An interview with Anandarama UdupaAn Interview with AnandaRama Udupa
AnandaRama Udupa is the author of guruguha gana vaibhava a compilation of two
volumes of
all available kritis attributed to Dikshitar. He is a musicologist and is in
Bangalore. He also sings all the compositions..
Could you tell us about your background in music?
My father Krishna Udupa was a musician.He was a vocalist and also a violinist
in our native district South Kanara. My elder brother Srinivasa Udupa was also a
musician, violinist, musicologist and a good teacher. I learnt from both of
them. I received advanced training in music from flute vidwan N.Gopalakrishnan,
the Principal of Kalaniketana
art school in Mangalore. The musical atmosphere at home developed an interest in
me. Furthermore , I had a good swara jnana even in my teenage. This helped me
practice the kritis once heard, provided I got the full text with
notation. However, I did not take to music for my livelihood. I joined the
Postal department in 1951. I am living in
Bangalore since 1964 and had many an opportunity of listening to vidwans of
repute.
When and how did your interest in Dikshitar kritis develop?
In my schooldays I learnt Sanskrit. Particularly the Sanskrit sahitya of
Dikshitar's kritis fascinated me. In the
beginning I had a desire to learn the the Navagraha and Navavarana kritis of
Dikshitar. I learnt Tamil and bought books. I learnt a few kritis on
Vinayaka also, besides Navagraha and Navavarana. In the mean time , I got all
the available kritis of Dikshitar, transcribed them into Kannada. Learnt group
songs on Subramanya, Balamba, Panchalinga and so on. I then got a desire to
practice all the remaining kritis. Every day I would sing one from each group
for about an hour. The practice continued for several years from 1966 onwards.
Music is my
hobby. I had no time bound programme to learn. Over the years and up till now, I
have collected more than 3500 songs of different vaggeyakaras in notation in
Kannada and have preserved them in bound books. With a base of swara and raga
jnana, knowledge of gamakas in those ragas, one can try and sing compositions
from notation. Constant practice and listening to good music, preferably live
concerts, will definitely improve one's knowledge and ability to sing.
How did you think of publishing a book and in Kannada ?
This is the background of my books. Sruti Ranjani is an organization in
Bangalore devoted to propagation of classical and devotional music founded by
Late Abhayam Raju in 1975. She had published in Tamil, the kritis of vaggeyakara
Meenakshisuta. After her demise in 1984. Prof T.A.Raju (her husband) took up the
work of Sruti
Ranjani. He asked me to translate the kritis of Meenakshisuta from Tamil to
Kannada. My Kannada translation of the book was published in 1989. The left over
kritis of Meenakshisuta, about 20, which were only in cassettes sung by
the vaggeyakara himself, were notated by me (exactly as sung by the composer)
and was published both in Kannada and Tamil by Sruti Ranjani in 1997. A reprint
of the older book (vol1) by Abhayam Raju in Tamil was also later printed in my
own handwriting (Tamil). Thus I was closely associated with the work of Sruti
Ranjani. Prof T.A. Raju of SrutiRanjani knew that I had a deep interest in
Dikshitar's kritis. He mooted the idea of a book of Diksitar's kritis. I told
him an ideal thing would be to publish the complete works of Dikshitar in
Kannada , so far not dome by others, but the printing work would run to more
than 1200 pages entailing huge cost. Prof Raju did not hesitate and did this
monumental work if I may say so, completely financing the project from his
pocket. The 2 big volumes of the book titled "GURUGUHA GANA VAIBHAVA"
of about 1280 pages were printed in CLI Press of Chennai-17, and was released in
Bangalore on Oct 7, 2000. But very unfortunately
Prof Raju passed away on Dec 15, 2000. A very touching obituary was given to
this great man in the SRUTI ( music magazine) of Chennai in Feb 2001.In the
obituary article by P.ORR, SRUTI says Typically , Prof Raju gave virtually
all the credit for the new publication to Anandarama Udupa by describing it as a
'colossal work
of a single man'. Nonetheless it was he who produced this compendium as well as
the previous Meenakshisuta kritis
financing them entirely out of his own pocket and without a commercial angle.
Sangeeta kala Acharya Sri T.S.Parthasarathy Fellow Sangeet Natak Academy &
Emeritus Fellow Dept of culture, Govt. of India writes about the book
There are many unique features about the book. First of all the 'MUNNUDI' and
Dikshitara kritigala artha vaibhava by Prof. S.K.Ramachandra Rao,the 'living
legend' of Karnataka have added great value and prestige to the publication.
Secondly, the calligraphy by vidwan Anandarama Udupa who is perhaps the only
person in India who can write a 1200 pages book in his own handwriting which is
prettier than print. I happened to know this
musicologist whose services I requisitioned sometime ago for translating some 'Padagalu'
of Purandaradasa for a publication here.......
You have calligraphed 1200 pages of the book. How long did this work take you?
I wrote the book in my own handwriting mainly to avoid printing mistakes.
Only the foreword and special meanings of kritis by Prof. Rao, Dikshitar's life,
index etc were done by DTP. Two volumes containing about 1280
pages have been moderately priced at Rs.675/-. The calligraphy took me well over
a year. But the job was very well satisfying.
How did you learn all the 479 kritis of Dikshitar ?
I learnt the 476 kritis of Dikshitar appearing in our book (2vols) as a sort of
daily ritual/routine. I used to sing everyday at least one Ganesha kriti ,one
Navagraha,one Navavarana/Balamba vibhakti kriti, one on Subramanya/Shiva /Shive
etc. This practice continued for years. This gave me a clear insight into
singing this great Master's compositions- the grandeur of the Sanskrit Sahitya
he employed, their unparalleled lyrical beauties, raga
portrayal etc.
Do you teach music ?
I am not a professional musician. I retired from Govt service in 1987. I am
not a regular teacher also, even though I taught Navagraha,Navavarana and few
other kritis here and there. I have been writing articles on Dikshitar's
music and giving lecture demonstrations on his rare kritis,lyrical beauty of
Sahitya in them etc.
The talas in the sampradaya pradarshini and those in other publications
differ. How did you reconcile both?
Dikshitar's kritis given in SSP (or for that matter ,any kriti in SSP) are full
of gamaka signs not very easily understandable. Without a good knowledge of
gamakas and 'anuswaras' going with a note or swara,
it is difficult to visualize a correct picture of the notation. But in the
modern way of writing notation, the number of akshara kalas for an avarta are
double or even quadruple sometimes. To sight an example, instead of 8+4+4 in Adi
Tala, (usually employed in SSP) we write 16+8+8, making it easier to sing from
notation. Talas given in SSP have not changed but only the aksharakalas in a
beat have changed according to the anuswaras employed by the main swara. Here
permit me to say that Dikshitar kritis have to be sung with a thorough knowledge
of gamakas
that may appear in a particular raga, a good grip over vilamba kala,Clear and
correct pronunciation of Sahitya with due care for alpaprana/ mahaprana in
syllables without wrong emphasis or unnecessary elongation of syllables giving
way to distortion of lyrics, without splitting the words or phrases at wrong
places and thus keeping up the
beauty of the composition on the whole.
There are various pathantaras ? Which one did you follow?
According to justice T.L.Venkatrama Iyer , the versions of Subbarama Dikshitar
and his disciples can be considered most authentic. Kallidaikurichi schools and
Anantha Krishna Iyer schools (Calcutta) have done a magnificent service to the
music world by publishing the kritis available today. Two kritis not printed in
any book so far , but
accredited to Dikshitar by the Kolkata school (Ganapate Mahamate in Kalyani and
Gopika Manoharam in Mohana) have been printed in our book. Versions of
Rangaramanuja Iyengar in Kritimanimalai appear to be slightly different in
patanthara as the author belonged to the school of Veena Dhanammal. However, I
have adopted the former patanthara;but have taken from RRI only the different
patanthara of Chittaswara or Solkattu swara wherever available (I have given
both the patantharas of them for reference). Arohanas and Avarohanas of ragas
are
given as found in SSP, the versions of Venkatamakhi. Melakarta raga numbers are
indicated. Any present day change in Aroha and Avaroha are indicated in
brackets.
How did you feel after compiling the book?
Writing the whole book was a challenging task. I wrote out the kritis also
humming the tunes. It was a satisfying experience too. Compilation of the book
has given me a great sense of fulfilment, a life's ambition. Dikshitar's kritis
are great in every sense of the term; we may have to understand or assess their
beauty according to our
capacity or limitations."Endaro Mahanubavulu".I am deeply indebted to
Prof.S.K.Ramachandra Rao who blessed my book with his scholarly foreword and
meanings in a separate part 3 of the book, the hidden meanings of selected
compositions.