Adiyapayya (Adippayya or Adiyappa Iyer/Ayya), whom Subbarama Dikshitar refers to in awe as a Margadarshi or trailblazer for the genre of tana varnas, shall forever be remembered just for his magnum opus, the Bhairavi ata tala varna “Viribhoni”. This varna has captured the imagination of both lay rasikas and the cognoscenti spanning across centuries. Sangita Kalanidhi Mudicondan Venkatarama Iyer, an acknowledged authority, even advances a hypothesis that it was this varna and its popularity that propelled Bhairavi to the forefront, enabling it to capture popular imagination and thus eclipsing its sibling Manji.  Adiyappaya will also be remembered as the guru/preceptor of the great Trinitarian Syama Sastri. The worthy disciple went on to craft another monumental classic in Bhairavi, the svarajati.

We have a historical account of Adiyappayya by Subbarama Dikshitar. Later day writers like Prof Sambamoorthi, Dr S Seetha and Dr B M Sundaram too have documented details about him both from oral traditions and from manuscripts from the Saraswati Mahal Library in Tanjore. Dr.U.Ve.Saminatha Ayyar also records  a short biographical sketch of his while listing the eminent personages who adorned the Udayarpalayam Zamindari.This post is a consolidation of the information on Adiyapayya available to us together with a discography of his compositions.

Adiyapayya – His Life time:

In so far as the time period that Adiyappayya lived, we have four important references:

1. Subbarama Dikshitar in his Vaggeyakara Caritamu says that he was Madhva Brahmana, hailing from modern day Karnataka who lived during the times of the Tanjore Mahratta kings Pratapasimha (regnal years 1739-1763 as per historical records, while according to Subbarama Dikshitar it is 1741-1765) and Tulaja II(1763-1787). Subbarama Dikshitar in the SSP, under raga Huseini gives the composition “Emandayanara” with the ankita “pratapasimha” and credits Adiyappayya as the composer. Based on Subbarama Dikshitar’s record, Adiyappa’s life time can be placed as 1725-1775. Dr Seetha too in her seminal work “Tanjore as a Seat of Music” echoes Subbarama Dikshitar as to Adiyapayya’s timeline.
2. According to the book Gayakasiddanjanam (1904) of Taccur Singaracar, Adiyappayya was a musician of the Pudukottai Court and his period was 1750-1820.
3. Prof Sambamoorthi in his biography on Syama Shastri(1762-1827) records that Adiyappayya was over 50 years , when the 18 year old Syama Sastri came under his tutelage. Extrapolating based on this evidence, Adiyappayya must have been born no latter than 1730.
4. According to Dr V Raghavan, Adiyappayya lived even during the reign of Tulaja II. Thus Adiyappayya might not have lived beyond 1780 or thereabouts.

All the above historical references point to Adiyapayya having lived during the period of 1725-1780. In all probability, Adiyappaya must have been a contemporary of Melattur Veerabadrayya, the other ‘margadarshi’ who  was a guru and musical preceptor of Ramasvami Dikshitar (1735-1817). Subbarama Dikshitar in his work adds that Adiyappayya followed the footsteps of Veerabhadrayya when it came to the style of music. According to Dr B M Sundaram,  Adiyapayya must have lived for a long time in Tanjore and later in Pudukkottai. In Pudukottai, he must have been patronized by King Vijaya Raghunatha Tondaiman (1730-1769), perhaps. A descendant of his was part of the Pudukottai Court.

His Family/Descendants:

Subbarama Dikshitar lists out one Veena Krishnayya as a son of Adiyapayya. Veena Krishnayya was adept in playing veena and was also a composer prabandhas such as saptataleshvaram. Krishnayya’s son was Veena Subbukutti Ayya who was another veena expert. When Subbarama Dikshitar composed & presented his Ramakriya varna and the Sankarabharana kriti “Sankaracaryam” extolling Sri Mahadevendra Sarasvathi, the 65^th Pontiff of the Kanci Kamakoti Peetam at Kumbakonam (which was then the seat of the mutt) circa 1860, Subbukutti Ayya was also present in the sadas. Additionally Dr Seetha in her work, mentions in the context of Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer (1844-1893) that when he performed the raga Darbar in the Court of Raghunatha Tondaiman, the Rajah of Pudukkottai ( the reigning Raja should have been Ramachandra Tondaiman who ruled between 1839-1886. I am unsure how Dr Seetha says it was Raghunatha Tondaiman) Vina Subbukutti Iyer who was in the Court along with the other assembled expert vidvans, appreciated Vaidyanatha Iyer’s rendition.

Veena Subbukutti Ayya/Iyer seems to have visited Svati Tirunal Maharaja’s Court as well.

King Ramachandra Tondaiman in Durbar (1858)

Photograph by Linnaues Tripe. Courtesy V&A

Prof Sambamoorthi records that the great Veena virtuosos Veena Seshanna (1852-1926) and Veena Venkataramana Das of Vijayanagar are the descendants of Adiyapayya. No reference is given regarding the prefix Pachimiriya or Pacchimiriyan. Perhaps the epithet represents his native village or is a familial name.

His Disciples:

Syama Sastri, Pallavi Gopala Iyer and BhUlOka Gandharva Narayanasvami Iyer are recorded as Adiyappayya’s illustrious disciples by almost all authorities.  A yati by name Sangeeta Svami is recorded by Prof Sambamoorthi as the first musical guru of Syama Sastri. It is further recorded by him that it was this Sangeeta Svami who recommended that Syama Sastri develop his musical skill /prowess by hearing to Adiyappayya. Prof Sambamoorthy also records the (apocryphal?) betel juice episode as a part of Syama Sastri’s life history which involved Adiyappayya.

Pallavi Gopala Iyer was another illustrious disciple, who has been covered in an earlier blog in this series. Bhuloka Gandharva Tanjore Narayanasvami Iyer is the third disciple of Adiyappayya. He is recorded as having been patronized by the Udayarpalayam Zamindar, Kaci Yuvaranga BhUpati. According to Dr B M Sundaram, Narayanasvami Iyer too was a composer of great merit. Again we do not have any compositions of him, handed down to us.

Dr.U.Ve.Swaminatha Iyer records that Ramaswami Iyer of Tanjavur sent his sons Periyatirukkunram Subbarama Iyer, Ghanam Krishna Iyer to Tanjavur to be educated under Pachimiriyan Adiyappayya. They too turned out to be master composers. Dr U Ve Sa further records that Adiyappayya appreciated the compositions of Subbarama Iyer and called him by the epithet “Chinna Srinivasan” alluding to another composer of great merit from Srirangam.

His Music:

As mentioned earlier according to Subbarama Dikshitar, Adiyappayya was well versed in music and Telugu and he followed the footsteps of Melattur Veerabadrayya who was probably an iconic figure of that generation. Adiyappayya was the one to standardize “Pallavi” as a unique platform for musical exposition comprising of raga alapana, tana or madhyamakala rendering followed by the Pallavi. His two disciples namely Pallavi Gopala Iyer and Syama Sastri went on to become exponents nonpareil in this genre. Prof Sambamoorthi also records the story of a pallavi contest involving vidvan Bobbili Kesavvayya and Adippayya’s illustrious disciples held in the Tanjore Court.

Adiyappayya – The Vaggeyaka/Composer:

He was a composer of kritis which were ornate with exquisite gamakas and composed with the ankita  ’sri venkataramana’. Subbarama Dikshitar further adds that he followed the path of Veerabhadrayya in his compositional style. U.Ve.Svaminatha Iyer further notes that Adiappayya has composed in many languages including Telugu, Sanskrit, Marathi and Tamil and had visited Udayarpalayam during the reign of Kacchi Yuvaranga and had composed on him in ragas such as Nattakuranji and Sahana and that  musicians such has Pudukkottai Veena Subbayyar have sung two  of his compositions.

None of the kritis composed by him has been handed down to us. As of date we have only the following three compositions ascribed to him:

1. The ata tala tana varna in Bhairavi, “Viribhoni”
2. The ata tala tana varna in Pantuvarali ( mela 51- Kamavardhani), “Madavati”
3. The rupaka tala svarajathi in Huseni, “Emandayanara”

In the context of Adiyappayya’s available compositions, the following merit our attention.

• The standard colophon of Adiyappayya ‘sri venkataramana’ (according to Subbarama Dikshitar) is not found in any of the above compositions. Compositions 1 & 2 have ‘sri rajagopala’ as mudra while the third composition, the svarajati has ‘pratapasimha’ as the ankita representing the patron of Adiyappayya, namely the Mahratta King of Tanjore Pratapasimha. The ankita ‘rajagopala’ (of different varieties) has also been used by Moovanallur Sabhapatayya, who is said to have lived during the times of the Trinity, slightly latter than Adiyappayya.
• Compositions 1 & 3 are found documented in the Sangita Sampradaya Pradarshini with Subbarama Dikshitar  ascribing authorship to Adiyappayya.
• While Composition # 1 is universally acknowledged as Adiyappaya’s, as we will see presently there is some ambiguity or rather, lack of unanimity on the other two compositions.
• Composition # 2 was brought to light by Vidvan Mysore Chennakesavayya, a disciple of Tiger Varadacariar and was published by the Madras Music Academy. Vidvan N Chennakesavayya published a number of rare varnas from out of his family’s manuscripts dating back to early 19^th century. As a member of the Experts Committee of the Music Academy, he did a number of lecture demonstrations on some of these rare compositions. The authorship of this varna has been ascribed to Adiyappayya on the strength of the ankita found within the composition and as such no other independent source of reference or authority is available. Dr Seetha in “Tanjore as a Seat of Music’ unequivocally says that “Viribhoni” is the only composition of Adiyappayya as available to us.
• On composition # 3, Subbarama Dikshitar ascribes authorship of the Huseni svarajathi to Adiyappayya with an accompanying footnote to the effect that the sahitya for the jatis were done by Melattur Venkatrama Sastri. This attribution is controversial and disputable on more than one ground. Dr  V Raghavan and Dr B M Sundaram on different grounds negate, directly or indirectly the attribution of this piece to Adiyappayya. An additional aspect is the fact that this svarajati is a scaled down version of the legendary Melattur Veerabadrayya’s original Huseni svarajati raising the question as to Adiyapayya’s authoring a composition of such a nature. The svarajati and its companion pieces (composition having the same dhatu (musical setting) but different matu (lyrics)) namely ‘Emayaladira’, ‘Pahimam Bruhannayike’ etc are ascribed to members of the family of the Tanjore Quartet and forms part of their family manuscripts.

So considering all these factors, this svarajati is not held by the musicologists, historians and the cognoscenti in the same breath as “Viribhoni” as Adiyappayya’s composition, not withstanding Subbarama Dikshitar’s attribution in the SSP. The Bhairavi varna and the svarajati, will be dealt in a seperate blog post on Bhairavi and  the Pantuvarali varna is presented in the discography section of this post.

DISCOGRAPHY:

In this section let us look at renderings of the two masterpieces of Adiyappayya. While the Bhairavi varna is frequently encountered and is synonymous with Bhairavi even for a lay listener of classical music, the Pantuvarali varna “Madavati’ is seldom heard. The Bhairavi varna is almost always presented in its truncated form.

Madavati in Pantuvarali:

Lets first take up Madavati. Vidushi Mythili Nagesvaran who learnt music from Vidvan Chennakesavayya ( amongst many other including Jayammal, Savitri Rajan & others) presents the varna in a chamber recital circa 1990. As mentioned earlier this varna made its way out of obscurity when it was presented by Vidvan Chennakesavayya in the portals of the Music Academy. Given the rarity of the varna, link is provided to the notation of the composition as well for the benefit of the readers of this blog.

Clip 1 : Madavati-Pantuvarali Varnam – As rendered by Smt.Mythili Nageshwaran

Notation : English version of the Notation of the  Pantuvarali Varnam as notated by Vidvan Chennakesavaiah

In the past, there has been a confusion as to the raga Pantuvarali & whether the name referred to Subhapantuvarali or to the scale which is presently assigned to Kamavardhani. The version of this varna as documented and available to us is only the scale of Mela 51.

CONCLUSION:

Current day performers should learn these long forgotten and rare masterpieces, polish and burnish them and present them with absolute fidelity in their concerts and that would be the best homage one can ever provide to the great composers of our past. One hopes that this Pantuvarali varna will be resurrected and sung and will be passed on to the next generation in the same way as Adiyappayya’s Bhairavi varna.

REFERENCES:

1. Subbarama Dikshitar (1904) – Sangeetha Sampradaya Pradarshini – Reprinted in Tamil by the Madras Music Academy, India
2. DR B M Sundaram (2002) – “Varna Svarajathi” – Published by Sarasvathi Mahal Library, Tanjore, India
3. Dr S Seetha (2001)- “Tanjore as a Seat of Music “- Published by the University of Madras, India
4. Chennakesavaiah. N (1964) -” Four Rare Compositions” – Edited and published in the Journal of the Madras Music Academy Vol XXXV, Pages 175-179 Madras, India
5. Mudicondan Venkatarama Iyer – ‘Ragas Lalita and Manji’ – Journal of the Music Academy XXVIII- Pages 122-125
6. Prof Sambamoorthi – ‘Great Composers – Book 1′ Seventh Edition (2004)
7. Dr U Ve Svaminatha Iyer – ‘En Caritiram’ – series of books published by Dr U Ve Sa Library, Chennai ( 2008 Edition)
8. Savithri Rajan & Michael Nixon – ‘Sangita Sarvartha Sarasangrahamu’ – Edited and published in the Journal of the Madras Music Academy Vol LII, Pages 169-188 Madras, India

WHO WAS PALLAVI GOPALA IYER?

Per Prof Sambamoorthy and Dr B M Sundaram as well, Gopala Iyer was the son of Tsallagali Veeraraghava Iyer as mentioned in my previous post. I should confess that I had not looked to into Dr Sita’s magnum opus, “Tanjore as a Seat of Music” to see what she had to say. Dr Sita provides a brief profile of Pallavi Gopala Iyer under pages 179-180 of her work and therein there is no mention of his forefathers or descendants. Further in pages 256-262, of her thesis/publication, she profiles the famous Minister of the Tanjore Court, Varahappa Dikshita Pandit (1795-1869) along with his descendants and therein she makes a mention of another/different Gopala Iyer who was called Tsallagali Gopala Iyer and he was the son of Tsallagali Veeraraghava Iyer. They were a famous line of vaineekas attached to the Tanjore Court. In sum, there seem to have been two different Gopala Iyers in question, in the Tanjore Court. Also according to Dr Sita, Tsallagali Gopala Iyer belonged to the period of King Sivaji and thus he belonged to a time much latter than Pallavi Gopala Iyer.

The point I want to place on record is that as per Dr Sita, Pallavi Gopala Iyer had nothing to do with Tsallagali Veeraraghava Iyer whose son Tsallagali Gopala Iyer is a different musician from a different time period altogether. My original post refers to Pallavi Gopala Iyer as the son of Tsallagali Veeraghava Iyer, which is based on the account of Prof Sambamoorthy and Dr B M Sundaram. It also needs to be mentioned here that historians/researchers typically refer to the Modi records found in the Saravathi Mahal Library in Tanjore to verify or reconstruct history. Dr Sita provides a facsimile reproduction of a Modi record in her work as an example.  Interpreting those records/scripts has a great bearing on the final conclusion/deduction and this may probably account for the divergences that one notices in the two sets of accounts about Pallavi Gopala Iyer.

DISCOGRAPHY:

Secondly, since my original post I came across the rendition of the kriti , “shrI ramA ramani” in the raga Mohanam which is found in Rangaramanuja Iyengar’s Kritimanimalai, attributed to Pallavi Gopala Iyer. Vidvan Sanjay Subramaniam, accompanied by Vidvan S D Sridhar on the violin and Vidvan Trivandrum Vaidyanathan on the mrudangam, opens his All India Radio Concert, broadcast by Chennai A Station on 26^th June 2009@ 8:45 AM, with this kriti of Pallavi Gopala Iyer.

http://www.sangeethamshare.org/tvg/UPLOADS-1201—1400/1225-Sanjay_Subramanian/

Apparently this composition was fairly well encountered in concerts decades ago and musicians including G N Balasubramaniam (GNB) used to render it elaborately. As one can see this kriti is structured in the old kriti template, akin to Needumurtini in Nattakurinji  which is as under:

Pallavi – 1 avarta of adi tala

Anupallavi  – 1 avarta of adi tala

Caranam – 2 avarta of adi tala

Additionally we can see that the kriti template has multiple caranas (at least two) and a cittasvara section spanning 2 avartas of adi tala. This seems to have been the classic structure from the pre-trinity days. Another example from that period is ‘Sphuratute’ in Devagandhari of Paidala Gurumurti Sastrigal notated in the Sangita Sampradaya Pradarshini(SSP). Many of kritis of Melattur Veerabadrayya are in this template as well, barring the cittasvara section. These proto-kriti form comes to us from an age when compositions such as varnas, svarajatis and padas dominated. The trinity perhaps went on to impart a slightly more expansive kriti template, investing sahitya for atleast an additional avarta of tala in the anupallavi and couple of more for the caranams. Muthusvami Dikshitar contributed an additional segment called the madhyama kala sahitya portion as an appendage to the carana. It would’nt be out of place to mention a very odd form for a kriti as utilized by Dikshitar for the kriti ‘Sri Meenakshi Gauri’ in the rare raga Gauri. This kriti as documented in the SSP has a number of oddities bunched together:

• The pallavi itself has a madhayama kala sahitya portion
• The pallavi is immediately followed by a portion of svaras called muktayisvara
• The anupallavi(samashti carana) has four rupaka tala avartas of madhyamakala sahitya followed by 4 avartas of cittasvaras.

Pallavi Gopala Iyer is one of the composers from the pre-trinity period who adorned the Tanjore Court and was a vaggeyakara par excellence, in his own right. We do have accounts of him from Subbarama Dikshitar and also from manuscripts and references in the Sarasvathi Mahal Library of Tanjore and from Prof Sambamoorthy. Subbarama Dikshitar has also recorded for posterity, the notation for a number of his compositions which offers us an invaluable glimpse of the music of those days bygone and which help us understand raga lakshana as it existed in the run up to the times of the Trinity.

HIS LIFE & TIMES:

In his “Vaggeyakara Caritamu”, Subbarama Dikshitar states that Gopala Iyer adorned the Tanjore Court during the times of King Amarasimha(1787-1802) and King Serfoji(1802-1832)¹. Prof Sambamoorthy places the timeline of Pallavi Gopala Iyer as the latter part of 18^th century and first quarter of 19^th century. Given this and other collateral evidences, he should have lived circa 1750-1820. And thus he was in all probability slightly elder to the Trinitarians.

Here is his biography in brief as dealt with in the records and accounts available to us:

Gopala Iyer hailed from “northern regions” according to Subbarama Dikshitar. He was the son of one Callagalli Veeraraghava Iyer. Gopala Iyer also had a brother by name Sanjeeva Iyer. The honorific title “Callagalli” (telugu) came to be conferred, probably because the music that Veeraraghava Iyer sang was like pleasant cool breeze, as the term implied in Telugu! Both the sons of Veeraraghava Iyer were enrolled under no less a teacher as Patchimiriam Adiyappayya, the legendary composer of the classic Bhairavi Ata tala varnam, “Viribhoni”. From amongst the all time greats of Carnatic Music, the honorific title “mArgadarshi” or “Trail Blazer” has been conferred on 4 icons :

1. Karvetinagar Govindasamayya – for his magnum opus adi tala tana varna in Navaroz and probably for the ‘pedda varnamu’, “SarigadAni pai” in raga Mohana as well.
2. Melattur Veerabhadrayya (for his now lost classic, the Huseni Svarajathi “Sami Ninne” in Adi tala)
3. Sesha Iyengar (for his immortal set of 60 krithis, selected no less by the Lord at Srirangam) and
4. Patchimiriam Adiyappayya ( for his Bhairavi ata tala tana varna)

Adiyappayya’s other illustrious disciples include Syama Shastri, Ghanam Krishna Iyer and “bhUlOka gAndharva” Narayana Svami Iyer (of the Udayarpalayam Samasthanam). Needless to say each one of Adiyappayya’s disciples went on to make a mark in the world of music with their contribution!

Prof Sambamurthy with authority credits Adiyappayya as the first to systematize the art of rendering raga, tana and pallavi as an organized mechanism of exposition. And he went on to teach that to his worthy disciples. Gopala Iyer became so adept in it that he became the first to be conferred the title “Pallavi” in recognition of his mastery over this  (then) new art form. This title also adorns the name of many other latter musicians/composers including Pallavi Duraisvami Iyer, Pallavi Sesha Iyer etc. And Pallavi Gopala Iyer was one of the prominent gems of the Tanjore Court, which at that point in time had more than 360 vidvans ornamenting it!

Pallavi Gopala Iyer also seems to have had a son by name  Krishnayyar who too was a musician of merit. This apart we have no other personal details available about Gopala Iyer or about his descendants.

GOPALA IYER – THE VAGGEYAKARA:

Gopala Iyer’s colophon was “Venkata”. Apart from having been part of the Tanjore Court, he also visited the Mysore Court during the reign of Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar (1799-1868). His compositions sport the raja mudra as an ankita as well.The following are the compositions that are available to us through the Sangita Sampradaya Pradarshini (SSP), its anubandha and manuscripts found in the Sarasvati Mahal Library.

Varnas:

1. Vanajakshi – Kalyani – Ata tala (Mudra : Kasturiranga)
2. Kanakangi – Todi – Ata tala
3. Intacalamu – Kambhoji – Ata tala

Kritis:

1. Amba Nadu – Todi – Adi tala (Mudra : Venkatapati Sahodari)
2. Hari sarva paripurna -Misra Eka (Mudra : Varada Venkata Sriramana)
3. Mahishasura mardhini – Kalyani – Tisra Eka (Mudra : Varada Venkata Sriramana)
4. Needu carana pankaja – Kalyani – Adi (Mudra : Varada Venkata )
5. Needu Murtini – Nattakurinji – Adi (Mudra : Venkatesa)

Apart from the above ,we have the following compositions ascribed to Gopala Iyer available to us from Sri Rangaramanuja Iyengar’s Kritimani Malai Vol IV.

1. Mahatripura Sundari – Bhairavi – Rupaka
2. Sri Rama ramani manohara – Mohanam – Adi
3. Shripura nivasini – Mohanam – Rupaka

Amongst these compositions, the tana varnas in Kalyani and Todi are heard in the concert circuit along with the Todi, Kalyani (‘Needu carana’) and Nattakurinji krithis.

Also there are 2 other daru’s found in the Tanjore Sarasvati Mahal collection -”Sringara Na Mohana” in the raga Begada and “Vintadanara” in Madhyamavathi, both of which sport “kasturiranga” as an ankita/mudra. One cannot but wonder if they could also be Pallavi Gopala Iyer’s. Again we do not know for sure.

AN ANALYSIS OF GOPALA IYER’S CREATIONS:

According to Prof Sambamoorthy, as a composer Pallavi Gopala Iyer was the first or perhaps one of the earliest to adopt the so called “sampurna varika” style of approach. Under this approach in a composition every note is invested with kampita gamaka, totally eschewing flat notes. Indeed this is a very interesting point of discussion. Gopala Iyer purposefully applied it on the then “auttara ragas”, namely Todi & Kalyani . In that era long bygone, these 2 ragas along with Pantuvarali were treated as auttara/turuska/northern/videsi ragas. The transformation of Todi and Kalyani is one of the remarkable examples of the dynamics of our music system during the run-up the period of the Trinity.

Clip 1: Musiri Subrahmanya Iyer’s Rendering of Ambanadu – Todi

Perhaps one can surmise that in the hands of Pallavi Gopala Iyer, Todi and Kalyani got a royal treatment with the result they became mainstream ragas along with the Sankarabharanams, Bhairavis and Kambhojis and the Trinitarians subsequently went on to compose some of their greatest gems adopting the approach Gopala Iyer took.

Prof Sambamoorthy also credits Gopala Iyer of reformatting the then existing structure of a tana varna, to its current modern form. And this view is also advanced by Prof S R Janakiraman in one of his lecture demonstrations.

Older structure of a tana varna ( circa 1750):

The varna was structured with a pallavi, followed by anupallavi & muktayisvara, followed by ettugadda Pallavi/carana & its sets of ettuagada svaras, followed by a small sahitya portion called anubandha. The ettugada svaras were composed in increasing avartas of the tala in which the tana varna was composed.

The pallavi line was first rendered, followed by anupallavi with a round of muktayi svara as its appendage. This was then followed by the ettugada pallavi or carana which was used as a refrain to render the 4 or 5 sets of ettugada svaras. After the last ettugada svara was sung, the ettugada pallavi/carana/refrain was sung followed by a portion of sahitya called anubandha. After singing the anubandha, the anupallavi was to be sung followed by the muktayi svara and finally the pallavi line had to sung once to conclude the rendering.

Examples:

• “Viribhoni” – Bhairavi – Ata tala – The notation as provided by Subbarama Dikshitar in the SSP for the ettugada section and for the anubandha can be referred. As one can notice , modern day renditions are a truncated version of the original template.
• Many of the varnas found in the SSP including those composed by Subbarama Dikshitar himself (“Intamodi”- Durbar- Ata, “Varijakshi” -Sahana – Ata et al ) follow this conventional but lengthy format.
• Another older varna dating to the early half of the 18^th century, which can be cited as an example is “Nenarunchi” – Bilahari – Ata of Sonti Venkatasubbayya as also the tana varnas of Ramasvami Dikshitar.

Current/Modern Form:

A tana varna today is structured with just the pallavi, followed by anupallavi & muktayi svaras and end with the ettugada pallavi/refrain with 3 to 5 ettugada svaras with upto a maximum of 3 tala cycles in the last ettugada svara sequence. The anubandha portion no longer exists. In terms of rendering, a tana varna is concluded with the singing of the last ettugada svara sequence with the ettugada pallavi refrain.

Pallavi Gopala Iyer’s varnas are the earliest examples of this modern form, which is bereft of the anubandha portion. In fact his ata tala tana varna in Kambhoji “Intachalamu” is one of the smallest of its breed with the following structure:

• Pallavi, Anupallavi, muktayi svara section each with 2 cyles/avarthas of ata tala
• Ettugada pallavi – 1 cycle/avartha of ata tala
• Ettugada svara 1 – 1 cycle/avartha of ata tala
• Ettugada svara 2 – 1 cycle/avartha of ata tala
• Ettugada svara 3 – 2 cycles/avarthas of ata tala

Prof Sambamoorthy, also goes on to add that much latter Veena Kuppier, also applied Pallavi Gopala Iyer’s modified form for all his varnas by dispensing with the anubandha portion. However it needs to go on record that this is not entirely true. Quite a few varnas of Veena Kuppier do have the anubandha and this is recorded for posterity by the notation and text of the varnas as published in the invaluable ‘Pallavi Svarakalpavalli’ by his equally illustrious son Tiruvottriyur Tyagier. In fact the famous Sankarabharana Adi tala varna “Sami Ninne” taught to all beginners, has a short and beautiful anubandha with the following sahitya:

“nEnarUnci nE nI mAruni kelI kUdi maninca rA kUmArA”

Vidushi Seetha Rajan, true to tradition renders the varna completely with the anubandha  in this clipping below in a “varnas only” concert !

Clip 2: Sami Ninne – Sankarabharanam

DISCOGRAPHY:

The ata tala tana varna in Kalyani has been a staple concert starter for many vidvans. Prof Sambamoorthy rates the varna as one of the best vocalizers to kick start a concert. Gopala Iyer’s conceptualization of Kalyani in his gem-of-a composition is a veritable lesson in Kalyani for any listener or learner. The varna sports the mudra “mA kasturi ranga”. Prof Sambamoorthy opines that it refers only to Vishnu, the father of manmatha & not on any mortal or King. Interestingly there is another varna “(Y)Enthani vedinaga” in the raga Navaroz which also sports the mudra “kasturiranga” as well and in some of the publications it is attributed  (perhaps without authority) to Maharaja Svati Tirunal.

According to Prof Sambamoorthy, it seems Gopala Iyer composed this Kalyani varna even when he was under the tutelage of Adiyappayya. The disciple took the courage to sing this in front of his revered guru, who heard it with rapt attention. And then Adiyappayya apparently remarked that it was a ‘schoolboy’s composition’, probably out of goodwill, lest his illustrious disciple were to become proud should he praise him profusely ! The master must have undoubtedly been secretly happy with his ward’s attainment, no doubt!

Clip 3: Architect of modern day recital format (which starts with a varna), Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar begins his concert  with the Kalyani varna

In the Todi varna “Kanakangi” which is attributed by Subbarama Dikshitar to Pallavi Gopala Iyer, the ankita/raja mudra that one finds therein is “Tulajendruni tanayudaina Sarabhoji maharajendra..”, composed on Sarabhoji II who ruled between 1802-1832. Interestingly Dr B M Sundaram on the strength of the manuscripts of the Tanjore Quartet & the publication “Tanjai Peruvudaiyan Perisai” ascribes it to Ponniah .

Clip 4: Sangita Kalanidhi K V Narayanasvami renders the Todi varna “Kanakangi“

Gopala Iyer’s another magnum opus is his Nattakurinji composition “Nidu Murtini”. This composition along with the Kambhoji varna “Intachalamu” and the Kalyani varna “Vanajakshi” is found in the SSP and Subbarama Dikshitar upholds them as authority/examples of raga lakshana for those ragas. Nattakurinji is one of the old ragas of our system with a documented textual tradition. One of the oldest compositions in Nattakurinji is the varna “Inta aluka” in Ata tala composed by Kuvanasamayya, one of the Karvetnagar brothers, dating to circa 1700! The varna is found documented in the SSP (1904) and the much older printed publication Sangita Sarvaarta Saara Sangrahamu (1852). Gopala Iyer interprets Nattakurinji in his own inimitable way. Attention is invited to Gopala Iyer’s version of Nattakurinji especially the repeated emphasis on the vakra sancara MNDNs and its exquisite citta svara.

Clip 5: Prof S R Janakiraman renders the kriti “Needumurti ni” here :Needumurtini – Nattakurinji

The Prof opines that Gopala Iyer was the first to add cittasvara as a section/appendage to krithis. However Dr Sita in her article says that Kavi Matrubhutayya (circa 1850, slightly earlier to Gopala Iyer) was possibly the first to add the cittasvara feature to krithis as exemplified by the beautiful cittasvara of his classic ‘Neemadi callaga’ in Anandabhairavi.

Moving over next to Gopala Iyer’s other Kalyani piece “nIdu carana”, according to Prof Sambamoorthy it is a composition on Goddess Anandavalli, enshrined in the temple on the Vennar river banks at Tanjore. Muthusvami Dikshitar has composed on this diety, refer his kriti “Chayavatim Anandavallim” in the raga Chayavati, the asampurna mela equivalent of Suryakantham. We also have another krithi of Dikshitar (“Agasteesvaram”)in the raga Lalitha on the Lord Shiva at this temple.

Clip 6: Sangita Kalanidhi M S Subbulakshmi renders Needu carana

Prof Sambamoorthy opines that the dhatu/musical setting of  the pallavi “Needu carana” is very unique/beautiful and has been thrust on Tyagaraja’s compositions “Sundari nee divya rupa” and “Vasudevayani”. According to him the present dhatu of the pallavi of these two songs is spurious, being derived from Needu carana. The original dhatu of the pallavi of “Vasudevayani” starts off as  GMPDNs only and not as one hears today! And Svati Tirunal’s “sArasa suvadhana” too is a similar victim!

I have not heard the renditions of the other krithis of Gopala Iyer namely  ‘Harisarva paripurna’ in Kambhoji and ‘Mahishasura mardhini’ in Kalyani. I would be grateful if somebody were to share any recordings of these 2 compositions. The tana varna in Kambhoji is again a rare one and luckily we do have authentic renditions and I intend covering that in the next post!

PS: I have drawn much of the content of this blog post from the references cited below and for the sake of brevity I have not indicated them in the body itself. Also thanks are due to Sri Lakshman Ragde for providing the listing of Pallavi Gopala Iyer’s compositions.

References:

1. Subbarama Dikshitar (1904) – Sangeetha Sampradaya Pradarshini – Reprinted in Tamil by the Madras Music Academy, India
2. Prof.P. Sambamoorthy (1970) – “Pallavi Gopala Iyer” – Published in the “The Hindu” dated 12^th April 1970
3. Dr B M Sundaram (2002) – “Varna Svarajathi” – Published by Sarasvathi Mahal Library, Tanjore
4. Dr S Sita (1970)- “Kavi Matrubhutayya” – Published in the “The Hindu” dated 6^th December 1970

We thank Dr.B.M.Sundaram for compiling and providing information on this great vaggeyakara, information which otherwise would have been forgotten in the annals of carnatic music.

South India has the unique greatness of fostering and elevating to heights the system of Carnatic Music. Innumerable vaggeyakaras have born here and produced priceless compositions, that came through their imaginative fertility. In the sphere of cultivating the sangeeta to a great extent, the share of composers (Vaggeyakaras) is in no way lesser than that of the practical musicians, who musically feed the public. The Musical Trinity, Shri Tyagaraja, Shri Syama Sastri and Shri Muttusvami Dikshitar even live amongst us, in the form of their beautiful compositions. But, there were some other Vaggeyakaras, who have contributed to the world of music, wonderful compositions, have never been so famous.

One such Vaggeyakara was Tiruvarur Ramaswami Pillai, whose gift to the musical world is very very valuable. Tiruvarur, where “one born gets liberation, without fail”, had many families, who hereditarily served the deities of the temple. One was ‘Nayinar Adiyar’ family. ‘Nayanar’ denotes God and ‘Adiyar’ means ‘devotees’ or ‘servants’. The original honorific of this family is ‘Nayanar Adiyar’, which became ‘Nayinar Adiyar’ in corrupt usage. Sometimes, the temple priests were also addressed as such. In the Nayinar adiyar family, there was one musician called Kamala Tyagesam Pillai. His wife was Vasantammal. This couple had a son, in 1798 and named him Ramasvami. Then was born a daughter to them, named Sarasvati. Both Ramasvami and Sarasvati learnt music, their family heritage, from their father and became good musicians. Ramasvami also learnt Samskrit from Veethivitanga Shivacharya, an expert in Agamas and Telugu from Chandrasekhara Sastri both of the same place. In those days, none was accepted as a musician if he did not know Samskrit and Telugu also. Ramasvami Pillai didn’t take up Nagasvara, like his father, but became a vocalist. Sarasvati, true to her name, was an expert in playing on the Veena and vocal music. Ramasvami came close to Muttusvami Dikshita, who also lived in Tiruvarur, which influenced the former in worshipping the goddess. It is said, once during a visit to Tiruvaiyaru, he met Sree Tyagaraja, who, on listening to the music of Ramasvami said, “Only Sarasvati is dwelling in your tongue; be always singing on the goddess” and then only, Ramasvami Pillai commenced to compose songs.

Sarasvati had no interest in ordinary family life and became more or less a renunciate. For the simple reason that his sister had no desire to marry, Ramasvami PIllai also remained a bachelor till the end. Circumstances were not favourable for them to continue living in their native place and hence the brother and sister migrated to Vaideesvarankovil and lived there. Sarasvati was beautiful and youthful, but she disliked to see a number of devadasis in that place, and many of them lived life as prostitutes and so took to saffron robes. She lived only for thirty two years.

Vaidyalinga Tambiran, the pontiff of Dharmapuram Adheenam, whenever visited Vaideeshvarankovil, used to send for Ramasvami Pillai and would enquire, ‘O, a penta-linguist and a wonderful musician! Are you well?’ From this we learn that Ramasvami Pillai was an expert in five languages. The demise of his sister, was a great personal loss to him and he felt that he had become a lone man. This worry debilitated his mental stature and roamed all along the streets, as if a lunatic. He was regular in cleansing the shrine of God Muttukumarasvami, making garlands etc. He, as per the order of the pontiff, was granted food in the temple itself. Seerkazhi Narayanasvami Pillai was a violinist and a disciple of Tanjavur Vadivelu of the famous Tanjavūr Quartette. He used to visit Vaideeshvarankovil often to chat with Ramasvami Pillai. Only on such occasions, Ramasvami Pillai used to converse with the Seerkazhi vidvan, about music. It is said that Narayanasvami Pillai had a special liking for the raga Mohanam. At his insistence, Ramasvami Pillai again started to compose, beginning with the famous kruti, ‘Jagadheesvari’ (Mohanam). Living like a saint, but without saffron robes, Ramasvami Pillai left his mortal coil in Vaideesvarankovil on 26.3.1852, at the age of fifty-three. He had, unluckily, no descendants nor direct disciples. All his compositions in manuscripts came to the possession of his close relatives in Tiruvarur.

His compositions, Varnas and Kritis are in total, fifty-two (according to Tiruvarur Muttappa Pillai), though what have come to us today are not even ten. One or two of his Varnas, are sung by musicians, without knowing the actual composer.

‘Vanita ninne’ (Bhairavi) is one. Though Bhairavi raga has both Dhaivatas, the use of Chatusruti Dhaivata should be minimal. This we see in the Varna ‘Viribhoni’ of Adiyappayya. ‘Vanita ninne’ of Ramasvami Pillai also follows this rule. The first Ettukada swara has two avarttas, which is another speciality. It is said that these Ettukada swaras had sahitya (similarly like ‘Viribhoni’), though they are not now available. Another Varna of Pillai in the raga, Saurashŧra, ‘Na meeda” is there, but found without the Ettukada swaras, which are missing in the manuscripts. According to his relative-descendants, the Varnas composed by Pillai are sixteen.

To compose Chiŧŧasvara for the krutis and also sahitya (completely in Svarakshara format) is the uniqueness of Ramasvami Pillai. ‘Ekkalattilum” (Pūrvikalyani)and Jagadheesvari (Mohanam) may be cited as some specimens. The Purvikalyani piece has the letter ‘Pa’ predominantly in its chiŧŧaisvara (both in the svara and the sahitya); ‘Jagadheesvari’ has Da or Dha as the main letter in the chiŧŧaisvara. Though it has been prescribed by the works on music, that this raga has Chatusruti Dhaivata, one can clearly see, how many types of Chatusruti Dhaivata are employed here by Pillai. One of his compositions, ‘Idu nalla samayam” is in four languages, Tamizh, Samskrit, Kannada and Hindi and also in ragamalika. But, at some period of time, somebody changed it into a single raga, Kalyani. ‘Sree Kamakshi” in the raga Vasanta is a beautiful composition of Pillai. But, unknowingly, some say that it is of Subbaraya Sastri, since the word, ‘Kumara’ appears in this. They forget that Sastri has not used the word ‘Kumara’ exclusively as his ‘mudra’. The mudra of Ramasvami Pillai is ‘Vedapuri’ or ‘Vedapureesa’ or ‘Vedapureesvari’. There are many places in Tamizhnadu with the second (or maybe the first) name as ‘Vedapuri’—Tirukkazhukkunram, Puducherry, Vaideesvarankovil and so on. Ramasvami Pillai adopted that signature, because he lived in Vaideesvarankovil, that’s all.

Compositions of Tiruvarur Ramaswami Pillai:

1.Ekkalattilum – Purvikalyani
2.Jagadishvari – Mohanam
3.Vanita ninne – Bhairavi – Varnam
4.Idhu nalla Samayam – Ragamalika
5.Na meeda – Saurashtram 6.ShrI kamakshi – Vasanta

NOTE

Shri kamakshi Katakshi has been wrongly credited to Subbaraya Sastri. Per Dr.B.M.Sundaram’s article in the Souvenir of the Krishna Gana Sabha he says the following: When I had the opportunity to peruse the notebooks of Tiruppamburam Natarajasundaram Pillai, showed to me graciously by his son Tiruppamburam Flute Swaminatha Pillai, I found this Vasanta krti raga in them. I was given to understand that Natarajasundaram Pillai learnt this directly from the composer who was a good friend and sahadhyayi of Sathanur Panchanadha Iyer.Shri Kamakshi being a composition of Tiruvarur Ramaswami Pillai was confirmed by Vazhuvoor Sundaram Pillai another disciple of the composer. Those who ascribed the krti to Subbaraya Sastri did so only taking into sight the usage, Kumaranai Rakshi occurring therein without giving even the slightest cognizance to ‘Vedapureeshvari’ the actual mudra.