Manodharmam - when & by whom was it introduced?

[Shyamala Rangarajan]

While we all know that it was Ariyakkudi who introduced the concert format, is there any information available as to who made manodharmam ( raga alapana, niraval, kalpana swara, RTP etc) a part of Carnatic Music concert? I request the knowledgeable members of the forum to throw light on this aspect.

[vgovindan]

The telugu word for AlApana is 'AlApamu'. SrI tyAgarAja mentions this word in three kRtis -
mitri bhAgyamE -kharaharapriya
muccaTa bhrahmAdulaku - madhyamAvati
dorakunA iTuvaNTi sEva - bilahari

[rshankar]

Even before the trinity, Oothukaadu Sri Venkatasubbaiyer mentions this in his kRti, 'yAr enna sonnAlum anjAdEnenjamE' where he says 'rAga AlApanamuDanum pADu, muDindAl, aDavODum, jatiyODum ADu'. So, the concept must have existed before the times of the music trinity.

[bhakthim dehi]

But the exact time period of ovk is not finalized..

[vasanthakokilam]

Oh no! Let us steer clear of that, lest this thread be derailed.

[munirao2001]

Shyamala Rangarajan Madam

I am not an expert. I want to share the knowledge on this subject.
We must appreciate that the knowledge was based on the karna parampara. But we have inherited very great and significant works on the subject of music. Bharata in his Natya shastra, has dealt with music giving the names of Gandharva and Gana as two distinct forms. Dattila in his Dattilam has also written on music almost similar to Bharata. Both the works are dated 2nd Century AD. Gandharva form was 'art music' for the elite. After a considerable period, we have Deshi's, Brhaddeshi, dated 9th century;Manasollasa, 11th century;Abhinava Gupta's commentary on Bharata's Natya Shastra, 11th Century; Sarangadeva's Sangita Ratnakara, 13th century;kumbha, Maharana of Mewar, Sangitaraja, 12/13th Century; Kallinatha's commentary on Sangita Ratnakara, 13th/14th Century; Gopala Nayaka, 14th Century; Vidyaranya's Sangita sara, 14th Century;Ramamatya's Svaramala Kalanidhi, 15th Century;Pandarika Vittala's Shadraga Chandrodaya; Govinda Dikshita,Meladhikara,15th Century;Venkatamakhi's Chaturdandi praksika, 16th Century;Govinda's Sangraha Choodamani, 17th Century;Somanatha's Raga Vibodha, 16th Century; Shahaji's Ragalakshanamu, 16th Century;Muddu Venkatamakhi, 18th Century;Subbarama Dikshita's Sangita Sampradaya Pradarhsini, 19th Century. All these works are in Sanskrit and Telugu.
These works trace the systems of Marga, Deshi and Mela related to the development of music, termed as 'classical' and 'art' music.
Manodharma Sangita with creative tools of Raga, Tanam, Neraval and Svarakalpana in the present form of Carnatic Music is based on Sarangadeva-Sangita Ratnakara, Venkatamakhi, Chaturdandi Prakasika and Subbarama Dikshita-Sangita Sampradaya Pradarsini -13th to 19th Century. Prior to trinity and also during their times, old tradition of manodharma sangita practice consisted of Prabhanda marga-Raga alapana;Prabhanda;Raga-Tana-Pallavi. With the works of Kshetragna, Thyagaraja, Mudduswami Dikshita and Shyama Sastri, manodharma sangita using their compositions more in number by Bhaghavathars and Isai Vellars came in to practice.
I am personally of the opinion that even though the manodharma sangita was technically in practice in earlier period before the 16th Century, it is only during the period of 16th to 19th Century, based on the Deshi and Mela paddhati, it has developed in to a great art form of Classical Carnatic Music.
Madam you will not have straight and simple answer for your question of 'Manodharmam-When and by Whom was it introduced.

munirao2001

[Rsachi]

have read in many books including GAna Kale by Shri Rallapalli Anantakrishna Sharma and books by Shri Vasudevachar and DVG that the classical musical forms even 300 years or so ago were mainly manodharma sangeeta with raga alapana, taana, pallavi with kalpanaswara lines etc. A musician would go on for hours and even days. The concert structure based on compositions is a more recent phenomenon.
Another pointer is that aalap, taan, bandish = pallavi and swaras are common to Hindustani Music as well, showing that these were core values of classicism.