Nattai Ragam - Arohana, Avarohana and the contradiction

[suma]

Can any learned rasika please explain the contraversy or discussion (different school of thoughts) about the use of "da" as an anya swaram in nattai

question 1 - is "da" even there in the arohana and avarohana or not
question 2 - I think it is there as I have heard senior artists estabhised in the field use it, if so why does it not appear in common sites when they describe the arohana and avarohana.

Any knowledge shared on this will be highly appreciated. All schools of thought are welcome, just for learning.

[bilahari]

Suma, as far as I know, dhaivatham appears in the arohanam (I was taught SRGMPDNS), but not avarohanam (SNPMGRS or SNPMGMRS). Many major compositions, like Mahaganapathim and Jagadanandakaraka, however, do not use D, so I think it's left out by some people. I may well be oversimplifying, though.

[suma]

thanks bilahari

[Karnatika]

I had the same question so I decided to investigate if there was a post on this topic already.

The one composition I came across recently is Koteeswara Iyer's 'danti maa mukha' in praise of Lord Ganesha, in which the composer picks up the 'daivatam' in the 3rd sangati or so, and then incorporates again within a stellar chitta swaram as well. The daivatam does introduce a dissonant effect and I've read elsewhere that that is the reason it was eschewed by composers (trinity, et al) - probably a trend kicked off by the magnum opus of the ghana rAga pancharatnam - jagadAnandakA

[vainika]

In my understanding the tyAgarAja kRtis do not have D3 but muttusvAmi dIkshitar kRtis do.

D3 usage in nATa songs of other composers varies from no-D3 to occasional-D3 to always-D3.

I've also listened to old nAgasvaram recordings where even the R3 usage is muted, and the rAga approximates gambhIra nATa with an occasional R3 thrown in.

There are comparable usage differences in other rAgas too, such as avarOhaNa N3 in Arabhi, which is absent in T and present in MD.

[arunk]

Also no D2 in Sriraga.

vainika - I have heard that thillasthanam version does use D3 for jagadAnandakArakA..

Arun

[hariniraghavan]

It is said that the old paatanharas did not have D at all and the scale was SGMPNS - SNPMRS. How and when D3 was introduced is not known (requires some research). But in Sampradaya Pradarshini there is use of D3 in Venkatamakhi's Lakshya
geeta, Subbrama Dikshitar's Varnam as well as in MD's Swaminathaparipalaya and Pavanatmaja. But it has been used just once or twice throughout the compositions. P,M and R are used extensively.
T.K. GovindaRao's book has usage of D in Thyagaraja's Jaganandakaraka @'gaganadhipasath....-swara is NNS,PdNS.... Its not used anywhere else in the kriti.
May be D3 in Natta will be used only on rare occasions.
Harini.

[rbharath]

As pointed out, i have heard versions of both mahAgaNapatim and jagadAnandakArakA with the D3 right in the pallavi (albeit not in the first sangati though)

i think it is more to do with the school.

[ramakriya]

Also no D2 in Sriraga.

vainika - I have heard that thillasthanam version does use D3 for jagadAnandakArakA..

Arun

For example Chittibabu's rendition of Jagadananda kAraka, has a very strong presence of D3 in many sangatis.