAga mudra of ritigaula in the composition . Ravi ,as such say even if a singer has a bad day where he sings anandabhairavish ritigaula , your embedded mistaken rAga mudra will give the surety to the listener that the varnam is in Ritigaula

Does any varnam have rAga mudra embedded , I cannot recollect if there is one it is navaragamAliga valachi valachi of kottavasal venkatrama iyer?

I am assuming this is the first thamizh varnam in rigigaula.Is that right?

[mohan]

Good spotting Rajesh. He has cleverly weaved the raga mudra into the very last line. Hopefully the swaras used in the composition will also help the listener know it is ritigaula and not anandabhairavi !

A little bit of the history of this composition - I asked Ravi for some lyrics for a pada varnam on Nataraja. Within a couple of days he came up with a draft. I chose the raga and was able to set the pallavi and anupallavi and caranam to music quite easily but the muktayi and citta swara sections took a lot of effort - Ravi having to adjust the lyrics to suit the swara patterns.

There are many varnam-s in ritigaula and some of them are in Tamil, however there not too many pada varnams. Here is Lakshmanji's list:

Adi vinAyakam ArAdhayAmi. rAgA: rItigauLa. Adi tALA. Composer: Chitravina Ravikiran.
dEvAdi dEvam shrI. rAgA: ritigauLa. k/aTa tALA. Composer: Krishna Sharma.
gaurI tanayA gajamukhA. rAgA: rItigauLa. Adi tALA. Composer: MangaLam gaNapati.
inta calamu Emi. rAgA: rItigauLa. Adi tALA. Composer: B.K.Padmanabha Rao.
nIla mayil mIdinil. rAgA: rItigauLa. Adi tALA. Composer: S.Ramanathan.
ninnE nammiyunnAnurA. rAgA: rItigauLa. Adi tALA. Composer: Mayuram Vishvanatha Shastri.
pAdAravindamE gati. rAgA: rItigauLa. Adi tALA. Composer: Karaikudiu Rajamani Iyengar.
pankEruhAkSa parama. rAgA: rItigauLa. t/aTa tALA. Composer: Govindam/T.M.Thiagarajan.
shrI krSNaha kamalanAthO (pv). rAgA: rItigauLa. Adi tALA. Composer: Bangalore T.Shrinivas.
sikkal singAra vElA (pv ?). rAgA: rItigauLa. Adi tALA. Composers: Sikkil Sisters.
vanajAkSa ninnE kOri marulu. rAgA: rItigauLa. Adi tALA. Composer: Mysore R.N.Doresvami.
vanajAkSa ninnE kOrina . rAgA: rItigauLa. k/aTa tALA. Composer: Vinai Kuppier.

[rshankar]

Thanks, Sreeni!
Rajesh, I am aware of at least one - the navarAgamAlikA padavarNam, sAmiyai azhaittODi vADi by Sri Dandayudhapani Pillai weaves all the rAgas beautifully!

[arasi]

What a super way to be welcomed back to civilization (after putting up with Irene and with her disastrous ways)!
Sreeni is right. I would not have seen this at all, had I not been prompted by someone to have a look at this thread.

Sangeetha's singing is oh, so very pleasing.
Mohan, that's some musical creation!

mon ami Ravi! Your sAhityam wins over many a naTTuvanAr's composition. Your tamizh sings (along with Sangeetha and her sakhA's synthesizer. Mrudangam too).
Ravi, your pada varNam is based on the classical, but is very expressive in content--a mega song too--this is something I would like to see on stage. It has gAmbhIryam, coupled with rItigowLai's konjal (this rAgam of kenjal sometimes).
How happy and proud we are with this inter-continental piece! Ravi, you truly are a lover of dance in that it lights up your imagination--just as it makes you give beautiful translations of songs.
Once again, Mohan and Sangeetha, you made it all come alive...

[sridhar_ranga]

Congratulations Ravi and Mohan.

Ravi, this is phenomenal. Proud to see you as a composer - is this really a first effort, or are there many other pieces waiting to be released?

A minor suggestion on the muktayi sahityam - 'vaDu' may be a better choice of word than 'vazhu' for a scar.

[arasi]

Sridhar,
At first glance, I thought so as well, but notice the following word 'ezha'--and the imagery is powerful!
vazhu ezha (making welts) gives the visual imagery strength. vazhu is a word I haven't come across before. Is it a tiribu of vaDu?

[sridhar_ranga]

Vazhu seems to exist in the Tamil lexicon but not with any meaning that suggests a scar. From the Cologne online Tamil lexicon we get:


1 vazu 1. error, mistake, failure, fault, lapse; 2. damage, loss; 3. sin; 4. scandal, ill-repute; 5. solecism, impropriety in language; deviation from rule
2 vazu dirt or mucus, as on the body of a calf just yeaned (TLS)


An alternative to consider: 'tazhumbezha' (tazhumbu + ezha)....it has to be a single word to manage the same timing.

[arasi]

tazhumbezha: very good!

Ravi is traveling at the moment. When he's back, he will let us know what he thinks.

[mohan]

I'll leave it Ravi to comment about the lyrics but another query ...
I have seen kUttabirAn written as kUttapirAn. Which is it?

[rshankar]

Arasi/Sridhar, thank you very much. This is a first effort, and I have to reiterate that it was Mohan's patience and hand holding that was key.

Obviously, it is a sort of tribute to all the wonderful composers who I admire from the bottom of my heart - for example, the pallavi is based off Sri muttutANDavar's 'ADikoNDAr anda vEDikkai kANa kaN Ayiram vENDAmO?' etc...and the caraNasAhityam is in part a tribute to ADal kANIrO...and so on.

Sridhar, I also thought that vaTu/vaDu was the word for scar/cicatrix, but then, I was listening to the song ADal kANIrO, and in that the line goes 'kai pirambAlE paTTa aDi pESiDum sakala jIva rAsigaL mudigilum paTTu vazhuvuTRa ISan viLaiyADal kANIrO' (Smt. MLV enunciates it as 'vazuvuTRa', as far as I can tell - vaTuvuTRa sounds rather funny though!)...Let me know if I am completely off track here.

[rshankar]

Mohan, I think it is the classic issue with the tamizh script that has one letter for both the 'p' and 'b' sounds. pirAn - is god, pirATTi is his consort...but when compounded with kUttu, I think the 'p' sound morphs into the 'b' sound...again, please correct me if I am wrong.

[Pratyaksham Bala]

rshankar/Mrs. & Mr. Mohan:

Hearty Congratulations!

[arasi]

Mohan,
embirAn is em+pirAn. How does it come out when we say it? What sounds natural? embirAn, kUttabirAn. Similarly, pothigai or padigai?athigam or adigam?

Ravi,
vaDuvuTRa, rather than vaTuvuTRa!
As for 'vazhu', you're the boss here. Some other dictionary might even give you the meaning which fits perfectly

[aatma]

Hi,
Congrats! ur composition is excellent.

[Gladfan]

Everyone involved in this project should be congratulated. It is a very nice varnam that would suit dance very well. There is great scope for sanchari. I also feel that Reethigowlai has really captured the mood of the sahityam.

Just for information, there is also another Reethigowlai varnam on Shiva, "kAnbEno" by Madurai R. Muralidharan.
Also, I believe the Sikkil Sisters' varnam "sikkil singAra" is a tana varnam.

[rshankar]

PB, Aatma, and Gladfan, thank you very much!

[mohan]

Thanks a lot too! Gladfan thanks for the info about kAnbEno. I understand it refers to ArdhanA Ishwara.

[Unnykrish]

Dear Mohan Sir ..... just now listened the varnam. Hats off ! The only padam i have heard in Reethigowla is Nalan Anye Naathan illa (Mohiniyattam). The one which you composed is awesome. And i liked the vocal a lot. I am not sure about the other instrument you guys played as lead (Other than Mridangam) If that was not there, i would have looked even more great ... still with all due respect only. My humble request is ... if possible, please could you provide another version without that string instrument ?

Unni

[ganeshpv]

Ravi Sir,

Nice Pada Varnam. Pada Varnams with themes like this are great for male dancers who want to have choices besides heroine oriented Shringaara Varnams.

I would like to make suggestion. Pada Varnams are danced in the order of: <Jathi>, <first half of Pallavi repeated many times>, <Jathi>, <Second half of Pallavi sung many times>, <Jathi>, <first half of Anupallavi sung many times>, <Jathi> <second half of Anu pallavi>...

So usually there would be 4 jathis before Charanam. If both halves of Pallavi do not have distinct ideas, and if they are part of same one idea, then they would have to be sung together. Thus, one jathi would be eliminated. Same with Anu pallavi. That's why most Pada Varnams would have 4 distinct ideas in Pallavi/Anu pallavi. (For ex: KNDP's Shankarabharanam Varnam Sakiye). Once in a while we do see exceptions. Lalgudi's "innum en manam" is mostly danced with both halves of Pallavi sung together, and anupallavi sung together.

Ganesh.

[mohan]

Ganesh - I think there is scope to depict four distinct stories in the lines of the pallavi and anupallavi and to have jathis for each line. For example, the first line can depict the marriage of Shiva and Parvati, the 2nd line about the Shiva's dance crushing the dwarf Apasmara/Muyalaka, third line can describe the birth of kumara and/or the Ardhanaeshwara story, and the fourth can be a general one of Nataraja's dance in the golden hall.