darubAru - Dikshitar

Rāga related discussions
Post Reply
SrinathK
Posts: 2477
Joined: 13 Jan 2013, 16:10

darubAru - Dikshitar

Post by SrinathK »

The Dikshitar / Venkatamakhi School's version of darbAr goes by the name darubAru (telugu effect?). It is otherwise identical to darbAr, but for one thing:

Aro : S R2 G2 M1 P D2 N2 S - The use of the RGM phrase. This makes the arOhanam complete and the symmetry allows phrases like RGM-R or G,G,MR to appear just like DNS-DP (which is a key phrase in the upper half of the scale in darbAr as well).

In terms of gamakas, RGMR is played exactly like RGGR or RG,R in darbAr so that still sounds similar, but the use of RGMP is unique to darubAru. That and some more non linear phrases, but these prayogas exist even today in darbAr as well.

Subbarama Dikshitar (like I said in my post on darbAr) has given a whole page of description on how the G and N are played in this rAgA.

The reference material for this rAgA comes from the SSP. The kritis notated in it are :
1) tyAgarAjAd anyam of Muthuswami Dikshitar,
2)rAjashikA maNi of Baluswami Dikshitar
3) pAhi mAm bAlakumArA of Krishnaswamy Ayya
4) iTla numDa rAdu of Krishnaswamy Ayya
5) inta mODi - varnam by Subburama Dikshitar

one more kriti not in the SSP - halAsyanAtham by Muthuswami Dikshitar is mentioned in the CAC newsletter.

So getting the theory out of the way, let's look at the recordings I could find out there :

tyAgarAjAd anyam - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKmZU0XYnX4 - by Neela Ramgopal.
Overall, only the basic outline of the song follows the SSP. Otherwise the song is now modernized.

and halAsyanAtham - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yi4BGgrdxj0 - again in modern darbar.

That's it. I couldn't find any recordings of the others.

So until Dr. T R Aravindhan comes up with an SSP version of the kritis in this rAgA and the notation eventually gets an upgrade to modern CM gamakas, or if G Ravikiran would kindly popularize these kritis with their old prayogas, this is all we have - no darubAru, only darbAr. May I therefore call this allotrope of darbAr extinct in the modern day?

I'll see if sangeethapriya has anything more available.

SrinathK
Posts: 2477
Joined: 13 Jan 2013, 16:10

Re: darubAru - Dikshitar

Post by SrinathK »

A thing I've noticed over time is that there are subtle variations amongst the members of the Dikshitar family in their approach to compositions. Muthuswami Dikshitar has a penchant for non-linearity and sometimes composes entire passages (a whole pallavi or half a charanam or an anupallavi) with only dhATTu gamaka. He also uses extra notes more often. His brother Baluswami Dikshitar is more linear in his approach.

The second thing is that darubAru uses RMP or RMR as well as RGMP, which might explain why it turned into the present darbAr over time -- this also explains why a rAgA like nAyaki even exists - with this form of darubAru, the differences between them are notably more significant. There are plenty of kritis in the SSP and when they come out, this rAgA will be brought back to life. I do not expect it to sound much different from darbAr and it will still be easily recognizable.

The third thing, and the most important is that you can still here what this rAgA sounds like. See there is another rAgA that is essentially the identical twin (or more precisely, an possible ancestor) of darubAru - it is Thyagaraja's old kApi!!!

I have heard this old kApi rAgA and its phrases again and again (Dr. TRA's recordings of anyAyamu sEyakura and inta sowkhya), and nothing, absolutely nothing can make me feel that it is anything other than darubAru. Even a seasoned rasika today will totally believe they're listening to modern darbAr. Some small gamaka differences and one difference in the swara combination exists, but its like looking at a pair of identical twins and trying to tell them apart.

Today's music is quite different. Variation in gamakas of a raga's notes easily cover a much greater range of phrases and even variations between 2 musicians on the same raga can be more than the tiny differences between old school rAgAs.

Ok - there are some tiny differences. kApi uses a MG,G,RS while darbAr and darubAru use a MRG,G,RS.

The closest I can get to a comparison is the difference between a dhanashree and a bhimplAs (as I covered in the dhanashree thread, the first is actually the ancestor of the second, and it shows). Similarly, Thyagaraja's old kApi is older than darubAru / darbAr, but got swallowed out of existence by darbAr and modern darbAr is what is left now.

The only reason I'm not linking to those 2 Walajapet versions is because I respect the rAgA names and the two paramparas, otherwise I can totally get away with it, and you will never know - history has already done this and merged them. But I will share them soon enough, and you will see. By comparison, durgA and shuddha sAvEri or kurinji and shankarAbharaNam are as different as an Indian and a Japanese.

And speaking of kApi, just wait and see when the Cafe Shop I've planned opens (Yes, there is going be a Cafe here, serving MANY kApis!! :lol: :lol: :lol:) - I have enough material to offer you a full fledged menu. The very fact I discussed it in this thread is a precursor of what is to come. I guarantee your mind is going to be blown. Coming soon... :mrgreen:
Last edited by SrinathK on 31 Jul 2019, 09:08, edited 1 time in total.

rajeshnat
Posts: 9906
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Re: darubAru - Dikshitar

Post by rajeshnat »

SrinathK wrote: 30 Jul 2019, 20:53

I have heard this old kApi rAgA and its phrases again and again (Dr. TRA's recordings of anyAyamu sEyakura and inta sowkhya), and nothing, absolutely nothing can make me feel that it is anything other:
srinath
who is Dr TRA . is that Prof TRS . lovely writeup

SrinathK
Posts: 2477
Joined: 13 Jan 2013, 16:10

Re: darubAru - Dikshitar

Post by SrinathK »

Dr. T R Aravindhan has become my guru for this work on ragas. He is bringing out old versions of
compositions and ragas and seeing their evolution over time -- it's the most fascinating thing I've been exposed to.

Post Reply