T.N.Seshagopalan @ Ayodhya Mandapam, Chennai (04 Apr 2007)

ram · Post by **ram** » 05 Apr 2007, 01:52

Venue: Ayodhya Aswamedha Maha Mandapam, West Mambalam, Chennai

Date: 04 Apr 2007

Organizer: Sri Ram Samaj (Rama Navami Celebrations)

Vocal: Vid. Madurai T.N. Seshagopalan (TNS)

Vocal Support: ??

Violin: Vid. S.D. Sridhar

Mrudangam: Vid. K.V. Prasad

Ghatam: Vid. T.V. Vasan

Tambura: Vid. Vaidyanathan

List of songs:

1) vandanamu raghunandanA - sahAnA - Adi - thyAgarAja (AS)

2) daya jUchuTa - gAnavAridhi - Adi - thyAgarAja

3) tanavAri tAnamu lEdA - bEgaDa - Adi - thyAgarAja (ANS)

4) ETi janmamidi - varALi- misra chApu - thyAgarAja (AS)

5) brOvabAramA - bahudAri - Adi - thyAgarAja (S)

6) yArendru rAghavanai - yadukulakAmbOji - Adi - aruNAchala kavi

7) entamuddO - bindumAlini - Adi - thyAgarAja

8 ) rAgam tAnam pallavi - simhEndra madyamam - kanDa tripuTa (2 kaLai - eDuppu 0.5 beat i.e. 2 aksharams before samam) (T)

pallavi wordings: "raghupatE rAmachandrA rAghava simha, dayanidhE"

9) jai dayAlu mA (?) - ?? - rUpakam - ??

10) viruttam (couldn't get the words properly ... had the words "jAnaki prANa mantram" inbetween)

rAma mantrava - jOnpuri - Adi - purandaradAsa

11) nI nAma rUpa mulaku (mangaLam) - sowrAshTram - Adi - thyAgarAja

12) sriya kAntAya (slOkam) - srI

(Key: O=raga outline, A=raga alapana, N=neraval, S=kalpana swaram, T=taniavartanam)

Sri TNS started the concert with a neat sketch of "sahAnA" followed by "vandanamu raghunandanA" which was sung in a way that brought out the raga so well. After this came Sri Thyagaraja's composition in "gAnavAridhi" - "daya jUchuTa" which only TNS seems to sing in concert circuit these days. TNS then started raga alapana of "bEgaDa". In the 4 minutes or so that he devoted to the alapana, he seemed to highlight almost all the prayOgAs that characterize and make us readily recognize "bEgaDa". "tanavAritAnamu" was sung in a fast pace with racy neraval and kalpana swarams at the anupallavi line "ina vamsha rAjulakI guNamulennaDaina galadA nAdupai". A detailed varALi raga alapana after this was followed by "ETi janmamidi" with kalpana swarams put at "sAgara shayanuni ..... ". Just after finishing the kalpana swarams when TNS came to the words "vEgamE jUDaka", he launched into a set of brigha like patterns and sang the two words using a variety of brighas over and over again.

"brOvabArama" is one of the compositions that regularly features these days in the concerts of both TNS and his son Sri T.N.S. Krishna. TNS sang lively rounds of kalpana swarams in this song at the pallavi line itself. The kOrvai he sang at the end of kalpana swarams is one that I think has also been used by his son in the past to some very good effect. I think it goes like this (; = two aksharam kArvai & , = one aksharam kArvai):

tha ka dhi na thAm ; - 3 times

tha ki Ta thAm ; - 3 times

tha ka thAm ; - 3 times

tha, dhi, ki, na, thom - 3 times

tha; dhi, ki, na, thom - 3 times

tha ; dhi ; ki, na, thom - 3 times

Total akshara count is 144 when played once and beat count is 36. So it has to be sung once or three times starting from 6 aksharams (1.5 beats) after mid point of adi talam if sung for brOvabAramA. One of the equivalent representations of this in terms of swaras for brOvabAramA would be the following:

MGSNS; GSNPN; SNPMP;

GSNS;SNPN; NPMP;

GSN; SNP; NPM;

M, G, S, N, P G, S, N, P, M M, P, D, N, S

M; G, S, N, P G; S, N, P, M M; P, D, N, S

M; G; S, N, P G; S; N, P, M M; P; D, N, S

Sri S.D. Sridhar, during his turn, impressed by reproducing the same kOrvai.

"entamuddO" started with the anupallavi line "enta vAralaina gAni kAnta ... " and TNS sketched slightly detailed outlines of the raga after both the anupallavi and charanam which was so pleasing to hear. By this time, TNS had received many audience requests written in small pieces of paper and he said in tamil something like this: "the organizers have asked me to wind up by 9:30PM ..... and requests are coming in large numbers ... looks like we will have to deal with these on Vaikuntha Ekadesi day"

TNS then launched into a grand alapana of "simhEndra madyamam". What a treat it was !!!! Spread over 28 minutes and done in 3 stages, with the violinist playing his turns after the first and the second, it was an absolute delight. When TNS was fully engrossed in singing the third stage, there were loud sounds created by the horn of a MTC bus outside which seemed to coincide with the dhaivatam. TNS remarked that when singing with a lot of concentration, even noises from outside seem to sound like music !!

Then came the part that took me completely by surprise !!!! With a transition whose smoothness I am unable to even imagine, let alone express in words, TNS quickly switched into graha bhEdam mode and with panchamam as shaDjam sang "bowLi". The return from "bowLi" to "simhEndra madyamam" was also equally smooth and marked by a round of applause that seemed to resonate throughout the hall. This was followed by a tanam for about 6 minutes.

The pallavi line "raghupatE rAmachandrA rAghava simha, dayanidhE" was structured as follows (A=akshara, B=beat, 1 avartanam of kanDa tripuTa in 2 kaLai = 18 B = 18 X 4 A = 72 A): starts 0.5B before samam - ra (0.5B) ghu (0.5B) pa (0.5B) tE (1.5B) rA (1B) ma (0.5B) chan (1B) drA (1.5B) rA (1B) gha (0.5B) va (1B) sim (1B) ha (+ gap = 3.5B), da (0.5B) ya (1.5B) ni (0.5B) dhE (1.5B).

Short ragamalika swarams were sung for the pallavi. The ragas used (to the best of my knowledge) were simhEndra madyamam, nATTai, gowLa, Arabhi, Ahiri, dEsh, hindOLam, hamsAnandi, bEgaDa, kuntalavarALi, kathana kuthUhalam, nIlAmbari & bowLi. This was followed by a taniavartanam played by Sri K.V. Prasad and Sri T.V. Vasan. TNS sang the pallavi in trikAlam after the taniavartanam got over.

Almost every TNS concert I attend reminds me that there is so much more out there to learn and keeps me going as I try to move up the learning curve. The amount of hard work, sincerity, commitment and effort that TNS puts in is simply amazing. He is truly an inspiration to me in this regard.

Source: http://ramsabode.wordpress.com/2007/04/ ... i04042007/

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 05 Apr 2007, 02:19

raghupatE rAmachandrA rAghava simha, dayanidhE

rAm svAmin,
rAghavasimha is one single word. Ref. SrI raghuvIragadyam aka SrI mahavIra vaibhavam aka SrI rAmAyaNam as told by svAmi vEdAnta dEsikan. He also used the word yAdavasimham for SrIkRSNa.

Did the vruttam start as jayatu jayatu mantram janma sApalya mantram?

Thank you for the wonderful description of the concert.

ram · Post by **ram** » 05 Apr 2007, 06:47

Thanks ksrimech for pointing it out. I was focused on indicating the split based on the stress on words as sung in the pallavi and did not think from this angle at all.

Regarding the viruttam, I am afraid excessive noise from vehicles outside coupled with poor acoustics ensured that I didn't get the words. I thought I heard something like "_____ vichitra mantram, jAnaki prANa mantram" but I could be wrong. It could be what you have indicated. May be Smt. Saroja Ramanujam can clarify.

deepsands02 · Post by **deepsands02** » 05 Apr 2007, 09:29

Jagathi vijitha manthram
Jaanaki praana manthram
Pasupathi nijama manthram
Paadhumaam shri rama manthram

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 05 Apr 2007, 09:56

Sounds like this was a fantastic concert. In sporting parlance, Sri TNS truly seems to be 'in the zone' these days.

ksrimech: can you post the lyrics of the slOka you were referring to?

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 05 Apr 2007, 10:28

Ram thanks for the korvai - I have heard Sri TNS sing the same korvai singing Varamu

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 05 Apr 2007, 10:35

prashant,

What I mentioned is a different SLOka. I heard from u vE SrI embAr vijayarAghavAchar. Here it is:

jayatu jayatu mantram janma Sapalya mantram
janana maraNa bhEda klESa viccEda mantram
sakala nigama mantram sarva Sastraika mantram
raghupati nija mantram rAma rAmEti mantram

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 05 Apr 2007, 11:23

Thanks ksrimech for this - it's s very beautiful one.

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 05 Apr 2007, 11:27

Quick clarification: is is 'sarva Sastraika mantra' or 'sarva SAstraika mantram'?

ram · Post by **ram** » 05 Apr 2007, 12:00

Thanks deepsands02 for the viruttam wordings !!

sarojaRamanujam · Post by **sarojaRamanujam** » 05 Apr 2007, 13:16

It must be sarvasAsthraikamanthram only.

Ram has given a beautiful review as ever.The concert was lifted to the skies like a jet from the start.As Ram once remarked,I think it was he, that every time TNS seemed to reach a height which looks as though he has reached the zenith only to find that he can go even higher in his next concert.

Yesterday everyone of his rendering was a diamond that decorated the crown of this gayakasimhaendra while the simmendramadhyama was truly a simha nadha shining as the gaykasimhendra kireeta madhyamani.

When he started the sahana in the beginning it was not quite obvious as to what was going to follow though when he started 'vandanamu,' one could see that it could not have been anything else. The svara had all the usual beauty and the ganavaridhi krthi 'dhayajoochuda,' has all the charm one could expect from him.

Next came a fantastic rendering of 'thanavari' in Begada, a very racy pace and with svaras streaming in a marvellous flow, which was a wonder to behold and TNS was ably assisted by SDSridhar and KVPrasad making it a real treat for the rasikas.

The same fare was presented later in 'Brovabharama,' the two together constituting the sentiment of closeness and familiarity which Thyagaraja must have displayed towards Rama.

All concerts of TNS possess a thematic undertone sometimes explicit and sometimes implied and this was no exception.Starting from vandanamu, offering salutations to Rama, the explicit theme being about Rama but the implying theme was entreaty after salutation, by 'dayajoochuda,'the tone changing to a demanding one in the ,'Thanavarithana' and the next was again plaintive varali, ,'Etijanma' in which the raga was exquisitely rendered that took the rasikas to a different realm altogether and hearing the krthi one could definitely feel that 'ETijanmamithi hA,' to not to be blessed to enjoy and appreciate such music.

TNS sang the svaras at 'sAgaraSayanuni,' ending each phrase in thArashadjam thus making it a svarakshara. The combination of svaras were something fabulous and in keeping with the mood of the song.The word 'vegame' was sung in a picturesque manner in different ways to depict the haste expressed by Thyagaraja to see the Lord in ksheerasagara and we could also see the speed of the Lord who Himself hastened to come to the devotee as much as the latter was in a hurry to see Him.

In BrovabhArama again there was the demanding attirtude of Thyagaraja portrayed by the way of rendering and the svaras looked as though to illustrate the miracle of the Lord having all the worlds in His udhara, 'andakotla kukshi neeyinchukoledha,' such was the magic with laya showing all the possible permutations and combinations in svaras.KV prasad and SDSridhar assisted TNS ably to bring it to a crescendo.

The yadukula kambodhi krthi by Arunachalakavi , 'yArenru rAghavanai was a audio visual treat, the words 'sunduviral, kodhanda, kAdhanda and moodhanda were sung in such a manner that we could visualise the kodhanda , the bowstring of which was drawn to the ear and the sound making the three worlds, 'moodhanda', shake and vibrate.

Next was the Bindhumalini krthi 'entha muddho entha sogasO,' started with anupallavi. This piece is always a sudha bindhumalini with TNS. . Carrying on the theme mentioned above, one can imagine that the Lord has heard the cry of the devotee and has presented Himself and the beauty and grace of His form is described therein. This rasika could not help feeling the truth of the words, 'satthabhAvgavathavesulairi thutthapAlaruchi theliyusAmyamE,' that is unless the musician feels the sentiment expressed by the song and sings with the same divine experience felt by the composer it is similar to expecting the vessel to know the taste of milk it contains.

The main item of the day was RTP in simhendramadhyamam and as I already mentioned it was a simha nadham. The pallavi 'raghupathe rAmachandra rAghavasimha dhayAnidhe justified the theme and depicted the joy of the devotee on seeing the Lord in front and praising Him. ( the word raghavasimha occurs in Desika's raghuveeragadhyam which TNS has learnt in his childhood, taught by his mother, it seems.)

Words fail me to express the RTP. Rama was said to show Narasimha in him once on the battle field to reassure Sugriva. I could only experience the same on hearing the simhendramadhyamam yesterday. Rama changed into Narasimha and it was the roar of the Narsimha coming out of the pillar and blessing His devotees. Such was the raga and the svara that flowed from TNS.

I express what I felt and surely it would also be the feeling of all his ardent rasikas, though in a different manner.

After a brilliant thani by KVPrasad and TVVasan the concert
ended with 'he dhayAluva,,' and ,Ramamanthravajapiso.

It took us, me and my friend who is also an ardent rasika. nearly an hour after the concert to comeback to earth from the heavenly region to which we were transported and it is a miracle we reached home safely without losing our direction!

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 05 Apr 2007, 13:16

Prashant- embAr renders it as sarva SAstraika mantram.

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 05 Apr 2007, 14:02

Thanks ksrimech for that clarification!