Kutrala Kuravanji

vasya10 · Post by **vasya10** » 07 Feb 2007, 22:23

One of the recent (200 yrs ago) poetry in Tamil is the Kutrala Kuravanji of Thirukuda Rasappa Kavirayar.

I was browsing and found this online here http://www.tamil.net/projectmadurai/pub ... kurava.pdf

I was surprised to see several of the poems were already set to a raga /tala ( I used to think they were all of kavadi chindu format), and most of them are major ragas/talas. Im not sure if they were originally tuned by the poet himself or if they were tuned later. Anybody knows about it ?

Also , does anyone know if there are attempts to sing in carnatic concerts as viruttams ?

Tidbit: One of the poems "Indirayo ival sundariyo" appears in the tamil film "Kadalan".

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 07 Feb 2007, 22:34

kuTRALa kuravanjI is just one of the several kuravanjIs...the kuravanjI genre is usually a group production - Smt. Rukmini Devi Arundale came across it when she was looking to expand the horizons of bharatanATyam from solo mArgam to group dances for kalAkshEtra. typically, the songs describing the princess and her sakhI are usually in chaste carnatic rAgas, and more folksy tunes are used for the gypsy (singI and her husband singA).
Most kuravanjIs revolve around murugan/local king, but Kavi Kunjara Bharati (Kotishwara Iyer's grandfather) composed one with a vaiSNavaite theme. KuravanjIs are mainly in tamizh, but there are compositions from this genre in Marathi and even Gujrati.

drshrikaanth · Post by **drshrikaanth** » 07 Feb 2007, 22:52

rshankar wrote:kuravanjIs are mainly in tamizh, but there are compositions from this genre in Marathi and even Gujrati.

There are koravanjis in kannaDa as well. IIRC vAdirAjaru has composed in this genre. The actual structure may be different though the theme is the same.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 07 Feb 2007, 22:56

DRS,
What are they called in kannaDa?

drshrikaanth · Post by **drshrikaanth** » 07 Feb 2007, 23:01

koravanji nATaka

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 07 Feb 2007, 23:03

Does vanjI mean girl/woman in kannaDa as well?

drshrikaanth · Post by **drshrikaanth** » 07 Feb 2007, 23:07

vanji is not used independenty to mean woman in kannaDa (Within available recorded history that is) AFAIK. It is used in combination in koravanji.

drshrikaanth · Post by **drshrikaanth** » 07 Feb 2007, 23:10

korava/koRava is the male counterpart and is used to refer to males of the basket/mat weaving community who are also famed for dancing, singing and fortune-telling (kaNi hELuvudu). koravanji/koRavanji is the female.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 07 Feb 2007, 23:13

OK...
In tamizh I think it means a woman (vanji/mAdu) from the korava (gypsy) community.
In the kuravanjIs I have seen, when the gypsy soothsayer enters the stage, the pAtra pravESa daru that is used is usually a variation of: 'vanji vandAL, kura vanji vandAL'

drshrikaanth · Post by **drshrikaanth** » 07 Feb 2007, 23:26

Actually koravanji is a folk genre in kannaDa too. Some links with references

http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Shrine/3 ... am.html#MG

http://www.karnatakavision.com/karnatak ... a-loka.php

A picture of koravanji

http://www.kamat.org/picture.asp?Name=7233.jpg

koravanji songs are also caled kaNi songs. On a side note, "koravanji" was the name of a once popuar periodical devoted to humour. The equivalent of Punch in kannaDa iterature. Started in 1942, I believe it is still published under the name aparanji

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 08 Feb 2007, 02:53

rshankar wrote:OK...
In tamizh I think it means a woman (vanji/mAdu) from the korava (gypsy) community.

vanji is a general term used in general for young adult women. In naLaveNbA the famous quartet describes king naLan's entreaty to the swan thus:

anjal maDavanamE undan aNinaDaiyum
vanji anaiyAr maNinaDaiyum--vinjciyadu
kANap piDittadu kANenRan kaLivanDu
mANap piDittatAr man.

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 08 Feb 2007, 03:02

There is a padam by kavi Kunjcara Bharathi, " ivan yArO skhiyE.." in the rAgam kAmbhOji (made famous by T N Seshagopalan) which is on Vishnu of azhagar koyil near Madurai. I am not sure if this is an independent padam or part of "azhagar kuRavanjci" that KKB composed.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 08 Feb 2007, 04:13

Sub,
I was translating kuravanjI as a vanjI from the korava community...

And ivan yArO sakhiyE is from the azhagar kuravanjI...probably the only kuravanjI on a vaiSNavaite theme.

vasya10 · Post by **vasya10** » 08 Feb 2007, 06:11

On a side note, "koravanji" was the name of a once popuar periodical devoted to humour.

Just found an interesting piece in wikipedia, while browsing around --

"It is said that R K Laxman started his career as a cartooninst for "Koravanji" a Kannada humour monthly, published from Bangalore by Dr.Shivaram."

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 08 Feb 2007, 23:41

pallavi: ivan yAro, aRiyEnE sakiyE, yAdonRum theriyEnE!

a.pallavi: ---- oLi maNi kausthupamum aNindu koNDu
thEril ERiyE srungAra bhavani vArAn! (ivan yArO)

charaNam: pAdaththil oru mangai, pakkaththil oru mangai
SIta thuLabam pUNDA thirumArbil oru mangai
EdukkAi aNindAnO? ivan thAn en perumAnO?
SAdiththu nAn Seida tavap payanAi vandAnO? (ivan)

The blank word, I remember as divil--can't find th meaning for it in my dictionary. Could it be a corrupt form of divya? After all, we have EdukkAi (edaRkAga?)

drshrikaanth · Post by **drshrikaanth** » 08 Feb 2007, 23:47

tiviloLi is how TNS sings it too

drshrikaanth · Post by **drshrikaanth** » 08 Feb 2007, 23:49

I think it is tivaLoLi, tivaL meaning to shine.

Lakshman · Post by **Lakshman** » 08 Feb 2007, 23:50

Here is the complete text.

ivan yArO. rAgA: kAmbhOji. cApu tALA.

P: Ivan yArO sakhiyE ariyEnE sakhi yAdonrum teriyEne sakhiyE
A: tiviloLi maNi kaustubhamum aNindu koNDu tEril EriyE singAra bhavani vArAn
C1: pAdattil oru mangai pakkattil oru mangai shIttaulabam pUNDa tirumArbil oru mangai
EdukkAi aNindAnO ivan tAn emperumAnO sAdittu nAn sheida tava payanAi vandAnO
2: virinda kamalam kATTi vizhi shen kamalam kATTip-porundu bhuvana mUnrum pUtta kamalam kATTik-
karandingu varugirAn karuNai tandaruLgirAn tirundavennedirAga tiru sEvai tarugirAn
3: jyOti muDiyilanga sorNak-kuzhai tulanga tEgu kiNkiNi mEkhalai iDaiyirk-kulungap-
pItAmbarattaip-pOrttip-pEr tirunAmam sAttik-kAdal azhagar pOlE kATSi tandaruL mUrti

(version from K.V.Srinivasa Iyengar's book Dravida Ganam)

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 09 Feb 2007, 00:17

Kavi Kunjara Bharati was the asthAna vidwAn of the courts of rAmnAd and SivagangA. He composed this in the year 1840, and it is supposed to have debuted in SivagangA. This song (ivan yArO sakhiyE) describes the procession of sundararAja perumAL of azhagar kOil. Princess mOhanavallI sees mAlazhagar in procession and falls in love with him. The rest of the story unfolds in the usual kuravanjI fashion. This kuravanjI has an interesting daru where the love-lorn heroine takes the moon to task for tormenting her with his cool rays - this is called the candradUSaNa daru!
Many years ago, Vyjayantimala choreographed this kuravanjI and presented it early in her career. I am sure she made for a very mOhanAnga mOhanavallI!