GAYATHRI GIREESH ON MYRIAD FORMS OF SIVA – EPISODE 2

[CRama]

The second episode of the above programme was held on 5 March 2013 at Ragasudha Hall. I attended the programme and I am happy to share the proceedings for the benefit of the rasikas community.

The Chief Guest of the day was Prof.B.Krishnamurthy, a disciple of Mudicondan Venkatarama Iyer and an authority on Dikshithar kritis. While making his brief speech he appreciated the efforts made by Gayathri Gireesh to obtain authentic information on the related subject and to learn authentic version of the kritis. Gayathri Gireesh expresssed her gratitude to Shri Krishnamurthy and all other learned people who have given guidance to her on the subject. Before proceeding to the second episode, she gave a recap of the first episode for the benefit of the people who could not attend the first episode.

The programme commenced with Sidhi vinayakam- Dikshithar compostion in Chamaram.. The highlights in the sahithyam of the song was explained as under.
‘moola pankaja madhyastam’, ‘modaka hastam’,’pasha ankusha dharam’, ‘ chaturbhujam’ depict the iconography of the God.
‘Chamaram’ refers to raga mudra and also the shodashopachara puja done to Vinayaka
‘Rouhini anujaarchitam’ refers to Krishna (brother of Balaraman-son of Rohini) doing Puja to Lord Ganesha
‘Bhaadrapada maasa chaturthyaam’- refers to vinayaka chaturthi festivThe song was decorated with a few rounds of kalpana swarams.

After paying respects to Lord Ganesha, she went on to explain Thripurandakamurthy- the next murthy in the Saguna Veeramurthy.group. This Murthy has got reference to the story of Tripura Dahanam –refered to in the Vedas, Mahabharata, Siva Puranam and Tamil Sangam literature

Tarakasura was killed by Lord Muruga. His sons Taarakakshan, Vidyunmaali and Kamalaakshan were great devotees of Siva. They constructed 3 cities made out of gold, silver and iron and lived there. They also got a boon from Brahma that they can be killed only when all three cities come together and only by a single arrow which should be a combination of gold, silver and iron, Once they got the boon, they began torturing devas and rishis as all the other asuras have done. Unable to bear this, all Devas pleaded to Lord Siva to kill these 3 asuras. A special chariot was made:for the purpose in which Siva enrolled all the devas for the purpose. Surya and Chandra became the wheels. Mandhara and Kesari mountains became the axle, Ashtadiggajas became the pillars, vedas became the horses, Brahma the sarathy, Vishnu the arrow, Agni became the tip of the arrow and vayu the tail of the arrow. The entire prapancham became the chariot.

Tiruvadigai, near Banrutti is the temple of Tripurantaka Murthy .Reference to verses from Tirumoolar Tirumandiram: “mummala kaariyam” refers to Aanavam (ego), karmam(deeds) and maya(illusion) which represented Taarakakshan, Vidyunmali and Kamalakshan respectively. So the Lord actually kills our internal enemies. The iconography at Tiruvadigai had been done beautifully with a depiction of Lord Siva on the chariot and all Devas looking at him. Even now, in the Annual Brahmotsavam in Tiruvadigai- 3 huts are made and destroyed- to signify the slaying of the 3 asuras.


There is another story- The ego of the Devas increased because they thought that Siva would not be able to destroy the Asuras without their help. To get rid of this ego, Lord Siva did not use the bow and arrow. Instead, he just smiled and destroyed the 3 asuras. Hence he is referred to as “sirithu erithaar’ in many Tevaram hymns .

Dikshithar has composed the song depicting the above story not in Thiruvadigai, but in Pulivalam which is also called Dakshina Gokarnam. The song is Gokarneswara Pahi Pahimam in ragam Sourashtram. This is a very rare song and Gayahtri Gireesh rendered the song in an emotive mood. In Pulivalam, within the same compound, there is a temple for Siva and another for Vishnu. Here there is baalamandana teertham and the name of the Ambal is Anandavalli.

On the way to Tiruvadigai is a place called Tiruvirkolam near Arakonam where Lord Siva is said to have made his bow and arrow to kill the 3 asuras. (Tiruvirkolam means Tiru+ vil+ kolam) After Tiruvirkolam comes Acharapakkam (near Melmaruvathur) where Lord Siva’s chariot’s axle got broken because he had forgotten to worship Lord Ganesha before starting on his journey. (Achu+ara+pakkam). There is a temple for Achumuri Vinayakar in this place.

The next murthy in the series is Bhikshatana Murthy-
In Sivanandalahari, Adi Sankara says that the Lord has everything, then what is there to offer Him? He can only offer his mind and his bhakti to the Lord. Thus, as Bhikshatanamurthy, he asks only for the Bhakthi of people as Bhiksha.

Here tcomes the story of Daarukaavanam- The Rishis think only about their karmam, forget about bhakthi and gnaanam. Lord Siva wants them to take the right path. So to distract them, he takes the form of a beggar, of a very handsome personality. The wives of the Rishis are attracted towards Bhikshatanar. The sages are attracted towards Lord Vishnu who also appears as Mohini. They deviate from their Karmam. When they know that the beggar is cheating them, they get furious and perform the Aabhichara yagna and several ferocious items like damaru, lion, tiger, snakes, asura called Muyalagan and elephant appear from the yagnam. Lord Siva takes all these things and adorns them. This is seen in the iconography of Bhikshanadanar. Then only the sages could understand who came as the beggar.

In this context it is worth mentioning that Sri Neelakanta Sivan’ has composed a work called “Bhikshatana Charitram” depicting the above story. Sri. Periasamy Thooran has composed a beautiful Navaragamalika on Bhikshatanar. The song starts like “Pichai edukka vantha Sankaran Abharanam pirai mathi paampaame”- in Sankarabharanam and has got Nayaki, Nata, Thodi, Dhanyasi, Sree, Denuka etc . The raga mudhra is very intelligently worven into the sahithyam a ka Dikshithar kritis. It has got chittaswaram for its stanzas and it is in srotovahayati. That is after the charanam in Nayaki, the pallavi line in Sankarabharanam is sung followed by chittaswaram in SB, nayaki and again in SB. Similarly after Nata, the pallavi line in SB is sung followed by chittaswaram in SB, Nayaki, Nata and SB culminating in the pallavi in SB. This song was presented very well. It is unfortunate that such songs never get popularised in the concerts.

Vazhuvoor(near Mayavaram) is the Veerattana sthalam which is well-known for the Bhikshatana Murthy and Gaja Samhara Murthy. The iconography of Gajasamhara Murthy in the Vazhuvoor temple is beautiful- Lord Siva comes out tearing the elephant, Parvati stands nearby and looks terrified, she holds Lord Muruga who looks at his father During the Brahmotsavam at the Vazhuvoor temple-people decorate an elephant, make an idol of Lord Siva go into the elephant and switch off power in the entire town, signifying that the whole world is in distress. In a few seconds, Lord Siva emerges out triumphantly and power connection is restored everywhere.Vazhuvoor is known as Gnanasabha since the Lord gives the Rishis Gnana and Moksha. Dikshithar has composed the beautiful kriti Marakoti Koti Lavanya in Arabhi depicting the above story.:

Smt Ramani played tanam in Arabhi very beautifully as a prelude to this song.

Tiruvengadu or Swetaranyam is another famous Kshetra where Bhikshatanar is worshipped. Dikshithar has composed the kriti Swetaaranyeshwaram bhajeham in Arabhi- ISmt Gayathri rendered this composition and embellished with a few rounds of kalpana swaras.

The next murthy in this series is Veerabhadrar – has a reference to the Dakshayagam story which is well known. Veerabhadrar was born out of the Netrikann of Siva – out of his anger. Oothudadu Venkatakavi has composed a slokam depicting this incident. Dikshithar has composed the song Rudrakopajatha on Veerabhadrar in the ragam Rudrapriya. Gayathri rendered the same and also sang a Thevaram by Thirugnanasambandhar in the ragam Mohanam (Pann- Gandharam).

Dikshithar has composed the song Neelakantam Bhajeham in Kedaragowla which consolidates all the above stories. It is composed on Kadambavanewarar in the temple in Kulithalai. Gayathri Gireesh sang a detailed alapana of the ragam before the song and the song was rendered with pristine clarity of the sahtihyam.

There was a huge turnout of audience for the programme. Even on a working day, the hall was full at 6.15 PM. The people who came afterwards occupied whatever space was available near the walls, on the dias etc. Many people had to return for want of space. Vidwans like, Prof. TRS, Prof Krishnamurthy, Nandini Ramani , ARS – Cine actor, and many other musicians were there who stayed till end. The programme concluded at 8.30 PM.

The powerpoint presentation throughout the program was very informative. Gayathri Gireesh was accompanied by MA Krishnaswamy on violin, Mannarkoil Balaji on Mridangam and  Smt.R.Ramani on the Veena.. The accompanists provided very appropriate support suitable to the occasion. The next episode is scheduled at 6 pm on 8th April.

[rajeshnat]

During the Brahmotsavam at the Vazhuvoor temple-people decorate an elephant, make an idol of Lord Siva go into the elephant and switch off power in the entire town, signifying that the whole world is in distress.
.....
In a few seconds, Lord Siva emerges out triumphantly and power connection is restored everywhere.

Hmmm, where is Lord Shiva nowadays so that the power cut gets restored :tmi: , Let us connect thru rama(Crama) that Lord shiva ? Thanks crama for your detailed review.

[priyaram78]

Thanks CRama for sharing a detailed review of this concert for other rasikas.

[rshankar]

CRama - thank you so very much for this information.

[kssr]

I heard that she was working on the compositions on Siva. I mistook it as compositions of (papanasam) Siva(n).

Thanks for the nice review.

[Sivaramakrishnan]

Thanks CRama for the excellent review that benefits many-like me -who couldnt make it to the event. The ragamalika by Thooran on Bhikshatanar must be really outstanding; I hope the prog is video recorded. Gayatri's project qualifies for a subject of a doctoral thesis!

[satyabalu]

* Thanks CRAMA for the nice review. It would be better if future episode schedules are intimated well in advance for us to block the date. I am urged to visit the places mentioned .

[harimau]

It would be better if future episode schedules are intimated well in advance for us to block the date. I am urged to visit the places mentioned .

The next episode is on April 7, 2013 at Raga Sudha Hall.

Consider yourself intimated.

[CRama]

There may be change in the date and venue as the crowd exceeds the capacity of Ragasudha Hall. I will find out and intimate well in advance. Even the second episode I made a posting in Music and Festivals thread a couple of days in advance.