18 March 2013

Kshetra Krithis of Muthuswamy Dikshithar

Muthuswamy Dikshithar's birthday falls in the tamil month of Panguni in Krithikai Nakshathram - It happened to be yesterday (March 17, 2012) , and there was a thematic concert of his Kshetra Krithis by Mrs. Seetha Rajan and her disciples, at the Music Academy Mini Hall.
 
The concert was packed with 22 sahityams and chosen with great care and variety.. It simply left me stunned and amazed, as I learnt more and more about the great composer. It was a whirlwind of temple darshanam throughout 3 hours; Brilliant and concise details about each Kshetra, its just a glimpse for now to learn more and more later!
 
What is awesome about the Kshetra Kritis or any of his Kritis is that the compositions are comprehensive - it offers you all the details - about the temple, dieties, pooja, methods or customs followed in the temple, its architecture, in some cases dress and jewellery, temple vimanam, background about the history in addition to the name of ragam and his "Guru guha" mudra!  A capsule in sanskrit - The depth and soulfulness of each composition is so deep that we can learn only as we evolve in music.
 
Muthuswami Dikshitar was born in Thiruvarur and his parents prayed for a child in Vaitheeswarn Kovil and was named after Lord Murugan of the temple called as "Muthukumaraswamy". He had learnt sanskrit, vedas and preliminary musical education from his father; he went on a pilgrimage to Kasi with his guru Chidambaranatha yogi and while bathing in the Ganges river, it is said that Sarawathi herself blessed and gave a Veena to Dikshitar.
 
His guru asked him to visit Tiruttani, and while he was immersed deep in meditation in the temple, an old man appeared before him and dropped a "Karkandu" in his mouth - It was none other than Lord Subramanya himself and the very first krithi he composed was in the  praise of the same deity -  “ShrI nathAdi guruguho jayati” in the  rAgam Mayamalava gaula. Dikhsithar incorporated the phrase  “guruguha” as a  mudra (signature) in all his compositions..

Here's the list of Sahityams sung yesterday:

  1. Sri Nathadi Guruguho Jayati jayati - Ragam Mayamalava Gowla
  2. Narasimha Agacha para-brahma puccha- Ragam Mohanam ( When he visited the famous Yoga Narsimha Swamy temple temple at Katikachalam - what we know as Sholingur today)
  3. Cintaya mA kanda mUla kandaM- -cEtaH SrI sa-umA-skandam in  - Ragam Bhairavi ( He then vists kanchi and composed songs on Ekambareshwarar and Kamakshi; Here, Lord Shiva was worshipped as "Prithvi Lingam" - in the form of earth by Parvathi ; This is one of the Pancha Bhuta Krithis and this composition describes Shiva as "Somaskandar" (along with Parvathy and Skanda) under a mango tree.
  4. Ananda Natana Prakasham - Ragam Kedaram (From Kanchi, Dikshitar visits Chidambaram, enroute Tiruvarur. Chidambaram is the shrine where Lord Nataraja is worshipped as the Lord of space and performs cosmic dance (ananda thandavam) along with his consort Sivagamavalli; He is referred as "Kedara" meaning Kedaranatha and also as the name of this ragam)
  5. Sri Kumara Swaminam - Ragam Asaveri (He visits Vaideeswaran kovil and this song is composed on Muthukumara swamy himself and mentions that he "bows to the lotus like feet of Kumara Swami the Guruguha)
  6. Sankaram abhirāmī manōharam, śaśi dharamm amruta ghatēśvaramm bhajēham- Ragam Manohari (He then visits Thirukadaiyur, where sings about Amruta Gateshwarar and Markandeya, and this song is very similar to his other famous composition "kanchadalayadakshi kamakshi" in Kamala manohari)
  7. DAkSAyaNi abhayAmbikE, varadAbhayahastE namastE - Ragam Thodi  (Next he visits Mayavaram, and this song is a part of 8 Krithis composed in praise of Goddess abhayAmbA)
  8. ShrI bAlasubrahmaNyA agacchAgragaNya ( Ragam Bilahari) - on the Lord of Swamimalai.
  9. Shri Maha Ganapathy Ravathumam, Siddhi vinayagam - Ragam Gaulai (This was composed on Lord Ganesha, who adorns a corner of the Kamalalayam pond, and Muthuswamy Dikshitar used to have a first glimpse of this Pillayar on his daily visits to the temple; Since Lord Ganesha appeared to testify the purity of the gold to Sundarar here he is known as "Mattru Uraitha Pillayar" and is referred in the song as "kamalalaya Thada NivasO" and "suvarNAkarSaNa vighnarAjO "
  10. TyAgarAja mahadhvajArOha - Ragam Shri (This  composition serves as a comprehensive guide to Tiruvarur temple, and gives details about the Vasantothsavam and Rathothsavam – what all to see in a Kshetram, what is the significance, description of temple festivals in great detail - it talks about the pooja methods, darshanam method (pada darshanam)
  11. KamalAmbAM bhajarE rE mAnasa  - (Ragam Kalyani) - (Dikshitar was also a Sri Vidya Upasakar and composed krithis called "Kamalamba Nava Varanams" on the adhi-devatha Kamalamba, consort of Thyagarajaswami of Tiruvarur.These 9 kritis are treasures which embodies the technical brilliance of Dikshitar combined with bhakti, gnAna and vidwat.
  12. Shri Viswanatham Bhajeham - (a master piece of caturdasha rAgamAlika consisting of  14 ragams - shrI, Arabhi, gauri, nATa, gauLa, mOhanam, sAma, lalita, bhairavaM, sAraHNga, shaHNkarAbharaNam, kAmbhOji, dEvakriya, bhUpALaM)
    •  The sequence of fourteen Ragas that appear in this Ragamalika are Sriragam, Arabhi, Gowri, Nata, Gowla, Mohanam, followed by viloma swaras (rendering of swaras in the reverse order of Ragas).
    • The second half contains Sama, Lalita, Bhairavam, Saranga, Sankarabharanam, Kambhoji, Devakriya, Bhoopalam, followed again by viloma swaras, and finally ending in the commencing Raga, Sriragam) -  This composition is in praise of Lord Viswanathar of Kuzhikarai temple (Dakshina Kasi) located near Tiruvarur
  13. shRHNgAra shaktyAyudha dhara sharavaNasya -  -Ragam Rama Manohari (This is composed on Sikkal Singaravelar)
  14.  bRhadIshvarO rakSatu mAm hari - Ragam  gAnasAmavarALi (Dikshitar composed this song for the Lord of Thanjavur temple, Brihadeeswara, on the request of his disciples, the Thanjavur Quatret)
  15. ShrI mAtRbhUtam trishiragri nAtham- Ragam Kannada  (Dikshitar composed this song when he visits Trichy Malaikottai - Shri Thayumanava Swamy and gives the gist of the story of the temple in just a line "vaishya jAti strIvESa dharaNam" -
  16. shrI raHNganAthAya namastE - Ragam Dhanyasi - (This composition is on Lord Ranganathar of Srirangam, who has a pranava roopa vimanam)
  17. JambUpatE mAm pAhi nijAnandAmRta bOdham dEhii - Ragam Yamuna Kalyani - ( This kriti is a part of the Pancha Bhuta Kritis and describes "Jambu nathar" who is the Appu lingam in the Thiruvanakaval temple and this song flows like the river yamuna.)
  18. Pahimam Ratnachala Nayaka - Raga Mukhari - (This was composed when he visits  Rathnachalam also called as Iyer Malai, near Kulithalai. This kriti gives details about the Lord's consort, Aralakeshi and also describes the old customs, which are still followed in the temple - like "The one whose form is bathed in the waters of the Kaveri, brought by the brahmanas"..
  19. MAmava meenakshi rAjamAtaHNgi - Raga Varali - (In this composition on Madurai Meenakshi, who was his dear deity of Srividya upasana, Dikshitar says "mAmava mInAkSI rAjamAtaHNgi mANikyavallakIpANi madhuravANi varALivENi"
    • Goddess Meenakshi is referred to as "Raja Mathangi" - who has a dark complexion and resides in the vishuddhi chakra at the throat - who is invoked for command over speech and knowledge and holds an emerald studded veena.
    • He describes the Goddess as "The one possessing an emerald studded vINa ("mANikyavallakI") in Her hands. The one with a mellifluous voice ("madhuravANi") and the one with dark hued hair ("vENi") that resembles a swarm of bees ("varALi")."
  20. MAmava raghuvIra - Ragam Mahuri - (After this, he goes via Rameswaram to meet his brother Baluswami Dikshitar at Ettayapuram (Sattur). In Rameswaram he composes a rare krithi in the ragam Mahuri - " MAmava raghuvIra " for Ramanathaswami.
  21. AnandAmRtAkarshiNi - Ragam  amRta varshiNi - (A popular anecdote about this raga is that while visiting Ettayapuram, Muthuswamy Dikshitar was anguished to see the drought-hit land and people facing severe water shortage. Moved by their plight, Dikshitar looked up to the sky and burst forth in praise of the goddess in this raga. He requests Devi to bring rain and alleviate the plight of the drought-hit people, and addresses Her as 'Anandamritakarshini, Amritavarshini'. When he sang 'Salilam Varshaya Varshaya', meaning 'let the rain pour', it is said the sky opened up. There was such a torrential rain that the place got flooded. He had then to plead 'Sthambhaya Sthambhaya', meaning 'stop, stop'.
  22. MInAkSi mE mudaM dEhi- Ragam gamakakriyA - (The final song was about Dikshitar's final moments - and a moving one, could see tears rolling down from mine and fellow rasikas, wiping their eyes discreetly, both while listening to the story and the song.. Dikshitar attained samadhi at Ettayapuram on Naraka chaturdashi (Deepavali day, 1835) - He did pooja and has his Ganga Snanam on Deepavali day and asked his students to sing the song "Meenakshi Me Mudam" in the raga Poorvikalyani. As his students sang the lines along with Veena, "Meena lochani pasa mochani" he raised his hands and saying "Sive Pahi" and left his mortal coil..
  
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