Carnatic Music - Beginner Lessons

 

The Importance of Cultural Diversity and its Effect on Female Composers in Carnatic Music Compositions

 

Culture can be defined as a complex system of knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, customs and many other habits acquired through traditions by a man as the member of a particular society. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of independent India, explained culture as "the outcome and basis of training, establishment and development of physical and mental potentials". Sri Rajagopalacharya, the first Governor General of British India, defined culture as "the collective expression of 5 Introduction to Indian Culture the thoughts, speeches and deeds of the learned, talented or creative members of a society or a nation". By these above explanation by the revered, we understand that culture is seen or felt through our thought process, literature, language, arts, religion, customs, traditions and the way we know the world around us. 

One of the important forms of cultural expression is Fine Arts and other arts like   dance, music, painting, sculpture, drama, architecture have evolved through centuries. There is wide range of varieties in each of these because they have acquired changes during historical period. Each of these communicates a message and signifies the way the ideas and emotions were expressed through the means of artistic language. You will study each of these forms of culture in the lessons later. For example, the Buddha and Mahavira sculptures communicate the feelings and the state of peace and tranquillity. The sculptures of dancing Shiva tells us how God's enjoyed dancing, the Panchatantra stories are depicted on the walls of temples and also paintings from Mughal period tells us the taste and interests of Mughal emperors. If we speak about music, we have classical traditions such as Hindustani, Carnatic, popular traditions like Sufi, folk, bhajans, kirtanas, Bhakti sangeet, Rabindra sangeet, film music etc. India is very rich in the development of all such traditions.

 In the field of literature too the Vedic sources, Sanskrit works of Kalidasa and others including Persian, Urdu and English and the regional literature show the finer expression of Indian imagination, understanding life and philosophy. The classical language like Sanskrit and local language like Prakrit and others have simultaneously evolved. Indian cultural life is gloriously depicted in these various forms of literature.

 Sanskrit is considered to be the languages of Gods. The word "Samskrata", in firmly, means “sanctified" is known as Geervana Bhasha. Sanskrit said to be "Samskrata Vāk" which is referred as "refined language". Sanskrit has always been considered to have been a language chiefly employed for religious and scientific discourse and it is assumed to have contrasted with the languages spoken by the people. Music and language are both forms of expression and communication both have evolved out of the human need to express one's thoughts and feelings. The impulse to communicate one's thoughts and feelings is a fundamental urge. Music expresses some aspect of feeling (E.g. Devotion, Love etc.) and transcendental thoughts (ruminations of the mystery of creation etc.) better than language. Language is better when it is necessary for you to be scientific and objective.

If we look back, it's always said and observed that men were dominating women in most of the areas. Now, in the 21st Century things have changed and in almost all the fields’ people believe to keep the equality between Men and. Women. Let's analyse the journey of the Women Composers in Carnatic music. Carnatic music discovers its roots back to the ancient traditions of the Southern part of India. The transformation of ancient art forms has undergone much musical and social change over the last few hundred years. Particularly in the realm of gender politics in India, South Indian classical music has seen a resurgence of transpiring female artists over the last century. The interest of this content is in that particular moment in history when the cultural constructs of India made it possible for female to break through Cultural barriers and emerge as prominent, glorious artists in classical music. This historical connection between women and the classical arts of South India is through the devadasis. These were hereditary female musicians and dancers from a variety of non-Brahmin castes. These women were often found in temples and rendered ritual and artistic services within temples.

However, the social perceptions of these women were immensely distorted in history upon the colonisation of the British in India. Colonial era “reforms” imposed by the British hypersexualized the social perceptions of the devadasi women and undermined their roles as stewards of the classical arts by lambasting their “purity” as women. These colonial campaigns were a part of the larger social movements in nineteenth-century India that subjected women to restrictions on their sexuality and autonomy. Colonial era rule in India also saw a normalisation of Brahmin elitism in various social and political contexts. Through social purity movements, the female identity became co-opted as tool of enacting the agendas of the Brahmin elite on a national scale. The degradation of the character of devadasi women was coupled with a similar.

 20^th century has seen the inclination of women in each and every field. In earlier days, there were lots of restrictions on women, and educated women were quite few. But things have changed now, women have freedom, they are educated and they started transcending in all areas, where the men were dominating once upon a time. Art Music in the earlier centuries had been enclosed to the royal courts and the nobility and was the syndicate of high- caste males. It is said that classical dance and dance music were the close sustain of the devadasi community . In the royal courts the Devadasi was the only educated women to learn music and also it was very critical to legalise the practice of Female Public performance. We can get the evidence right from the Sangam era up to the present day also applauding the contribution of the different female composers in this field.

From 2nd century onwards, we could see the presence of woman in the field of literature. Avvaiyyars, Karaikkal Ammaiyar, Andal and the list goes on. Many musicians have tuned and sung the composition of Avvaiyyars, Andal, Meerabai, Akka Mahadevi, Tarigonda Vengamamba etc. in many concerts. Nowadays these Compositions have become integral part of most of the concerts. Compositions of Avvaiyyars, Andal, Meerabai etc. of which only literature was available were set to tune and popularised by the later musicians as in the case of compositions of Jayadeva, Purandaradasa. Narayana Theerthar, Thallapakkam Composers etc. However, music of the later composers is available to us. Composers like Kuttikunju Thankachi, Ambujam Krishna, and D.Pattammal have numerous compositions to their credit and the contribution of female composers to Carnatic music cannot be ignored by anyone. Like the prominent male composers, these female composers are also well versed with the application of literary and prosodical beauties like varieties of Swarakshara, Yati, Yamaka etc. and the application of decorative angas like Srasahitya, Chalkemisura, Chuttasuura, Madhyamakala sahitya etc.

The story is the same when we cite about the field of Art and Music. Due to the social taboo in olden days, women of elite society were not allowed to perform outside. But the change was inevitable. It is said that, it was SMt. D.K. Pattammal who broke these barriers and became the first woman from the forward community to perform on stage. She was also the first woman to sing Pallavis that was once considered a male has a stronghold. Another legendary, Smt. M.S.Subbulakshmi, the Queen of Music, did perform in every nook and corner of the World and received numerous recognitions and awards at a time when several male musicians were dominating the field. The next in the list is, Smt. M.L.Vasanthakumari , who proved the music world,  that women could not only create melodious music but also shine in its analytical aspects like Ragalapana, Kalpanaswarams  and Ragam Tanam Pallavi.

 Now let us see the contribution of prominent Female composers of 20th and 21st Century. As discussed earlier, the compositions of women composers are replete with prosodical beauties, structural variations and have melodious music. To prove this fact selected compositions are analysed here and the analysis has been made:

Composer – Rugmini  Bai Thampurati

Rani Rugmini Bai Thampurati was a prominent women composer in Kerala (1809-37). She was the elder sister of the famous composer Maharaja Swati Tirunal of Kerala. At the age of six she demonstrated her excellence in poetry. As the royal patrons were highly devoted to Lord Padmanabha, their family deity, most of her compositions are in praise of that God. Let us analyse the below composition and know how Sanskrit language influenced the Composer:

 

Sreekandesa pahi pahi

 

Raga-Mukhari                                                                           Tala-Misrachapu

 

Pallavi 

Sreekandesa pahi pahi Parvatheepathi

 

Anupallavi 

Sree njangalku melkau mele Sree paramesha nalkenam

 

Charanam 

Srishti palana samhaara Srishti chaithu malkulathil

Pushtiyaayi varumennil Matalar banane vellum

 

This composition is about the Lord Shiva. In fact the Kriti consists of Pallavi, anupallavi and five charanam. The Influence of Sanskrit language is been highlighted in thee above composition. In Pallavi the word Pahi Pahi is a Sanskrit word and in Charnam we can see Srishti palana Samahaara has been used, which is also a Sanskrit word. 

 Composer - Kuttikunju Thankachi 

Kuttikunju Thankachi is the daughter of revered Irayamman Thambi and kalipalli Thankachi was born in 1820 at Thiruvananthapuram. Her father was her most influential guru and her bhakthi towards him is revealed through can been seen in her works. Thankachi's real name was Lekshmi Pilla but it was the pet name Kuttikunju, which became popular[6]. She learnt Sanskrit language and literature from Harippadu Kochuppilla Variar. Her deep knowledge in Sanskrit and Malayalam is also seen in her works. Besides being a proficient scholar in Sanskrit, she was also an excellent dancer. Let us analyse the below composition and know how Sanskrit language influenced the Composer:

 

Raga-Kamas                                                                         Tala-Rupakam

 

Pallavi 

Pahi mohanakrite pari Pahi madhava murahara 

Anupallavi

 Dehi Mangalam sada Vasudeva naridania.

Devaki kishora deva Devamam vibho murahara 

Charnam 

Paavana keerthe samasara Bhaasura moorthe

Paalithebha raaja Sujana Pala naikapara kripakara

 

This small composition is about Lord Krishna. Through this composition Thankachi portrays all aspects of the raga, Kamas and also this composition is in Sanskrit.  If we see all the lyrics of the composition is in Sanskrit language apart from the influence of Male composers we can say that female composer were also in search of Sanskrit words which fills the gaps between the lyrics and prosodical rules of the musical composition.  

Composer -Andavan Picchai 

Andavan Picchai was born in Mylapore, Madras, on September 6th 1899 to T. Sankaranarayana Sastri and Seethalakshmi. She was the second child of her parents. Her birth name was Maragathavalli. There is an interesting incident that made her a strong devotee of Lord Muruga. In her early childhood days, she was very shy and never used to speak normally. One day during Navarathri festival she was visiting her father along with her grandmother. She had a vision, in which she saw Lord Muruga as a young boy of twelve was playing along with his peacock. He came to her and pressed her hand with love and told her that he loved her very much. He was trying to make her talk but being shy she showed her the negative signals to go back. Then the Lord asked her to open her mouth and he wrote 'Om' in her tongue using his spear. Then he initiated her into the Shadakshari Mantra, viz., Saravanabhava. Let us analyse the below composition and know how Sanskrit language influenced the Composer:

 

Raga- Gambeera nattai                                                                        Tala-Adi

 

Pallavi 

Mangal vinayakam gajananam

Mouna guru poojitham mahagannadam

 

Anupallavi 

Pinkala nethram kumkum gathram

Sankara puthram sadjana mithram

 

Charanam 

Mooladhara chakranivasitham

Mooshika vahanam munijana sevitham

 

Madhyamakala Sahitya 

Leela vigraha roopam lambodharam

Kalatheetham kalithopaasitham

 

This Composition is about Lord Ganesha. Its is in Raga Gambeenattai , it is said that it is a powerful raga suitable to begin a concert. So, this raga is very suitable to a Ganapathy Kriti. It is very evident from the Composition lyrics that the Sahityam is in Sanskrit Language. Deep research can be made into the compositions of Andavan Pichai which will give us a clear understanding of composer's ability in lyrical and musical side.

 Composer - Ambujam Krishna

 

      Raagam: Abhogi                                                                                        Taalam: Eka

 

Pallavi

 

Gurusvami Padam Pani Maname

Sadgurusvami Pada Pani Maname

 

Anupallavi

 

Arul Kurndu Manamarul Nikki Nalum

Parivudan Daraniyor Uyya Vazhi Kattum

 

Caranam

 

Ganam Sheide Janaki Lolanai

Kanindu Tudittu Kazhal Panindu

Monat-Tavattor Nadum Mohana Rupam

Kanda Dhyana Nirata Shri Tyagaraja Sad

 

 

The above composition is composed by Ambujam Krishna in Ragam Abhogi and this composition is composed in sanskritised tamil which means the influence of Sanskrit in tamil composition. The Highlighted words are referred to Sanskritised tamil.

 Composer - Kalyani Varadarajam

Kalyani varadarajan was daughter of Sriman Nadadoor Ammal Narasimhachariar and Srimati Singarammal. She has been one of the very few modern female composers of Carnatic music of 20th Century. It is said that she has composed not only in all the 72 melakarta ragas but also in very rare ragas. Her father Sriman Narasimhachariar who was a teacher, Head Master and then Inspector of schools, was a distinguished poet in Telugu and Sanskrit in Andhra Region. It is said that she had an innate quality to compose composition and set them into music herself from an early age. Being brought up in family of scholars in Telugu and Sanskrit, Smt. Kalyani started her initiation in Carnatic music in Veena and vocal at a very early age under her mother and sister and also under able gurus. Thereafter she learnt Violin in Madras. She started composing songs at a very early age on Lord Yoga Narasimha of Gatikakshetrarn – Solangipuram- Tamil Nadu, who was her Ishta Daivata. Her first debut in Veena concert was in AIR Madras at the age of 16. Some of her compositions mentioned below:

Aparna Parvati

 

Ragam : Nalinakanti                                                                                Talam : Rupakam

Pallavi 

Aparna Parvati Ashritarti Prashamanakari

 

Anupallavi 

Krpakari Krshodhari Apanga Sundari Shankari

(Madhyamakala)

 Navarasathara Hasini Namrajana Sahayini

Nalina Vasini Bhrtajana Samrajya Pradayini

 

Charanam 

Kapalesha Sahite Aparaguna Mahite

Nrpalanute Kalyani Tapomaya Daksayani

 

In the above composition of Kalyani varadarajan “Aparna parvati” one can easily fine many words intersected with Sanskrit Language. Meaning of the composition goes like this Parvathi without a leaf, to whom one surrender, And one who heals and takes away their pain. One who is merciful, one who holds the Trishula. One who accompanies the God with skull, one who is full of divinity, One to whom great kings 280 were devotees, One who does well and is saintly and daughter of Daksha. A matchless beauty and consort of Shankara. If we analyse the composition one can find the greatness of Composition and also the composer’s write up.  Kalyani Varadarajan composed such a beautiful composition in raga Nalinakanti with good grip over Sanskrit language and also the language is used with perfect Musical Prosody.  

 

Conclusion 

The pre - independence period observed a lot of restrictions on women, who were God gifted with multitasking in Various Skills. Women had the natural abilities to manage given tasks. This was the reason women were detained to do only household works apart from enhancing their creative aspect as women were not allowed to do even if they were given opportunities to get education and get respectable status in Society. This was considered a social taboo. But women brought storm in every field and proved herself that she can manage each and every aspect wherever she was detained. In this topic many research work are going on and the research can reach to infinity after this.

 

 

 

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[1] Sanctified = Purified

[2] Indira Menon, The Madras quartet, Chennai, Roli Books PVT Limited, 1999, Pg 39

[3] Lakshmi Vishwanathan, Women of Pride, New Delhi Lotus Collection, 2008, P 1

[4] Lakshmi Subramanian, From the Tanjore court to Madras Music Academy, New Delhi Oxford University Press, 2006, p119 

[5] Dr.B.Pushpa, "The Princess Rukmini Bai-Woman composer of the royal house of Travancore", The Journal of the Madras Music Academy, vol. LXIV-79

[6] Dr.V R Prabodhachandran Nair,  “Kuttikunju Thankachi ,” The Journal of Music , Dept of Music, Thiruvananthapuranam. P 15