Mayamalavagowla

paddu · Post by **paddu** » 22 Mar 2007, 16:48

Hello everyone,
Could we discuss the raga mayamalavagowla and its janyas?
The 15th MeLa, this raga evokes shanta rasa. I feel though this is raga is suitable to sing at any time, morning is the best time to sing. Just singing the AaroHaNa and AvaroHaNa slowly, brings in lot of peace.

Could somebody tell me why is this the first raga taught to students of CM?

Some of the famous krithis:
Tulasi DaLa
Deva Deva
Devadi Deva

Here are some of the janyas
Saveri
Malahari
Bowli
Gowla
Bindumalini
Lalitha
Jaganmohini

I have not heard of any RTP's in this raga. Could some body share some music?
Oh benevolent members, please contribute generously.

Thanks
Paddu

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 22 Mar 2007, 17:24

i have heard a recoding of a nice RTP in mALavagauLa by MSS amma. some academy concert long ago. the sahitya was on lord muruga.

being one of the important mELa rAgam. it occupies prime spot in the music world.

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 22 Mar 2007, 17:24

my favorite kritis: srI nAtAdi guruguhO, mEru samAna, vidulaku mrokkEdA, mAyAtIta svarUpiNi.

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 22 Mar 2007, 17:54

have heard a recoding of a nice RTP in mALavagauLa by MSS amma

here it is.

http://www.badongo.com/file/2536487

ramakriya · Post by **ramakriya** » 22 Mar 2007, 22:47

paddu wrote:Devadi Deva

Is there one dEvAdidEva in mAyAmALavagouLa ? There is one in sindhurAmakriya, which is a janya of MMG

-Ramakriya

vasya10 · Post by **vasya10** » 22 Mar 2007, 23:13

I havent heard a 'devadideva' in mmg...

some of the less popular ones are very nice to hear too

- perugalam tavam (tirunavakkarasar devAram)
- kalinarulaku (mysore vasudevachar)
- sangitadevate (ambujam krishna)
- mayatitasvarupini (ponniah pillai)

my all time fav has been 'Adikondar' by mutthu tAndavar. Everytime I hear it, it brings me the city where I grew before my eyes.. Especially when it goes 'theraNi vIdiyil tillai moovayiram per' ... i can imagine how the ecstatic crowd would have been waiting to see the Lord coming out dancing...

annapoorne · Post by **annapoorne** » 22 Mar 2007, 23:42

Another favourite krithi of mine is GKB's Sivaloka nathanai kandu.

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 23 Mar 2007, 03:57

Was MMG chosen by purandaradAsA because of the symmetrical location of the svarastAnAs (tetrachords???) ?
rAmakriyaji or DRSji please throw some light.

Sanjay sang at beautifl RTP in MMG as the main item in the December of 1999 at MA.

vasya10 · Post by **vasya10** » 23 Mar 2007, 05:40

ksrimech,

correct. in the sri GS Mani Iyer lecdem about mayamalava gaula, he explains why this raga is suited for beginners. very simple and beautiful explanation.

for non-tamil audience, i can try to translate, let me know.

vasya10 · Post by **vasya10** » 23 Mar 2007, 06:14

Here is the gist of the speech by Sri GS Mani Iyer on Mayamalavagaula:

--- begins

Some one mentioned about a muslim melody -- its the Malava gaula raga, which came via northwest. This is in the history of ragas.

(Pauses to ask if its okay to talk, and every one acknowledges)

The speciality of mmg is in our music ma and pa srutis are the most important when elaborating ragas. Our music is mainly in raga alapanas, not in sahitya or svaras. If you ask why thats important, its because the svara sthanas are different from the "scale" representation, so scale can never be a raga. So one has to sing by lakshyA, keeping lakshaNam in mind. Its a very important point.

First one has to grasp the lakshaNam, then one has to goto lakshyA. Its a very difficult phase. Like our (subbaramanna? ame not clear) used to say - "the tala from hands should goto the legs, from the legs it should go to the (head) mind. Only then you are a vidvan". It was fun to hear at that time, but now i realize the importance of that statement.

In the seven svaras, the center one is madhyama. srg - m - pdn. But the quality of madhyama is --- say sruti is a point; then svara is "area". Now rgmdn etc are "big areas". Its been divided into two - earlier portion, later portion (=tetrachord). Similarly ma is also divided - regular and duplicate (prati). Its called a 'note of pain'. the speciality of this is the "ma" can become AdhAra sruti also. Other notes cannot. So in a natural scale, ma sruti will go as an important note. So its the basis of music , basis of raga alapana.

BUT, to sing the pa sruti raga, one needs skill, practice and experience. what is pa sruti? its called cycle of 5s. srgmp, rgmpd, gmpdn - thus it will end in the 5th notes. this is panchama sruti.

If you look at mayamalavagaula, s-p, r-d, g-n, (there is also mpdns, but that is omitted, since ma and sa are sruti, you have to ignore that), so there are "3 panchama bhavas" in this raga. The landing point is G3 (antara gandhara). that also means one has to consider the complimentary note N3 (kakali nishada).

{sings}

The ga doesnt shake much in MMG. In fact, it must not be shaken. In carnatic music not all notes must be shaken. Its in my experience. I dont reject anybody else saying otherwise. Thats not the nature of our music. If you see Tyagaraja's kritis, he has given gamakas only where needed. But we do anywhich way, thats beside the point {smiles} {sings}. Only the vainikas know.

THAT Gandhara should be grasped, thats why its taught first to kids. Once that Ga is grasped, automatically the uttaranga kAkali nishAda will come too. N3 is a difficult note; singers know it, for instrumentalists its not an issue, but for singers.

SO, all these are in this raga. Some may say all these are in kalyani too, but they are all big notes, one can sing it straight like an electric train goes. There are no complimentary notes in it. So MMG has scope to sing in full throat. One can sing in full blast. In atana, major portion is in full blast {sings} - this does not look good. {sings} not good. every raga has a character. {sings} now its good.

so because of this (full throated) facility, the muslims have incorporated in their prayers. {sings allah hu akbar). Its a call for prayer. Its in urdu. Urdu/Persian must be sung from throat.. Must come out like kapha (smiles).

We have refined it. All these svaras have been "refined" only in carnatic music, no other world music can match it (claps). im talking from my 55 yrs experience. i have graced many meadows, so I know the greatness of this music. {sings palumaru}. For the santoshamuga it tilts a bit, or else it wont. {champaka}.

-- ends.

Sorry for any mistakes in translation.

paddu · Post by **paddu** » 23 Mar 2007, 09:53

ramakriya wrote:
paddu wrote:Devadi Deva
Is there one dEvAdidEva in mAyAmALavagouLa ? There is one in sindhurAmakriya, which is a janya of MMG

-Ramakriya

Sorry I added dEvAdidEva here, it is in sidhurAmakriya.

Thank you vasya10 for the translation.

Paddu

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 23 Mar 2007, 14:13

coolkarni wrote:
have heard a recoding of a nice RTP in mALavagauLa by MSS amma
here it is.

http://www.badongo.com/file/2536487

who are the accompanists in this clip?

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 23 Mar 2007, 14:20

dEvAdidEva nannu kAva samayamu rA rA is by maisUr sadAshiva rAu in mAyAmALavagauLa

vs_manjunath · Post by **vs_manjunath** » 28 Apr 2007, 20:49

ksheera sAgara shayana vakshastala nivasini is a lovely song in MMG by Jayachamaraja Wodeyar. Available in Shiva Stuti sung by MSS.

venkatanathen · Post by **venkatanathen** » 08 Jun 2007, 20:55

Thank you my dear friends