Difference between a Padam and Javali

DanceKala · Post by **DanceKala** » 08 Nov 2008, 23:45

Can anyone please provide the difference between a padam and a javali?

Thanks
Dancekala

Lakshman · Post by **Lakshman** » 09 Nov 2008, 01:27

Here are the details from karnatik.com

padam - a particular type of musical form or composition (sabhaa gaanam), meant for dance, that brings out the relationship of naayaka-naayaki (hero and heroine) as well as tOzhi (close friend) to tell important truths. The words are written through the mouth of the naayaka, naayaki or tOzhi, explaining the joy, sorrow, and other feelings of love. They indirectly refer to god, since the naayaka is said to represent the "paramaatma" (Great Soul, God), the naayaki represents the jeevaatma (human soul, man), and the tOzhi represents the guru (teacher), so the words of each is thought to help the audience reach mOksha (heaven). In Telugu, padams often have Lord Krishna as the naayaka, while Tamil padams often have Lord Subramanya (Murugan) as their naayaka. Padam has pallavi, anupallavi and at least one caraNam (all with the same pattern of swaras), with few sangatis and with easy prayOgams, while still bringing out the swaroopam of the raaga. Some padams begin from the anupallavi. Performed mainly in dance concerts, they may also be at the end of vocal and instrumental concerts. The first padams in Sanskrit were composed by Vasudeva kavi who adorned the court of king Sarfoji of Tanjore. In dance, padams include more graceful movement than footwork. They require slower-moving grace, expression, and emotion, involving the hand gestures, eyes, and face for expression rather than fancy steps.

jaavali - a musical form (sabhaa gaanam), a type of song that is usually a love story with the characters naayaki (heroine), naayaka (hero), and tOzhi (close friend) and performed as classical dance (bharatanaaTyam). The compositions are often lively in madhyama kaala, expressing love through colloquial words (like the Hindustani ghazal). Some have no anupallavi, but all have pallavi and caraNams. They are composed in common and dEsya raagas

DanceKala · Post by **DanceKala** » 09 Nov 2008, 03:10

Thanks Lji, for the explanation. I wonder sometimes that there isn't a fine line that distinguishes between a padam a javali grammar-wise...in other words, a jathiswaram for instance will have a jathi at the beginning followed by korvais. I have learnt a few items or rather padams that have swarams in them , of course Bhakti oriented rather than sringara. Given my limited knowledge, during one of the discussions with my students, we also observed that some items were named padams or javalis by the people who composed them.

I would like to know your thoughts on this.

Thanks
kala

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 09 Nov 2008, 18:59

I think the term 'padam' is used very loosely these days - the current usage includes pieces that are more typically 'kIrtanams' (the so called 'bhakti-padams'). The original padams were slow moving pieces that did not have scope for nritta, just unadulterated abhinaya. The padams presented distilled and chiseled essence of the rAgabhAva in addition, and were usually a testimonial to the singer's abilities in addition to the emoting skills of the dancer. The Quartette placed it strategically after the strenuous physical demands of the varNam, to allow the dancer to rest a bit. In the 'newer' padams (or more strictly, the kIrtanams), ciTTaswaras and even jatis appear. In arangETrams, I have noticed that if the student is not very strong on abhinaya, the teacher introduces jatIs into these pieces to even out things.

jAvaLIs are earthy, lighter and faster pieces, with not much musical weight to them either. They are just a filler before the dazzling finale of the tillAnA.

DanceKala · Post by **DanceKala** » 09 Nov 2008, 23:36

Thanks Rshankar! That explains why we have swarams and sometimes jathis in padams.
I have learnt a padam -"idai Vida" ( Khandita naayika) in saveri and a Javali- "idene sakhi" in behag (vaaskasajja ), both pretty colloquial in their approach, but I see what you mean by music oriented ones....of course, all the padams I have learnt lean heavily towards raagabhava.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Rasikaas · Post by **Rasikaas** » 13 Nov 2008, 10:24

Here is a You Tube Video of Sowmya explaining the difference between a Padam and Javali.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKoz3F2R ... re=related
The explanation is in Tamil

keerthi · Post by **keerthi** » 13 Nov 2008, 17:04

The word padam was used for all kinds of musical compositions in the past - (Purandara)Dasara Pada, Annamacharya Padam, and of course the padams of Kshetrayya, Sarangapani etc.

If we look at the Sangeetha Sampradaya Pradarshini - The Chronicle of music and musicology from the last century; there are no songs mentioned as 'javalis'. The song 'Innallavale gade' in Paras is listed as a padam in the Pradarshini, but is taught and sung as a javali.

The observation that compositions are classified as pada or javali on the basis if the composer is a wise one and I had reached the same conclusion some time ago.

This is because there are (relatively) fast padams; like Indendu vacchitivi - Suratti; and there are also slow javalis like 'Jaanaro ee moham - Khamach'

DanceKala · Post by **DanceKala** » 16 Nov 2008, 00:26

thank you keerthi and Rasikaas....that was insightful! The video clip of Sowmya was very informative.

Thanks so much!

-Dancekala