Thyagaraja aaradhana at Thiruvaiyur --- 2008

sarigama · Post by **sarigama** » 07 Jan 2008, 19:09

does anyone know the concerts schedule ? (that is going to held during 3rd week of Jan-2008)

Sarigama

vageyakara · Post by **vageyakara** » 07 Jan 2008, 19:17

The Pancatranaa singing will take place on the 27th instant..And other schedule will be posted by the thyaga Brahmma Mahotsavsa committee.

S.Govindaswamy · Post by **S.Govindaswamy** » 26 Jan 2008, 15:09

Re : tyAgarAjAâ€™s pancaratna kritis
Many would have seen the telecast today morning in Jaya TV.
The compere made the following comments regarding the kriti jagadAnandakAraka.
Quote;
Originally tyAgarAja composed only 8 caraNAs containing less than 108 nAmAs (epithets). His disciples pointed out the shortage and as per their request he composed 2 more caraNas thereby making this song an aSTotram with 108 nAmAs.
Unquote;

I wonder how authentic the above episode is. We Indians are very imaginative and capable of creating myths. Accoring the anecdotes associated with the songs mundu venaka iru prakkala toDai, teratIyagarAdA , nAjIvAdhAa etc could be also myths.

Mr V.Govindan in his blog spot covering all the kritis of tyAgarAjA has numbered the epithets as 88.

The compere also mentioned the the mudrA of tyAgarAja occurs thrice in this kriti. ( I am not sure whether she mentioned that only in this kriti the mudra occurs more than once). If so I have to point out that in the other pancaratnam endarO mahAnubhAvulu the mudrA occurs twice. There could be a few more.

Re : duDukugala
In the last caraNam satulakai (for wives) has been used. Does tyAgarAjA approve polygamy.
Govindaswamy

chalanata · Post by **chalanata** » 27 Jan 2008, 15:04

S.Govindaswamy wrote:Re : duDukugala
In the last caraNam satulakai (for wives) has been used. Does tyAgarAjA approve polygamy.
Govindaswamy

I think Thyagaraja had two wives and married sisters. Experts can clarify.

chalanata · Post by **chalanata** » 27 Jan 2008, 15:05

Same is the case with Annamacharya

baboosh · Post by **baboosh** » 27 Jan 2008, 16:19

S.Govindaswamy wrote:Re : tyAgarAjAâ€™s pancaratna kritis
Many would have seen the telecast today morning in Jaya TV.
The compere made the following comments regarding the kriti jagadAnandakAraka.
Quote;
Originally tyAgarAja composed only 8 caraNAs containing less than 108 nAmAs (epithets). His disciples pointed out the shortage and as per their request he composed 2 more caraNas thereby making this song an aSTotram with 108 nAmAs.
Unquote;

I wonder how authentic the above episode is. We Indians are very imaginative and capable of creating myths. Accoring the anecdotes associated with the songs mundu venaka iru prakkala toDai, teratIyagarAdA , nAjIvAdhAa etc could be also myths.

Mr V.Govindan in his blog spot covering all the kritis of tyAgarAjA has numbered the epithets as 88.

The compere also mentioned the the mudrA of tyAgarAja occurs thrice in this kriti. ( I am not sure whether she mentioned that only in this kriti the mudra occurs more than once). If so I have to point out that in the other pancaratnam endarO mahAnubhAvulu the mudrA occurs twice. There could be a few more.

Re : duDukugala
In the last caraNam satulakai (for wives) has been used. Does tyAgarAjA approve polygamy.

The fact That Sri.Thyagarajasvamigal had two wifes is to seen in the light of social conditions prevailing in those days.When the first wife does not beget progeny within a resonable time,people had the habit of marrying another lady for begetting issues.
Govindaswamy

vgvindan · Post by **vgvindan** » 27 Jan 2008, 17:04

In the last caraNam satulakai (for wives) has been used. Does tyAgarAjA approve polygamy.

In the same caraNa he also says 'sutulakai' - 'for the sake of sons' or 'for the sake of children'. To the best of my knowledge he had only a (one) daughter. Such plural usages are not uncommon in his kritis. Those knowledgeable may please clarify about Thyagaraja's family.

The kRti 'duDukugala' comes in the category of Atma garhaNa - self-depreciation - one of the forms bhakti takes. For more information on Atma garhaNa - http://www.ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archi ... /0112.html

A comprehensive message of Sri Thyagaraja in the kRti 'endukO bAga' - rAga mOhanaM - may be viewed at http://sahityam.net/wiki/Enduko_Baaga

Mahamkalisai · Post by **Mahamkalisai** » 27 Jan 2008, 20:09

Dear members,

As we have all seen in TV telecast there were hardly/very few singers of younger generation performing Pancha Ratna Kritis.
I am sorry to state that all those CM artists making a living outof singing Tyagaraja's compositions and getting applauds never bothers to attend the Tiruvaiaru Festival. They are participating their own local festivals for gaining cheap attention and/or making money on such a great day ( my own experiences).

As son of a true CM Guru Late Sri Mahamkali Krishna Murty Garu a Veena Vidvan of yester years I used to hear his versions of Tyagaraj Aradhana at Tiruvaiaru as he used to go there every year without fail. He even used to make small notes of everybody's presentations, notes, etc. Apartfrom that he used to perforn the aaradhana in our house on every Telugu New year day. I, after many years of his death I realised what I was missing and started a Sabha in the name of " Swaravallari " at Nagpur ( where I was situated) and continued the tradition for 20 years. Now I am 55 Yrs. old but..,,

never heard/read in any forum or form discussing about tyagaraja having two wives.

I feel we are entering totally into a different root on life and works of Tyagaraja just by taking a clue " Satulakai".

My opinion is, it is a general criticism on the living standards of those days.

I request all our forum members, please, please donot insult Tyagaiah if we cannot respect him properly.

shankarabharanam · Post by **shankarabharanam** » 27 Jan 2008, 21:48

After few discussions in sangeethapriya, i think i am lucky enough to have missed the podhigai telecast..reason...myself engrossed performing pancharatnam at shanmukhananda...i think its upto the artist...i think i play it for mana tripthi..homage to a great saint...

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 28 Jan 2008, 08:11

mahamkalisai, Sankarabharanam,
Appreciate your observation of the saint's day by celebrating it with Sraddha . After all, the songs poured out of him most of the time without anyone being around to applaud him! Imagine his humble environs and being--as against the way his compositions are showcased today.
As for the young musicians not attending the festival in TiruvaiyRu, I wouldn't say that it is for selfish reasons in every case. Some are as disenchanted as you and I are about the quality of the celebration. while some musicians attend the ArAdhanA merely for being seen (and heard!!). The worldliness of it all puts them off as well. This is not new, as several musicians in the past have refrained from attending, if not for the commercialism of today, for petty politics, I suppose.
It is true. The aura is still very much there, but as ramakriya wrote, choose a time to visit the shrine when no one is around...

S.Govindaswamy · Post by **S.Govindaswamy** » 28 Jan 2008, 11:54

In DD Podigai telecast today (27.1.08) Smt Sowmya sang shyAmA sAstriâ€™s Anandabhairavi song â€˜himAcala tanaya brOva rAvEâ€™ as below.

In the beginning the first line of pallavi was sung as
himAcala tanaya brOvarA three or four times. BrOva and rA were combined and sung, making it brOvara. â€œrAâ€

grsastrigal · Post by **grsastrigal** » 28 Jan 2008, 12:14

I fully agree with Mahamkali. Pranaams to you for doing a great service to CM so far. Let us not talk about T's personal life..please.
It is sad that all the present stalwarts never perform in Tiruvaiyaru and attend all Jaya TVs and other Chennai programmes on "pancharathnams}. Some do not even attend this also... This is a different Question !!!
Whatever the reasons may be. All of them must go on this day and perform. There is no ifs and buts. I heard "politics" ,sanitation facility, proper room facilities and over crowded, individual attention was not given were among
some of the reasons cited for not going. It is only excuse. When artists talk about "no recording please", they should not be allowed to sing T's kritis, if they don't go to Tiruvaiyaru on this D day.

thanjavooran · Post by **thanjavooran** » 28 Jan 2008, 12:39

." I heard "politics" ,sanitation facility, proper room facilities and over crowded, individual attention was not given were among some of the reasons cited for not going. It is only excuse. "

Yes . I fully agree. The above statement was the answer given to me also by a leading purcussion artiste when i casually mentioned his absence in the aradhana every year . Besides it is also evident that all muscians are not treated equally.

jnaanasoonyam · Post by **jnaanasoonyam** » 28 Jan 2008, 13:02

[quote="S.Govindaswamy"]In DD Podigai telecast today (27.1.08) Smt Sowmya sang shyAmA sAstriâ€™s Anandabhairavi song â€˜himAcala tanaya brOva rAvEâ€™ as below. In the beginning the first line of pallavi was sung as
himAcala tanaya brOvarA three or four times. BrOva and rA were combined and sung, making it brOvara. â€œrAâ€

grsastrigal · Post by **grsastrigal** » 28 Jan 2008, 14:56

How come Sowmya's SS kriti comes in this thread ?

Current day artists, by not going to Tirvaiyaru on the DDay, are creating a bad precedent to their next generation..

vgvindan · Post by **vgvindan** » 28 Jan 2008, 17:10

At 18 years of age, Tyagaraja married Parvati, who died when he was only 23. He then married Kamalamba (sister of Parvati). They had a daughter named Sitamahalakshmi, through whom he had a grandson, who died progeniless. Thus we do not have any descendant of Saint Tyagaraja.

http://www.suraurtaal.com/forums/sri-tyagaraja-vt7.html

mahavishnu · Post by **mahavishnu** » 28 Jan 2008, 18:32

Jnaanasoonyam, I agree with you 100%.
I just checked with recorrdings of Sowmya and Dr. S Ramanathan singing this and they sing the whole line before pausing to say ambA...

Anyway, why is this being discussed on this thread? Is it because podhigai aired it yesterday?

chalanata · Post by **chalanata** » 28 Jan 2008, 19:40

VGV,
thanks for your authentic (as always) clarification.

Balachandran · Post by **Balachandran** » 28 Jan 2008, 19:54

Respected music lovers,

I am Balachandran from NIT Calicut, I want tio know about the concert schedule of Thyagaraja aradhana schedule in Thrruvaiyaru but I think the celebrations are over could you pls infom me the same in the next year.

kadambam · Post by **kadambam** » 28 Jan 2008, 21:01

grsastrigal wrote:How come Sowmya's SS kriti comes in this thread ?

Current day artists, by not going to Tirvaiyaru on the DDay, are creating a bad precedent to their next generation..

I disagree.. Tiruvayar Aradhana in the last many years has become a display of ego and glamour, something that Shri.Tyagaraja was totally against. It is disgusting to see the artists keep turning towards the t.v. cameras to see if they are being captured. In fact, the best service that artists could do is to totally boycott the aradhana, until a proper structure & order is brought into the whole event. It is not impossible nowadays, with the aid of communication technology, to collaborate effectively and pay a fitting tribute to the saint.

shankarabharanam · Post by **shankarabharanam** » 28 Jan 2008, 22:03

I wouldn't ask for boycott. I have been watching the Aradhana in television as a young girl. For many who can't go to the Samadhi on that day, surely get an opportunity to see him on television. What is questionable is how many artist are there to be on television. One more point to note..It's sad that one more year where i didn't see any vainika.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 28 Jan 2008, 22:51

I have a feeling our vainika may not oblige!

S.Govindaswamy · Post by **S.Govindaswamy** » 28 Jan 2008, 23:44

I apologise to all for my blunder in the wording of the pallavi of the kriti. I was thinking about the wrong ending with â€˜rAâ€™ instead of â€˜rAvEâ€™ambA. While posting mycomments I did not refer to the kriti. At the back of my mind was the wrong singing, even by senior vidwAns of the famous harikAmbhOji kriti â€˜rAma nannu brOva rAvEmokO. brOva + rAvu + EmokO becomes brOvarA + vEmokO. The last word becomes meaninglesss.
In this kriti himAcala tanaya brOcuTakidi maJci samayamu rAvE. Smt SowmyA stopped with samayamurA few times before making it samayamu +rAvE. By splitting like this thelast syllable â€˜vEâ€™ becomes meaningless.

Govindaswamy

vainika · Post by **vainika** » 29 Jan 2008, 00:07

arasi wrote:I have a feeling our vainika may not oblige!

well, I don't think veenas are encouraged at Tiruvaiyyaru these days. Something about space constraints, I hear.

vgvindan · Post by **vgvindan** » 29 Jan 2008, 00:31

space constraints

come to think of it that Dikshitar and Thyagaraja were Vainikas themselves....
No space .... in the minds of the organisers?

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 29 Jan 2008, 10:47

Soon we will have no space for Thyagaraja himself...his house has already been brought down...as has his music....

shankarabharanam · Post by **shankarabharanam** » 29 Jan 2008, 11:52

Well i believe no one can stop you from rendering or playing the pancharatna on that day..Well if they can accommodate thousands of music lovers from all over the world then the national instrument can find a place too...It also depends on what arasi not many vainikas are ready to oblige...Have seen revathy krishna on few occassions.. Myself and few of my friends have plans to go there next year...Hope we are allowed to play...Its been a dream for me to play there in front of the Samadhi...

cienu · Post by **cienu** » 29 Jan 2008, 12:19

Whenever I visit my ancestral place which is just 2 kms from Tiruvaiyaru , I make it a point to visit the samadhi. The atmosphere is so silent and serene. It was magical to see the Cauvery in full flow. I suggest that you play the Veena on such days at the Samadhi. I can assure you the mood is electric!

Ofcourse I have been to a few aradhanai's and you wonder if this was the same place you had visited some months back!

Along with crowds there is commercialism. That is a fact of life we have to accept and keep moving on. Tiruvaiyaru is no different.

Mahamkalisai · Post by **Mahamkalisai** » 29 Jan 2008, 22:00

I had a chance to go toTiruvaiaru in 1985 lucklily after the Aaradhana and I put down my observations for all of you to judge
yourselves.

It was sometime in the month of May, when I reached Tiruvaiaru at about 9.30 am, I enquired with a flowershop owner the route
to the T' Samadhi. He looked down to me as if I am a Fool and gave some directions. As I could not fully follow tamil words,
I proceded enquiring every persons worth contacting. At last I reached the place, and to my surprise I was shocked to see the
condition of the shrine. One young boy was attending the shrine pooja. After offering my prayers I enquired about a photo and
a brass ghatam ( Binde for storing water) closed with a cloth for alms. He said the photo was of Bengalore Nagaratnambal in
whose name a trust was made ( May be by Dr Balamurali if I recollect correctly).

I asked him why Dr. Balamurali was not seen during festival, he said it was only politics. A lot of amount was used tobe collected for the aradhana festival and once the festival is over everybody ( the organising comity ) vanishes into thin air coming only for the
next aradhana and hence the shrine was in a dilapidated condition.

He further added that Dr. Balamurali used to visit the shrine whenever he wished, perform the abhishekam and pooja, sing to his hearts content and go. He told somany other things like country liquor shops, artists sitting during the festival duly drunk etc.
I hope one should personally visit to see those things to believe. I never had the opportunity, but , had I found those things
that would have mared the sanctity I have (still) on the aaradhana festival.

grsastrigal · Post by **grsastrigal** » 02 Feb 2008, 13:36

I was talking to Sri.Sirkazhi Jayaraman, disciple of Satur AGS and renowned muscian about this Tiruvaiyaru. He shockingly told me that this time Drums Sivamani performed this year in Tiruvaiaru. Mahanadhi Shobana and Mahathi are star (!!!!) attraction and all the other people are given lesser treatement. UKS and Drums Sivamani performed a Jugalbandhi (!!!!!) in Tiruvaiyaru this time. Any other attendees this year can comment on this. If this is true..........my comment is- Besh Besh !!!! He was singing One Ratnam in Sivamani's beats (imaginary). Very interesting....

ramakriya · Post by **ramakriya** » 02 Feb 2008, 23:20

chalanata wrote:
S.Govindaswamy wrote:Re : duDukugala
In the last caraNam satulakai (for wives) has been used. Does tyAgarAjA approve polygamy.
Govindaswamy
I think Thyagaraja had two wives and married sisters. Experts can clarify.

AFAIK, all life histories of Tyagaraja that I have read say that he married the second time after his first wife passed away. The second wife was first wife's sister.

-Ramakriya