Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

s_hari · Post by **s_hari** » 17 Jul 2007, 22:42

baboosh wrote:Sri Rajarajeshvari is a Srividhya mantra krithi which as a tradiution is not sung on commercial concerts but during Navavarna puja.

Yes - i have heared this song, a very nice one!!! This is in a commercial cassette release, containing lalitha sahasranama parayanam!!

-hari

kmrasika · Post by **kmrasika** » 18 Jul 2007, 10:01

s_hari wrote:Yes - i have heared this song, a very nice one!!! This is in a commercial cassette release, containing lalitha sahasranama parayanam!!

Do you remember the title and production company of the album?

s_hari · Post by **s_hari** » 18 Jul 2007, 19:34

Here it is

Album - Sri Lalitha Sahasranama Parayana Krama
Rendered by - Diciples of H.h. Sri Vimarshanandendra Saraswathi swamigal
Produced by Sri Vimarsa Prakasa Trust, Bhaskara Prakasha ashram, R.A.Puram, Chennai
Phone 91-44-24936571

In Side B, there is a Lalithamba Bhajan & Sri vidya mantra kirthanam.

baboosh · Post by **baboosh** » 18 Jul 2007, 21:30

s_hari wrote:Here it is

Album - Sri Lalitha Sahasranama Parayana Krama
Rendered by - Diciples of H.h. Sri Vimarshanandendra Saraswathi swamigal
Produced by Sri Vimarsa Prakasa Trust, Bhaskara Prakasha ashram, R.A.Puram, Chennai
Phone 91-44-24936571

In Side B, there is a Lalithamba Bhajan & Sri vidya mantra kirthanam.

Thhe swamigal referred to was our SriVidhya guru who was a famous upasaka having built a temple for SriLalithhambika in the address referred above.The temple was reinstalled over Swamijis' samadhi after he attained siddhi.

veenajj · Post by **veenajj** » 19 Jul 2007, 07:25

chinthpeter wrote:What about Varnams has dikshithar composed any???

Gajananaaya Namaste - Shankarabharanam - Rupakam

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 19 Jul 2007, 08:24

veenajj,

I think u looked at this webpage http://www.carnatica.net/kriti/othertalas.htm

But I doubt it is some other dIkSitar's work.

veenajj · Post by **veenajj** » 19 Jul 2007, 09:31

Dear ksrimech,

We had not really looked up the webpage that you have mentioned, but are very glad to note that there is mention of this rare varnam.

Gajananaaya Namaste (varnam) is listed as a Muthuswamy Dikshitar composition in Vainika Vidwan Ananthakrishna Iyer's book published from Kolkata in the mid 1950s.

Regards,

Jeyaraaj & Jaysri

srinidhi · Post by **srinidhi** » 19 Jul 2007, 10:01

Most of Ambi Sir's students (if not all) would have begun their varnam lessons with Gajananaaya Namaste rather than the more familiar "Sami Ninne".

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 19 Jul 2007, 10:31

Does anyone have a non-commercial recording of the madhyamAvati krithi they can share. It's a very intriguing one and TKG's book does not attempt a translation of this krithi.

veenajj · Post by **veenajj** » 19 Jul 2007, 15:53

srinidhi wrote:Most of Ambi Sir's students (if not all) would have begun their varnam lessons with Gajananaaya Namaste

Couldn't agree more!

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 20 Jul 2007, 01:16

veenajj, thanks for the clarification. DKP was ambi dIkSitar's student and interesting to note she never sing it.

Can you post the lyrics here? Thank you.

Prasant, only if you are a SrIvidyA upAsaka, you will get the meanings of that song.

srinidhi · Post by **srinidhi** » 20 Jul 2007, 11:54

GajAnanAya namastE- ShankarAbharaNam- RUpaka tAla

Pallavi- GajAnanAya namastE gourI kumAraya namastE

Anupallavi- ajEndrAdyamarAdi nutAya Agama sannuta pratipatita varAya

Charanam- guruguha pUjita sumukhAya

These are the lyrics to the best of my knowledge. Corrections welcome.

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 20 Jul 2007, 12:45

Thank you Srinidhi

veenajj · Post by **veenajj** » 20 Jul 2007, 14:39

Dear Srinidhi, most of the sAhithyam is okay, there are just one or two small corrections:

Pallavi- GajAnanAya namastE gourI kumAraya (GajAnanAya namastE)

Anupallavi- ajEndrAdyamarAdi nutAya Agama siddhAnta pratipAdita varAya

Jeyaraaj & Jaysri

ts · Post by ts » 20 Jul 2007, 16:22

ksrimech wrote:veenajj, thanks for the clarification. DKP was ambi dIkSitar's student and interesting to note she never sing it.

Can you post the lyrics here? Thank you.

Prasant, only if you are a SrIvidyA upAsaka, you will get the meanings of that song.

DKP was Ambi Dikshitar's student only for a very short time. It seems she learnt only two krithis from him, Kanchadalayadakshi and Balagopala.

She is the only one who sings Kanchadalaya in vilamba kalam and Balagopala without the spurious lines (vaijayanti...)

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 20 Jul 2007, 17:10

Thanks ksrimech for that clarification.

gsriram · Post by **gsriram** » 20 Jul 2007, 23:32

ksrimech wrote:... MD couldn't have composed in telugu or tamizh. ...

Hi ksrimech,

Sorry to be blunt, but what is your authority for stating this? Do you have any tangible evidence, or is that just your personal opinion?

Ganesh

gsriram · Post by **gsriram** » 20 Jul 2007, 23:39

ksrimech wrote:
chinthpeter wrote:What about Varnams has dikshithar composed any???
None

Ksrimech,

Again, what is your source? The SSP does list two Telugu varNams (rUpamu jUchi and nI sATi daivamu) as MD compositions (although it is inconsistent about rUpamu.) And Dikshitar experts have rendered nI sATi (DKJ) and rUpamu (SR Janakiraman) mentioning them to be MD compositions.

Ganesh

Ashwin · Post by **Ashwin** » 21 Jul 2007, 01:01

gsriram wrote:
ksrimech wrote:
chinthpeter wrote:What about Varnams has dikshithar composed any???
None
Ksrimech,

Again, what is your source? The SSP does list two Telugu varNams (rUpamu jUchi and nI sATi daivamu) as MD compositions (although it is inconsistent about rUpamu.) And Dikshitar experts have rendered nI sATi (DKJ) and rUpamu (SR Janakiraman) mentioning them to be MD compositions.

Ganesh

SRJ Mama believes that rUpamu jUci is a composition of rAmasvAmi dIkShitar and not MD. Im not sure about nI sATi...

Ashwin

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 21 Jul 2007, 02:01

gsriram,

It is my opinion. I think so because the telugu/tamizh/maNipravALa kritis/varNas do not have the same musical quality or beauty lyrical as the sanskrit kritis. The people have debated this a lot and will continue to beat the pulp with out any conclusions. I feel this because people are still divided in the opinions.

Ashwin,

Isn't there also a story about different people actually laying hands on that tODi varNam (muttusvAmi dIkSitar, bAlusvAmi dIkSitar, subburAya SAStri and SyAmA SAStri) after they found only chitta swaras were missing after rAmasvAmi dIkSitar's death? Also, if you get a chance, I request you to check with your guru about the authenticity of ni sATi deivamu.

ts- thanks for the clarification.

gsriram · Post by **gsriram** » 21 Jul 2007, 06:36

Ashwin wrote:SRJ Mama believes that rUpamu jUci is a composition of rAmasvAmi dIkShitar and not MD. Im not sure about nI sATi...
Ashwin

Hi Ashwin,

That is very interesting! There is a lecdem by SRJ Mama on Dikshitar compositions (from around 1993) where he mentions more than once that rUpamu jUci is a composition of muttusvAmi dIkshitar. Possibly, Mama formed the opinion that you mention at a later time? If at all possible, I am curious to know what motivated Mama to change his opinion.

The lecdem is available here: http://www.sangeethapriya.org/Downloads ... rt1of2.MP3 and here are the verbatim quotes from the lecdem where (I think) at Mama mentions this (implicitly or explicitly):

15:04 "rUpamu jUci, tOdi rAga, Adi tALa. In sangIta sampradAya pradarshini, it has been given as a composition of muddusvAmi dIkshitar. But, shall I say unfortunately, in later publications, it has been labeled as a composition of Subbarama Dikshitar."

15:58 "rUpamu jUci has been given as a composition of muddusvAmi dikShitar, a cauka varNa."

27:53 (after concluding a rendition of rUpamu jUci): "This is the typical dIkShitar style. dIkShitar, muttusvAmi dIkShitar, was predominantly a cauka kAla composer..."

31:48 (Still talking about rUpamu jUCi and briefly changing the subject to rAmasvAmi dIkStar's hindOLavasanta varNa): "Perhaps the son [muttusvAmi dIkshitar] followed the father [rAmasvAmi dIkshitar]."

32:00 "It's also handed down to us through the Tanjore Quartet descendants that muttusvAmi dIkshitar just confined himself only to this one cauka varNa [rUpamu] ..."

32:50 "That's why we are having only this one varNa, this rUpamu jUci, of muttusvAmi dIkshitar."

Also, I definitely remember a lecdem by DKJ where DKJ similarly mentions nI sATi as an MD composition.

Hi ksrimech,

ksrimech wrote:Isn't there also a story about different people actually laying hands on that tODi varNam (muttusvAmi dIkSitar, bAlusvAmi dIkSitar, subburAya SAStri and SyAmA SAStri) after they found only chitta swaras were missing after rAmasvAmi dIkSitar's death?

No, this is not a varNam in tOdi but in shrIranjanI (sAmi ninnE), AFAIK. The charaNa svara-s were composed respectively by shyAma shAstri, chinnasvAmi dIkshitar, and muttusvAmi dIkshitar. This is mentioned in the SSP as a footnote to this varNam's notation. Lalita Ramakrishna also mentions this in her book "The Varnam", and perhaps, this story is mentioned there.

ksrimech wrote:... the telugu/tamizh/maNipravALa kritis/varNas do not have the same musical quality or beauty lyrical as the sanskrit kritis.

About the musical quality, can you point out any objective differences, or is it just a subjective feeling? And how can you expect lyrical similarities between Telugu varNams and Sanskrit kritis? As a case in point, I don't see very many lyrical similarities between Poochi Iyengar's Telugu varNams and Sanskrit kriti "shrI venkaTEsham", or for that matter, between Lalgudi Jayaraman's Telugu varNams and Sanskrit kritis. I fail to see how the lyrical beauty argument can carry any weight.

Of course, if it is your personal, subjective opinion, you are definitely entitled to it.

Also, for the record, other people in the Dikshitar family have composed prolifically in Telugu (RD, SD, and also possibly chinnasvAmi).

Best wishes,
Ganesh

Ashwin · Post by **Ashwin** » 21 Jul 2007, 20:05

gsriram and ksrimech,

Thanks for the exhaustive referencing of the 1993 Seattle lec-dem - I have listened to it many times (in fact, I think I encoded it to mp3 from the tape

) and know that Mama has attributed it to MD there. My original post was based on what I interpreted from my own lesson while learning the varNam.

I was compelled to ask SRJ Mama this morning during our lesson whether rUpamu jUci is to be attributed to RD or MD. A summary of the response is that, since the styles of RD and MD are extremely similar, the varNam could be a composition of either, although there is a school of thought that it is RD's only. However, SRJ Mama said he has no problem attributing it to MD. He also added that the sAhitya for the muktAyisvara and caraNasvarA-s were composed by Tiger varadAcAryA. I must have misinterpreted this information when I was taught - my apologies if my original post caused any confusion!

Regarding nI sATi, SRJ Mama says it is possible it is RDs, citing the 'older' quality of the sahitya...

Ashwin

meena · Post by **meena** » 21 Jul 2007, 23:31

ashwin

i was informed that the sAhitya for the caraNa svara-sAhitya was composed by Sree MDR and the chittaswara's was composed by Sree Tiger - for Smt.Rukmini Devi Arundale. I have posted the complete txt on sree mdr thread.

klimkaaran · Post by **klimkaaran** » 22 Jul 2007, 16:45

Hello All Rasikas

As a small effort, I am writing the life history of Muthuswami Dikshithar at blogspot. Please read it and give me your valuable thoughts and suggestions. Since Tamil runs in my blood deep, I have decided to write the blog entirely in Tamil. So non-tamil readers please forgive me. Please do leave your comments. I have just written up till his birth. I shall continue on a daily basis. Since the blog is posted in Tamil, some might have problems accessing the page. Please leave a comment in such case. Here is the link.

http://klimkaaran.blogspot.com/

Thanking you for all your support.
Klimkaaran.

vgvindan · Post by **vgvindan** » 22 Jul 2007, 17:06

I am desirous of publishing the kRtis of MD in our wiki and also as blogs in the same manner as those of Sri tyAgarAja with Word-by-word meanings, notes and transliteration in all the languages.
If someone can undertake the task of Word-by-word translation, I shall be obliged.

klimkaaran · Post by **klimkaaran** » 22 Jul 2007, 17:38

thts been my childhood dream as well. I have always felt dikshithar kritis require writing of a proper Bhashyam. I shall certainly contribute my little bit.

Klim.

drshrikaanth · Post by **drshrikaanth** » 22 Jul 2007, 18:22

I have merged the two topics to keep the discussions in one place. Please continue here.

vgvindan · Post by **vgvindan** » 23 Jul 2007, 23:12

I may intimate viewers that, from today onwards, MD kRtis are being posted as blogs in the following websites. The blogs contain kRti versions in Roman, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. The meanings of the kRtis may be viewed from http://sky.prohosting.com/guruguha/kritis/akhil.html - necessary link is provided along with the kRti.

http://guru-guha.blogspot.com/2007/07/d ... aksha.html
http://thyagaraja.sulekha.com/blog/post ... bhavam.htm

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 24 Jul 2007, 00:48

gsriram,

You are absolutely correct. We cannot compare samskrita compositions and telugu kritis. Again, I have developed these thoughts only after being a part of discussion groups. IMHO, the purity in muttusvAmi dikSitar's compositions arises due to chaste sanskrit. You also correct that RD, BD, CD and others have composed in other language. Please forgive me if I have blabbered something out of ignorance.

Sangeet Rasik · Post by **Sangeet Rasik** » 26 Jul 2007, 21:06

I couldn't find any discussion on this topic in the Forum search, so I started one.

I have been curious whether Muthuswami Dikshitar visited Kerala, and if so, what temples ?

For example, there are two well-known krtis by him on Keralan deities:

1) "pannagaSayana padmanAbha" in madhyamAvatI which is taken as describing the deity of the Padmanabhaswami temple in Trivandrum. Is there any doubt regarding this composition ?

2) "hariharaputram SAstAram" in vasanta. This is in the praise of Ayyappan (SAstA).

Has anyone analyzed the sahitya of this composition in detail ? What temple is it referring to ? Dikshitar's descriptions of the deities are usually faithful to their installation in the temple sanctum.

Furthermore, in the anupallavi there is the line "muraharAdimOhita SaurigirivihAram". What is the "Saurigiri" being referred to ? Has anyone analyzed this before ? In particular, could Dikshitar be describing the SAstA of Sabarimala, and hence it may have originally been "SabarigirivihAram" ?

Is the rest of the description consistent with the representation of the SAstA in the Sabarimala temple ? I went there at the age of 10, so I don't remember.

Finally, is there any record/description of Dikshitar reaching the court of Swati Tirunal in Trivandrum? His four disciples certainly did.

Best Wishes,
SR

vgvindan · Post by **vgvindan** » 26 Jul 2007, 22:08

According to website dedicated to MD Kritis, http://sky.prohosting.com/guruguha/ only kALahasti (Andhra) is listed as kShetra visited outside present Tamil Nadu.

For meaning of 'hariharaputram' - please refer to http://sky.prohosting.com/guruguha/kritis/harihara.html

Regarding 'pannaga Sayana' - it is simply mentioned as 'pANDya kEraLa nivAsa' and 'paruSurAma kShEtra prabhAkara'.

The complete kRtis in English and Sanskrit (PDF) may be downloaded from the said site.

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 26 Jul 2007, 23:04

VGV didn't he visit tirumalA-tirupati?

vgvindan · Post by **vgvindan** » 26 Jul 2007, 23:15

ks,
As per the quoted website, no.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 27 Jul 2007, 01:21

The only maNiprvALa kriti of MD (if authentic) indicated that he visited north Kerala.
Also the 'mystical' vINa (presented to him at kASI is currently in the posession of a family in Trivandrum.

gsriram · Post by **gsriram** » 27 Jul 2007, 01:26

Hi,

In addition to the two aforementioned kRti-s, shrI kRShNam (tODi) most certainly describes the deity at Guruvayur, from the phrases "gurupavanapurAdhIsham" and "shaHNkacakra gadA padma vanamAlam".

rakta gaNapatim (mOhana) has the phrase "parashurAma kSEtra prabhAvam" and a reference to pAyasAnna, which may refer to some temple in Kerala.

Of course, although the phrases in shrI kRShNam seem compelling, this does not necessarily mean that Dikshitar visited these temples.

Ganesh

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 27 Jul 2007, 01:44

cmlover wrote:The only maNiprvALa kriti of MD (if authentic) indicated that he visited north Kerala.

"only" maNipravALa kriti?

I thought there are three.
1. SrI abhayAmbha--SrI rAgam (Mayuram temple)
2. venkaTAcalapatE --karnATaka kApi (on pulivalam temple)
3. SrI mahArANi--karnAtaka kApi

As for authenticity, I shall defer to the experts.

shadjam · Post by **shadjam** » 27 Jul 2007, 02:23

gsriram wrote:rakta gaNapatim (mOhana) has the phrase "parashurAma kSEtra prabhAvam" and a reference to pAyasAnna, which may refer to some temple in Kerala.

rakta ganapati temple is in Trivandrum.

Sangeet Rasik · Post by **Sangeet Rasik** » 27 Jul 2007, 06:31

While the previous questions are being considered, a more general one now. We hear often that "Dikshitar was a well-traveled man". What is the main source of this information ?

1. Are there biographies of him dating from the 1800s ?

2. Or, are the stories (both fact and fiction) about his life handed down through the shishya parampara ?

3. Or, were his travels mainly inferred from his compositions ? And over time, this became widely accepted to the extent that it is now *assumed* that he traveled a lot and that his travels are *therefore* reflected in his compositions (when the situation might originally have been vice versa).

SR

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 27 Jul 2007, 06:51

In the now-extinct sangeetham.com Ravi-Sridhar covered MD extensively (some 20 articles or so). If the sangeetham.com archives can be extracted you will find a wealth of info there. You can also google Ravi-Sridhar to see if you can get their articles.

I did google but came out empty (although there was some reference to them which might lead to a dead end).

bhaktha · Post by **bhaktha** » 27 Jul 2007, 07:22

Where was "kalavathi kamalasana yuvati" in the ragam yagapriya composed? was it not composed at the saraswathee kovil in kashmir?
-bhaktha

shadjam · Post by **shadjam** » 27 Jul 2007, 07:56

The following article describes the various places visited by Dikshitar. I cannot post the entire article but have posted a map of the places he has visited (taken from the article).

Chandra S. Balachandran; Surinder M. Bhardwaj, "Geography as Melody in Muttusvami Dikshita's Indian Musical Works," Geographical Review, Vol. 91, No. 4. (Oct., 2001), pp. 690-701.

clueless · Post by **clueless** » 27 Jul 2007, 07:56

An interesting article on Dikshitar can be found at
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.musi ... e695b98a10

Muttusvaami Deekshitar: An Exemplar of Indian Integration and an
Agent of Change through Music

By:

Chandra S. Balachandran
Surinder M. Bhardwaj

Department of Geography
Kent State University
Kent OH 44242

Presented at:

19th Annual Conference on South Asia
University of Wisconsin
Madison WI
[1 - 3 November 1990]

There is a section on Dikshitar's pilgrimages in this article, which seems to indicate that he did go on one to Kerala also.

Clueless

maniomani · Post by **maniomani** » 27 Jul 2007, 09:44

Ravi Sridhar, it appears are in Tiruvannamalai. They are associated with Sri Ramanashram. Contacting the ashram would be of help.

Sangeet Rasik · Post by **Sangeet Rasik** » 27 Jul 2007, 11:19

clueless wrote:An interesting article on Dikshitar

Dear Mr./Ms. "Clueless", your posting name does not reflect your knowledge !

An excellent find, thanks for sharing. Let me consider this and the views of the members posting in this thread and get back with further thoughts.

SR

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 27 Jul 2007, 22:54

shadjam:
The map with the names of places visited by MD is incomplete. It is missing places like: Mayuram (where there is an inscription to attest to his visit--rajeshnat can attest to that), kuzhikkarai (a famous sthalam made famous by MD's visit and his singing on the deity there--Venkatesa), and a few others.

shadjam · Post by **shadjam** » 28 Jul 2007, 02:06

mahakavi sir,

Kuzhikarai is in the Tiruvarur district and Mayuram was in Thanjavur district (and now as a part of Nagapattinam). I think the authors have covered both Thanjavur and Tiruvarur but they haven't been specific about the sthalams he visited in each of the two places. Even in Tiruchirapalli he has visited both Rockfort temple and Thiruvanai kovil but they haven't been specifically mentioned in that map either. They have just mentioned Tiruchirapalli.

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 28 Jul 2007, 02:45

shadjam:
OK. I realize there is no space in the map to mention all the sthalams visited by MD. There should be a list available for that purpose. When I saw the towns swamimalai, kumbakonam, thanjavur etc, the absence of kuzhikkarai, and mayuram, among others seemed conspicuous.

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 28 Jul 2007, 02:54

sadjam,

Does tirucirApaLLi cover SrIrangam too? Remember ranganAyakam bhAvayE and SrIbhArgavi bhadram mE! What about nAgapaTTiNam, tiruvindalUr and tirukkaDigai. We have soundararAjamASrayE (brindAvana sAranga), parimaLa ranganAtam (hamvIru) and narasimhA Agaccha (mOhanam).

shadjam · Post by **shadjam** » 28 Jul 2007, 02:55

Mahakavi Sir,

Here is a passage from the article that clarifies it a bit. However, I am not sure what made the authors specifically mention some of the sthalams.

He stayed at Tiruvarur for many years, composing devotional songs in salutation to the several deities in the temples of the town and at nearby shrines. For a time he lived in Kumbhakonam, because it was-and still is-a city with untold numbers of temples, which he visited. Then he moved to Tanjavur, where he continued his pilgrimage to many local and nearby shrines for several years.

shadjam · Post by **shadjam** » 28 Jul 2007, 03:14

krismech,

My bad

I missed Srirangam. The only two that came to my mind immediately were that two I mentioned. Nagapattinam and TiruvindalUr (near Mayuram) were part of Thanjavur. The two references that authors mentioned in the article for this map were written in 1968 and 1975. I assume that Nagapattinam and Mayuram were all part of Thanjavur during that time.

There is no mention of tirukkaDigai in the article (which I believe is Sholinghur) in Vellore district.