Nithyasree ‘blessed’ by saint-composer

[venkatakailasam]

Veteran musician P.S. Narayanaswamy conferred the title, Sivan Isai Selvi, to Nithyasree Mahadevan at the 123rd birthday celebrations of Papanasam Sivan at Narada Gana ­Sabha in the city on Wednesday. DC


http://www.deccanchronicle.com/130919/n ... t-composer

[arasi]

VKailasam,
Thanks for the clip.
Very happy to know that Nithyasree was honored with this award.

Some of her favorites are also rasikas' favorites. May she keep singing Sivan's songs--even the ones that haven't been heard before in concerts.

[sureshvv]

Nice concert following the award presentation although I felt that her voice was not as nimble especially in the early part of the concert.

Highight of the concert was her sindhubhairavi (koovi azhaikkalagadha) and the shanmukhapriya swaraprasthara using just akaaram that got quite an ovation.

[sureshvv]

Correction: Sindhubhairavi kriti was koovi azhaikka koodadha...

PS: "Edit" button appears capricious.

[VK RAMAN]

Congrats to Nithyasree. Do we have in Hindu faith a process whereby a composer, singer, artist is posthumously conferred the distinction of "Sainthood" just like Catholics?

[CRama]

So far only Thyagaraja is normally referred to as saint composer.

[arasi]

VKR,

I see what you mean.
When I saw the title of the thread, I too wondered who the saint composer could be.

I am not surprised, though. When you listen to some of the speeches about any honoree, you hear 'vAnaLAvum' (sky reaching) praises. It's not new. Don't we hear immense praise and worshipful words about any newly found guru also? It's all part of our culture, I think!

Sivan's cache of songs are precious, but saint is a word which need not be used here. 'He was saintly', is better, if one were speaking about him, recollecting all his great qualities.

CRama,
Yes, somehow, Tygaraja alone is referred to as a saint among the Trinity.

[rshankar]

CRama,
Yes, somehow, Tygaraja alone is referred to as a saint among the Trinity.

i have always assumed that in the Indian context, the word saint is used for sanyAsins, like the pontiffs of the kAmakOTi pITham etc., and since Sri tyAgarAja alone, among the trinity chose the path of sanyAsa during his last days, I assumed that he alone was referred to as 'Saint'....

[arasi]

Ravi,
You know about these things! I was just speculating.

[mahavishnu]

I think Ravi is right.

However in response to VKR's question, there is also a parallel history of referring to the poet bards of the Bhatki movement as saints which comes from the anglicization of the word "sant" (and not papal beatification).

The term gained popularity in the south during the Maratha empire and a number of southern composers including Bhadracalam Ramadas were referred to by this name. However, the trinity were never formally considered as descendants of the so-called bhakti cult.

Perhaps Tyagaraja was the closest in spirit to them, since he was quite directly inspired by this movement, as presented in songs like haridAsulu veDalE.

[kvchellappa]

There is no institution like Vatican that confers sainthood among Hindus. Thyagaraja is referred to as Saint, by general usage, I believe, probably because in his compositions like Nannu palimpa, giripai, etc. there is scope to infer that he was in direct communion with God. That is my guess. There does not appear to be a general convention to refer to those that took Sanyasa as saints; e.g. Anantarama Dikshitar also took Sanyasa in his last days, but as far as I know no one refers to him as saint. There have been so many sanyasis in our land and they do not appear to be called saints. Ramana was called Bhagawan and the common term of reference to such people seems to be Swami.
Of course, all this has nothing to do with the topic.

[venkatakailasam]

p Sivan seems to have been conferred the following titles..

Sivan was a recipient of a few titles. In 1950 the Indian Fine Arts Society honored him by conferring him the title ‘Sangeetha Sakithya Kala Sikhamani'.
At the celebrations of the 60th birthday of Sivan, Kanchi Acharyal blessed him with the title ‘Siva Punya Gaana Mani'.
The Tamizh Isai Sangam honored him with the title ‘Isai Peraignar'.
The music Academy honored him with the title ‘Sangeetha Kalanidhi'. He was admitted as a ‘Fellow' of the Sangeet Natak Akademi , New Delhi. In1962 Sivan received the President's Award.
Lastly in 1972 ,at the age of 82, the Indian Republic conferred on him ‘Padma Bhushan'

While at Trivandrum,Sivan studied in the Maharaja's Sanskrit college and obtained the title ‘Upadhyaya'. ..

Saint-Composer seems to be a word coined by DC..

courtesy..

http://shivanisai.org/ps.html

[Pratyaksham Bala]

.
Nithyasree confers the title 'Saint-composer' to Papanasam Sivan!

"Q: How do you feel on being conferred the title Sivan Isai Selvi?
Nithyasree: It is not an award, but a saint composer’s asirvatham (blessings)."
.

[arasi]

PB,
As usual, quick on your feet in bringing us the source!

[harimau]

p Sivan seems to have been conferred the following titles..

Sivan was a recipient of a few titles. In 1950 the Indian Fine Arts Society honored him by conferring him the title ‘Sangeetha Sakithya Kala Sikhamani'.
At the celebrations of the 60th birthday of Sivan, Kanchi Acharyal blessed him with the title ‘Siva Punya Gaana Mani'.
The Tamizh Isai Sangam honored him with the title ‘Isai Peraignar'.
The music Academy honored him with the title ‘Sangeetha Kalanidhi'. He was admitted as a ‘Fellow' of the Sangeet Natak Akademi , New Delhi. In1962 Sivan received the President's Award.
Lastly in 1972 ,at the age of 82, the Indian Republic conferred on him ‘Padma Bhushan'

While at Trivandrum,Sivan studied in the Maharaja's Sanskrit college and obtained the title ‘Upadhyaya'. ..

Saint-Composer seems to be a word coined by DC..

courtesy..

http://shivanisai.org/ps.html

'Sivan' itself was a title (in Tamil, adaimozhi) given to Polagam Ramaswamy, which was the original name of Papanasam Sivan.

[rshankar]

'Sivan' itself was a title (in Tamil, adaimozhi) given to Polagam Ramaswamy, which was the original name of Papanasam Sivan.

Neither was he from Papanasam, nor was his given name Sivan!

[venkatakailasam]

The reason for this name is given in the above link as:
http://shivanisai.org/ps.html

" He came to be called Papanasam Sivan by the inhabitants of Ganapathy Agraharam, Tanjore district in 1912 when they were all attracted to the Siva temple in that village at dusk, while Sivan was praying to the Deity singing ‘Arum Ponne Maniye' with a voice full of fervour; they exclaimed that Lord Siva himself had descended to earth from Kailash, as it were, in the shape of that youth."

[Pratyaksham Bala]

"...they exclaimed that Lord Siva himself had descended to earth from Kailash, as it were, in the shape of that youth."

Saint Sivan, indeed!

[harimau]

"...they exclaimed that Lord Siva himself had descended to earth from Kailash, as it were, in the shape of that youth."

Saint Sivan, indeed!

Other composers/musicians whose names were suffixed with 'Sivan' include Neelakanta Sivan, Ramaswamy Sivan, etc.

[Pratyaksham Bala]

Hope someone will write about the miracle of the main Temple doors bursting open when Saint Papanasam Sivan sang in front of Mylapore Kapaleeswarar Koil!

[arasi]

Siva SivA!, the temple sounds echo--
Anyone who enters its portals hears it

If he wills it, he can become it--
In turn, call another by the name--
More SivAs! And other gods!

sarvam vishNu mayam jagat
Sarvam Siva mayam jagat...

Devotees call the names out--
Someone steeped in music sang Siva's praise
And became Siva, there were more--
Neelakantan, Ramaswamy, and...

In my childhood, I had met a man
Called kaDavuL--there, no labels!
I wondered why that kind man with
A flowing beard and a sweet smile
Was named 'God'! That KaDavuL MAmA!

They tried to explain it, and
My child's mind understood it
That it had something to do with
His dwelling in thoughts of God--
Making other people think of Him too

So, no big deal, you see, if someone
Is called a saint, without being canonized
Or whatever it takes to attain the title...

Coming to think of it, all of us,
For no reason at all, ARE called
By a multitude of god's names--
Day in and day out! Shiva shivA

[sridhar]

Another title conferred on Sivan was Tamizh Thyagayya - by the great Simizhi Sundaram Iyer, when he heard Sivan singing the song ‘Unnai Thudikka Arulthaa’ in Kuntalavarali raga during the Tyagaraja Ratotsavam at Tiruvarur. Wasn't it his first composition? never heard anyone sing it.

[cacm]

YES. DKP used to render it quite frequently. VKV

[Pratyaksham Bala]

Saint Papanasam Sivan's "unnai tudikka arul tA" rendered by DKP:-
https://soundcloud.com/mssubbulakshmi/l ... nmusic-dkp
Check @ 34.45.

[Ponbhairavi]

Sridhar wrote:

other title conferred on Sivan was Tamizh Thyagayya

Since Saint goes with Thyagayya , it goes with his tamizh equivalent also

[venkatakailasam]

please see..

http://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic. ... 44#p247844

The 7th song is:

07 - unnait_tudikka - kuntalavarALi