Jeyalakshmi,Anahita,Apoorva,Keerthana@SKGS on Mar 09th,2014

[rajeshnat]

Jeyalakshmi,Anahita,Apoorva,Keertana@SKGS on Mar 09th,2014
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Vocal and Veena: jayalakshmi sekar
Vocal : Anahita,Apoorva and Keerthana

Mrudangam: Mudhra Bhaskar
Narration : V V chellappa

Day/Occasion : Saturday/Mummoorthy vizha

I have attended few years back when SKGS conducts a mumoorthigal festival at skgs . Today on Mar 09th they had lined up SP ramh in thyagaraja utsava sampradaya krithis, GV on Syama sastri krithis . Could not go on time for the first two . The third was on abhayAmba vibhakthi krithis.

1. and 2. Missed cAmaram and kalyani

3.AryamabhayAmbam-bhairavi-MD
4.girijayA ajayA abhayAmbikayA-shankarAbharanam

5.abhayAmbikAyai ashvArUDhAyai -yadhukulaKAmbOdhi
6.abhayAmbikAyAh anyaM na jAnE-kedaragowlai

7.ambikAyAh abhayAmbikAyAh tavadAsOhaM-kedaram
8.ambikAyAh abhayAmbikAyAh tavadAsOhaM-sahAnA

9.dAkSAyaNi abhayAmbikE-todi-MD
10.shreeabhayAmbA-shreerAgam-MD

The circulation of kamalAmbA navavarnam krithis is somewhat there, but abhayAmbA navabhakthi krithis is indeed rarest of rare . Personally if I had squeezed my memory right, i have heard only three abhayAmbA vibhakthi krithis . The most popular vibhakthi kalyani(abhayAmbA jagadAmbA that gives all the available swaroopams of melakartha #65) , i heard it just once (SRJ, vijaysiva and suryaprakash). I have heard kedaragowlai once , the artist skips my memory now and the last shree ragam mangalam i have heard once sung by the erudite vidushi R Vedavalli and a few krithis by late vidushi kalpagam swaminathan.

I wish i was there atleast 15 minutes before this concert , not hearing the camaram was certainly a big miss as i donot know how that krithi is. The youngsters really sang very well from the moment i entered.Bhairavi just began as i entered, certainly a great ragam and I generally like a weighty bhairavi.

Certainly the order of krithis and ragas had a significance possibly the narrator chellappa could have told that before which i may have missed .His narration was more on the meaning of the krithis it was concise and it was in thamizh and it was done at the start of every krithi.No meandering narration is always wonderful.

To me the pick of the krithis that I heard today was yadhukula kambOdhi , it was i think a 2 kalai krithi - liked it so much . The shankarabharanam and kedaragowlai that preceded and followed YK kambodhi was sung well too.Kedaram had a nice change of tempo and I liked that too. sahAna sereness was intact and I liked the todi immensely (the second best was the todi ). The last was a real good finish in shree ragam.

I had in my mind will veena intrude the voices at the wrong time (certainly nothing beats violin as an accompaniment), but Jeyalakshmi sekhar played in a manner where lyrics and raga swaroopam was never compromised. The mridangist Mudhra Bhaskar played aptly.

In the paper it was put that the sisters anahita and apoorva are singing , i have not heard the third singer , i think she is JB Keerthana(this is the first time i am hearing her). Nevertheless it was wonderful for all three to pick such uphill krithis and present in an impeccable fashion. The youngest apoorva referred bit of notes just for one krithi , the other two were singing without notes . For atleast 6 krithis it appeared as though they were singing a vathapi- such confidence is lovely to see and hear.

On a side note, there was not a single musician to watch and hear this , just about 45 to 50 rasikas on sunday in the noon time. Hope I get to hear a more elaborate krithi of this mayavaram kshetram in a foreseeable future .

Overall a very good to excellent concert .

[arasi]

Rajesh,
Early last December, I heard the ensemble at Gokhale Hall (?).
I'm partial to Jayalakshmi Shekar's vINA--and have heard her gentle playing several times.
At first, I had the same question about the blend of three voices and the main artiste's playing. The young ones impressed me no end with their meticulous vocal presentation and the main artiste played along with them as if the sounds of the vINA were another sweet voice.
It was a tranquil (and rich at the same time) experience.

Chellappa's commentary did not interfere with the flow of the concert because of his brevity.

To me, though unfamiliar the kritis were, the pleasure I derived from listening to them was immense.

[mahavishnu]

In the paper it was put that the sisters anahita and apoorva are singing , i have not heard the third singer , i think she is JB Keerthana(this is the first time i am hearing her).

Keerthana is a talented young singer; I got to hear her last season. She is the sister of flautist JB Sruthi Sagar and also the cousin of Anahita/Apoorva.

[rajeshnat]

Keerthana is a talented young singer; I got to hear her last season. She is the sister of flautist JB Sruthi Sagar and also the cousin of Anahita/Apoorva.

Mahavishnu
I knew JB Keerthana is the younger sister of JB Shruthi sagar , but never knew that she is the cousin of Anahita/Apoorva. Tx for that info.I have personally heard the two A's they are really stars in the making. Hopefully I get to hear K also soon,she also sings with a lot of verve.

[kvchellappa]

JB Kirtana used to sing daily in Makkal TV at 6AM. It may still be there. At 7 it used to be Lavanya (Nithyasree's niece).

[radha bhaskar]

n a side note, there was not a single musician to watch and hear this ,

I was present through all the programmes right from 8.15 a.m till 12.40p.m when the programme concluded. I don't know how you missed me as there were only a handful of audience - :-\ Anyway, as you rightly said the abhayamba kritis were really rendered so well and Jayalakshmi's involvement as well as the ability of the three girls to sing so beautifully was indeed commendable! Earlier, Ramh and his disciples and Gayathri Venkat and her disciples also sang splendidly. Those who didn't turn up really lost a great opportunity to hear some rare treasures which most often do not get featured in normal cutcheris. Mr.Chellappa's commentary before each song was also very informative - crisp and to the point !

[rajeshnat]

Radha bhaskar,
I indeed saw you , and If i can add if there is a possibility that your son is also learning mrudangam/vocal from his appa/amma he can be counted as the second musician in the audience. Your son was seated behind me . But as such I did not spot musicians other than the family of mudhras in the audience at least during this vibhakthi capsule, all were busy not to attend this particular treasure.

Anyone who knows,
There were two video cameras shooting the proceedings, if by any chance if this is going to be telecast in makkal tv or any other tv. Do let us know.

[radha bhaskar]

I indeed saw you , and If i can add if there is a possibility that your son is also learning mrudangam/vocal from his appa/amma he can be counted as the second musician in the audience.

so, you saw me but forgot that I was a musician ! [-x Anyway, glad to share that my son Jathiswar is learning Kanjira and is a recipient of CCRT scholarship. Generally, unless he has to study, we insist on his coming to concerts with us, irrespective of whether we perform or not. I think even if children don't listen to kutcheris as intently as we do, many aspects of the music penetrates into them sub-consciously, without them being aware of it. This is also definitely a more meaningful way of spending the Sunday morning than sitting glued before the TV and just surfing channels !

[rshankar]

Anyway, glad to share that my son Jathiswar is learning Kanjira and is a recipient of CCRT scholarship

Best wishes to the budding vidvAn! And a very nice name!

[arasi]

Radha Bhaskar,
You are one of the few musicians whom I have seen in concerts and lec-dems of others.

Since you are busy as an organizer, and quite visibly so, your being a musician recedes to the background in the minds of folks, I guess. Even I had no idea about it until I started seeing Paalam clips where you sing and explain CM to the audience.
Yes, I like your son's name too. Son of a percussionist and an aspiring one himself.

[jlvina]

Thank you all for encouraging words on this programme, Jayalakshmi Sekhar and team..

[jlvina]

Certainly the order of krithis and ragas had a significance possibly the narrator chellappa could have told that before which i may have missed

Generally, the vibhakthi krithis are preceded by a dhyana krithi and end with a mangala krithi.

In this case, the dhyana krithi is Sadasraye in the raga Chamaram and the mangala krithi is Sri Abhayamba in the raga Sri.

As it was a thematic concert, the krithis were presented in the order in which the grammatical cases are ordered:

Abhayamba Jagadamba - Kalyani - 1st Vibhakthi
Aryam Abhayambam Bhajare - Bhairavi - 2nd Vibhakthi
Girijaya Ajaya Abhayambikaya - Shankarabharanam - 3rd Vibhakthi
Abhayambikayai Ashvarudhayai - Yadhukula Kambhodi - 4th Vibhakthi
Abhayambikayah Anyam na Jane -Kedaragowlai - 5th Vibkakthi
Ambikayah Abhayambikayah tavadasoham - Kedaram - 6th Vibhakthi
Abhayambayam Bhakthim Karomi - Sahana - 7th Vibhakthi
Dakshayani Abhayambike - Todi - 8th Vibhakthi

Vibhakthi krithis have been composed by Sri Muthuswami Deekshithar on Lord Subrahmanya of Tirutthani, Sri Thyagaraja of Tiruvarur, Sri Neelothpalamba also of Tiruvarur, Rama, Saraswathi, etc. In some of these instances, we have not been able to obtain a dhyana krithi or a mangala krithi, as in the case of the Neelothpalamba vibhakthi kritis, for example.

As an aside, the team hopes to present the Neelothpalamba vibhakthi krithis in Chennai towards the end of May.

[rajeshnat]

Generally, the vibhakthi krithis are preceded by a dhyana krithi and end with a mangala krithi.

In this case, the dhyana krithi is Sadasraye in the raga Chamaram and the mangala krithi is Sri Abhayamba in the raga Sri.

As it was a thematic concert, the krithis were presented in the order in which the grammatical cases are ordered:

I did not understand what you mean by grammatical cases . Is that sanskrit order of alphabets? .Could you throw more light please ?

[kvchellappa]

The grammatical cases are:
first case: nominative (रामः) (subject)
second :accusative or objective (रामं) (object)
third : instrumental (रामेण)
fourth : dative (रामाय)
fifth : ablative (रामात्)
sixth : possessive (रामस्य)
seventh : locative (रामे)
eighth : vocative (हे राम)
A vibhakti sloka:
रामो राजमणिः सदा विजयते रामं रमेशं भजे
रामेणाभिहता निशाचरचमू रामाय तस्मै नमः
रामान्नास्ति परायणं परतरं रामस्य दासोस्यम्याहं
रामे चित्तलयः सदा भवतु मे भो राम मामुद्धर
We can see these cases in feminine gender in Kamalambika, Abhayamhika kritis.

[jlvina]

I did not understand what you mean by grammatical cases . Is that sanskrit order of alphabets? .Could you throw more light please?

Sri Chellappa briefly explained grammatical case during the introduction.

Since I am not familiar with Sanskrit grammar, I asked him to reply to you and here is his answer:

When one constructs a sentence, depending on how the sentence is phrased, the noun and verb undergo changes. Sanskrit grammar contains 8 different constructs. Tamil also has similar variations called வேற்றுமை உருபு.


1) அபயாம்பா என்னைக் காப்பாற்றுகிறாள். Abhayamba rakshatu.
2) அபயாம்பாவை வணங்கு. Abhayambam bhajare.
3) அபயாம்பிகையால் நான் காப்பாற்றப்படுகிறேன். Abhayambikaya rakshitoham.
4) அபயாம்பிகைக்கு நமஸ்காரம். Abhayambikayai namasthe.
5) அபயாம்பிகையைவிட மற்றொன்றை நான் அறியேன். Abhayambikayah anyam na jane
6) அபயாம்பிகையுடைய தாசன் நான். Abhayambikayah tava dasoham.
7) அபயாம்பிகையிடம் நான் பக்தி செய்கிறேன். Abhayambayam bhakthim karomi
8) தாக்ஷாயணி அபயாம்பிகே Dakshayani Abhayambike

The 8th case is merely calling out to Abhayamba. In Tamil it is called விளி வேற்றுமை.

(In English, cases 1 and 3 are nowadays called active and passive voice.)

Similar sentence constructions are seen in all the vibhakthi krithis of Sri Muthuswami Deekshithar. Sri Deekshithar was able to employ this only when he wrote 8 krithis on a single deity. Otherwise you get "Arunachalanatham Smarami", "Rudrakopajata Veerabhadram Asraye", "Anandeswarena Samrakshitoham", "Nilakantaya Namo Namaste", etc., where the case used is random and seemingly at the whim of the composer.
.
Grammatical case in Sanskrit and Tamil are discussed at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammatical_case. You can refer to that for more information.

On a related topic, there have been questions whether Sri Deekshithar intended to write the so-called "group krithis" or it is a latter-day derivation by musicologists, with several persons holding forth that it is our imagination that led us to think that Sri Deekshithar intentionally wrote the group krithis such as the "Shodasa Ganapathi krithis". As the krithis on Ganesa total 28+, one can say that Shodasa Ganapathi krithis - numbering 16 - is very well an after-the-fact arbitrary grouping by scholars. But we can assert that group krithis such as Abhayamba Vibhakthi krithis, Neelothpalamba Vibhakthi krithis, etc., were intentional on the part of Sri Deekshithar as they number exactly 8 corresponding to the 8 cases in Sanskrit grammar.

Edited to add: Noted that Sri K V Chellappa has provided the answer too. Hopefully, the Tamil explanation is useful to those who didn't formally learn Sanskrit.

[Rasikapriya2013]

Thank you for sharing this link. Appreciate much.

Grammatical case in Sanskrit and Tamil are discussed at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammatical_case. You can refer to that for more information.

Throwing light on the Grammatical cases by KVchellappa sir and jlvina helps to appreciate the language and the composer better.

Thank you.