Sharing the 'Ekavimshati rAgamAlika' of 21 ragas

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kanniks
Posts: 47
Joined: 09 Feb 2011, 05:00

Sharing the 'Ekavimshati rAgamAlika' of 21 ragas

Post by kanniks »

Greetings to all in the month of Kartika.
Below is a link to my recently composed 'Eka Vimshati' rAga mAlika 'shrI vaidyanAtham bhajEham'. This rAgamalika in praise of Shiva, address Vaidyanatha in its pallavi with four ragas SriRagam, Shri (Hindustani), Suratti and Vasanta (followed by a reverse sequence of passages in these 4 ragas); the anupallavi features verses in praise of the pancha bhuta sthalas in the ragas kEdAram, bhairavi, sindhubhairavi, yamuna kalyANi, saranga followed by passages in the reverse raga order. The charanam features 12 verses in praise of the Jyotir linga Sthalas in the ragas Saurashtra, Saila Desakshi, madhyamAvati, narmadA, chArukEsi, Ananda bhairavi, kEdAR (Hindustani), gauri manohari, maNirangu, sAmanta, bhairav (hindustani) and jog (hindustani); it is then followed by all the 21 ragas in the reverse order.

It addresses Shiva as 'vishANuroga vaidya nipuNa' - invoking the Universal healer in these trying times.

Below are 2 links to a performance of this piece by myself along with my students Lakshmi Yadhunandan and her son Sooryah Yadhunandan. The ragamala is shared here in two parts; the 1st part features the pallavi and the anupallavi while the 2nd features the charaNam.

https://youtu.be/unkDXqSE1Uk (Ekavimshati rAga mAlika - pallavi and anupallavi - featuring 9 ragas)
https://youtu.be/25bHftxGLWM (Ekavimshati rAga mAlika - charaNam - featuring 12 ragas)

Would love to hear feedback from Rasikas.

With namaskarams.
Kanniks Kannikeswaran

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

Re: Sharing the 'Ekavimshati rAgamAlika' of 21 ragas

Post by rshankar »

I listened to it! It was lovely!

shankarank
Posts: 4043
Joined: 15 Jun 2009, 07:16

Re: Sharing the 'Ekavimshati rAgamAlika' of 21 ragas

Post by shankarank »

The rAgA selections were very appropriate and the flow was impeccable. A very enjoyable composition and one that deserves to be learnt and spread.

kanniks
Posts: 47
Joined: 09 Feb 2011, 05:00

Re: Sharing the 'Ekavimshati rAgamAlika' of 21 ragas

Post by kanniks »

thank you so much!
Kanniks

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

Re: Sharing the 'Ekavimshati rAgamAlika' of 21 ragas

Post by rajeshnat »

kanniks wrote: 26 Nov 2020, 04:09 Greetings to all in the month of Kartika.
Below is a link to my recently composed 'Eka Vimshati' rAga mAlika 'shrI vaidyanAtham bhajEham'. This rAgamalika in praise of Shiva, address Vaidyanatha in its pallavi with four ragas SriRagam, Shri (Hindustani), Suratti and Vasanta (followed by a reverse sequence of passages in these 4 ragas); the anupallavi features verses in praise of the pancha bhuta sthalas in the ragas kEdAram, bhairavi, sindhubhairavi, yamuna kalyANi, saranga followed by passages in the reverse raga order. The charanam features 12 verses in praise of the Jyotir linga Sthalas in the ragas Saurashtra, Saila Desakshi, madhyamAvati, narmadA, chArukEsi, Ananda bhairavi, kEdAR (Hindustani), gauri manohari, maNirangu, sAmanta, bhairav (hindustani) and jog (hindustani); it is then followed by all the 21 ragas in the reverse order.

It addresses Shiva as 'vishANuroga vaidya nipuNa' - invoking the Universal healer in these trying times.

Below are 2 links to a performance of this piece by myself along with my students Lakshmi Yadhunandan and her son Sooryah Yadhunandan. The ragamala is shared here in two parts; the 1st part features the pallavi and the anupallavi while the 2nd features the charaNam.

https://youtu.be/unkDXqSE1Uk (Ekavimshati rAga mAlika - pallavi and anupallavi - featuring 9 ragas)
https://youtu.be/25bHftxGLWM (Ekavimshati rAga mAlika - charaNam - featuring 12 ragas)

Would love to hear feedback from Rasikas.

With namaskarams.
Kanniks Kannikeswaran
Simply Brilliant . Looks like a primer over Dikshitar , just like skipping a big book in college and just reading the last 10 pages which has a tabular column. The way you connect popular krithis of MD towards the primary diety and the raga (like jambupathE AND Yamunakalyani , Arunachala AND Saranga) is well done

Also for every raga that you have taken you have composed 2 lines , not just a fleeting one line , the anchor for every raga is deep.

Till this point i thought this Ekavimshati ragamaliga was giving a tough fight to Shree Viswanatham Bhajeham Of Muttuswami Dikshitar

With you also traversing all the way back with 21 ragas was spectacular. DID MD also do or is it some thing you only have done for the first time (perhaps you can clarify if i am wrong in assuming this) where you traverse this much back upto 21 ragas.

well done Kanniks.How long it took for you to do this end to end . Roughly how many iterations it took ? This composition is a testimony how CM is growing deep even with a modern composer like you, certainly building on the firm and deep foundation of an extraordinary vaggeyakkara like Muttuswami Dikshitar and you also give a deeper insight and possibly a newer angle .

kanniks
Posts: 47
Joined: 09 Feb 2011, 05:00

Re: Sharing the 'Ekavimshati rAgamAlika' of 21 ragas

Post by kanniks »

@rajeshnat
Thank you so so much for your kind words.

This ragamalika was clearly inspired by the chaturdasha ragamalika of Dikshitar - which sets the grammar for a ragamalika - the transitions and the reverse sequence in the return (and several other features). SriViswanatham (14) is something that we all adore, revere, worship and cherish.

The number '21' hit me when the 21 day lockdown was announced; Vaidyanatha of course, panchabhuta sthalas of course; and then 21-9 = 12, which matched clearly with the jyotirlinga count.
Also, please see if you can spot the pun in lyrics in the passage on Varanasi in raga Bhairav. please listen just to that section a couple of times, it will be apparent.

Once again, thank you for your generous words.

I made only one change to it after writing it; that was the phrase 'shata koti dIpa prakAsam' - acknowledging the millions of lights in which Shiva the divine healer manifests, not only during Kartikai Dipam, but also otherwise. Most other phrases, the alliteration and the swaraksharas, the choice of ragas, and the raga names in the lyrics just fell in place. The 2nd raga Shri is the only one which does not showcase the raga name ; surutti fell in place thanks to 'kujArchitam' and rAmachandram of course in vasanta. Sindhubhairavi for Kalahasti as it was right next to Karnatic Bhairavi. manirangu for Rameswaram and Bhairav for Kashi, sailadesakshi for sri sailam, saurashtra for somanatham, Kedar for Kedarnath etc.

I am grateful for the Grace that facilitates us to think along these lines and for the 'master classes' that Dikshitar has provided through his compositions.

Thank you so much @rajeshnat

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

Re: Sharing the 'Ekavimshati rAgamAlika' of 21 ragas

Post by rajeshnat »

By the way i wanted to post post #5 in only kanniks thread. I erred yesterday now it is too late. :o

Thanks u are in the league of md though you arrived 3 centuries later. Looking forward to a seasoned musician with extremely accomplished pakkavadhyams to take this masterpiece.

By the way is narmada the same as namadesi ragam or is that different

kanniks
Posts: 47
Joined: 09 Feb 2011, 05:00

Re: Sharing the 'Ekavimshati rAgamAlika' of 21 ragas

Post by kanniks »

"Another name for this na ̄made ̄s ́i ra ̄gam is ‘narmada’. " - SSP


And thanks so much for your kind words @rajeshnat

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