garuDadhwani

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

garuDadhwani

Post by SrinathK »

That sound. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Oh yes, bird it is, an eagle. Rasikas, the eagle has landed (on the moon). :D

garuDadhwani is a scalar rAgA under the 29th mEla shankarAbharaNam that fused shankarAbharaNam and mOhanam together like this :

Aro : S R2 G3 M1 P D2 N3 S
Avaro : S D2 P G3 R2 S

And it sounds a bit like mOhanam and nothing at all like shankarAbharaNam. This is a very interesting quirk because shankarAbharaNam does use phrases like DNS-DP and GM-DP - (G)R,S but still sounds totally different. The other "fusion" rAgam that is like this is mOhana kalyANi.

Anyone expecting this to be a heavy rAgA will find to their surprise that garuDadhwani is probably one of the lightest, plain note scales you'd ever see - it is a completely scalar rAgA that is a creation of Thyagaraja. In fact it is so light, it can perfectly go into a western folk number or orchestral piece and never look out of place.

If anything, the plainer you play it, the better and more distinctive it sounds! At the most you will add a single kampita on the R2 and D2. And if you go faster, it's all plain. garuDadhwani is like that 1.5 year old highly energetic infant that's all too happy not wearing anything and running all around the place. Or another point of view, it reminds of a ladder and slide which we used to play on till we got too old. You quickly scramble up the stairs, and then slide down. And sometimes we would use the slide to go up and scramble down.

The highlight gamaka is that you can slide lazily down on the descent from S-D-P-G-R-S as though you are literally yawning and it will sound good. Seriously. I am not joking - it's a good comedy piece for conveying hAsya rasa. This rAgA is totally laid back, a favourite of instrumentalists and given it's plain nature, can be used for fast supersonic sprints and lots of rhythmic exercises.

One thing is clear from this, there are indeed two approaches to ragas - the scalar and the organic. The factory and the hand crafted, the template and the bespoke.

But it has been composed in a lot more than you think - we will start with a varnam by Lalgudi G Jayaraman in it :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_wmL3e4e40 - by LGJ himself
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-zkonl0J7s - And would you believe we have a notated video?

And the weird thing is that Thyagaraja has chosen THIS of all scales to set a deeply philosophical kriti like tatvameruga taramA to tune :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v86ij5VhreU - KVN
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmj5tN5lt-M - And it has been extensively elaborated by T K Rangachari
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDTdn8krkIk - Oh yes, MMI. One can find out all that this rAgam can do from those kalpanAswaras.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-qSWJ9IS6I - Maharajapuram Santhanam

There is another song of his - Ananda sAgara : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD53_c4Bq2A - S Rajam

Another kriti of GarbhapurivAsar - Emi nEramu - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muNuQmQuUFU - by LGJ

Mysore Vasudevacharya has also had a fling with it - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7x-tQZ-iZU - RKS

I heard that in his earlier days, this rAgA used to be sung by GNB, but alas, we have no recordings today.

I was think HMB would have loved this, and it turns out he has quite a few numbers in it, but recordings are a little hard to come by (note to self next time I attend Archana & Arathi) :
chanDa munDa shiras chEtri - http://www.sangeethamshare.org/tvg/UPLO ... is-Part-9/

And as it turns out, BMK has composed a tillAnA in it : http://www.sangeethamshare.org/sreeniva ... imes_2008/ - Somehow I thought this rAgam would have fit him and his mischief the best. :lol: :lol:

So how do I conclude? Well, for those who were waiting for garuDa darshanam, hoping for some sign from Vaikuntham, it turns out that garuDadhwani is actually an American Bald Eagle! :twisted: :lol: :mrgreen:
Last edited by SrinathK on 26 Aug 2019, 10:39, edited 2 times in total.

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

Re: garuDadhwani

Post by rajeshnat »

Personally the rendition of TKR is so elaborate and wonderful and is most etched in my memory. Once in a concert in LA Abhishek Raghuram sang this song tatavameruga tharama brilliantly. I am not sure if nadaswara vidwans of stature TNR and Karaikurichi played this lovely raga , i am assuming they did and i just forgot now.

Adding mandolin srinivas to the list ,this ragam is more an instrument delight. he just dazzles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0a6UUoQgUY

Ranganayaki
Posts: 1760
Joined: 02 Jan 2011, 06:23

Re: garuDadhwani

Post by Ranganayaki »

Thank you, Srinath, for this and so many others, what a wonderful service! Your enjoyable writing captures the essence and renders it so well! Words doing justice to a raga! I’ve never experienced it before!

rshankar
Posts: 13754
Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:26

Re: garuDadhwani

Post by rshankar »

Adding on to Ranganayaki's appreciation!

RSR
Posts: 3427
Joined: 11 Oct 2015, 23:31

Re: garuDadhwani

Post by RSR »

https://mohansanthanam.wordpress.com/20 ... udadhvani/
I found this blog post , informative.

CRama
Posts: 2939
Joined: 18 Nov 2009, 16:58

Re: garuDadhwani

Post by CRama »

Discussion on Garuidadhwani evokes nemories of TRSwho used to sing as a precursor to RTP in most of his voncerts. The vibrant kalpana swaras willbe joy for ever.

cienu
Posts: 2387
Joined: 04 Feb 2010, 11:40

Re: garuDadhwani

Post by cienu »

It is a joy to read Srinath's description of the salient features of a Raga. Brilliant
Keep them coming Srinath 😊👏

arasi
Posts: 16774
Joined: 22 Jun 2006, 09:30

Re: garuDadhwani

Post by arasi »

Cienu,
He truly is a delight, this 'pinjilE pazhutha' (far too mature for his age) young savant!
I admire Srinath for the knowledge, understanding and communicative skills he possesses--yet, more than anything else, the subtlety and finesse with which he shares his thoughts amazes me most. The RAGA threads are true indicators of the value of having him amidst us.
GaruDadhwani got fortunate in being described by this connoisseur poetically and with gay abandon to suit the lightness of its being. Another ode to a bird...
He is to me, all of my favorite teachers in school and college rolled into one...:)

Pasupathy
Posts: 7868
Joined: 26 Jan 2013, 19:01

Re: garuDadhwani

Post by Pasupathy »

>> And the weird thing is that Thyagaraja has chosen THIS of all scales to set a deeply philosophical kriti like tatvameruga taramA to tune >>

Not at all , according to an article or scholar I remember reading or listening to long ago.

Garuda, the vehicle of Vishnu, is a representation of Vedas. I remember a scholar explaining that , hence, it is appropriate that Thyagaraja chose 'Garudadhwani' ( the Voice of Vedas) to talk about the Vedic declaration ' Thatvamasi' in the song 'Thathva meruga '.

arasi
Posts: 16774
Joined: 22 Jun 2006, 09:30

Re: garuDadhwani

Post by arasi »

Magnificent GaruDa, who carries the mighty Vishnu around...yes...
Beluru CheluvarAya temple has a column with GaruDa on top, like a dwaja sthambha. When I first saw it, It gave me goosebumps. It's a minimalist statement as it were, compared to the intricacies of all the rich sculptures which adorn the temple's outer walls, and yet, it's arresting. Vishnu vAhanamasthubhyam, pakshirAjAyatE namah…

arasi
Posts: 16774
Joined: 22 Jun 2006, 09:30

Re: garuDadhwani

Post by arasi »

Repeat post--deleted...

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