A Biography of Muthuswamy Dikshithar(Sangeetham.com archive)
-
srinivasrgvn
- Posts: 1013
- Joined: 30 Nov 2008, 07:46
-
girish_a
- Posts: 433
- Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 13:33
Thank you! Thank you! I haven't started reading it, but I just couldn't resist jumping to the chapter where the meeting between Muttuswami Dikshitar and Thyagaraja is described 
Any such material needs to be on this forum so I have copied that over to this thread. Beautiful! Whether this is true or not, I don't care. It is just so inspiring!
An account is traditionally handed down of the meeting between Tyagaraja and Dikshitar. It is said that when Dikshitar was singing his madhyamAvati composition at the temple, a few of Tyagaraja's disciples were present there. Savouring the exquisite music, they enquired of one of Dikshitar's disciples and gathered details about the composer. They then hurried to their guru and told him of Dikshitar and his music. It was not that Tyagaraja was hearing about Dikshitar for the first time. Great mahApuruShAs are certainly aware of each other, only that they do not reveal their inner cognition. Dikshitar too must have heard of Tyagaraja from many people and most certainly from Shyama Sastri. He must also have listened to the bard's compositions. Tyagaraja asked his disciples to invite Dikshitar home. The bard's disciples returned to the temple and informed Dikshitar of Tyagaraja's invitation, which the former accepted. Tyagaraja regularly recited the Valmiki Ramayana. On that day he had come to the episode of the coronation of Sri Rama. Could there be a greater occasion for the two puruShOthamAs of music to meet than the paTTAbhiShEka day of the Purushothama Himself? Tirumanjana vIdhi is just a stone's throw from the Panchanadeeswara temple.
The bard rose to meet his younger, nevertheless equal contemporary. After mutual respects were over, Tyagaraja requested Dikshitar to stay on and witness the pUja which he performed after the Ramayana recitation. The Rama dAsA's worship on that paTTAbhiShEka day thus acquired a special sacredness. A big crowd of disciples and residents of Tiruvaiyyaru gathered to witness that momentous event. It was a surcharged atmosphere. After the pUja, dIpArAdhanA and ShODasha upachArAs, Tyagaraja bade his disciples sing. It was to be his bhairavi masterpiece koluvaiyunnADe. The whole of Tirumanjana street resonated with the song of its renowned resident. Tyagaraja slowly turned to Dikshitar and requested him to sing on 'my Rama'. The small but majestic, centuries old paTTAbhiShEka icon of Rama with Sri Sita, Bharata, Lakshmana and Shatrugna, complete with the maNTapa and worshipped by Tyagaraja's ancestors and bequeathed to him as heirloom is truly awe-inspiring. Its spiritual power is quite discernible to those who approach it with utmost reverence. What wonder then that Dikshitar sat enraptured?
Was it the mystical power of the icon or the deeply religious atmosphere that pervaded the entire place or the bard's own powerful spiritual presence? It was perhaps a combination of all the three that inspired Dikshitar to dive deep within, to tap his innermost artistic resources. The strain that came out of his very depths, out of his very being had to be special. And it was. The rare maNirangu discovered itself. Dikshitar built a grand edifice for the rAga and bestowed immortality on it. It was an extraordinary edifice, a grandly decorated manTapa (maNirangavalli alankrita maNTapE) studded with the gems of exquisite gamakAs and phrases that Dikshitar gifted to the rAga and made it fit for Tyagaraja's Rama to revel in. The misra chApu tALa that Dikshitar chose for its rhythm was the most appropriate foil. mAmava paTTAbhirAma, a classic par excellence was Dikshitars tribute to Tyagaraja's beloved Rama. The song describes the coronation of Sri Rama in exactly the same manner as Valmiki's Ramayana. The kriti was also appropriate to the occasion and the spirited, sublime music coupled with the majestic sAhitya enshrined the presence of the Lord in the hearts of those who had the great fortune of listening to it. The residents of Tiruvaiyyaru who witnessed the momentous meeting between the two high priests of art music felt elevated and the event took eternal place in their hearts. Such rare, sublime occurrings are seldom spoken of too. The Eternal Cauvery, whose privilege it was to host this great event must have felt proud at the meeting and outstanding accomplishments of Her two children, one, the Eternal Pilgrim, the other, the Eternal Minstrel.
Any such material needs to be on this forum so I have copied that over to this thread. Beautiful! Whether this is true or not, I don't care. It is just so inspiring!
An account is traditionally handed down of the meeting between Tyagaraja and Dikshitar. It is said that when Dikshitar was singing his madhyamAvati composition at the temple, a few of Tyagaraja's disciples were present there. Savouring the exquisite music, they enquired of one of Dikshitar's disciples and gathered details about the composer. They then hurried to their guru and told him of Dikshitar and his music. It was not that Tyagaraja was hearing about Dikshitar for the first time. Great mahApuruShAs are certainly aware of each other, only that they do not reveal their inner cognition. Dikshitar too must have heard of Tyagaraja from many people and most certainly from Shyama Sastri. He must also have listened to the bard's compositions. Tyagaraja asked his disciples to invite Dikshitar home. The bard's disciples returned to the temple and informed Dikshitar of Tyagaraja's invitation, which the former accepted. Tyagaraja regularly recited the Valmiki Ramayana. On that day he had come to the episode of the coronation of Sri Rama. Could there be a greater occasion for the two puruShOthamAs of music to meet than the paTTAbhiShEka day of the Purushothama Himself? Tirumanjana vIdhi is just a stone's throw from the Panchanadeeswara temple.
The bard rose to meet his younger, nevertheless equal contemporary. After mutual respects were over, Tyagaraja requested Dikshitar to stay on and witness the pUja which he performed after the Ramayana recitation. The Rama dAsA's worship on that paTTAbhiShEka day thus acquired a special sacredness. A big crowd of disciples and residents of Tiruvaiyyaru gathered to witness that momentous event. It was a surcharged atmosphere. After the pUja, dIpArAdhanA and ShODasha upachArAs, Tyagaraja bade his disciples sing. It was to be his bhairavi masterpiece koluvaiyunnADe. The whole of Tirumanjana street resonated with the song of its renowned resident. Tyagaraja slowly turned to Dikshitar and requested him to sing on 'my Rama'. The small but majestic, centuries old paTTAbhiShEka icon of Rama with Sri Sita, Bharata, Lakshmana and Shatrugna, complete with the maNTapa and worshipped by Tyagaraja's ancestors and bequeathed to him as heirloom is truly awe-inspiring. Its spiritual power is quite discernible to those who approach it with utmost reverence. What wonder then that Dikshitar sat enraptured?
Was it the mystical power of the icon or the deeply religious atmosphere that pervaded the entire place or the bard's own powerful spiritual presence? It was perhaps a combination of all the three that inspired Dikshitar to dive deep within, to tap his innermost artistic resources. The strain that came out of his very depths, out of his very being had to be special. And it was. The rare maNirangu discovered itself. Dikshitar built a grand edifice for the rAga and bestowed immortality on it. It was an extraordinary edifice, a grandly decorated manTapa (maNirangavalli alankrita maNTapE) studded with the gems of exquisite gamakAs and phrases that Dikshitar gifted to the rAga and made it fit for Tyagaraja's Rama to revel in. The misra chApu tALa that Dikshitar chose for its rhythm was the most appropriate foil. mAmava paTTAbhirAma, a classic par excellence was Dikshitars tribute to Tyagaraja's beloved Rama. The song describes the coronation of Sri Rama in exactly the same manner as Valmiki's Ramayana. The kriti was also appropriate to the occasion and the spirited, sublime music coupled with the majestic sAhitya enshrined the presence of the Lord in the hearts of those who had the great fortune of listening to it. The residents of Tiruvaiyyaru who witnessed the momentous meeting between the two high priests of art music felt elevated and the event took eternal place in their hearts. Such rare, sublime occurrings are seldom spoken of too. The Eternal Cauvery, whose privilege it was to host this great event must have felt proud at the meeting and outstanding accomplishments of Her two children, one, the Eternal Pilgrim, the other, the Eternal Minstrel.
-
srinivasrgvn
- Posts: 1013
- Joined: 30 Nov 2008, 07:46
-
keerthi
- Posts: 1309
- Joined: 12 Oct 2008, 14:10
These articles are by Ravi and sridhar of tiruvannamalai, long time rasika-s of carnatic music, Mutthuswami diksitar's music and the music of Dhanammal and her family.. they have observed, been in the presence of, and imbibed the music of MuktA, for a duration of more than 12 years.. they also learnt specific pieces from Brinda, and were intimate with other stars of that family like viswA...
They enjoy the rare distinction of having taken 'Muktamma' for joyrides on the pillion of their moped!!
they wrote elaborately, aesthetically and articulately for a fairly long time on the erstwhile sangeetham site..
I have been requesting them repeatedly to join this forum and to continue to contribute to our knowledge of carnatic music, from their rich repertoire of nuggets, incidents and even pAThAntaram-s, by posting here..
let us hope they decide to, sometime..
They enjoy the rare distinction of having taken 'Muktamma' for joyrides on the pillion of their moped!!
they wrote elaborately, aesthetically and articulately for a fairly long time on the erstwhile sangeetham site..
I have been requesting them repeatedly to join this forum and to continue to contribute to our knowledge of carnatic music, from their rich repertoire of nuggets, incidents and even pAThAntaram-s, by posting here..
let us hope they decide to, sometime..
-
vasanthakokilam
- Posts: 10956
- Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 00:01
We do not even need to copy the contents from archive.org. archive.org, as its name implies, is there for this very purpose. We need to surface the links as srinivasrgvn did and organize them in a logical fashion that is easy to browse and read. I do not think the archive.org content is going to disappear or the links to the articles will go stale.
-
rajeshnat
- Posts: 9944
- Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04
Let any one take over sangeetham.com ,that is fine. Possibly they could have made it just read only . But how is that they pulled the plug when each of us from the community contributed ,without saying a word. How many great posts I have atleast lost 500 or 1000, with atleast 100 or 200 reviews.mohan wrote:cmlover - I had mentioned this to Sanjay in 2006 but he replied saying negotiations were going on for someone to take over Sangeetham. Since it has been three years now - it seems nothing eventuated.
Was there any legal issue or was it just a case of the sangeetham.com owners just deciding to pull it down.To me till I know the exact reasons of why that site was suddenly unplugged, it looks as a case of them showing utmost disrespect to all of us, where each of our inputs was collected but then grabbed for their own use .
Last edited by rajeshnat on 19 Sep 2009, 09:45, edited 1 time in total.
-
Pratyaksham Bala
- Posts: 4169
- Joined: 21 May 2010, 16:57
Re: A Biography of Muthuswamy Dikshithar(Sangeetham.com arch
rajeshnat:
Any success in tracing the reviews posted by you in sangeetham.com?
Any success in tracing the reviews posted by you in sangeetham.com?