Is there a difference between vernam and Padvarnam? If so what is it?
Any info about this is greatly appreciated.
Thank you
Difference between Varnam and Padvarnam
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Lakshman
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mohan
- Posts: 2808
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There is a belief that the difference between a tana and pada varnam is that the pada varnam has lyrics for the mukthayi and etthugade swaram sections but this is not the true difference. Some tana varnams (viriboni-bhairavi, chalmela-sankarabharanam) also had sahitya for these swara sections but they are not in vogue today.
The main difference (according to Dr N. Ramanathan) is that the lines of the pallavi and anupallavi in a pada varnam sound more like a padam. For a tana varnam the lyrics are structured closely around the swarams of the varnam and syllables usually fall clearly on defined beats of the talam. For a pada varnam the words are much more flowing and less linked to set swarams of the composition.
The original pada varnams were basically about a nayaki's love for her chosen Lord but recent compositions (like those of Sri Lalgudi Jayaraman) are moving away from this theme.
The main difference (according to Dr N. Ramanathan) is that the lines of the pallavi and anupallavi in a pada varnam sound more like a padam. For a tana varnam the lyrics are structured closely around the swarams of the varnam and syllables usually fall clearly on defined beats of the talam. For a pada varnam the words are much more flowing and less linked to set swarams of the composition.
The original pada varnams were basically about a nayaki's love for her chosen Lord but recent compositions (like those of Sri Lalgudi Jayaraman) are moving away from this theme.
Last edited by mohan on 15 Apr 2009, 06:41, edited 1 time in total.
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ardhanariswar
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The pada varnam has more words in each line. Tana varnams don't which allow the singer to focus more on the sangeetham aspect and variations rather than getting a jumble of words in your mouth.
Content wise tana varnams don't say much and are bhakthi oriented. Pada varnams are mostly lyrical as Mohan said and often srigaram based. They're more danceable since there are more words, and thus more hands. There are more opportunities to do stories and such and it doesn't get overdone as each line is repeated over and over again.
Content wise tana varnams don't say much and are bhakthi oriented. Pada varnams are mostly lyrical as Mohan said and often srigaram based. They're more danceable since there are more words, and thus more hands. There are more opportunities to do stories and such and it doesn't get overdone as each line is repeated over and over again.
