Lyrics to kAlai tUkki - yadukula kAmbhOji

Place to go if you want to ask someone identify raga, tala, composer etc or ask for sāhitya (lyrics) or notations or translations.
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seldnplan
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Joined: 29 Oct 2005, 20:38

Post by seldnplan »

Does anyone have them?

Thanks!

vasanthakokilam
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Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 00:01

Post by vasanthakokilam »

http://www.geocities.com/promiserani2/c1228.html

This is one of my most favorite songs, especially the version by MSS. Just divine and full of the right bhavam. This does not show up in concert songs list that frequently let alone in commercial recordings. The other one I have heard from Sudha, that had all that orchestrations ( they all sound the same, don't they? ) which is not my cup of tea.

I think there are more charanams than what the above link provides.

kmrasika
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Joined: 10 Mar 2006, 07:55

Post by kmrasika »

One more rendition:
By Mdm. Bhushany Kalyanaraman(Item#6): http://www.sangeethapriya.org/Downloads ... ronto.html

seldnplan
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Joined: 29 Oct 2005, 20:38

Post by seldnplan »

thank you, vk!

i don't know how i missed the karnatik page; i had a vague memory of having looked everywhere, but clearly i hadn't.

there's a rendition by sanjay in a new charsur CD called 'Tamil Moovar', which is where i heard this for the first time. the album's available on emusic.com, btw, which also has a lot of other charsur releases, and a pretty decent carnatic selection in general. the link is: http://www.emusic.com/album/Sanjay-Subr ... 08507.html.

there's something very serenely evocative about janyarAgAs of harikAmbhOji sung in cauka kAlam: nATakurinji, nArayaNagauLa, yadukula kAmbhOji...this song's quickly become a favorite of mine, too.

speaking of ugly orchestrations, i bought this CD of lAlguDi thillAnAs the other day that was full of such crap, but thankfully it was, for no discernible reason, just tacked on to the beginning and end of what were resolutely classical renditions. it took about 30 min of work with goldwave to get rid of it. i still don't get the point of having it in the first place, though.

vasanthakokilam
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Post by vasanthakokilam »

seldnplan, I remember hearing the same CD of Lalgudi thillanas that you did. It is very rare that the orchestrations add to the total experience. For some reason, quite a few of Sudha's commercial releases have that. May be it is a selling point, who knows. For some folkish tunes that is CM based, such orchestrations seem to fit better, if done tastefully.

There is some thing about this song 'kAlai tUkki' ( words and YKK ) that gets deep in to me everytime I hear that song. It may just be the simplicity and straightforwardness of the lyrics. That arohana YKK prayogam for the second ocuurrence of ''Deivame' in the pallavi sends chills through me without fail if sung well with bhavam. I will have to listen to that Sanjay's version you mention. I am sure he has done full justice to this song.

kmrasika, thanks for the link to Smt. Bhushany's concert recording. She has sung that nicely as well ( a bit strained at some places notwithstanding )

Lakshman or Meena will have to provide the lyrics for the remaining charanams.

meena
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Joined: 21 May 2005, 13:57

Post by meena »

2: nandi maddaLam tUkka nradar yAzh tUkka tom tOm enraiyanrALam sutiyoDu tUkka
cintai magizhndu vAnOr shiram mEl karam tUkka mundum valiyuDaiya muyalaghan unnai tUkka
3: kumbha maNTapattai tUkka koDunkai kumbhattai tUkka paim porshuvar kongai pAdattai tUkka
embi bhArattai virATTidaya tAmarai tUkka shem ponnambalattilE terkku mukhamAi oru

grsastrigal
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Joined: 27 Dec 2006, 10:52

Post by grsastrigal »

meena- I don't understand the meaning of (3). In Number 2, I heard like- cintai magizhndu vanOr -"senni" mEl... Your version is also correct. "siram (not shiram) mel karam....". Your version is better.

Could you give me the meaning of (3).

meena
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Joined: 21 May 2005, 13:57

Post by meena »

sorry i cannot help u with the meaning.

vgvindan
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Joined: 13 Aug 2006, 10:51

Post by vgvindan »

grs,
Please visit http://trc108umablogspotcom.blogspot.co ... -post.html for meanings in Tamil.

O Lord Nataraja who dances by lifting your (one ) leg!
Please give a hand and uplift me too.

O Lord Nataraja who bore Lord Murugan (subrahmanya) who wields vEl (spear)!
O Lord dancing at the golden theatre (ponnambalam) in the gloriously famed town of cidambaraM (tillai)!

Holding in your beautiful hands, the deer, the axe,
holding the beautiful lady (pArvati) who is half of your day in and day out, and
also holding ganga and digit of the moon on the black matted locks,
with all these, lifting one leg - which the Two - brahmA and vishNu - could not find even after searching,
O Lord Nataraja who dances...!

As Nandi harmoniously plays his maddaLa,
As Narada synchronisingly plays his vINA,
As my 'tOM tOM' raises along with tALa and sruti,
As the celestials, exultingly lift hands above their heads (in salutation),
As the muyalagan (demon under your feet), feeling the pain, lifts You,
O Lord Nataraja who dances ....

PS : RS' observation about 'vEl' incorporated
Last edited by vgvindan on 19 Dec 2007, 10:58, edited 1 time in total.

rshankar
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Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:26

Post by rshankar »

Meena:
I have made some corrections to C2.

Smt. MSS and Smts. Ranjani and Gayatri have sung only the first caraNam. Smt. Sudha Raghunathan has rendered the first and second in the Amutham Inc. CD, Dances of Siva. I have not heard the 3rd caraNam before.

In this composition, Sri Marimuttu Pillai describes the dance of the Lord of cidambaram - specifically the pose where he raises one leg above his head. He has also used the word tUkki to convey all of it's possible meanings, ranging from lift, to up-lift!

kAlai tUkki ninDru
taaLam: aadi
Composer: Marimuttu PiLLai
Language: Tamil

pallavi

kAlai tUkki ninru ADum deivamE ennai kai tUkki AL deivamE
(kAlai)

Oh Lord (deivamE) who dances (ADum) with one leg (kAl) raised (tUkki ninru)[1]! You are the one (deivam - god) who protects me (AL) by lifting (tUkki) me (ennai) up by my hands (kai).

anupallavi

vElai tUkkum piLLai tanai peTra deivamE minnum pugazhSEr tillai ponnambalattil oru
(kAlai)

As if it were not enough to be renowned as father who begot (peTra) the valiant son (piLLai) who wields (tUkkum) the mighty spear (vEl), you added (SEr) to your lustrous (minnum) fame (pugazh) by dancing with one leg raised above your ears in the golden (pon) hall (ambalam) in cidambaram (tillai).

C:1
Senkaiyil mAn tUkki Sivanda mazhuvum tUkki angattil oru peNNai anudinamum tUkki
gangaiyai tingaLai kaditta SaDaiyil tUkki ingum angumAi tEDi iruvar kaNDariyAda
(kAlai)

Holding (tUkka) a deer (mAn) in one of your soft/red (Sen) hands (kaiyil) and a reddened (Sivanda) battle axe (mazhu) in another, while bearing (tUkki) a (oru) woman/maiden (peNNai) in one half of your body (angam literally means a part) every day (anu dinamum), and wearing (tUkki) the ganges (gangai) and the moon (tingaL) in your locks (SaDaiyil) piled high (kaditta) atop your head, you are the lord that brahmA and vishNU (iruvarum) could not see you/understand you in totality (kanDu = see, ariyA = could not understand) even after searching for you here/in the downward direction (ingum), there/in the upward direction (angum) and everywhere[2].

C:2
nandi maddaLam tUkka nAradar yAzh tUkka tom tOm enru aiyan tALam SrutiyoDu tUkka
cintai magizhndu vAnOr Siram mEl karam tUkka mundum valiyuDaiya muyalagan unnai tUkka
(kAlai)

And as you dance with one leg raised and the weight of your powerful (mundum vali uDaiya) body resting on the back of the dwarf (muyalagan)[3], your trusted servant and ride, nandI keeps rhythm by wielding (tUkka) the maddaLam (a drum)[4], the celestial sage nArada plays on a stringed instrument like the lyre (yAzh), and brahma (ayyan) conducts the dance with his cymbals (tALam) that have perfectly aligned pitch (Sruti ODu). The celestial beings who witness this awe-inspiring sight raise (tUkki) their hands (karam) above (mEl) their heads (Siram) as their joy knows no bounds (cintai - mind/thoughts, magizhndu - exhilarated with joy).

[1] This is a symbolism that appears in other compositions of Sri Marimuttu Pillai - in Edukkittanai mODi - he asks - ATTukAl eduttu ambalattil ninrIr adanai SonnEnO? I think this refers to the myth where pArvati once challenges Siva to a dance competition. She tells him that she will be able to adapt the moves that he makes in his tAnDava nritya in lAsya, and prove that she is his equal. The lord of dance is dismayed to see that she is able to keep up with him, so he lifts up his leg right above his head (and in the process, uses his toes to re-position his ear ring that had come loose with the vigorous dancing), and for reasons of modesty, pArvati is not able demonstrate that move, and so, Siva is declared the winner.

[2] This refers to the story when once Siva asks brahmA and vishNU to describe him from head to toe as he assumes his viSwarUpa. They decide to divide the task - vishNU as the boar, varAha decides to bore through the earth and look for Siva's feet, while brahma decides to fly on the swan towards Siva's head. After exhausting himself, vishNu returns and accepts defeat, not having found Siva's feet. brahmA in the meantime comes back and gives a description of Siva's head - Siva is amazed and quizzes him further. From brahmA's answers it becomes clear that brahmA could not have seen Siva's head on his own. When taxed with this, he confesses that he got the information second-hand from a flower that had fallen from SivA's head and was plunging down. For his lie/deception, brahma is cursed to never be worshipped by mortals. (Sri P. Sivan in his vAcaspati composition, parAtpara, refers to this when he says - 'ari ayanum kANA ariya jyOti, Adi antam illA parama nAdi'

[3] muyalagan is an evil dwarf that was created by the rogue priests in the dAruka vana (tillai) to fight Siva who had come to teach them a lesson. He breaks the back of the ghoul by dancing on it - and as he did so, he also destroyed the priests' ignorance and ego.

[4] In the visual imagery that Sri GKB invokes in his khamAs composition - iDadu padam tUkki ADum, it is vishNu who plays the drum - 'dimi taka tarikiTatOm ena tirumAl maddaLamadira'

And as I understand it, tillai/cidambaram etc also serve as the composer's mudra.

If someone can direct me to a recording where the third caraNam has been rendered, I can try and fix some of the errors. Or, if we wait for a couple of days, Rajani will be able to chip in and correct it.

vgvindan
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Post by vgvindan »

rs,
Sorry, Our posts crossed

rshankar
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Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:26

Post by rshankar »

VGV,
The vEl is not a trident, is it? I thought the trident is the triSUla....

vgvindan
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Joined: 13 Aug 2006, 10:51

Post by vgvindan »

I have made a few corrections - as per the web site cited -

nandi maddaLam tUkka nAradar yAzh tUkka tom tOm enru en tALam SrutiyoDu tUkka
cintai magizhndu vAnOr senni mEl karam tUkka mundum valiyuDaiya muyalagan unnai tUkka
(kAlai)

en tALam - here the vAggEyakkAra refers to himself and his song.
senni - head
Last edited by vgvindan on 19 Dec 2007, 09:49, edited 1 time in total.

vgvindan
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Post by vgvindan »

rs,
You are right, it is spear. I am amending.
Thanks for pointing out

grsastrigal
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Post by grsastrigal »

I don't think the meaning of Para (3) (by Meena) is answered in any of your post. Para 3 is not found in Tamil version also.

Is "en talam" right ?. Of course, the same is found in Tamil version. Bombay Sisters sings like this "enraiyyan sruti talamudan tukka".

meena
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Post by meena »

shankar
thanks for the corrections, I enjoy the notes that u provide .

vasanthakokilam
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Post by vasanthakokilam »

Ravi: MSS, in the 78 RPM version, sings both the first and second charanams. In that 2nd charanam her flourish for a full thala cycle after 'cintai magizhndu vAnOr' just defies description. Just divine.

She sings the beginning of the second charanam as 'C2: nandi maddaLam kotta' .

vgvindan
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Joined: 13 Aug 2006, 10:51

Post by vgvindan »

grs,
I have already mentioned about 'en tALam'; as per the web site cited by me, it is correct.

Regarding 3rd charanam, the same is not found in that website. I shall try to search for the same; the wordings of this charanam needs to be verified.

cienu
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Post by cienu »

vasanthakokilam wrote:Ravi: MSS, in the 78 RPM version, sings both the first and second charanams. In that 2nd charanam her flourish for a full thala cycle after 'cintai magizhndu vAnOr' just defies description. Just divine.

She sings the beginning of the second charanam as 'C2: nandi maddaLam kotta' .
Kalai Thooki was one of the songs for which Radha used to dance with MS singing the entire song including the Charanam upto nandi maddaLam.
Last edited by cienu on 19 Dec 2007, 16:50, edited 1 time in total.

rshankar
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Post by rshankar »

grsastrigal wrote:Is "en talam" right ?. Of course, the same is found in Tamil version. Bombay Sisters sings like this "enraiyyan sruti talamudan tukka".
I heard it as aiyyan as well, and hence the translation as brahmA. I wonder if a composer as self-effacing as Sri Marimuttu Pillai would refer to himself as providing the music/tALam etc for the lord to dance to. Anyway, both en and ayyan seem appropriate both lyrically as well as musically!

I started to translate wondering if that execise would lead to the meaning of C3, but alas, it did not go that way! So you are correct that neither of us (VGV or I) give the meaning of C3 that you requested. The karnatik.com site did not have the lyrics to C2 either - hope someone will add it to that site.

rshankar
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Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:26

Post by rshankar »

meena wrote:shankar
thanks for the corrections, I enjoy the notes that u provide .
Meena: You are very welcome!

prashant
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Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 09:01

Post by prashant »

Could someone share a [non-commercial, of course] recording of Smt. MSS singing this?

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