The World of Indian Music

Bheema

2011-07-02T13:52:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I posted something here, and I decided to record Enadhuyire from Bheema when I heard Sakthi singing it in Super Singer 3. It's a beautiful melody from Harris Jayaraj, and sung originally by Nikhil Matthew, Chinmayi, Sadhana Sargam and Sowmya Rao. The film, Bheema, released in 2008 and grossed a record Rs 19 crores in Tamil Nadu, thus becoming the second biggest opening after Sivaji at the time. It stars Vikram and Trisha, and follows a story of two underworld gangs trying to outsmart each other.

Here's my attempt at the song Enadhuyire from Bheema (as a solo). Hope you like it!

Download this song

Lyrics of Enadhuyire

[−]

Enadhuyire Enadhuyire Enakkenave Nee Kidaithaai
Enadhurave Enadhurave Kadavulai Pol Nee Mulaithaai
Nedunjaalaiyil, Padum Paadham Pol, Sergiren Vaazhum Kaalamae..
Varum Naatkalae, Tharum Pookkalae, Neelumae Kadhal Kadhal Vaasamae..

Enadhuyire Enadhuyire Enakkenave Nee Kidaithaai
Enadhurave Enadhurave Kadavulai Pol Nee Mulaithaai

Ini Iravey Illai Kanden Un Vizhigalil Kizhakku Dhisai
Ini Pirivey Illai, Anbey Un Ularalum Enakku Isai

Unnai Kaanum Varaiyil Enadhu Vaazhkkai Vellai Kaghidham
Kannal Neeyum Adhiley Ezhudhi Ponaai Nalla Oviyam
Siru Paarvayil, Oru Vaarthaiyil, Thondruthey Nooru Kodi Vaanavil

Enadhuyire Enadhuyire Enakkenave Nee Kidaithaai
Enadhurave Enadhurave Kadavulai Pol Nee Mulaithaai

Maramirundhaal Angey Ennai Naan Nizhalena Niruthiduven
Ilai Vizhundhaal Aiyo Endrey Naan Irudhayam Thudithiduven

Inimel Namadhu Idhazhgal Inaindhu Sirikkum Osai Kaetkumae
Nedunaal Nilavum Nilavin Kalangam Thudaikka Kaigal Korkumae
Uruvaakkinaai, Adhikaalaiyai, Aagavey Nee En Vaazhvin Mokchamae

Enadhuyire Enadhuyire Enakkenave Nee Kidaithaai
Enadhurave Enadhurave Kadavulai Pol Nee Mulaithaai
Nedunjaalaiyil, Padum Paadham Pol, Serkiren Vaazhum Kaalamae..
Varum Naatkalae, Tharum Pookkalae, Neelumae Kadhal Kadhal Vaasamae..

May Madham

2011-02-19T11:12:00.000-08:00

A.R.Rahman produced some of his best work during his early years in the 90's. 'May Madham', a 1994 Tamil musical film directed by Venus Balu, is one such album that is definitely one of the best soundtracks by the Oscar-winning musician. He reused these songs years later in its Hindi remake, 'Love You Hamesha'. That same year (1994), Rahman also composed music for Duet and Kadhalan, both award-winning albums.

'En Mel Vizhundha' from May Madham is a beautiful melody duet sung by P.Jayachandran and K.S.Chitra, with lyrics penned by Vairamuthu. Here is my attempt at it as a solo.

Download this song

Lyrics/Translation of En Mel Vizhundha

[−]

Film: May Madham (1994)
Music Director: A.R. Rahman
Singer(s): P.Jayachandran, K.S. Chitra
Lyrics: Vairamuthu

En mel vizhundha mazhai thuliye
Iththanai naalay engirundhaay
Indru yezhudhiya yen kaviyae
Iththanai naalay engirundhaay
Ennai ezhuppiya poongaatre
Iththanai naalay engirundhaay
Ennai mayakkiya mellisaiye
Iththanai naalay engirundhaay
Udambil uraiginra oruyir pol
Unakkul dhaane naan irundhen

Oh drop of rain that just fell on me
Where have you been all these days?
My poet that has written today
Where have you been all these days?
Oh breeze that woke me up
Where have you been all these days?
Light-music that absorbed me
Where have you been all these days?
(Answering those questions)
Like the life that’s ‘frozen’ in a body,
I have been inside you!

Mannai thirandhaal neerirukkum
En manadhai thirandhaal neeyiruppaay
Oliyai thirandhaal isai irukkum
En uyiurai thirandhaal neeyiruppaay
Vaanam thirandhaal mazhai irukkum
En vayadhai thirandhaal neeyiruppaay
Iravai thirandhaal pagal irukkum
En imaiyai thirandhaal neeyiruppaay

If you open ‘earth’, water would be present
If you open my heart, you would find you
If you open noise, you would find music
If you open my life, you would find you
If you open the sky, you would find rain
If you open my age, you would find you
If you open the night, you would find day!
If you open my eye, you would find you!

Mannum vinnum urasugaiyil
Enna baashai pesidumo
Alaiyum kadalum urasugaiyil
Pesum baashai pesidumo
Kaatrum malayum urasugaiyil
Enna baashai pesidumo
Paarvai rendum pesikkondaal
Baashai oomai aayvidumo

If the earth and the sky rub (or meet) with each other
What language would they speak ?
It would be the same as the language that Waves and
Seas speak, when they rub with each other
When wind and mountain’s rub with each other
What language would they speak ?
When eyes meet, language would go mute (or not required)!

this expanable content box is made using a
free javascript from flooblefunny joke ratings, random joke, quizzes

Malargale

2011-01-23T21:44:00.000-08:00

In the 90s, A.R.Rahman came out with some of his best ever albums to date. The combination of ARR and Prabhu Deva has produced some great rhythm based numbers and melodies such as Ennavale, Mukkala, Romeo Aatum Potal, Strawberry Kanne and so on.

The song Malargale Malargale from the movie Love Birds (directed by P. Vasu) is a beautiful melody based on the ragas Saraswati and Hamir Kalyani. Rahman explains why he chose these two ragas for this song:

“For film music, a tune should be fresh and almost all the simple ragas have been exploited by my predecessors. So, as far as I'm concerned, I treat a raga like a note in western music. So Saraswati and Hami Kalyani are much related and they provide a nice change from the traditional tunes you have heard before”.

The movie stars Prabhu Deva and Nagma, and met with commerical success upon release. The music was well appreciated as well.

Here is my attempt at Malargale Malargale. It is originally sung beautifully by the great duo K.S.Chitra and Hariharan, but I've attempted this as a solo. Hope you like it!

Download this song

Lyrics of Malargale Malargale

[−]

Film: Love Birds (1996)
Director: P.Vasu
Music Director: A.R.Rahman
Singer(s): Hariharan, Chitra

Malargalae Malargalae Idhu Enne Kanava
Malaigalae Malaigale Idhu Enne Ninaivaa
Urugiyadhae Enadhullam Perugiyadhae
Vizhivellam Vinnodum Nee Dhan
Mannodhum Nee Dhan Kannodum Nee Dhan Vaa..Aaa..Aaa
Malargalae

Megam Thirandhu Kondu, Mannil Irangi Vandhu
Marbil Olindhu Kolla Vaa Vaa
Marbil Olindhu Kondaal, Maaran Ambu Varum
Koondhalil Olindhu Kolla Varavaaa
En Koondhal Devan Thoongum Palli Araiya Araiya?
Malar Soodum Vayadhil Ennai
Marandhu Povadhu Dhan Muraiya??
Ninaikkadha Neramillai Kaadhal Radhiye Radhiye
Un Peyarai Sonnaal Podhu Nindru
Vazhi Vidum Kaadhal Nadhiye
En Swaasam Un Moochil, Un Varthai En Pechil
Aindhaaru Nootrandu Vazhvom En Vazhve Vaa

Malargalae Malargalae..

Poovil Naavirindhaal, Kaatru Vai Thirandhaal
Kaadhal Kaadhal Endru Pesum
Nila Thamizh Arindhaal, Alai Mozhi Arindhaal
Nam Mel Kavi Ezhudhi Veesum
Vazhvodu VaLarpirai Dhanae Vanne Nilavae Nilavae
Vaanodu Neelam Pole Izhaindhu Kondadhu Indha Uravae
Urangaadha Neram Kooda Undhan Kanavae
Unnodu Uyirai Pole Uraindhu Ponadhu Dhaan Uravae
Marakkadhu Un Raagam, Marikkadhu En Dhegam
Unakkaga Uyir Vazhven, Vaa En Vazhve Vaa Malargalae....

this expanable content box is made using a
free javascript from flooblelogic problems, math puzzles

Jotheyali

2011-01-09T00:26:00.001-08:00

Jotheyali, one of the most beautiful compositions of Ilayaraja, is one song I've always wanted to record ever since I first heard it years ago. The film it appeared in (Geetha, 1981) became immortal in the Kannada film industry solely due to its music by the maestro. The two great playback singers, SPB and S. Janaki have rendered all the songs in this album.

Here's my attempt this song - its a duet but I've tried it as a solo.

Download this song

Lyrics of Jotheyali

[−]

Song: Jotheyali
Movie: Geetha
Language: Kannada
Music: Ilayaraja
Singers: S.P. Balasubramanyan, S. Janaki

Jotheyali, jothe jotheyali eeruvenu heege endhu
Hosa harushavatharuvenu ennu endhu
Ho..Entha mathadidhe
Endhu nee…
Entha mathadidhe
Nanna manisina bhavane neene helidhe

Jotheyali…

Preethiyendharenu endhu eegha arithenu
Savinudiyali thanu aralithu
Saviganasali mana kuniyithu
Olavina ee maathige
Karedhiha ee notake
koduve ninage bha preethi kanike

Jotheyali…

Modadhali jodiyaagi theli naliyuva
Haaraduva aragiligala maathadisi muddhaduva
kaamana billeruva
jaarutha naavaaduva
hagalu irulu ondhagi haduva

Jotheyali…

this expanable content box is made using a
free javascript from flooblelogic puzzles

Kana Kanden

2010-10-31T09:55:00.000-07:00

This album is still so fresh in my mind seven years after its release. Vidyasagar has composed the music for this film, Parthiban Kanavu, and does a great job at composing melodies based on Carnatic ragams as well as fast numbers in this album. The film stars Sneha and Srikant in lead roles, and featured Sneha in a dual role for the first time. It was a surprise hit in 2003.

I've sung my favorite song from this album, Kana Kanden Adi, that is based on the ragam Abheri and is originally (beautifully) rendered by Madhu Balakrishnan.

Download this song

Lyrics of Kana Kanden Adi

[−]

Song: Kana Kandenadi
Lyrics: Kapilan
Singer: Madhu Balakrishnan

kanaa kandaenadi thoazhi
kanaa kandaenadi kanaa kandaenadi kanaa kandaenadi (2)

un vizhi mudhal mozhi varai muzhuvathum kavithaigal
aghamethu puramethu purindhathu poale
kanaa kandaenadi
un mudi mudhal adi varai
muzhuvathum inimaikal
suvayethu sughamethu aRindhathu poale

kanaa kandaenadi thoazhi
kanaa kandaenadi

ethayoa en vaai solla thodanga
athaye un vaai solli adanga
uthadugal naangum otti koLLa
naan kandaen

nilam poal un manam virinthu kidakka
nizhal poal en manam sarindhu thadukka
idhayam irandum katti koLLa
naan kandaen

oru kannil amutham kandaen
maru kannil amilam kandaen
engengoa thaedi thaedi unnil ennai
naan kandaen

(kanaa kandaenadi kanaa...)

idai mael en viral kavithai kirukka
padai poal un viral padhari thadukke
koocham unnai netti thalla
naan kandaen

kodiyinil kaaigira chudithaar eduthu
madikkira saakkil vaasanai pidithu
moochil unnai sotte sotte
naan kandaen

niRam illaa ulagam kandaen
niRamellaam unnil kandaen
engengoa thaedi thaedi
ennil unnai
naan kandaen

kanaa kandaenadi thoazhi

(kanaa kandaenadi...)

kana kandaenadi kana kandaenadi kana kandaenadi

Jai Hind!

2010-08-15T19:50:00.000-07:00

August 15, 2010 - On this 63rd Indian Independence day, I pay my humble tribute to this great country that has given me much more than i can ever repay - the country where I was born and raised, the country that gave me the best childhood I could have ever asked for, and the country that has made me the person I am today. I'm proud to be Indian - Jai Hind!

I've sung one of my most favorite patriotic songs as a tribute to my country, India.

Download this song

Nilave Ennidam

2010-04-16T22:12:00.000-07:00

The man with a golden voice, Sri P.B.Srinivas, is one of my most favorite playback singers of all time. He has sung so many evergreen melodies in Tamil and Kannada such as Kalangalil Aval Vasantham, Ponn Ondru Kanden, Panchama Veda, Mellage Nade Mellage, Baare Baare Chendada and the list goes on. He is fluent in eight languages (Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi, Urdu, English and Sanskrit) and has penned several ghazals in Telugu. He is well known for his playback singing in the Kannada industry for Dr. Rajkumar for a long time. Recently, he has even sung a Tamil song in the film 'Aayirathil Oruvan' with Bombay Jayshree, and sounds fantastic even at the age of 79!

Whenever people associate P.B.Srinivas with Tamil music, there is one song that always comes to mind first, Nilave Ennidam from the film 'Ramu'. This is one of the most beautiful songs ever composed by M.S.Viswanathan and is a classic! I've also read that SPB sang this song in front of MSV when he went to him asking for a chance to sing in Tamil films. Here is my attempt at this melody, hope you like it!

Download this song

Lyrics of Nilave Ennidam

[−]

Film: Ramu
Singer: P.B.Srinivas
Music: M.S.Viswanathan
Lyrics: Kannadasan

nilave ennidam nerungathe
nee ninaikkum idathil naanillai
malare ennidam mayangathe
nee mayangum vahaiyil naanillai

koodaiyil oru naal mazhai varalam
en koolathail inimel ezhil varumo
paalaiyil oru naal kodi varalam
en paarvaiyil inimel sugam varumo

nilave ennidam nerungathe
nee ninaikkum idathil naanillai

oomaiyin kanavai yaar arivaar
en ullathin kathavai yaar thirappar
moodiya megam kalaiyumunne
nee paada vanthaayo vennilave

nilave ennidam nerungathe
nee ninaikkum idathil naanillai

amaithi illatha nerathile
antha aandavan enaiye padaithu vittan
nimmathi izhanthu naan alainthen
intha nilaiyil unnai aen thoothu vittan

nilave ennidam nerungathe
nee ninaikkum idathil naanillai

this expanable content box is made using a
free javascript from flooblebrainteasers

Nammoora Mandara Hoove

2010-01-31T22:47:00.000-08:00

Kannada music in the 80's and 90's was fantastic, with composers like Ilayaraja and Aswath giving us some evergreen melodies. Of course, SPB added life to most of these compositions and I don't think anyone else could have done it better!

Aalemane released in 1981, starring Suresh Heblikar and Roopa Chakravarthy in lead roles. The music for this film was composed by Aswath Vaidi, and lyrics by the popular Dodda Range Gowda. I've attemped one beautiful song from this album called Nammoora Mandara Hoove, originally sung by none other than SPB.

Download this song

Lyrics of Nammoora Mandara Hoove

[−]

Movie: Alemane (1981)
Singers: S.P Balasubramaniam
Lyrics: Dodda Range Gowda
Music: Aswath Vaidi

Nammoora Mandara Hoove
Nannolume bandalada cheluve
Bali bandu baalannu belagu
Nanna baridaada manadalli minugu

Nammoora Mandara Hoove
Nannolume bandalada cheluve
Bali bandu baalannu belagu
Nanna baridaada manadalli minugu

Nammoora Mandara Hoovee

Kannalli karedu honganasa teredu
Sangathi sampriti selede
Anuraga holedu anubandha beledu
Sammoha sambhanda midide

Moodida premada sogasada Karanji midide

Nammoora Mandara Hoove
Nannolume bandalada cheluve
Bali bandu baalannu belagu
Nanna baridaada manadalli minugu

Nammoora Mandara Hoovee

Odalaala moredu odanata meredu
Odanaadi bandhavya kande
Rutumaana meeri hosagana tori
Hitavaada maadhurayam inde

Teerada mohada Ilidada Ananda tande

Nammoora Mandara Hoove
Nannolume bandalada cheluve
Bali bandu baalannu belagu
Nanna baridaada manadalli minugu

Nanna baridaada manadalli minugu
Nanna baridaada manadalli minugu

this expanable content box is made using a
free javascript from flooblemath problems

ARR Unplugged Medley

2009-12-21T22:32:00.000-08:00

I love the concept of an 'unplugged' version - it's very soothing to listen to just the piano and vocals. Not only does it add a very different flavor to the song, but it also allows the singer to explore and come up with creative variations. ARR shows have some great unplugged medleys, ones involving some fantastic singers like SPB, Chitra, Hariharan, and Sadhana Sargam.

The band I'm part of (Geetanjali) decided to do a similar unplugged medley for our Tamil Sangam show last month. The singers are Ganga and myself, and Rajesh is on the piano. Here is a video of that medley, hope you like it!

Moodupani (1980)

2009-11-25T20:22:00.000-08:00

This album contains one of Maestro Ilayaraja's greatest hits of all-time, En Iniya Pon Nilava sung by Dr. K.J. Yesudas. The guitar piece in this song is an absolute beauty and the song itself is a romantic melody. The film was released in 1980, starring Pratap Pothen and Shobana in lead roles. I'm not sure about the movie, but this song will live forever!

Here is my attempt at this beautiful melody, En Iniya Pon Nilave.

Download this song

Lyrics of En Iniya Pon Nilave

[−]

Song: En Iniya Pon Nilave
Film: Moodupani (1980)
Music: Ilayaraja
Singer: K.J.Yesudas

en iniya pon nilaave pon nilavil en kanaave
ninaivile pudhu sugham dha dha dha dhaa dha dha
thodarudhe dhinam dhinam dha dha dha dhaa dha dha

(en iniya...)

thanneerai thoovum mazhai jillendra kaatrin alai
saerndhaadum innerame
en nenjil ennennavo vannangal aadum dhilai
ennaasai unnorame
venneela vaanil adhil ennenna megham
oorgolam pogum adhan ullaadum dhaagam
puriyaadho en enname
anbe...

(en iniya...)

ponmaalai nerangale en inba raagangale
poovaana kolangale
then kaatrin inbangale thenaadum roajaakkale
ennenna jaalangale
kannodu thoanrum siru kanneeril aadum
kai saerum kaalam adhai en nenjam thedum
idhudhaane en aasaigal
anbe...

(en iniya...)

Pithamagan

2009-09-24T00:04:00.000-07:00

Pithamagan, directed by Bala, is a fantastic film that revolves around four characters - Chithan (Vikram), Gomathy (Sangeetha), Sakthi (Surya), and Manju (Laila). The movie received critical acclaim upon release and grossed over $4 million at the box office. It won several Filmfare awards and also got Vikram his first National Award for Best Actor.

Ilayaraaja was back with some great music for this film, most notably Piraye Piraye (Madhu Balakrishnan, and Elangaathu Veesudhe (Sriram Parthasarathy, Shreya Ghoshal). Here is my attempt at the latter, a beautiful melody with soothing lyrics by Pazhani Bharathi.

Download this song

Lyrics of Elangaathu Veesudhe

[−]

Film: Pithamagan (2004)
Music: Ilayaraaja
Singer: Sriram Parthasarathy

eLangaathu veesudhey
isai poala paesudhey (2)
vaLaiyaadha moongilil
raagam vaLainju oadudhey
maegham muzhichu kaetkudhey

karum paaRai manasula
mayil thoagai (thoha) virikkudhey
mazhai chaaral theLikkudhey
pul veLi paadhai virikkudhey
vaanavil kodaiyum pudikkudhey
pul veLi paadhai virikkudhey
vaanavil kodaiyum pudikkudhey

maNiyin oasai kaettu mana kadhavu theRakkudhey
puthiya thaaLam poattu udal kaatril midhakkudhey (eLangaathu veesudhey...)

pinni pinni chinna ezhaiyoadum
nenjai aLLum vaNNa thuNi poala
oNNukkoNNu dhaan yeNanchu irukku
oRavu yellaam amanju irukku

aLLi aLLi thandhu oRavaadum
annamaDi indha nelam poala
selarukku dhaan manasu irukku
ulagam adhil nilaichu irukku
naethu thanimaiyila poachu, yaarum thuNai illai
yaaro vazhi thuNaikku vandhaal yaedhum iNai illai
olagathil yedhuvum thanichchu illaiyae
kuzhalil raagam malaril vaasam saerndhadhu poala (eLangaathu veesudhey...)

manasula enna aagaayam
dhinam dhinam adhu pudhir poaDum
ragasiyatha yaaru aRinja? adhisayathai yaaru purinja?
vidhai vidhaikkiRa kai dhaanae
malar paRikkudhu dhinam dhoaRum
malar thodukka naaRu eduthu
yaar thodutha maalaiyaachu?
aalam vizhudhilae oonjal aadum kiLi yellaam
moodum siRagilae mella paesum kadhaiyellaam
thaalaattu kaettidaamalae, thaayin madiya thaedi oadum
malai nari poalae.......
(karum paaRai manasula...)

Kovur Sri Sundareshwara

2009-09-12T23:15:00.000-07:00

Kovur, a small town situated about 22km from Chennai, has a massive Lord Shiva temple built by Kulothunga Chozha, dating back to 7th century. The presiding deities of this temple are Sri Sundhareswara (also called Thirumaeneeswarar) and Goddess Sri Soundharaambigai (also called Thiruvudai Naayagi). This interesting blog article describes the historical and architectural aspects of this temple in good detail.

It is said that as Saint Thyagaraja was traveling on a palanquin towards Thirupathi and passed through this place, his palanquin was obstructed by a group of bandits who threw stones on the palanquin and his servants to stop them from going further. Saint Thyagaraja stopped and got down from the palanquin to explain the bandits that he was not so rich to be robbed and also he was on a pilgrimage to Thirupathi.

The bandits came near Thyagaraja and asked him who threw the stones back at them. When Thyagaraja told them that there were no other people with them except the carriers of palanquin, the thieves mentioned that they saw two youngsters furiously throwing back stones at them to save Thyagaraja. Saint Thyagaraja realized that they were none other than Sri Rama and Sri Lakshmana who came to his rescue.

Saint Thyagaraja also realized that there is some holy power in this place and again came back to Kovur temple and sang 5 compositions called ‘Kovur Pancharathnam’. The Kovur Pancharatnams are "Ee Vasudha" (Sahana), Kori Sevimpa (Karaharapriya), "Shambo Mahadeva" (Pantuvarali), "Nammi Vachina" (Kalyani) and "Sundareswaruni" (Sankarabharanam).

I have sung one of these beautiful compositions here, ee vasudhA, in the rAgam sahAnA and thAlam Adi. In this kriti, Saint Tyagaraja praises Lord Sundaresha of Kovur, saying that no God is equal to him in assuaging the afflictions of devotees and bestowing prosperity

Download this song

Lyrics and Meaning of E Vasudha

ee vasudhA neevanTi deivamu nendu gAnarA

Saint Thyagaraja starts the krithi with this beautiful line, stating that he cannot find another God equal to Lord Sundaresha anywhere on this earth. The words are broken up as follows:
Ee vasudhA = this Earth
nIvu aNTi (nIvanTi) deivamu = God like you
nEnu yendu (nendu) gAnarA = I do not find anywhere

bhAvukamu galgi vardhillu kOvUri sundarESa gireeSa

Here he mentions the place this krithi was composed in by saying O Sundaresha of Kovur, the town which is prospering by having good fortune, O Lord of the Mountains!
bhAvukame galgi = having good fortune
vardhillu = prospering
kOvUri sundarEshA = O Lord sundarESa of kOvur
girIsha = O Lord (ISha) of Mountains (giri)!

Asa chE ara nimushamu nee pura vAsa monara jEyu vAri madi
vEsaTa lellanu tolaginchi dhana rAsula nAyuvunu
bhUsura bhakti yu tEjamu nosagi bhuvana mandu kIrti galga jEsE
dAsa varada tyAgarAja hrudaya nivAsa chidvilAsa sundarESa

The first line illustrates Saint Thyagaraja’s beautiful choice of words to describe the power of the town and of Lord Sundaresha. He says that the Lord bestows boons on devotees who reside in this town willingly for even half a minute, helps them attain fame in this world and rids them of all their mental worries. He bestows a lot of wealth, health, a long life, and devotion to Brahmanas.
Asa chE = willingly (literally taking pleasure)
Ara nimishamu = half a minute
nI pura = Your town
vAsamu onara jEyu = facilitate residence
vAri = who
madi vEsaTalellanu = all mental worries
tolaginchi = driving away
dhana rAsula = lot of wealth
Ayuvunu = a long life
bhUsura bhaktiyu = devotion towards Brahmanas
tejamunu osagi = bestowing health (literally splendor)
bhuvanamandu = entire World
kIrti galga jEsE = attain fame
dAsa varada = boons to devotees (literally servants)
thyagarAja hrudaya nivAsa = abiding in the heart of this Thyagaraja
chidvilAsa = shining (vilAsa) in the intellect of consciousness (chit)

Zindagi Zindagi

2009-09-08T21:42:00.000-07:00

Yuvraaj, another fantastic album by A.R.Rahman, did not do so well at the box office and was only praised for the acting of the cast. It is produced and directed by Subash Ghai, and stars Anil Kapoor, Salman Khan, Zayed Khan and Katrina Kaif.

Being a musical, the album had high expectations and ARR delivered again with some amazing tracks like Tu Hi Meri Dost Hain, Zindagi, and Manmohini Morey. Though probably not his best album, it received positive reviews and was touted by Salman as the USP of Yuvraaj.

Here is my attempt at Zindagi Zindagi from this album, a beautiful melody sung originally by Srinivas.

Download this song

Lyrics/Translation of Zindagi Zindagi

[−]

Song: Zindagi Zindagi
Film: Yuvraaj (2008)
Music: A.R. Rahman
Singer: Srinivas

Zindagi Zindagi, kya kami reh gayi?
Aankh ki kor mein…
Aankh ki kor mein, kyon nami reh gayi?

Life O' Life, what is missing?
Corner of the eye...
Why is the corner of the eye moist?

Zindagi Zindagi, kya kami reh gayi?
Aankh ki kor mein, kyon nami reh gayi?
Tu kahan kho gayi?
Tu kahan kho gayi?
Koi aaya nahin
Do-peher ho gayi
Koi aaya nahin

Life O' Life, what is missing?
Why is the corner of the eye moist?
Where did you get lost?
Nobody came!
Half of the day(life) has passed
And nobody came!

Zindagi Zindagi

Din aaye, din jaaye
Sadiyaan bhi gin aaye
Sadiyaan re…
Tanhayee lipti hai…
Lipti hai saansoun ki
Rasiya re…

Days come, days go
Eons have goneby counting
Eons...
Engulfed in loneliness...
Engulfed in the loneliness of breathing
O dear one (lover)...

Tere bina badi pyasi hai
Tere bina hai pyasi re
Nainoun ki do saakhiyan re
Tanha re…
Main tanha re

Without you, they're very thirsty
Without you, they're thirsty
The two; pair of eyes
Lonely...
I am lonely

Zindagi Zindagi, kya kami reh gayi?
Aankh ki kor mein, kyon nami reh gayi?
Zindagi Zindagi

Subah ka kohra hai
Sham ki dhool hai
Tanhayee hai
Raat bhi sard hai
Dard hi dard hai
Ruswayee hai

There is the fog of morning
There is the dust of evening
There is the loneliness
The night is also cold
There is the continuous pain
There is the separation/humiliation

Kaise katein?
Saansein uljhi hain
Raatein badi jhulsi jhulsi hain
Naina, kori sadiyaan re
Tanha re…
Main tanha re

How will this pass?
Breathing is complicated
The nights are very slow
Eyes- empty for eons
Lonely...
I am lonely

Zindagi Zindagi, kya kami reh gayi?
Aankh ki kor mein, kyon nami reh gayi?

Zindagi Zindagi, kya kami reh gayi?
Aankh ki kor mein, kyon nami reh gayi?
Tu kahan kho gayi?
Koi aaya nahin
Do-peher ho gayi
Koi aaya nahin

Zindagi Zindagi, kya kami reh gayi?
Aankh ki kor mein, kyon nami reh gayi?

Ennavale

2009-06-25T20:35:00.000-07:00

A song that's been sung by almost every audio blogger today, Ennavale is my all-time favorite song of the Rahman-Unnikrishnan combo. The film (Kadhalan) was released in 1994 and this song was an instant hit - it was Unnikrishnan's first film song and he won the National Award for it. Another catchy tune from this album was 'Pettai Rap', a rap-like style song with Tamil and English lyrics, sung by Suresh Peters. This film did very well and won the 'Filmfare Award for Best Movie' for the year as well.

Download this song

Lyrics/Translation of Ennavale

[−]

Film: Kadhalan (1994)
Music Director: A.R.Rahman
Singer: Unnikrishnan

Ennavale adi ennavale, endhan idhayaththai tholaiththu vittaen
Endha idam adhu tholaindha idam, andha idaththaiyum marandhuvittaen
Undhan kaal golusil adhu tholaindhadhadhendru undhan kaaladi thedi vandhaen
Kaadhalendral perum avasthai endru ,unai kandadhum kandu kondaen
Endhan kazhuththu varai indru kaadhal vandhu iru kan vizhi pidhungi nindraen.

Oh my dear! oh my dear! I've lost my heart
The place where I lost it I forgot that place as well.
Thinking that I would have lost it in your anklets I came searching for it at your feet
I realised that love is agony after I saw you.
Being filled with love upto my neck I now have my eye-balls bobbing out!

Vaai mozhiyum endhan thaai mozhiyum indru vasappada villaiyadi
Vaitrukkum thondaikkum uruvamilladhoru urundaiyum urulaudhadi
Kaathirundhaal, Edhir paathirundhaal oru nimishamum varushamadi
Kangalellaam enai paarpadhu pol oru kalakkamum thondrudhadi
Idhu swargamaa? narahamaa? Solladi ullapadi
Naan vaazhvadhum, vidai kondu povadhum un vaarthayil ulladhadieeee...

Both my power of speech and my mother-tongue, are not in my control today.
I feel a lump bobbing up and down between my stomach and throat
When you are waiting and pining for your love, every minute seems like a year
I have this overwhelming feeling that all eyes are staring at me.
Is this heaven? Or hell? Please tell me as it is.
My life and death are entirely in your words!

Gokilamae nee kural koduththaal, unnai kumbittu kann adippaen
Gopuramae unai saaithukondu undhan koondhalil meen pidippaen
Vennilavae unai thoongavaikka undhan viralukku sodukkedupaen
Varuda varum poongatraiyellam konjam vadikatti anuppi vaippen
En kaadhalin thevaiyai konjum kaadhukkul odhi vaippaen
Un kaaladi ezhudhiya kolangal siru kavidhaigal endruraippaen...

Oh Cuckoo! if you were to give me a call, I shall bow before you and wink at you.
Oh temple tower! I shall tilt you and try fishing in your long plaits of hair.
My Moon! to put you to sleep, I shall massage your fingers
I shall then filter the breeze that comes to caress you and then send it across
I shall whisper the needs of my love in its ears as well
The patterns which your toes make on the sand, I shall call them tiny poems.

this expanable content box is made using a
free javascript from flooblebrainteasers

Uyirum Neeye

2009-06-01T19:57:00.000-07:00

This is one of my all-time favorite songs from ARR. I had sung this on Mother's day couple of weeks back and my mom loved it. It's probably the first slow melody I've heard in the ragam Khamas - the ragam is usually used for fast numbers like 'Pazhamudhir Cholai' or 'Brocheva', though the latter can be sung in both speeds.

The song, from the film Pavitra, is originally sung by the melodious Unnikrishnan. Here is my attempt at it.

Download this song

Lyrics/Translation of Uyirum Neeye

[−]

Film: Pavitra
Music: A.R. Rahman
Singer: Unnikrishnan

Uyirum neeye udalum neeye uravum neeye thaaye..
You are Life, You are the Body, You are the relationship, O Mother!

thann udalil sumandhu uyirai pagirndhu uruvam tharuvaai neeye..
You bore me within you, and shared your life and shaped me..

un kannil valiyum oru thuli podhum, kadalum urugum thaaye..
A single tear in your eyes is enough to make the sea also cry..

un kaaladi mattum tharuvaai thaaye..sorgam enbadhu poiye
Just your feet are enough ... even Heaven will be trivial.

vinnai padaithaan, mannai padaithaan, kaatrum kadalum oliyayum padaithaan
He created the sky, created the earth, created the air, and created light..

boomiku adhanaal nimmadhi illai...saami thavithaan, thaayei padaithaan
But there was still no peace on Earth, and the Lord pondered, and created Mother.

Poi Solla Koodadhu

2009-05-30T14:53:00.000-07:00

Vidyasagar is a fantastic music director -his first big hit was the melodious 'Malare Mounama' from Karna (1995) with the ever-refreshing voices of SPB and S. Janaki. After that, he focused on Malayalam music for 5-6 years and became a top music director, giving his career best 'Millennium Stars' album in 1999. He returned to the Tamil industry in 2001 and has given us some great hits like Aasai Aasai (Dhool), Appadi Podu (Gilli), Devuda Devuda (Chandramukhi) and Katrin Mozhi (Mozhi).

Run, directed by N.Linguswamy, stars Madhavan and Meera Jasmine in lead roles. The film did quite well at the box office and was remade in Hindi by Boney Kapoor with the same name. The music was an instant hit, and songs like 'Kadhal Pisasu' and 'Poi Solla Koodadhu' were popular all over South India.

Here is my attempt at 'Poi Solla Koodadhu', a beautiful romantic melody from this film originally sung by Hariharan.

Download this song

Lyrics of Poi Solla Koodadhu

[−]

Film: Run (2002)
Director: N.Linguswamy
Song: Poi Solla Koodadhu
Music: Vidyasagar
Singer: Hariharan

poi solla koodAthu kAdhali,
poi sonnAlum neeyae en kAdhali
kangaLAl kangaLil dhAyam AdinAi
kaigaLAl kaigaLil rEgai mAtRinAi
poi onRai oppitthAi
aiyaiyO thappithAi
kaNN moodi thEdathAn,
kanavengum thithithAi
(poi)

azhaghiya poigaL pookkum poochedi kandaen
ragasiyamaAga uyirai thOndi padhiyam pOttukkondaen
kandavudan yenaiyae, thinRathadi vizhiyae
yennai vittu thaniyae senRathadi nizhalae
adi suttum vizhi sudarae natchathira payirae,
rekkai katti vaa nilavae !
(poi onRai)

aaha, oru mazhai enbathu oru thuLi thAnA kaNNae
nee ottRai thuLiyaa ? kOdi kadalA ? uNmai solladi peNNae
kannakkuzhi naduve, sikkikondEn azhaghae
netRi mudi vazhiyae thappi vandhEn veLiyae
adi poththi vaitha puyalae, thaththaLikkum thimirae,
vetkam vittu vA veLiyae !

nil enRu kandithAi, uL senRu dhandithAi,
sol enRu kenjathAn, sollAmal vanjithAi.

Songs on Sringeri

2009-04-10T23:29:00.000-07:00

I continue with more songs on the deities at Sringeri composed by Sri Bharathi Theertha Mahaswamigal. In the first krithi 'Sri Sharadambam Bhaje', He praises Goddess Sharadambal as a kalpavriksha (wish-yielding tree), one at whose feet Sri Adi Shankara offered worship and the one who can bless devotees with wealth, eloquence and power.

I have sung this song, which is tuned by my father in thalam Kanda Chapu and ragam Saramathi.

Download this song

The second krithi 'Sri Shankaracharyam Bhajare', equally mesmerising, is in praise of Acharya Adi Shankaracharya. He is praised as the exponent of Advaita philosophy and the righteous path prescribed by the Vedas. We worship Him to pull us away from the dreadful ocean of samsara. This song is also tuned by my father in the thalam Misra Chapu and ragam Hamsanandi.

Download this song

Sri Bharathi Theertha Mahaswamigal

2009-03-27T23:56:00.000-07:00

In Hinduism, it is believed that human beings are the highest of all of God's creations and that they are expected to follow the path of moral and ethical conduct and have a duty to themselves, to their families, and to society (Dharma).

It is essential to have a Guru to ensure that we follow the path of Dharma. We (my family) are extremely fortunate to have been blessed and guided by the great pontiffs of Sringeri for few generations now. The current pontiff of Sringeri, Sri Bharathi Theertha Mahaswamigal, (as beautifully summarized in the book 'Inspiring Saint') is adorned with an irresistably-infective passion for Dharma, amazing Guru Bhakti, unshakeable faith in God, unbounded compassion, admirable leadership qualities, unmatched scholarship and an awe-inspiring oratory.

His Holiness is very fond of music and is also an extraordinary poet. Many of His poems have been set to tune and sung by His devotees. My father has been fortunate to tune many of His Holiness' compositions such as 'srI shAradAmbAm bhajE', 'srI shankarAchAryam bhajarE', 'subramanyam sadA vandE' and many more.

Here is my rendition of one of His Holiness' compositions on Lord Ganesha that has been tuned by my father. It is set to Hamsadhwani rAgam and Rupakam thAlam.

Download this song

The Sringeri Mutt released a book in 2002 called 'Poems by His Holiness' that contains many poems written by His Holiness - there are 3 compositions on Lord Ganesha, two on Lord Subramanya, 1 on Sri Rama, 1 on Dharma Shasta, 4 on Sri Sharadamba of Sringeri and 1 on Sri Chandramoulishwara. Besides, there are 5 compositions on Acharya Shankara Bhagavatpada, 1 on Sri Sacchidananda Sivabhinava Narasimha Bharathi, 1 on Sri Chandrasekhara Bharathi and 4 on Guru Sri Abhinava Vidyathirtha Mahaswamigal.

I end this post with my rendition of yet another brilliant poem by His Holiness, 'bhajarE lOkagurum' in praise of Sri Adi Shankaracharya. This is also tuned by my father and set to rAgam Madhuvanti and thAlam Adi.

Download this song

Mozhi

2009-03-24T22:16:00.000-07:00

Mozhi is a very nice film, one that deals with some serious issues but also has some light, funny moments thanks to Prakash Raj. The movie stars Prithviraj and Jyothika in lead roles, and has wonderful music by Vidyasagar. This was Jyothika's last project before her marriage, and she did a fantastic job of portraying a deaf and mute girl in the film.

I had seen this movie a while back and didn't remember the songs, but thanks to my sister, I recently heard them and really liked the song 'Katrin Mozhi'. It has wonderful lyrics, and both the male and female versions are rendered soulfully by Balram and Sujatha.

Here is my attempt at this beautiful composition by Vidyasagar.

Lyrics of Katrin Mozhi

[−]

Movie: Mozhi (2007)
Singer: Balram R
Music Director: Vidyasagar
Lyrics: Vairamuthu
Producer: Prakashraj
Director: Radha Mohan
Actors: Jyotika, Prakashraj, Prithviraj, Swarnamalya

katrinnn mozhiyee...oliyyaaa? isaiyyaa?
poovinnn mozhiii....neerumma? mannumma?
kadalinnn mozhiii...alaiyyaAAaa? nuraiyyaaa?
kaadhalll mozhiii...vizhiyyaaAAaa? izdhalaaaa?

iyarkeyin mozhigal purinthu vidil
manitharin mozhigal thevai-illai
ithaiyathin mozhigal purinthu vidil
manitharikku mozhiye thevai-illaiiiiiii

katrinnn mozhiyee...oliyyaaa? isaiyyaa?
poovinnn mozhiii....neerumma? mannumma?

kaatre veesum bothu...theesaigal kidaiyathu
kaadhal paesum bothu...mozhigal kidaiyathu
paesum vaarthai polla...mounam puriyathu
kanngal paesum vaarthai....kadavul ariyathu

ulavi theeriyum kaatrukku....uruvam kaetka mudiyathu
kaadhal paesum mozhi-ellam... satha koothil adanggathu

iyarkeyin mozhigal purinthu vidu
manitharin mozhigal thevai-illai
ithaiyathin mozhigal purinthu vidu
manitharikku mozhiye thevai-illaiiiiiii

katrinnn mozhiyee...

vannam paesum paechu...thulliyai vaelliy-agum
vannavillin paechu...neeramaiy vaelliy-agum
unnmei uummei an-na...kanneer mozhi-agum
pennmei ummei an-naaa...naanum mozhi-agum

osai thoongum jaamathilll...kuchi meengal mozhiy-agum
asai thoongum ithaiyathil...asaiva kooda mozhiy-agum

iyarkeyin mozhigal purinthu vidu
manitharin mozhigal thevai-illai
ithaiyathin mozhigal purinthu vidu
manitharikku mozhiye thevai-illaiiiiiii

katrinnn mozhiyee...oliyyaaa? isaiyyaa?
poovinnn mozhiii....neerumma? mannumma?
kadalinnn mozhiii...alaiyyaAAaa? nuraiyyaaa?
kaadhalll mozhiii...vizhiyyaaAAaa? izdhalaaaa?

iyarkeyin mozhigal purinthu vidu
manitharin mozhigal thevai-illai
ithaiyathin mozhigal purinthu vidu
manitharikku mozhiye thevai-illaiiiiiii

katrinnn mozhiyee...

this expanable content box is made using a
free javascript from flooblefunny joke ratings, random joke, quizzes

Nila Kaigiradhu

2009-03-08T12:42:00.000-07:00

The Rahman-Vairamuthu combination gave us some of the greatest hits in the 90s, songs like Uyire (Bombay), Kannukku Mai Azhagu (Pudhiya Mugam), and Puttham Pudhu Bhoomi (Thiruda Thiruda). This movie (Indira) is yet another melodious album from these two great men, with Vairamuthu doing complete poetic justice to ARR's wonderful tunes.

Though the movie didn't do very well, the songs were an instant hit. ARR was at his prime then, and songs like Nila Kaigiradhu and Thoda Thoda from this album are simply amazing. SPB and Chitra have simply given their best to Thoda Thoda, while Nila Kaigiradhu was probably the first song by Harini (as a child) who is now a busy playback singer. Other songs from the album are Ini Accham Accham Illai, a nice, inspiring song, and Odakara Marimuthu, a catchy tune.

Here is my attempt at Nila Kaigiradhu, originally sung by both Harini and Hariharan.

Download this song

Lyrics/Translation of Nila Kaigiradhu

[−]

Song: Nila Kaigiradhu
Film: Indira (1995)
Music: A.R. Rahman
Lyrics: Vairamuthu
Singer: Hariharan

nilaa kaaygiradhu
neram thaeygiradhu
yaarum rasikkavillaiyae
indha kangal mattum unnai kaanum

The Moon is shining,
The time is passing,
oh, but nobody is enjoying it.
Yet, these eyes will see you (my eyes).

thendral poginradhu
solai sirikkinradhu
yaarum sugikkavillaiyae
indha kaigal mattum unnaith theendum

The breeze is flowing,
The gardens are smiling,
yet, there is none enjoying it.
but these hands will touch you (my eyes).

kaatru veesum veyyil kaayum kaayum
adhil maatram aedhum illaiyae...aaaaaa
vaanum mannum nammai vaazhach chollum
andha vaazhththu oayavillai endrendrum vaanil

The Wind will blow, the sunshine will be there,
there is no change in that.
The Sky and Earth will tell us to live,
those desires will not cease forever.

(nilaa)

adho poaginradhu kaanal maegam
mazhaiyai kaanavillaiyae
idho kaetkinradhu kuyilin soagam
isaiyum kaetkavillaiyae

There goes the dark Clouds
Yet I cannot see the rain
Here, I can hear the cuckoo's melancholy
Yet I cannot even hear it's melody

indha bhoomiyae poovanam
endhan poovidhazh sarugudhae
indha vaazhkaiyae seedhanam
adhil jeevanae povadhe

The world in itself is a garden
but the petals of my flower are dying
This life in itself is a bounty
but my soul is getting eroded

(nilaa)

this expanable content box is made using a
free javascript from flooblebrainteasers

Kaatril Varum Geethame

2009-03-06T00:10:00.000-08:00

When I first heard this song, I just had to sit back and admire the genius of Ilayaraja. For one, he has given us countless masterpieces but here was yet another one in rAgam kalyAnI. I'd call him the King of Kalyani, what with his beautiful compositions like Sundari (Dhalapathy), Amma yendrazhaikaadha (Mannan), Vellai Pura Ondru (Pudhu Kavidhai) and so many more! He can take any rAgam, make 20 compositions in it, and each of them will sound just as melodious and catchy as the first one .. truly amazing!

Coming to the movie, Oru Naal Oru Kanavu is worth a watch. It's a love story by Fazil and is supported with excellent music and a good star cast (Srikanth and Sonia Agarwal).

Here is my attempt at the beautiful Kaatril Varum Geethame, sung originally by four great singers - Bhavatharini, Hariharan, Sadhana Sargam and Shreya Ghoshal.

Download this song

Lyrics of Kaatril Varum Geethame

[−]

Song: Kaatril Varum Geethame
Film: Oru Naal Oru Kanavu (2005)
Music: Ilayaraja
Singers: Bhavatharini, Hariharan, Shreya Ghoshal, Sadhana Sargam

katril varum geethamai
en kannanai arivayaa?
katril varum geethamai
en kannanai arivayaa?

avan vai kuzhalil azhagaaga .........aa..aaaa
amutham thathumbum isaiyaga.........aa..aaaa
malaranthai nadanthai.......
alai pol mithanthu

The song wafting through the air...
Do you know my krishna?
His mouth is beautifully placed on the flute...
and nectar flows as music which flowers and walks like the waves...

pasu ariyum-- antha sisu --ariyum
palai maranthu antha pambariyum
pasu ariyum -- antha sisu --ariyum
palai maranthu antha pambariyum

varunthum uyireku .. aa..aaaa.
varunthum uyireku oru marunthaagum
isai..... arunthum mugam malarum arumbaakum
isayin payanil iraivan thaane

The cow, the child and the snake that's forgotten its milk know that
(the trinity in Hindu belief are represented thus)
Music is a medicine to the worried heart.
The face that hears music becomes a flower.
The ultimate goal of music is to attain god.

aadara sruthi andha annai anbe
athukettra layam enthan thanthai anbe
sruthi layangal thannai shuttrum swarangal ellam
uravaga amaintha'nalla isaikudumbam

thirantha kathavu endrum moodaathu
inggu sirandha isai virunthu kuraiyaadhu
ithu pol illam ethu sol thozhi?

Sruthi is the mother and Laya that complements it is the father.
and the swaras that surround sruthi and laya are the relations of this musical family
The open door is never closed here
and this home is never short of a musical treat
Can you name a home like this my friend?

P M R G RG R G N D DN
RNR GRG MGM DMD N S NNS NRS
S S NRSND N N N DSND M D
S S NRSND N N DSND M
D D N M M D G G MDSNDMGR

katril varum geethamai
en kannanai arivayaa?
avan vai kulalil alahaga
amutham thathumbum isaiyaga
malaranthai nadanthai
alai pol mithanthu

katril varum geethamai
en kannanai arivayaa?

Ragam - Brindavana Saranga

2009-03-04T22:58:00.000-08:00

Carnatic music has adapted many rAgams from Hindustani music and one such example is brindAvana sArangA (also known as brindAvanI). It is usually a post-pallavi rAgam in carnAtic concerts and has a light, tranquilizing effect. There are some beautiful compositions from the musical Trinity in this rAgam as well.

brindAvana sArangA (or brindAvanI), a janyA of the 22nd melakartha kharaharapriya, has the following krama (scale):
arOhaNam: S R2 M1 P N3 S
avarOhaNam: S N2 P M1 R2 G2 R2 S

This is an audava – shAdava ragam since the dhaivata (Dha) is absent. Ri, Ma and Ni figure both as jiva svara and nyasa svara. Ga is only used sparingly in this rAgam and some books differentiate between brindAvana sArangA and brindAvanI based on the usage of Ga. There is also lot of confusion between the two rAgams based on the usage of Ni. For example, T.M.Krishna (in a lecture here) says that brindAvana sAranga should have only kAkali nishAda and no kaishiki nishAda whereas brindAvanI accommodates both nishAdAs.

Muthuswami Dikshitar has composed two beautiful gems in this rAgam – rangapura vihArA and soundara rAjam. While the first one starts in the mel sthAyi (R”,,S”) and explores the beauty of the rAgam in that upper range, the second song starts at the lower octave (R, GRS) and hardly goes above S”. The playlist below has both songs, the first one by M.S.Subbalakshmi and the second one by D.K.Jayaraman. Dikshitar has also composed the song swaminAthEna samrakshitOham in praise of Lord Subramanya at Swamimalai.

Saint Thyagaraja has also composed a song in this rAgam (though some question the authenticity of this krithi) called srI kamalAptha kula. A rendition of this song by Malladi Brothers is included in the below playlist.

List of Carnatic Songs in Brindavana Saranga

[−]

Atma nivEdanam - Thulaseevanam - Adi

caliyE kunjan - Swati Tirunal - Deshadi

indina vAra nIyAkO - Purandara Dasa - Adi

kAkai chiraginile - Subramanya Bharathi - Adi
kaliyuga varadan - Periyaswamy Thooran - Adi
kamalApta kula - Thyagaraja - Adi

nanadikkula - Annamacharya - Adi

Om shakthi - Subramanya Bharathi - Adi

pinAkinE mahA - Harikeshanallur Muthaiah Bhagavathar - Adi

raNgapura vihAra - Muthuswami Dikshitar - Rupakam

sarasIruhana - Patnam Subramanya Iyer - Adi
soundara rAjam - Muthuswami Dikshitar - Tisra Ekam
svAminAthEna samrakSitOham - Muthuswami Dikshitar - Adi

Thillana - Dr. Balamuralikrishna - Adi
Thillana - Lalgudi Jayaraman - Adi

urugAdha uLLam - Padma Veeraraghavan - Adi

vAnil mukilOdum - Chezhiyan - Adi

this expanable content box is made using a
free javascript from flooblemath problems

brindAvana sArangA in Film Music

This is a very popular rAgam for film music. There are plenty of old Tamil songs, such as the evergreen ponn ondru kandEn sung by T.M.Soundarajan and P.B.Srinivas, and singArakaNNE from the popular film Veerapandiya Kattabomman.

Ilayaraja has also used this ragam in many of his compositions, even some later ones like Konjom Kuyil Paatu and Kovil Mani Ketene from the film Kanna Unnai Thedigiren. Some other compositions in this rAgam include muthunahaiye (by K.V.Mahadevan) and the more recent nenjAngootil (from Dishoom) composed by Vijay Anthony.

List of Film Songs in Brindavana Saranga

[−]

Aakaashamulo - Swarna Kamalam (Telugu) - Ilayaraja

Chinnanjiru - Amudha Ganam - Ilayaraja

Dheivangal Kan Paarthadhu - Pudhiya Ragam - Ilayaraja
Devi Durga Devi - Sankeerthana (Telugu) - Ilayaraja

Indha Jilla Muzhuka - Priyanka - Ilayaraja

kAdal veNNilA - lakshmi vandAcu
Kallukkulle Vandha Eeram - Unakaagave Vazhgiraen - Ilayaraja
kaTTitanga rAjAvukkumAlai - vElaikkAri - C.R.Subbaraman-S.M.Subbiah Naidu
Konjum Kuyil Paattu - Kanna Unai Thedugiren - Ilayaraja
Kovil Mani Kaetene - Kanna Unai Thedugiren - Ilayaraja

Maalaigal Idam Maarudhu - December Pookal - Ilayaraja
Manadhil Ore - En Purushan Thaan Enakku Mattum Thaan - Ilayaraja
Medhuva Thandhi - Thaalaatu (trace mix of madhyamavathi) - Ilayaraja
Muthamma Muthu - Thanthuvitten Ennai - Ilayaraja
muthunahaiyae - en thambi - K.V.Mahadevan
muttugaLe kaNgaL - nenjirukkum varai - M.S.Vishwanathan

nenjAnkootil - Dishoom - Vijay Anthony

Oru Pokkiri Rathiri - Idhu Namma Bhoomi - Ilayaraja

ponnondru kaNdEn - paditAl maTTum pOdumA - Vishwanathan-Ramamurthy
Poongatre Theendaadhe - Kunkumachimizh - Ilayaraja
pUvaraiyum pUngodaiyE

singArakkaNNE - vIrapANDiya kaTTabomman - G.Ramanathan

thangga magaL - madurai J.S. maNi

this expanable content box is made using a
free javascript from flooblebrainteasers

Mujhe Raat Din

2009-03-03T22:47:00.000-08:00

Sangharsh (meaning struggle), a Hindi film released in 1999, is directed by Tanuja Chandra and has a plot that borrows heavily from The Silence of The Lambs. It stars Akshay Kumar and Preity Zinta in lead roles, and Ashutosh Rana as the villain (for which he received the Filmfare Best Villain Award).

The music for this film is scored by Jatin-Lalit, a duo well-known for their fantastic romantic melodies like Bahon ke Darmiyan and Pehla Nasha. The songs in this film are really good, especially the romantic number Mujhe Raat Din, rendered by Sonu Nigam. He is the king of love songs and is probably the most accomplished male playback singer in the Hindi film industry today. Here is my attempt at this beautiful song.

Download this song

Lyrics/Translation of Mujhe Raat Din

[−]

Song: Mujhe Raat Din
Film: Sangharsh
Composers: Jatin-Lalit

Mujhe raat din, bas mujhe chaahti ho - 2

Kaho na kaho mujhko sab kuch pataa hai

Haan, karoon kya mujhe tum bataati nahin ho

Chhupaati ho mujhse yeh tumhaari khataa hai

Aa mujhe raat din, bas mujhe chaahti ho

You desire only me night and day

Say or don’t say, I know everything
Yes, what I should do you don’t tell me
You hide from me, that is your mistake
You desire only me night and day

Meri beqaraari ko had se badhaana

Tumhe khoob aata hai baatein banana

Nigaahein milaake yun mera chain lena

Sataake mohabbat mein yun dard dena

Mujhe dekhke aise palkein jhukaana

Sharaarat nahin hai to phir aur kya hai

Aa mujhe raat din, bas mujhe chaahti ho

Increasing my impatience to its limit

You know very well how to make excuses
By meeting glances, you take my peace

Tormenting me in love, you give me pain
You look at me with your eyelashes lowered

If this is not mischief then what else is this

You desire only me night and day

Tumhe neend aayegi ab na mere bin
Mujhe hai yakeen aisa aayega ek din

Khuli teri zulfon mein soya rahoonga

Tere hi khayaalon mein khoya rahoonga

Kabhi gaur se meri aankhon mein dekho
Meri jaan tumhaara hi chehraa chhupaa hai

You won’t get any sleep now without me

I am sure that a day will come like this

I will sleep in your sweeping tresses

I will be lost in your thoughts

Sometime look closely into my eyes

The love of my life, only your face is hidden

Aa mujhe raat din, bas mujhe chaahti ho

Kaho na kaho mujhko sab kuch pataa hai

Haan, karoon kya mujhe tum bataati nahin ho

Chhupaati ho mujhse yeh tumhaari khataa hai

Aa mujhe raat din, bas mujhe chaahti ho

Mm, hmm hmm hmm, eh hey, la la la

this expanable content box is made using a
free javascript from floobleget free javascript games and effects

Khamaj (Fuzon)

2009-02-08T22:44:00.000-08:00

Fuzon, a Pakistani band, started in 2001 with three members - Shallum Asher Xavier, Imran Momina, and Shafqat Amanat Ali. Their first album was Saagar and it had 12 rock melodies blended with Pakistani classical and folk vocals. I love this entire album, though my favorite tracks are Khamaj and Aankhon Ke Saagar. Khamaj, a beautiful melody sung by Shafqat, impressed Shankar Mahadevan so much when he heard it on the radio that he immediately inquired about the singer and soon came Mitwa in Shafqat's unique voice. He is now a full time Bollywood playback singer and has left his band, which has found a new singer in Rameez Mukhtar.

I was searching for a karaoke of Khamaj for a very long time and finally found a nice version composed by Bilal. I've attempted this song here, one of my all-time favorites.

Download this song

Lyrics of Khamaj

[−]

Song: Khamaj
Album: Saagar
Band: Fuzon
Singer: Shaqfat Amanat Ali

Saawan Beeto Jaye Pe Harwa
Saawan Beeto Jaye Pe Harwa
Mann Mera Ghabraye
Mann Mera Ghabraye

Aeso Gaye Pardes Piya Tum
Aeso Gaye Pardes Piya Tum
Cheyn Humein nahin Aye
Cheyn Humain nahin Aye

Mora Saiyaan moh sey bolay Na
Mora Saiyaan moh Sey bolay Na
Mein Laakh Jatan Kar Haari
Laakh Jatan Kar Haar Rahi

Mora Saiyyan Moh Say Bolay Na
Mora Saiyyan Moh Say Bolay Na

Tu Jo Nahin to Aisay Piya hum
Tu Jo Nahin To Aisay Piya hum
Jaisay Soona Aanganaa
Jaisay Soona Aanganaa

Nain Tehaari Rah Neeharey
Nain Tehaari Rah Neeharey
Nainnan Ko Tarsaona
Nainnan Ko Tarsaona

Mora Saiyaan moh Say bolay Na
Mora Saiyaan moh Say bolay Na
Mein Laakh Jatan Kar Haari
Laakh Jatan Kar Haar Rahi

Mora Saiyyan Moh Say Bolay Na
Mora Saiyyan Moh Say Bolay Na

Pyar Tumhain Kitna Kartay Hain
Pyar Tumhain Kitna Kartay Hain
Tum Yeh Samajh Nahin Pao gay
Tum Yeh Samajh Nahin Pao gay

Jab Hum Na Hongay to Peharwa
Jab Hum Na Hongay to Peharwa
Bolo Kya Tab Aao gay
Bolo Kya Tab Aao gay

Mora Saiyaan moh Sey Bolay Na
Mora Saiyaan moh Sey Bolay Na
Mein Laakh Jatan Kar Haari
Laakh Jatan Kar Haar Rahi

Mora Saiyaan moh Sey Bolay Na
Mora Saiyaan moh Sey Bolay Na
Mein Laakh Jatan Kar Haari
Laakh Jatan Kar Haar Rahi

this expanable content box is made using a
free javascript from flooblefree javascripts

Vaaranam Aayiram

2009-02-04T23:54:00.000-08:00

Released on November 14, 2008, Vaaranam Aayiram was quite a success both in India and overseas. The highlight of this movie, according to me, was definitely Surya's acting in the various roles he donned, right from a school boy to the old father. The film was a tribute to the father of the director (Gautham Menon) and illustrates how the father was a hero and inspiration to his son throughout his life.

The music, of course, is another reason for the success of this movie. The successful combination of Gautham Menon and Harris Jayaraj has always produced wonderful music, right from Minnale to this film. My two most favorite songs in this album are Mundhinam Paarthen and Nenjukkul Peidhidum. The first is sung beautifully by Naresh Iyer and Prashanthini, while the second one is rendered at its best by my favorite singer, Hariharan!

I've attempted to sing Nenjukkul Peidhidum here, a refreshing melody from Harris Jayaraj!

Download this song

Lyrics of Nenjukkul Peidhidum

[−]

Song: Nenjukkul Peidhidum
Singer: Hariharan
Film: Vaaranam Aayiram
Music: Harris Jayaraj

Nenjukkul paeithidum maamazhai
Neerukkul mulkidum thaamarai
Sarrendru maaruthu vaanizhai
Pennae un mel pizhai… hoohoo

For the torrential rains in mine heart
and for the drowning lotus in the water
and for the unforeseen change in the weather,
love, you are to blame.

Nillaamal veesidum peralai
Nenjukkul ninthidum tharaghai
Ponvannam sudiya kaarighai
Pennae nee kaanchanai…

For the ceaseless colossal waves that roar,
for you who swims in mine heart,
for you are the golden beauty,
love, you are the daughter of Kasi (?)

Hoo Shanthi Shanthi..Hoo Shanthi…
En uyirai uyirai nee yenthi
Yehn sendraai sendraai ennai thaandi
Eni nee than enthan anthaathi

Oh Shaanti, my life, my life you carried
Why did you come after me
This moment on, you are my chapter

Nenjukkul paeithidum maamazhai
Neerukkul mulkidum thaamarai
Sarrendru maaruthu vaanizhai
Pennae un mel pizhai…

Yetho ondru ennai irkka
Mookkin nooni marmam serkka
Kalla thanam yethum illa, punnagaiyo bogham illa
Nee nindra idam endraal, kilai yeri poghatho?
Nee sellum vazhiyellam, pani katti aaghatho?
Ennodu vaa, veedu varaikkum
En veetai paar, ennai pidikkum!

A mystery that draws me to you
There’s even mystery at the tip of your nose
Void of mischief, your innocent laughter (..?)

The soil your feet graces, doesn’t it wax its worth?
The path you choose to take, doesn’t it become snow?
Come with me, my love, to my abode
Gaze at where I dwell, and love me, you will..

Ival yaaro yaaro theriyaathae..
Ival pinnal nenjai poghathae
Iru pooiyo maeiyo theriyaathae
Ival pinnal nenjai poghathae…Poghaathae..

Who, just who, is this girl?
Why does my heart clamor after her?
I cannot discern the truth from this illusion
Why does my heart clamor behind her….?

Nenjukkul paeithidum maamazhai
Neerukkul mulkidum thaamarai
Sarrendru maaruthu vaanizhai
Pennae un mel pizhai… hoohoo
Nillaamal veesidum peralai
Nenjukkul ninthidum tharaghai
Ponvannam sudiya kaarighai
Pennae nee kaanchanai…

Thukkangalai thukki sendraai thukki sendraai
Yekkangali thuvi sendraai,
Unnai thaandi poghum pothu poghum pothu
Veesum kaatrin veechuvaen!

She carried the fruits of my sleep with her
scattering in its place, the seeds of longing.
And when I walk past you, my love,
even the air feels different

Nillendru nee sonnaal
En kaalam nagarathae
Nee sudum poovellam
Oru pothum uthiraathae
Kaathal yenae kekkavillai
Kekkathathu kaathil illai!

Your lips just need to utter “Stop”, and time will stand still
And every single flower that your hair adorns, will cease to wilt
Love did not seek my consent
And if it did, my love, would that still be love?

En jeevan jeevan neethanae
Ennathonrum neram idhu thaanae
Nee illai illai endraalae…
En nenjam nenjam thaanghathae…

My soul, my soul, it is entirely you
At this very moment, I know,
that should my love be left unrequited,
will be a burden much too much to bear…

Nenjukkul paeithidum maamazhai
Neerukkul mulkidum thaamarai
Sarrendru maaruthu vaanizhai
Pennae un mel pizhai...

Nillaamal veesidum peralai
Nenjukkul ninthidum tharaghai
Ponvannam sudiya kaarighai
Pennae nee kaachchanai...

Hoo Shanthi Shanthi..Hoo Shanthi…
En uyirai uyirai nee yenthi
Yehn sendraai sendraai ennai thandi
Eni nee than enthan anthaathi

this expanable content box is made using a
free javascript from floobleforum avatar graphics

Sri Narada Naada

2009-01-10T20:30:00.000-08:00

After a long hiatus, I finally decided to put up another carnatic song on the blog - the first krithi my current guru (Neyveli sir) taught me about two years back. srI nArada nAda is a beautiful composition by Saint Thyagaraja in the ragam kAnada, a raga that evokes karuNA rasa (rasa of sadness) of which the highest form is Compassion.

Thyagaraja has composed just a couple of krithis in this rAga, another popular one being sukhi yevvaro in Adi thalam. Both krithis are set to the same kAlapramANam, slow and richly charged with bhAva, thus keeping with the emotion of the rAga and completely evoking the karuNA rasa. In this krithi, the reference to Narada is also significant since Narada is symbolic of music. Thyagaraja compares Narada with the bee humming around the lotus. Indirectly he announces that he is a vainika also and refers to the fact that it is only in the veena that unique musical sounds similar to vEda can be produced, is always associated with divinity and that it provides endless scope for manodharma sangIta like nEraval and swarakalpana.

The scale of the rAgam kAnada is as follows:

Arohanam: S R G M D N S"
Avarohanam: S" N S" D P M P G M R S

(Chatusruti Ri, Sadharana Ga, Sudha Ma, Chatusruti Dha, Kaisiki Ni)

It is impossible to completely define this ragam with a single scale since so many different prayogams are possible that may also be included as part of the krama. This is a shadava vakra sampUrNa rAga derived from the 22nd mela Kharaharapriya. Ga, Dha and Ni are the raga chaya swaras. In some phrases, touches of Antara Ga and Kakali Ni are also found. S"NP and DNP are the vishesha sancharas of this raga. Kaanada, a tristhayi raga that can be sung at all times, has subtle srutis and gamakas which must be handled carefully. Darbari Kaanada of Hindusthani music has slight resemblances with Kaanada of Carnatic music.

An interesting story behind this krithi is that when Thyagaraja went through some palm leaf manuscripts that contained notes on music his maternal grandfather had left behind, he could not understand anything from them. When he approached his Guru (Sanyasi Sri Ramakrishnananda), he was told to pray to Sage Narada who is an embodiment of music. Thyagaraja did as instructed and Narada appeared before him and gave him a book 'Swarnava' which explains everything about music. From this book, Thyagaraja was able to understand the intricacies of music and compose a number of songs. As an acknowledgement he composed krithis in praise of Sage Narada, one being Sri Narada Naada and the other Narada Guruswami.

Lyrics/Translation of Sri Narada Naada

[−]

Song: srI nArada nAda
Ragam: kAnada
Thalam: rUpakam
Composer: tyAgarAjA
Language: Telugu

Pallavi

shrI nArada nAda sarasIruha bhrnga shubhAnga

Sri Naarada! Like a bee humming ("brunga") around the lotus ("saraseeruha"), you gyrate round sacred "Nada" dispensing divine music. (Alt: The honey-bee drinking from the lotus of Nada). One with an auspicious ("shubha") form ("anga").

Anupallavi

dIna mAna rakSaka jagadIsha bhEshankEsha

Protector ("rakshaka") of the honor ("maana") of the forsaken and helpless ("deena") devotees! Lord ("eesha") of the World ("jaga")! One with a face ("bhesha") as radiant as the moon ("sankaasha") !

Charanam

vEda janitavara vInA vAdana tatvagjna
khEdakara tritApa rahita khEcara vinuta
yAdava kulajApta sadA mOda hrdaya munivarya
shrIda tyAgarAja vinuta shrIkara mAm pAlaya

One who knows well ("tatvajna") the technique of playing ("Vaadana") on the veena, which has its origin ("janitha") in the Vedas. (alt: You are adept in eliciting out of the veena, its genuine and unique musical sounds characteristic of the Veda.) One who is free from ("rathita") the three ("tri") kinds of torments ("thaapa") that cause distress ("khedahara"). (alt: O dispeller of all the three kinds of ills which plague mortals!) Worshipped ("vinutha") by devas ("kheshara") ! Formost ("varya") among sages ("muni") and dear to Sri Krishna ("Yadava Kulajaptha") born in the Yadava race, you enjoy perpetual bliss ("moda hrudaya") as you are immersed in devotion. O giver or wealth and prosperity ("srida" or "srikara") ! Worshipped ("vinutha") by Tyagaraja who need and craves for your care and protection ("paalaya").

Masoom

2008-11-01T19:46:00.000-07:00

Released in 1983, this film won several Filmfare awards such as 'Best Actor - Naseeruddin Shah', 'Best Music - R.D.Burman', 'Best Lyrics - Gulzar', and 'Best Female Playback Singer - Aarti Mukherji'.

The story deals with the repercussions of a bad decision made by DK (Naseeruddin Shah). DK has two beautiful daughters with his wife Indu (Shabana Azmi) but soon finds out that the woman, with whom he had a brief extra-marital affair early in his marriage to Indu, is now dead, and his son (with her) now comes to stay with him. Indu is devastated to learn about her husband's unfaithfulness and cannot tolerate to look at the son (Jugal Hansraj) though he tries to bond with her and the two daughters.

The music, by the one and only Pancham da, is just fantastic to say the least. There are five songs in the album, of which 2 are male and female versions of the song 'Tujhse Naraaz Nahi Zindagi'. The other three songs are equally mesmerizing, especially 'Do Naina Aur Ek Kahani' for which the singer (Aarti Mukherji) won a Filmfare award. You can hear all the songs from this album here.

Here is my attempt at possibly the most touching song from this album, 'Tujhse Naraaz Nahi Zindagi', originally sung by Lata Mangeshkar.

Lyrics/Translation of Tujhse Naraaz Nahi Zindagi

[−]

Song: Tujhse Naraaz Nahin Zindagi
Movie: Masoom
Music: R.D. Burman
Singer: Lata Mangeshkar

Tujhse Naaraz Nahin Zindagi Hairan Hoon Maein
Tere Masoom Sawaalon Se Pareshan Hoon Maein

I am not upset with you, life.. I am astonished.
I am distressed by your innocent questions.

Jeene Ke Liye Sochaa Hi Nahin Dard Sambhaalne Honge
Muskuraye To Muskurane Ke Karz Utaarne Honge
Muskuraoon Kabhi To Lagta Hai
Jaise Hothon Pe Karz Rakha Hai

I did not think that in order to live, I would have to take care of woes..
To smile, I would have to take on the debt of smiling.
If I were to smile, it seems that I would have to incure this debt upon my lips.

Aaj Agar Bhar Aai Hain Boondein Baras Jayengi
Kal Kya Pata Inke Liye Aankhen Taras Jayengi
Jaane Kab Gum Hua Kahan Khoya
Ek Aansoo Chhupa Ke Rakha Tha

Today, if my eyes fill with tears, then they will fall..
Who knows whom these eyes will long for tomorrow..
Who knows where I lost..
The one tear I had kept hidden..

this expanable content box is made using a
free javascript from flooblelogic puzzles, brainteasers

Chitchor

2008-10-26T00:34:00.000-07:00

Released in 1976, this movie marked the third consecutive hit for actor Amol Palekar following Rajnigandha and Chhoti si Baat. The movie, though a typical Bollywood love story, has some wonderful music by Ravindra Jain. This great music composer was born blind, but gave such good music and also wrote lyrics for many of his songs. He made K.J.Yesudas a household name in Hindi movies by making him sing many of his songs in the 70s and 80s. Some popular ones from this combination are 'Oo goriya re', 'Gori Tera Gaon' and 'Beeti hui raat ki'.

Chitchor has 4 songs, all sung by Dr. Yesudas and also accompanied by Hemlata on a couple of songs. While Hemlata got a Filmfare award for 'Tu Jo Mere Sur Me', Yesudas was awarded the National Film Award for Best Male Playback singer for the song 'Gori Tera Gaon'. The one I've sung here is another beautiful song from this film called 'Jab Deep Jale Aana'. It is such a difficult song to sing but Yesudas renders it so effortlessly. He is one of those rare combinations of a melodious voice and exceptional musical talent. Here is my attempt at this song, based in raag Yamankalyani..

Lyrics of Jab Deep Jale Aana

[−]

Song: Jab Deep Jale Aana
Movie: Chitchor (1976)
Singers: K.J. Yesudas, Hemlata
Music: Ravindra Jain

Jab Deep Jale Aana, Jab Shaam Dhhale Aana
Sanket Milan Ka Bhool Na Jaana Mera Pyaar Na Bisraana

Main Palkan Dagar Buhaarunga
Teri Raah Nihaarunga
Meri Preet Ka Kaajal Tum Apne Naino Mein Male Aana
Jab Deep Jale Aana...

Jahaan Peheli Baar Mile The Ham
Jis Jagaah Se Sang Chale The Ham
Nadiya Ke Kinaare Aaj Ussi Ambua Ke Tale Aana
Jab Deep Jale Aana...

Ni Re Ga, Re Ga, Ma Ga Re Sa Sa Ni
Pa Pa Ma, Re (Ga Pa Re Ga) Sa Ni Sa Ga Pa Ma Pa

Nit Saanjh Sawere Milte Hain
Unhein Dekhke Taare Khilte Hain
Lete Hain Wada Ek Duje Se Kehte Hain Chale Aana
Jab Deep Jale Aana...

this expanable content box is made using a
free javascript from flooblelogic puzzles, brainteasers

Ganamurthe

2008-10-23T23:16:00.001-07:00

After a long break, I decided to get back to audio blogging and post a carnatic song composed by the great Saint Thyagaraja. This song, gAnamUrthE, in the rAgam gAnamUrtI, is quite rare and I have only heard it mostly from students of the GNB school (like S Kalyanaraman, Radha Jayalakshmi) and few others like T.N.Seshagopalan and Sanjay Subrahmanyam. However, it has been played by quite a few instrumentalists.

In his book, T.K.Govinda Rao mentions that this krithi may not be composed by Thyagaraja and is only sung by certain lineage of Thyagaraja's disciples. Regardless, it is a beautiful krithi in praise of Lord Krishna. Here is my attempt at it.

Lyrics/Translation of gAnamUrthE

[−]

Song: gAnamUrthE
Ragam: gAnamUrtI
Thalam: Adi
Composer: Thyagaraja

Pallavi

gAna mUrtE SrI kRShNa vENu
gAna lOla tribhuvana pAla pAhi

O Lord SrI kRShNa - Embodiment of music! O Enjoyer of music played on flute!
O Protector of the three Worlds! Deign to protect me.

Anupallavi

mAninI maNi SrI rukmiNI
mAnas(A)pahAra mAra janaka divya

O Lord who stole the heart of SrI rukmiNi - the gem of all honourable women!
O Father of cupid! O Lord SrI kRShNa - Embodiment of divine music!

Charanam

navanIta cOra nanda sat-kiSOra
nara mitra dhIra nara simha SUra
nava mEgha tEja nagajA sahaja
narak(A)ntak(A)ja nata tyAgarAja

O Thief of (fresh) butter! O Blessed Son of nanda!
O Friend of arjuna – the man! O Brave! O Hero in the form of man-lion!
O Splendrous Lord like that of fresh thunder-cloud! O Brother of pArvatI – daughter of mountain!
O Slayer of narakAsura! O Unborn! O Lord saluted by this tyAgarAja!

this expanable content box is made using a
free javascript from floobleforum avatar graphics

The song praises Lord Krishna as the embodiment of music. It starts with the phrase 'G,RR,S' which brings out the flavor of this ragam immediately. The rAgam belongs to the indu chakra of melakarthas, and shares this Suddha Rishabam-Suddha Gandharam combination with 5 other melakarthas. There is a gradual buildup in the pallavi, starting with simple plain notes, and then introducing more gamakams with the subsequent sangatis.

There is a set of beautiful sangatis in the anupallavi around the phrase 'srI rukmiNI' - starting with "S,RS S,RS", then moving to "G,R,RS", then "GMG,RS" and finally "GMPMG,RS". The charanam is quite rhythmic with every line (and alternate words within each line) starting with 'na'. All in all, the intense bhakthi of Saint Thyagaraja is clearly evident in this krithi just like in all his other masterpieces.

Sri Nathadi Guruguho

2008-06-17T19:53:00.000-07:00

This brilliant composition has a scintillating story behind it. As a young man, Sri Muthuswami Dikshitar went through rigorous training in vocal music and veena playing. He soon embarked on his first pilgrimage to Kashi along with his spiritual teacher, Sri Chidambaranatha Yogi. Prior to leaving Kashi, he entered the river Ganga and a veena fell onto his outstretched hands. This veena, which has 'Sri Ram' inscribed on it in Devanagari script, is still there in the house of Balaswamy Dikshitar, a descendant of Sri Muthuswami Dikshitar. On his way back from Kashi, Dikshitar stopped at Thiruttani, the abode of Lord Karthikeya. Here, it is said that Lord Subramanya appeared in front of Dikshitar, asked him to open his mouth and presented him with a piece of sugar candy. With this, Dikshitar burst forth the brilliant krithi "srI nAthAdi guruguhO". Since Guha (Lord Subramanya) came as Guru and initiated him into Sangeetha Kavitvam, Dikshitar uses guruguha as his mudra (signature) in all his compositions.

Lyrics/Translation of srI nAthAdi

[−]

Song: srI nAthAdi
Ragam: mAyAmALavagowLA
Thalam: Adi
Composer: Muthuswami Dikshitar

Pallavi

SrI nAthAdi guru guhO jayati jayati
SrI cidAnanda nAthO(a)hamiti santataM hRdini bhaja

Victory (“Jayathi”) to Lord Guruguha, who is adorned (“bhaja”) by all Gods(“santhatham”) beginning with Vishnu. Oh! Mind! Constantly contemplate on the fact (“iti”) that you are the Chidaanandanaatha.

Anupallavi

nAnA prapanca vicitra-karO
nAma rUpa panca bhUtAkarO
ajnAna dhvAnta pracaNDa bhAskarO
jnAna pradAyakO mahESvarO

(madhyama kAla sAhityam)
dInAvanOdyukta divya-tarO
divyaughAdi sakala dEha dharO
mAnasAnanda-kara catura-tarO
madguru varO mangaLaM karOtu

He is the originator of different (“naaana”) diversified (“vichitra”) forms (“aakaro”) of worlds (“prapancha”).
He manifests (“rupa”) as the five (“pancha”) elements (“bhuta”) and as the named (“naama”) and famed ones.
He is the mighty sun (“bhaskaro”) destroying (“prachanda”) the darkness (“dvantha”) of ignorance (“ajnana”).
He is the bestower (“pradaayako”) of spiritual knowledge (“jnaana”).
He is the Maheshvara.
He is the divine (“divya”) Kalpaka Vruksha (“vano dyukta”) for the afflicted (“dinaa”) ones.
He bears the sacred rivers like Mandakini.
He is adept in granting happiness to the heart of His devotees.
May my Guru bless me (“mangalam karo”).

Charanam

mAyA-maya viSvAdhishThAnO
mAtmaka kAdi matAnushThAnO
mAlinI maNDalAnta vidhAnO
mantrAdyajapA haMsa dhyAnO
mAyA kArya kalanA hInO
mAmaka sahasra kamalAsInO
mAdhurya gAnAmRta pAnO
mAdhavAdyabhaya vara pradAnO
mAyA SabaLita brahma rUpO
mAra kOTi sundara svarUpO
matimatAM hRdaya gOpura dIpO
matta SUrAdi jaya pratApO

(madhyama kAla sAhityam)
mAyA mALava gauLAdi dESa
mahI pati pUjita pada pradESa
mAdhavAdyamara bRnda prakASa
mahESasya mahArthOpadESaH

He (who) is the substratum (“adhistaano”) for this illusory (“maayaa maya”) world (“visva”). He (who) is to be invoked through mantra (“mataanusthaano”) beginning with “Ka” (“kaadi”), ending with “ma” (“maatmaka”).
He resides (“vidhaano”) in the center (“mandalaanta”) of the Malini-Chakra.
He (who) is to be meditated (“dhyano”) upon as the swan (“Hamsa”) representing the AJAPAA Mantra.
He who is an expert in obliterating (“hino”) the result (“kalana”) of MAAYA, the illusion.
HE resides in my heart which is like a thousand (“sahasra”) petalled lotus (“kamalaasino”). Who enjoys the nectar (“amruta”) of mellifluous (“madhurya”) music (“Gaana”).
He provides (“pradaano”) shelter (“abhaya”) and boons (“vara”) to MAADHAVA and others. Whose Brahmasvarupa is veiled (“sabalitha”) by Maaya.
Whose beauty (“sundara svarupo”) excels that of crores (“koti”) of Cupids (“mara”).
Who shines as the light (“deepo”) atop the tower (“gopura”) like the heart (“hrudaya”) of his devotees (“matimataam”).
He who vanquished the proud (“matta”) SURA and others (“adi”).
His place of abode is worshipped by the kinds (“mahipathi”) of Mayamalavagoula Desha and the like.
Who shines (“prakaasha”) as surrounded by Vishnu (“madhava”) and other Gods (“brundha”). Who impounded (“upadesha”) the real truth (“mahaartha”) of Pranava to His father, Mahesha.

this expanable content box is made using a
free javascript from floobleget free javascript games and effects

Apart from the beautiful rhythmic patterns and madhyama kaalam sahityas in the anupallavi and charanam, this krithi also conveys the essence of the raaga in the pallavi itself. For instance, the swarasthana of the opening line 'srI nAthAdi guruguhO jayati jayati' is 'S,,, ,,R, ,,G, ,,M, | P,D, N,S", ,,ND PMGR' which is the scale (arohanam/avarohanam) of mAyAmALavagowLa. Dikshitar also demonstrates both speeds (kAla pramANam) in this same line.

The krithi also illustrates how the same swarams can be sung in different ways. For instance, the two phrases 'srI nAthAdi' and 'nAnA prapancha' have the same swarasthana (SRGM) but are sung with different gamakams. Dikshitar is a master of rhythmic lyrics, as evident in all his krithis. Every line in the charanam here begins with 'mA' and is sung differently.

Following this first krithi, Muthuswami Dikshitar composed a series of krithis on Lord Subramanya, also known as the guruguha vibhakti krithis.

List of Guruguha Vibhakti Krithis

[−]

Krithi (Vibhakti)

1. srI nAthAdi - mAyAmALavagauLa - Adi (Prathama)

2. mAnasa guruguha - Ananda bhairavi - rUpakam (Dvitiya)

3. srI guruna pAlitOsmi - pAdi - rUpakam (Trthiya)

4. guruguhAya - sAmA - Adi (Chaturthi)

5. guruguhAd anyam - bAlahamsa - jhampa (Panchami)

6. srI guruguhasya - pUrvi - misra chApu (Shashti)

7. guruguhAswAmini - bhAnumati - khaNDa triputa (Saptami)

8. srI guruguha mUrtE - udayaravicandrika - rUpakam (Sambhodhana)

this expanable content box is made using a
free javascript from flooblebrainteasers

Yaadein

2008-05-16T21:16:00.000-07:00

Though this movie had great expectations (Subash Ghai-Anu Malik-Kareena Kapoor-Hrithik Roshan), it was Ghai's first flop at the box office. The music, however, is pretty good, especially the title track (by Hariharan) and 'Jab Dil Mile' (by Sukhwinder Singh). While the title track is a simple, soothing one, the latter became very popular due to Hrithik's amazing dance sequence in it. The movie is essentially a story about a father and his three daughters. I've sung the title song here (Nagme Hai), which was originally rendered by Hariharan.

Gaalipata

2008-05-08T16:35:00.000-07:00

Gaalipata, another superb film by Yograj Bhat after Mungaru Male, depicts a more serious romantic story and boasts of a big star cast including Ganesh, Diganth, Rajesh Krishnan, Daisy Bopanna, Neetu, and Bhavana Rao. The story is about three guys falling in love with three girls, with two getting engaged while the other one struggles to get the girl. V Harishkrishna has provided the music for this film, with some excellent songs such as Nadhimtana and Minchaagi. It's great to see the Kannada music industry produce such quality albums in recent times!

I've attempted 'Minchaagi' here which, I have to say, resembles 'Anisuthide' from Mungaru Male in several places. Nevertheless, this song has been beautifully rendered by Sonu Nigam.

Lyrics of Minchaagi Neenu

[−]

Song: Minchaagi neenu
Movie: Gaalipata
Music: V Harishkrishna

minchaagi neenu baralu ninthalliye malegaala
bechchage nee jothegiralu koothalliye chaligaala
virahada bege sudalu edeyalli besige kaala
inneli nanage uligaala…

|| minchaagi neenu baralu ||

naa ninna kanasige chandadaranu
chanda baaki needalu bande baruwenu..
naa nera hrudayada waradigaaranu
ninna kanda kshanadale maathe marewenu..
kshamisu nee kinnari… nudisale ninnanu??
heli keli modale chooru paapi naanu…

|| minchaagi neenu baralu ||

ninna manada kavithe saala padeda naanu saalagaara
kanna thoredu dochikonda nenapugalige paaludaara
nanna ee wedane ninage naa needenu
heli keli modale chooru kalla naanu…

|| minchaagi neenu baralu ||

this expanable content box is made using a
free javascript from flooblepuzzles, problems, riddles by category

Gaalipata Songs Movie Review

Meenakshi Sundareshwarar Temple

2008-05-04T14:02:00.000-07:00

The Meenakshi Amman Temple at Madurai is one of the most famous temples in South India as this is where, according to Hindu legends, Lord Shiva appeared on Earth in the form of Sundareshwarar to marry Pandya King Malayadwaja Pandya's daughter, Meenakshi (believed to be an incarnation of Hindu Goddess Parvati). A detailed article on this divine marriage can be found here. As mentioned in the article, the legend of Meenakshi Kalyanam brings together four of the six main streams in popular Hinduism - Shaiva, Shaktha, Vaishnava, and Skanda faiths. Before describing this beautiful temple in detail, I' d like to share a recording of a wonderful song composed by Sri Papanasam Sivan, in praise of the Goddess Meenakshi at Madurai. The song is 'Devi Neeye', rendered by the late M.S.Subbulakshmi.

Lyrics of Devi Neeye

[−]

Song: Devi Neeye
Ragam: Keeravani
Talam: Adi
Composer: Papanasam Sivan

Pallavi

dEvI nIyE thuNai (amba)
thenmaduraivAL mIna lOchanI

Anupallavi

dEvAdi dEvan sundarEsan
chitham kavar bhuvana sundari

Charanam

malaya dwajan mAdhavamE
kAnchana mAlai mudhalvi maharAgni
alaimagaL kalaimaghaL paNi kIRvANI
amudanaya iniya muthamizh vaLaRtha

this expanable content box is made using a
free javascript from flooblemath problems

According to legend, Lord Sundareshwara (as Sundara Pandya) and his consort Goddess Meenakshi ruled over Madurai for a long period of time. In due course of time, they had a son called Ugra Pandya who is none other than Lord Muruga (also known as Subramanya).

The Meenakshi Amman temple here in Madurai has been mentioned in Tamil literature (Thirugnanasambandar) as early as the 7th century. I t is believed to have been sacked later by a Muslim invader and then rebuilt with the efforts of Arya Natha Mudaliyar (Prime Minister of first Nayak of Madurai, 1559-1600AD) and Thirumalai Nayak (1623-1659AD).

Shiva (as Sundareshwarar) and his fish-eyed spouse, Meenakshi, are enshrined in this twin temple. There are in all eleven towers to this temple, the largest and most beautiful being the one on the southern doorway. Rising to a height of about 70 metres, this impressive 'gopuram' is by far the most ornate and florid of the Dravidian towers. To the south of the main shrine dedicated to Shiva, is the temple of Goddess Meenakshi. The high point of Meenakshi temple is its celebrated "Court of Thousand Pillars". Built around the year 1560A.D. by Arya Natha Mudaliyar, it is a great work of structural engineering as well as sculpture and art. Every one of its thousand pillars is subjected to an amazing variety of ornate carvings.

Here is another song on Goddess Meenakshi, composed by Sri Muthuswami Dikshitar and rendered here by Sri D.K.Pattammal in the rAga gamakakriya. It is believed that on Deepavali, the day of narakachaturdashi, Dikshithar performed puja as usual and asked his students to sing this song. As his students sang the lines "Meena lochani paasa mochani" he raised his hands and saying "sive paahi" left his mortal coil.

Lyrics/Translation of Meenakshi Memudam

[−]

Song: mInAkSi mEmudam
rAgA: gamakakriyA
tALA: Adi
Composer: Sri Muthuswami Dikshitar

Pallavi

mInAkSi mE mudam dEhi mEcakAngi rAjamAtangi

Address to Goddess Parvathi at Madurai as Meenakshi, who wears Mechaka and is called as Raaja Maathangi, gives me joy.

Anupallavi

mAnamAtrumE mAyE marakata chAyE shivajAyE
mInalOcani pAshamOcani mAnini kadamba vanavAsini

Controller of Individual self, Supreme Self and the relation between two. Greenish in color like emerald. Eyes are like fish. Liberator from worldly bondage. Lives in kadamba vanam.

Charanam

madurApuri nilayE maNivalayE malayadhvaja pANDya rAja tanayE
vidhuviDambana vadanE vijayE vINAgAna dasha gamakakriyE
madhu mada mOdita hrdayE sadayE mahAdEva sundarEshapriyE
madhu mura ripu sOdari SAtOdari vidhi guruguha vaSankari Sankari

Abodes in Madurai. Daughter of great king Malayadwaja Paandiyan, who ruled Madurai. Face dazzles like full moon. Creator of Ten nuances which are used in veena and vocal music.

Lives in the heart of people who relinquished wine and anger. Consort of Lord Siva, who is known as Sundareswara at Madurai. Sister of Lord Vishnu, who is a destroyer of demons Madhu and Mura. Adored by Lord Brahma and Lord Shanmukha.

this expanable content box is made using a
free javascript from floobleBlackjack Rules

There is a festival during every month in the year at the Meenakshi Amman Temple. The most auspicious of these is the Meenakshi Thirukalyanam (the divine marriage of Meenakshi) which happens every year in the month of Chitrai (April). Other majors festivals like Mahashivarathri and Navarathri are also celebrated in a grand manner. A detailed description of all the festivals celebrated in this temple is here.

Here are some more songs on Lord Sundareshwara and Goddess Meenakshi by past and current musicians. Please leave your comments with any songs that I have missed out in the song list. Thanks!

Songs on Meenakshi and Sundareshwarar

[−]

Muthuswami Dikshitar

1. mInAkshi mEmudam - gamakakriyA - Adi
2. mAmava mInAkshi - varALi - misra chApu
3. sOmasundarEshvaram - shuddhavasantA - Adi
4. sundarEshvarAya - shaNkarAbharaNam - rUpakam
5. shrI madhurAmbikayA - aThANA - misra chApu
6. shrI madhurAmbikE - kalyANi - kaNDa chApu
7. shrI madurApuri - bilahari - rUpakam
8. shrI mInAkSi gauri - gauri - rUpakam
9. shyAmaLAngi mAtangi - shyAmaLa - Adi

Shyama Shastry

1. sarOja daLa nEtri – shaNkarAbharaNam – Adi
2. mIna lOchana brOva - dhanyAsI - misra chApu
9 songs - Navaratna Malika

Papanasam Sivan

1. dEvI nIyE - kIravANi - Adi

this expanable content box is made using a
free javascript from floobletechnical interview puzzles, riddles and brain teasers

Rockford

2008-04-27T14:06:00.000-07:00

After a long gap, I chose to sing 'Yaaron Dosti' from the film Rockford. The movie, released in 1999, is directed by Nagesh Kukunoor, who does a fantastic job at capturing the experiences of a child entering boarding school for the first time in his life. Rohan Dey (as Rajesh Naidu) gets admitted into a beautiful catholic boarding school after never having left home for 13 years. The film portrays how lonely he feels initially, how he gradually makes friends, learns his way around, and eventually starts loving the place.

Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy have composed music for this film. There are only two songs in the movie, Aasman ke paar shayad (sung by Shankar Mahadevan) and Yaaron Dosti (sung by K.K.). I've tried my hand at the second one here, a beautiful song that talks about friendship.

Lyrics of Yaaron Dosti

[−]

Film: Rockford
Year: 1999
Singer: K.K.

Yaaron dosti bahi hi haseen hai
Yeh na ho to kya phir
Bolo yeh zindgi hai
Koi to ho raazdaar
Begaraz tera ho yaar
Koi to ho raazdaar

Yaaron mohabbat hi to bandgi hai
Yeh na ho to kya phir
bolo yeh zindgi hai
Koi to dilbar ho yaar
Jisko tujhse ho pyaar
Koi to dilbar ho yaar

Teri har ke buraai pe
daante vo dost
Gam ki ho dhoop to
saaya bane tera vo dost
Naache bhi vo
Teri khushi main

Yaaron dosti bahi hi haseen hai
Yeh na ho to kya phir
Bolo yeh zindgi hai
Koi to ho raazdaar
Begaraz tera ho yaar
Koi to ho raazdaar

Tan mann kare tujhpe fida
Mahboob vo
Palkon pe jo rakhe tujhe
Mahboob vo
Jiski vafa tere liye ho

Are Yaaron dosti bahi hi haseen hai
Yeh na ho to kya phir
Bolo yeh zindgi hai
Koi to dilbar ho yaar
Jisko tujhse ho pyaar
Koi to dilbar ho yaar

Shruti on Worldspace Radio

2008-04-06T07:40:00.001-07:00

I just found out about this and thought I would make a blog post so everyone else can enjoy it as well!

Shruti, a 24 hour radio station dedicated to Carnatic music, is provided by Worldspace Radio and was only available in Asia, Europe and Middle East.

Finally, this has been made available online and we can now listen to it in the US as well!
It is available online at http://worldspace. msnserver. com

Shruti has some interesting programmes, such as artist interviews and specials on great artists of the previous as well as current generation. There are listener request shows as well, where we get to hear some popular and rare recordings. It is quite hard to keep a channel dedicated to Carnatic music alone for 24x7, and Shruti is doing a fantastic job at it!

At the website, you can sign up for a 3-day free trial. After that, it is $9.99 per month for the subscription. With it, you get a total of 10 channels, including Hindustani, Carnatic, and other regional music.

Sign up now and Enjoy!

Arunachaleshwara Temple

2008-03-19T16:06:00.000-07:00

"By seeing Chidambaram, by being born in Tiruvarur, by dying in Kasi, or by merely thinking of Arunachala, one will surely attain Liberation."
- Arunachala Mahatmyam by Sri Ramana Maharishi

arunAchalA, or 'Hill of Wisdom', represents the Agni (Fire) tatvam in the pancha bhUta sthalAs of Lord Shiva (places of worship where Lord Shiva manifested Himself as one of the five elements). It was here that Lord Shiva resolved a dispute between Brahma and Vishnu as to who was the superior one by appearing as a column of light and then, in response to their prayers, manifested Himself as Arunachala. The temple, one of the largest (25 acres) and oldest in all of South India, is located in a town called Tiruvannamalai, 120 miles southwest of Chennai.

Many songs have been composed in praise of Lord Arunachala. Sri Muthuswami Dikshitar, in his panchalinga krithis, has composed arunAchala nAtham in the ragam sArangA. Here is a rendition of this song by the Hyderabad Brothers, Seshachari and Raghavachari.

Lyrics/Translation of Arunachala natham

[−]

Song: aruNAcala nAtham
Ragam: sAraHNga
Thalam: rUpakam
Composer: Muthuswami Dikshitar

Pallavi

aruNAcala nAtham smarAmi anIsham apIta kucAmbA samEtam

I always contemplate upon Lord Arunachalanatha, who is in the company of Apitakuchamba.

Anupallavi

smaraNAt kaivalyaprada caraNAra vindam
taruNAditya kOTi shaHNkAshacidAnandam
karuNArasAdi kandam sharaNAgata sura bRndam

His lotus feet bestow total salvation, even from just remembering them. He is knowledge and bliss, shining like crores of suns. He is the embodiment of sentiments such as mercy, etc. A host of celestials has sought refuge in Him.

Charanam

aprAkRta tEjOmaya liHNgam
atyadbhuta kara dhRta sAraHNgam
apramEyamaparNAbja bhRHNgam
ArUThOttuHNga vRSaturaHNgam
viprOttama vishESAntaraHNgam
vIra guruguha tAra prasaHNgam
svapradIpa mauLividhRtagaHNgam
svaprakAsha jita sOmAgni pataHNgam

He is of the form of extraordinarily lustrous Linga, and holds a marvellous deer in His hand. He is like the bee hovering over the lotus-like Aparna-Parvati. He is seated on a majestic bull. He especially dwells in the hearts of noble Bhusuras. He is very much attached to brave Guruguha. He wears Ganga on His glorious head, and has conquered the moon, the sun and the fire with His natural brilliance.

this expanable content box is made using a
free javascript from flooblelogic puzzles

It is said that there are three major pilgrimage methods to achieve liberation from the cycle of life, death and rebirth. The first of these is by meditating within the Virupaksha Cave on Mount Arunachala (where Sri Ramana Maharishi lived from 1899 to 1916 in solitude). The second is by climbing to the top of Arunchala Hill's holy peak. The third method, adopted by many, is the custom of Giri Valam or Giripradakshinam, which is circumambulating the base of the Arunachala Hill.

Giri Valam must be undertaken after a bath, with a pure and meditative mind. It is advised to observe silence or silent chanting of Arunachala during this time, and it must be either undertaken alone or in a small group. There are several temples, shrines, lingams and tanks one will encounter during Giri Valam (the book Arunachala - The Holy Hill by R.Henninger is an excellent guide). It is said that there are about 360 thirthas (tanks) and 400 lingams in the 8 mile circuit around this hill. There are lingams at each of the eight cardinal directions along the Giri Valam route. More details on these lingams are here. For a map of the route, click here.

Before continuing to some festivals celebrated at the Arunachala Temple, I'd like to post another song. This is the Arunachala Pancharatnam, composed by Bhagawan Sri Ramana Maharishi, and tuned by M. S. Subbulakshmi. The slokam before the song is composed by a devotee of Sringeri, Sri Lakshmana Suri. Here is my attempt at this beautiful rAgamAlikA.

Lyrics/Translation of Arunachala Pancharatnam

[−]

Song: karuNA pURNa
Ragam: rAgamAlikA
Thalam: Adi
Composer: Sri Ramana Maharishi

(Slokam - by Lakshmana Suri)

anilAnala salilA vani rajanIkara sarasIruha vallabha
yajamAnaka samudAyaka vapusham
akhilOdaya vilayAspada makhilAnthara makhilam
bhaja shaNkaram abhayaNkaram
aruNAchala sharaNam

Verse 1

karunāpūrna sudhābdhē
kabalitaghanaviśvarūpa kiranāvalyā
arunāchala paramātman
arunō bhava chittakañjasuvikāsāya

O ocean of ambrosia, the overflowing fullness of grace! O Arunachala, supreme spirit, by [whose] series of rays the solid form of the universe is swallowed! Be the sun for the complete blossoming of [my] mind-lotus.

Verse 2

tvayyarunāchala sarvam
bhūtvā sthitvā pralīnamētacchitram
hridyahamityātmatayā
nrityasi bhōstē vadanti hridayam nāma

O Arunachala! In you all this picture comes into existence, is sustained, and is destroyed. You dance in the heart as self (or spirit) as 'I', [and hence] they say 'heart' is name to you.

Verse 3

ahamiti kuta āyātī
tyanvishyāntah pravishtayātyamaladhiyā
avagamya svamrūpam
śāmyatyarunāchala tvayi nadīvabdhau

O Arunachala! By a very blemishless mind having sought thus, "From where does it come as 'I'?", having entered within, and having known one's own form, one becomes still in you, like a river in the ocean.

Verse 4

tyaktvā vishayam bāhyam
ruddhaprānēna ruddhamanasāntastvām
dhyāyanpaśyati yōgī
dīdhitimarunāchala tvayi mahīyam tē

O Arunachala! Having given up external objects and having meditated upon you within by a mind restrained by the restrained breath, the yogi sees the light. They are exalted in you.

Verse 5

tvayyarpitamanasā tvām
paśyan sarvam tavākrititayā satatam
bhajatē (a)nanya prītyā
sa jayatyarunāchala tvayi sukhē magnah

O Arunachala! Seeing you by mind surrendered in you, he who by otherless love always worships everything as your form, triumphs having drowned in bliss in you.

this expanable content box is made using a
free javascript from flooblefree javascripts

Interestingly, the opposition between the top and bottom of the mountain is absent here since there is no temple, as at certain sites, of the deity with His consort at the bottom of the hill and one at the top of the deity in His yogic aspect. The sole Arunchaleshwara temple is identified with the mountain as a substitute. Nevertheless, this opposition is marked by 4 purification ceremonies during the year, for which the priests go up to the summit.

During the festival of Mahashivarathri, the appearance of a pillar of fire signifies the supremacy of Lord Shiva (Lingodbhavamurti). A few months later comes the marriage ceremony, the Union of Lord Shiva with the Goddess. The third festival is that of Karthigai Deepam, celebrated by lighting a fire on top of the hill to establish Shiva's supremacy, and also by showing His oneness with the Goddess in the form of Ardhanarishwara. After this, the fourth and final purification ceremony represents seperation from the Goddess and manifestation of Lord Shiva as the great Yogi.

Seen above is a video of the Karthigai Deepam being lit on top of the Arunachala hill. According to Sri Ramana Maharishi, “Getting rid of the ‘I am the body’ idea and merging the mind into the Heart to realize the Self as non-dual being and the light of all is the real significance of darshan of the beacon of light on Annamalai, the center of the universe.” The deepam is lit on Karthigai day and burns for 7 days (or more), being daily replenished with ghee and camphor offered by devotees. At the temple, the priests chant Na Karmana and perform aarti to Sri Ramana Maharishi's photograph, while devotees sing Aksharamanamalai.

Milana

2008-03-12T20:49:00.000-07:00

Back to Kannada again! There are very few kannada karaoke tracks online, mostly songs by the popular Mano Murthy. I chose to sing Ninnindale from the film Milana this time, another beautiful melody rendered originally by the inimitable Sonu Nigam. The film, directed by Prakash, doesn't offer anything new and has almost an identical story as Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam'. The performances by Puneet Rajkumar (Dr. Rajkumar's son) and debutante Parvathi Menon are quite good, and Mano Murthy has provided some good tunes again. Here is my rendition of probably the best song from the movie, Ninnindale!

Lyrics of Ninnindale

[−]

Movie: Milana
Director: Prakash
Actors: Puneet Rajkumar, Parvathi Menon, Pooja Gandhi
Music: Mano Murthy

Ninnindale Ninnindale Kanasondu Shuruvaagide
Ninnindale Ninnindale Manasendu Kunidaadide
Ee Yedeyalli Sihiyaada Kolahala
Nan Yeduralle Neenu Heege Bandaagale
Ninna Tutiyalli Naguvaguva Hambala
Naa Nintalle Haalade Ninnindale

Eerulalli Jwaradante Kaadi Eega
Haayagi Nintiruve Sariyenu
Bekantale Maadiye Eno Moodi
Inneluva Noodi Pariyenu
Ee Mayege Ee Maruvige
Ninninda Kale Bandide

Hodalli Bandalli Yella Ninna
Sompada Cheluvina Guna Gaana
Kedige Gariyantha Ninna Nota
Nanageno Andanthe Anumaana

Ninnindale Saddillade Moddaada Kare Bandide
Ninnindale Ninnindale Kanasondu Shuruvaagide

this expanable content box is made using a
free javascript from flooblelogic puzzles

Khamoshi - The Musical

2008-03-07T22:05:00.000-08:00

Getting right to the music, I love two songs in this movie - Aaj mein upar and Bahon ke Darmiyan. Kavita Krishnamurthy does a great job on the first one, a song for which she won the Filmfare award in 1996. And of course, Hariharan, my favorite singer, delivers another great soothing romantic melody along with Alka Yagnik. Jatin Lalit are great at romantic numbers, be it Pehla Nasha (Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar) or Mujhe Raat Din (Sangharsh) or Bahon ke Darmiyan! The movie itself is very well-made, a great effort by Sanjay Leela Bhansali for a directorial debut. It stars Nana Patekar, Salman Khan and Manisha Koirala in lead roles, and talks about the story of a Christian girl born to deaf and mute parents who stops her music after her mother's death but continues it once she falls in love with a Hindu boy. This, in turn, creates turmoil in the family as the father won't accept a Hindu groom.

I've tried my hand at the song Baahon ke darmiyan, one of my all-time favorites!

Get this widget

Track details

eSnips Social DNA

Lyrics/Translation for Baahon ke Darmiyan

[−]

Movie: Khamoshi - The Musical (1996)
Singers: Hariharan, Alka Yagnik
Music Director: Jatin-Lalit
Lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri
Year: 1996
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Baahon ke darmiyaan do pyaar mil rahe hain
Baahon ke darmiyaan do pyaar mil rahe hain
Jaane kya bole mann dole sunke badan
Dhadkan bani zubaan

Two loves are meeting in the middle of an embrace.
Two loves are meeting in the middle of an embrace.
Who knows what the hearts said? Hearing it, the bodies swayed.
The heartbeat became a voice.

Baahon ke darmiyaan do pyaar mil rahe hain
Jaane kya bole mann dole sunke badan
Dhadkan bani zubaan
Baahon ke darmiyaan

Two loves are meeting in the middle of an embrace.
Who knows what the hearts said? Hearing it, the bodies swayed.
The heartbeat became a voice.
The middle of an embrace...

Khulte band hote labhon ki ye ankahi
Khulte band hote labhon ki ye ankahi
Mujhse keh rahi hai ki badhne de bekhudi
Mil yoon ki daud jaayein nas nas mein bijliyaan

Pliant bodies, unspeaking lips...
Pliant bodies, unspeaking lips...
are telling me to let this recklessness take over.
Meet like this or race away, there's lightning in every pore.

Baahon ke darmiyaan do pyaar mil rahe hain
Jaane kya bole mann dole sunke badan
Dhadkan bani zubaan
Baahon ke darmiyaan

Two loves are meeting in the middle of an embrace.
Who knows what the hearts said? Hearing it, the bodies swayed.
The heartbeat became a voice.
The middle of an embrace...

Aasmaan ko bhi ye haseen raaz hai pasand
Aasmaan ko bhi ye haseen raaz hai pasand
Uljhi uljhi saanson ki aawaaz hai pasand
Moti luta rahi hai saawan ki badliyaan

Even the sky approves of this beautiful secret...
Even the sky approves of this beautiful secret...
The sound of unsteady breaths is pleasing to it.
The rain clouds are bringing down pearls.

Baahon ke darmiyaan do pyaar mil rahe hain
Baahon ke darmiyaan do pyaar mil rahe hain
Jaane kya bole mann dole sunke badan
Dhadkan bani zubaan
Baahon ke darmiyaan

Two loves are meeting in the middle of an embrace.
Two loves are meeting in the middle of an embrace.
Who knows what the hearts said? Hearing it, the bodies swayed.
The heartbeat became a voice.
The middle of an embrace...

Sri Subrahmanyaya Namaste

2008-03-05T16:46:00.001-08:00

An interesting article describing Kanchi Paramacharya's commentary on this Muthuswami Dikshitar masterpiece to Sri Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Iyengar inspired me to write this post. There are many websites that have this article, but I decided to include it in my blog as well along with some renditions of this song by great artists. This article is a translated version of one that appeared in Kalki Deepavali Malar in 1990.

In June 1961, Paramacharya was camping at Devakottai (in Pudukkottai district of Tamil Nadu). He was in deep penance for several weeks, not talking or even communicating by gesture. One could not know if he even heard the devotees' words. One morning, some people from nearby Ariyakkudi (`Nagarathar') had their darshan of Him, and in the course of their talks, it came out that Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Iyengar, the famous carnatic musician, and known simply as `Ariyakkudi', was currently in Karaikkudi.

To the surprise of every one, Paramacharya signaled to them, asking if they can bring Ariyakkudi over to meet Him. They agreed and left.

That afternoon by three o'clock, Ariyakkudi was at the camp. He was so excited and tense, as Paramacharya had asked to meet him in the midst of his 'kAshta mounam' (vow of rigorous silence) Is not Paramacharya known for His simplicity? So His accommodation at the camp was very simple. His room was on the garden side of a small house. Devotees had to have His darshan through a small window, after passing through dirt and bushes. May be that was His way of admonishing those of us who have grown used to the luxuries of life.

On being informed that Ariyakkudi had arrived, Paramacharya signaled to bring him to the rear window. He came, and paid obeisance by falling full stretch at His feet.

That was it. To every one's joy, Paramacharya opened His mouth and started talking in a torrent, "Heard of your receiving the Rashtrapathi award. You would have walked on a red carpet, and been honored in a gathering of eminent persons. But me, I have made you walk on stones and bush and made you sit in a dinghy room. Why I called you is, I long have had a desire to listen to 'ShrI SubrahmanyAya namasthE' rendered perfectly. On hearing you are around, the desire has re-surfaced. Perfect rendition means both the music and the lyrics (sangItham and sAhityam). Many people disfigure the words of Sanskrit and Telugu kirtanas to the extent that we wish they never sang".

"The music part (swarAs), the rhythm part and the 'sAhitya chandas' - what is called 'chandam' in Tamil - would be given for most songs. The proper way to split and combine words would also be given. The musician has to take care to synchronize the music, rhythm and chandas and split and combine the words correctly so as not to spoil the meaning. The compositions of good composers definitely allow this (padham pirichu pAdaradhu) but many musicians simply concentrate on the music and rhythm, and ignore the meaning, sometimes leading to ridiculous meanings! "Even in this song 'ShrI SubrahmanyAya namasthE', we have a line 'guruguhAyAgnAna dwAnta savithrE'. This must be split as 'guruguhAya agnAna dwAnta savithrE' i.e. 'the one who is the sun for the darkness of ignorance'. Some sing it as 'guruguhAyA.......gnana dwAnta savitrE', ' one who is the sun for the darkness of knowledge'!"

"I do not know if you sing the kriti 'SankarAchAryam' (Sri Subbarama Sastri's Sankarabharanam kriti), but Veena Dhanamma's family, Semmangudi Seenu, MS sing this. There is a line 'paramAdvaita sthApana leelam' - means 'one who so easily, like a game, founded the great Advaita philosophy' - it is to be sung with stress on the 'A' of 'Advaita' (Paramacharya sings this line) to give the intended meaning. If we really cared, we can, even without proper training, sing with proper meaning. Those I mentioned above also sing properly"

"But those who do not care, stretch the 'paramAAAA' and then sing 'dwaita sthApana leelam', converting the Advaita Acharya to Dwaita Acharya! (laughs heartily for a long time) "No doubt, in music, there is no Dvaita - Advaita difference. Only music is important. And music makes the mind of the singer into unison with the song - the protagonist of the song. That is why, 'ShrI SubrahmanyAya namasthE' is attached to you - a Vaishnavite - or you are attached to it! I have heard you sing that song. I do not have to say anything about your musical ability; and the sahitya part too you do correctly. Which is why I have called you here. In my dharbar there is only stones and bushes. There is no accompaniment, not even sruti. But please do sing that kriti for me, in spite of all these."

When Paramacharya stopped his torrent, Ariyakkudi was in tears. He prostrated once again, and said "there is no other prestige for me than to be asked by 'periyavA' to sing, and singing for periyavA. I have no words to express the magnanimity of PeriyavA, considering me as somebody and giving me this chance. PeriyavA's grace has to fill in for the sruti and accompaniment and enable me to sing to the level I am expected to", and readied himself to begin the song.

Paramacharya asked "the raga of this kriti is said to be Kambodhi, but the name given in books is Kambhoji, right?" When Ariyakkudi said yes, Paramacharya continued, "Many of us know Kambhojam is Cambodia (in S E Asia), and that Bharat culture had taken deep roots there. If we inferred that Kambhoji is a raga 'imported' from that place, researchers like Sambamurthy (the late Proof P Sambamurthy) disagree. Cambodians might have imported many things from us, but not we, far advanced in civilization, from them; definitely not in music, where we were much advanced whereas they had mostly folk music. Then why the name 'Kambhoji'? "I have a thought here - there is another place called 'Kambhojam along India's northern border. Kalidasa, no ordinary poet and quite knowledgeable too, tells Yasha to go this way and that in his 'mEgha SandEsam' - good enough to plot a map! In his Raghuvamsam, describing Raghu's invasions and victories, he has mentioned one 'Kambhojam', beyond the Indus and along the Himalayas. From this, we deduce that, within the extended India (akand Bharat), there was one Kambhojam near the Hindukush mountains. May be our Kambodhi raga was from this place? "Many ragas are named after places, right? Sourashtram, Navarasa kannada, even Kannada, Sindhu Bhairavi, Yamuna Kalyani, like this Kambodhi might have come from Kambhojam region.

"Researchers say ragas like Mohanam and Kambhji have been around in most civilizations from time immemorial. Later, may be the raga was given the name of the place that 'polished' it well. Kedaram is a place in the Himalayas - you know Kedarnath. Gowla - Gowda region - Bengal. We have ragas in both names, and even Kedaragowla. But all three ragas have been in South Indian music - how? May be the names came from musicans who 'specialized' in these ragas and came from those regions? People in general, musicians in particular, are referred to with their native places. For instance Ariyakkudi means you! From this, can we say that some these rags - Kedaram, Gowla, Kannada, Kambhoji etc. - were popularized by musicians from these regions? Are you interested in research into ancient music?"

Ariyakkudi replied "Not much".

"But you have set Tiruppavai to tune! But unlike for Devaram songs, tunes have not been specified for Tiruppavai songs, and those whose who recited, did not use a tune. Since only Brahmins have been reciting Divyaprabhandham songs, they have recited only with a kind of up-down delivery (Ethal-Irakkal prAsam). You set the tune for Tiruppavai according to your manodharma (imagination)?"

"To the best of my little ability"

"But it has become the standard and accepted and sung by other vidwans as well! It seems our ancient ragas have been preserved in their original form (roopam) only in the Devaram songs. Just as the Vedas have been preserved to a note by the Vaidikas through generations, the Odhuvamurthis have preserved Devaram songs - not just the lyrics, but the tunes too. What was a service to devotion, has also been a service to music! The ragas Sankarabharanam, Neelambari, Bhairavi etc. have all been identified as different 'pann's. This list includes Sowrashtra, Kedaragowla, Kambodhi also. Kambodhi used to be called 'ThakkEsi' or something like that. Kambodhi is not a mela raga?"

"No. Harikambhoji is the mela raga; Kambhoji is its janya raga"

"But Kambodhi is more famous! Just like the son being more famous than the father. Some other janya ragas too are like this?"

"Yes, Bhairavi is a janya raga, derived from Natabhairavi"

"OK, you sing. I have been wasting time in useless chat preventing you from doing what you came for!"

Ariyakkudi rendered the song "ShrI subrahmanyAya namasthE" - a rare musical feast. Even without sruti or accompaniments, it still was wholesome. Paramacharya listened to the song with full concentration, eyes closed.

Then, "Only because you sang alone (no sruti/accompanists) the song came out with all its beauty. And the words were crystal clear. I say 'thrupthOsmi' (Totally satisfied). Please sing once more - you know why? I will give you the meaning line by line, you stop after every line. Not that you do not know; but let me have the pleasure of dissolving my mind in Sri Dikshitar's lyrical beauty for some more time! More over, others here can also learn the meaning and beauty behind the creations of geniuses."

Ariyakkudi sang one more, this time line-by-line. Presented below is Paramacharya's commentary, plus appropriate pieces from some of his other lectures.

Before moving on, here is a rendition of this masterpiece by Sri Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Iyengar!

Meaning

shrI subrahmaNyAya namastE namastE
manasija kOTi kOTi lAvaNyAya dIna sharaNyAya

'shrI subrahmaNyAya namastE namastE' Obeisance to Lord Subrahmanya - every one knows. Starts auspiciously with ShrI and has a double namasthE. If you say something more than once, you have said it infinite number of times (not just 100, as Rajnikant thinks! - ananth). We have seen 'pOttri pOttri' and 'Jaya Jaya Sankara', and BrahmasUtram's every phrase ends with twice- repeated words.

'namasthE namasthE'. 'thE' - to you; 'nama:' - obeisance. 'nama:thE' becomes 'namasthE'. The whole kriti goes in the fourth person(?) (nAlam vEtrumai). Obeisances to you, SubrahmanyA, infinite number of obeisances.

Who is Subrahmanya? True, learned Brahmanya. We generally take 'brahmA' to mean the true, absolute form of the Lord (paramAtma svarUpam), but there is another meaning - Vedas. That is why, Upanayanam, the ceremony to begin Veda lessons to a child, is called 'BrahmOpadEsam'; by learning Vedas, the child becomes 'BrahmachAri'. Likewise 'Brahmayagnam'. Brahmins are a set that recite the Vedas. Subrahmanya is the symbol of the Divine, the end point, the God of Vedas, and the special God of the Brahmins.

What is the special feature of Veda recitals? Worship of agni, fire.

And Subrahmanya is the God who is in 'agni swarUp'. He was created by the six sparks of fire (nEtragni) from the (third) eye of Shiva.

Hence He is the Deva of Vedas, and the God of Brahmins, whose sole duty is to recite and teach Vedas. Adisankara in his 'Subrahmanya Bhujangam' says 'mahIdEva dEvam, mahAvEda bhAvam, mahAdEvabAlam'. 'mahIdEva' are Brahmins; 'mahIdEva dEvam' is God of Brahmins.

In Thirumurugattruppadai, one of the oldest Tamil scriptures, this point is underlined. Nakkeerar, the author, stating that each of the six faces of Shanmukha grants devotees' wishes in one different way, says 'oru mugam manthra vidhiyin marapuli vazhA anthanar vELviyOrkkummE' And when describing Thiruveragam (Swamimalai), he says learned and pious Brahmins perform rituals with fire towards Subrahmanya.

Brahmins who participate in 'yagna karmA' are called 'rithvik'. Of the sixteen types of rithviks, one is named 'Subrahmanya'.

From all these, it is evident that Subrahmanya is the God of Vedas.

Muthuswami Dikshitar has much connection with Subrahmanya. He has been to, and sung in praise of, many kshetras and Gods, just as Adisankara has. But in his devotion (upAsanA), he has been known to be a 'dEvi upAsakA' - he even breathed his last singing 'mIna lOchani pAcha espressoni' on Meenakshi. But his birth, beginning of his composing career, were are all associated with Subrahmanya.

His very name, Muthuswami, is that of Muthukumaraswami, the deity at Vaidheeswaran koil. His father, Ramaswami Dikshitar - scholar, musician and Srividya devotee - was without an issue till he was forty. He visited Vaidheeswaran koil with his wife and fasted for 45 days (one mandalam). His wife then had a dream as if someone was tying coconut, fruits and other 'mangalavastu' on her womb. And soon she became pregnant. The couple understood that Subrahmanya had granted their wish and that the dream meant this. And a boy was born on 'krithikai' day in the month of Phalguni or Panguni. That boy was Muthuswami.

He grew up, had his musical training, Srividya Abhyasam (training in the worship of Devi) and gurukula vAsam at Kashi (Benares). His guru at Kashi, before dying, told Muthuswami, "Go back to the south. First visit Tiruttani. Subrahmanya will show you the way to your life's purpose".

So Muthuswami went to Tiruttani. He had his bath in the temple tank and was climbing the hillock, when an elderly Brahmin gentleman called him by name, and told him to open his mouth. When Muthuswami did so, he dropped a piece of sugar candy (karkandu) in his mouth and disappeared. Muthuswami understood who it was that came, and his life's mission began that moment - his musical creativity had been woken up. On the spot, he sang eight kritis. (in eight different 'vEttrumai's) Also note that his 'mudra' is 'guruguhA', a name of Subrahmanya. Guha resides deep inside a cave - guhai; and guruguha resides in the deep cave of the human heart of Muthuswami Dikshitar.

Dikshitar's life on earth ended on a Deepavali day. The sixth day from Deepavali is 'skanda shashti'. Some people fast these six days, beginning on Deepavali day and ending it on the shashti day. So in his death too we see the Subrahmanya association.

Dikshitar went from place to place and sung in praise of the God there, be it Ganesha, Vishnu, Devi, Shiva. And in each kriti, there would be some internal evidence about the place where it was composed - the name of the God, some historical fact, or manthra rahasyam. Our 'ShrI SubrahmanyAya namasthE' has no such internal evidence - we do not know where it was composed. May be he unified the deities of all Subrahmanya temples in this one kriti, so sparkling is it.

So he has started with innumerable obeisances; then 'manasija kOTi kOTi lAvaNyAya' Like two 'namasthE's, two koti's. koti-koti is koti (one crore) multiplied by crore. manasija koti koti - crore*crore manmadhA's.

manasijan=manmadhan; he is born out of mind - manas. Love - kAmA - comes from the mind, right? There is a puranic story too - Manmadhan is the son of Mahavishnu. But very strangely, he was not born to Mahalakshmi out of Vishnu's love, but from Vishnu's mind directly - the moment Vishnu thought of him! And Vishnu's other son, Brahma, was born directly too, from Vishnu's navel (nAbhi). See, Vishnu has this funny habit of doing strange things always! Manmadhan is famous for his good looks. So 'manasija kOti kOti lAvanyAya' is some one who is crore*crore times as beautiful as Manmadha.

But is this not funny?! I mean, Subrahmanya being 'manasija kOti kOti lAvanyAya'. Who is Subrahmanya? He is the son of Shiva, who reduced Manmadha to ashes with a fire of fury from His eye. And from that same nEtragni, is born Subrahmanya! But He was born to gnAna (wisdom), not kAma.

'Kumar' is a special name for Him. Just as in the South 'pillai' (son) means pillaiyar (Ganesha), Kumar in the North refers to the younger son, Subrahmanya. In the South also, we say 'kumaran' or 'kumAraswAmy'. Nowadays, half of the boys are named 'Kumar'! The term 'Kumar' is particularly applied to Subrahmanya. In Valmiki Ramayana, Vishwamitra tells the story of Subrahmanya to Rama and Lakshmana and calls it 'KumAra Sambhavam'. And Kalidasa has named his own epic after this phrase used by the great sage Valmiki.

Another interpretation for the word 'Kumar'. Manmadhan is also called 'mAran'; and 'kumAran' some one who puts mAra to shame - is more beautiful than him. 'kutsitha-mara:' - 'kumAra:'. So 'kumAra' by itself means 'manasija kOti kOti lAvanyAya'! The Tamil people just love Him. They have given Him a beautiful name - 'Murugan' - Murugu=beauty.

After kAmA was burnt to ashes, Devi took over his role, donning his sugarcane bow and floral arrows - 'kamEshwari' - this led to the birth of Subrahmanya. And how else would be but 'lavaNyA'? - Devi Herself is called 'sundari - thripurasundari'.

'dhIna sharaNyAya' Is mere beauty enough? What we want is 'aruL' - grace. Subrahmanya is the refuge of we, the sufferers. 'dhIna' - those that are poor, humble, suffering, scared.

'dhIna sharaNyAya - lAvaNyAya - SubrahmaNyAya' - similar sounding - edhugai or mOnai or something in Tamil - it is edhugai only but edhugai on the ending of the words rather than on the beginning. 'yAya' - andhya prAsam - 'to Him' (fourth vEttrumai) It is usual to go back to the first line with a fast 'manasija kOti kOti', after beginning in slow tempo - chowkha kAlam or vilamba kAlam. Vilambham - a nice Sanskrit word. I prefer this word to 'chowkam'. Slow tempo, giving scope to the musician to explore the raga's various nuances, is a hallmark of Dikshitar's kritis. And the majestic Sanskrit language helps too, creating the impression of a grand elephant procession.

bhUsurAdi samastajana pUjitAbja caraNAya
vAsuki takSakAdi sarpa svarUpa dharaNAya
vAsavAdi sakaladEva vanditAya varENyAya
dAsajanAbhISta pradadakSatarAgragaNyAya

But aren't we all always in a hurry? By the mind and by the body? So we find such slow tempo boring after some time. And for this, Dikshitar provides relief with some fast movements at the end of most phrases. Madhyama kAlam comes as a relief to chowkha kAlam, as a piece of clove in a sweet-sweet laddu! In this kriti, both the pallavi and charanam have madhyama kAla endings. But in his most other kritis, we find madhya kAla phrases only at the end of anupallavi and charanam. Why? Subrahmanya is a vibrant young man (endrum iLaiyAi), so wants to go running right from the word 'go'! 'bhUSurAdhi samasthajana pUjithAbja sharaNAya' - one whose lotus feet are worshipped by Brahmins and other people (add namasthE of the pallavi to this) 'bhUsurAdhi' - Brahmins and ...others. 'bhUsurA' - Brahmins. 'bhU' is earth, surA are devAs. And Brahmins are the 'earthly DevAs' as they, by their chanting and rituals, bring the blessings of the Devas to earth.

We have already seen that Subrahmanya is the God of Brahmins (mahIdeEva is same as bhUsura). But is He the God of Brahmins only? Not so; He is the God of all people. Of his two wives, one is the daughter of Indra, the king of Devas, and the other, daughter of a tribal chieftain (suramagal and kuramagal). Some might say, He is a Tamil God (Dravidaswamy), and others that He is the God of Brahmins only - His name itself is testimony. But the truth is otherwise.

There is no doubt that He is the God of all people. And Dikshitar takes this line only. We should all unite in the name of God, not fight one another.

'pUjithAbja sharaNAya' - to the worshipped Lotus Feet. Abja is lotus; 'Ab' is water and that which grows in water is abjam. We also call it jalajam, ambujam, sarojam, neerajam (jala, ambu... are all other names for water). Also vanajam - vana is forest. But does lotus grow in forest? But vana has another meaning - water. 'Kam' is also water - kamjam is lotus (eg. kamjalOchanE, kamjadhalAya dAkshi).

vArijam, too, is lotus. OK, all I have tried to say is 'abjam' is lotus! 'vASuki thakShakAdhi sarpa swarUpa dharanAya' - one who takes the form of snakes like Vasuki and Thaksha.

Literally 'sarpa' means 'kundalini' - the Energy of Life. Snake has a wriggled, spiral-like form, so does our kundalini, in normal circumstances. But if we perform concentrated penance, it wakes up in full glory, and then merges with the Ultimate.

Subrahmanya's weapon is the spear - 'vEl', also known as Shakti Ayudham. No other deity's weapon is as much identified with that deity, as vEl is with Subrahmanya. And His connection with snakes is apparent in more instances - if we see a snake in our dreams, elders tell us to perform Subrahmanya pooja for preethi. And Shashti Pooja to Subrahmanya is also done some times as Nagarjuna Pooja, in particular for Puthrabhagyam. Subrahmanya was born at the request of Devas who wanted a powerful commander-in-chief; and we pray to Him for puthrabhagyam! In Andhra and Karnataka, they do not have Subrahmanya idols in temples; rather, He is worshipped in snake form. You know a place called Subrahmanya in Karnataka - there also it is this way. Telugus fondly say 'subbarAyudu' meaning Subrahmanya as well as snake.

Let us see if Adisankara has brought out this Subrahmanya-snake connection. (laughs) The title itself is 'Bhujangam'! Snake does not have legs, and uses its whole body as hands - bhujam, and moves about in a wavy rhythm. The 'chandas' similar to a snake's movement is called 'bhujanga prayAdham'. Acharya has sung bhujangams on many Gods, but when we simply think of bhujangam, what comes to our mind immediately is 'Subrahmanya Bhujangam'. On other Gods, He has also composed ashtakam, pancharatnam etc, but on Subrahmanya, only this Subrahmanya Bhujangam - may be to prove that Subrahmanya is Himself the bhujangam.

Dikshitar mentions the famous snakes Vasuki and Taksha. Shashti Pooja is performed by worshipping seven great snakes. Vasuki is the snake who adorns the role of Nagaraja in Nagalokam. And when the Sea of Milk (pArkadal) was churned with Manthragiri, this Vasuki snake was used to tie that hillock. Funny, isn't it, a poisonous snake helping to extract nectar! Again, what is Subrahmanya's vehicle (vAhanA)? peacock, dire enemy of the snakes! Goes to show that, in His presence, all enmity vanishes. So too, elephants are mortally scared of lions - a 'simha swapna' terrorizes an elephant. But we have an elephant sitting on a lion! Heramba, one of the many forms of Ganesha, has a lion as His vAhanA. Or take Vishnu - His bed is a snake (Adishesha) and his vAhanA, Garuda, enemy of snakes! We are told the story that a snake eats the moon during lunar eclipse, but we have a snake and a moon adorning Shiva's head! Strange, again, are the Parvati-Shiva couple. Will a lion leave a bull go? But we have Shiva on the Rishaba (bull) and Devi on Simha (lion)! The philosophy behind all these is, all beings lose their tendency to hate (dwEsha bhAvam) at the Lord's sannidhi.

OK, let us continue our 'vAsuki takshakAdhi' - some say Vasuki is the same as Adishesha; some disagree. Anyhow, Adishesha and Subrahmanya are definitely connected. Venkataramanaswamy at Tirupati has much connection with Subrahmanya. The hillock Tirupati-Tirumala is also called Seshagiri, Seshachalam, Seshasailam. 'sarpa swarUpa dhara' Subrahmanya is Himself is the Tirupati hill. Or take Ardhanarishwara at Tiruchengode. Subrahmanya is also worshipped here, as He made the (united) couple into a trio - Somaskanda. This Tiruchengode is also called Nagachalam and Nagagiri, meaning the same as Seshachalam.

'vAsavAdhi sakala dEva vandhithAya' Now he talks about the real 'suras', not earthly suras. 'bhUsurAdhi' was in the lower octave and 'vAsavAdhi' in the upper octave. The meaning is 'One who is worshipped by Vasava and other Devas'. Vasava is Indra. Of the Devas, there is one class called Ashtavasus. They are Indra's followers (parivAram), so Vasava is Indra. When he himself worships, all other Devas have to follow suit (yathA rAjA thathA prajA); moreover, when Surapadma drove off the Devas and ascended Indra's throne, Subrahmanya was the one who saved them. So they have much reason to worship Subrahmanya. Not just worshipping - Indra gave off his daughter Devasena in marriage to Subrahmanya. So Deva-senapathi became Devasena-pathi! Dikshitar also points this out later in the kriti (dEvarAja jAmatrE) Reminds me - Devasena is said to be Indra's daughter, and Valli, the daughter of Nambirajan, tribal king (suramagal, kuramagal) but in fact, both of them are Vishnu's daughters but for some reasons grew up with Indra and Nambirajan.

Who is Vishnu? Devi's brother, Subrahmanya's uncle. So Subrahmanya has married his uncle's daughters perfectly in accordance with custom. Arunagirinathar says as many times 'marugOnE' (nephew/son-in- law) as he says 'murugOnE'. Even though Ganesha too is Vishnu's nephew, 'mAl marugOn' - Vishnu's nephew - denotes Subrahmanya only.

Another example of unity-in-diversity - Vishnu, whose son Manmadha died in the netragni, has given His daughters in marriage to Subrahmanya - born out of the same netragni.

Further, we will see that Saiva-Vaishnava difference also vanishes, and it would not be strange that this kriti is a Vaishnavite's masterpiece. Is it not quite expected, as Subrahmanya is the son-in- law of Vishnu? Would you not love and respect your son-in-law? One step further - Devi Herself is Vishnu's sister. Who gives off Meenakshi in marriage to Sundareshwara (thArai vArthu kodukkaradhu)? A world famous sculpture at Madurai tells us who...

First Dikshitar said samasthajana pUjithAya, then sakaladEva vandhithAya. Among Devas too, there are several sects - Vasus, Rudhras, Adithyas, Gandharvas, Kinnaras, etc.

And finally, 'varENyAya' - means THE BEST. This appears in Gayathri Mantra. To bring out the superlative nature, Dikshitar has used this word from Gayathri, which is but the essence of the Vedas. And 'varENyAya' continues the 'andhya prAsam' of SubrahmanyAya-lAvaNyAya-charaNyAya, and as it comes at the height of the anupallavi, he has used the word from the essence of the Vedas.

The beginnings of each line, too, have 'edhugai prAsam' - 'shrI Su', 'bhUsu', 'vAsa', 'dhAsa'. This is the speciality of great composers - their rachana visesham (not 'rasana' - appreciation).

rachanA means lyrical beauty - the unified effect of sound and meaning, each falling into its place at ease. 'Composed', 'composure' itself means peace, ease. (In Tamil, we say quite beautifully, 'sollamaidhi, porulamaidhi'). We can deduce a composer's rasanA from his rachanA.

'dAsajanAbhISta-prada-dakSatarAgra-gaNyAya' Having certified His stature with a superlative, Dikshitar mounts more superlatives one after the other to bring out His kindness to devotees. 'dhAsajana apIshta pradha' - one who fulfills his devotees' wishes. Dikshitar could have stopped here, but was not quite satisfied! After `pradha', we have `dhaksha', `thara', `agra' - a stream of superlatives.

'apIshta pradha dhaksha' is one who is very good at fulfilling his devotees' wishes. Stop here? No. 'dhaksha thara' - the best among those who are good at fulfilling their devotees' wishes. 'thara' - better in comparison. (in Tamil we say 'tharamAnadhu'). Yes, there may be many such capable Gods (and their supporters may come fighting) so let us avoid controversy here. After all, God and music and kritis are but for unity and peace. So let Subrahmanya be the #1 among all such Gods, thought Dikshitar. So he says 'agragaNyAya' - another superlative! 'agra' - first place; 'gaNyAya' - held in or esteemed to be in.

tAraka simha mukha shUra padmAsura samhartrE
tApatraya haraNanipuNa tatvOpadEsha kartrE
vIranuta guruguhAyAjHnAna dhvAnta savitrE
vijayavallI bhartrE saktyAyudha dhartrE
dhIrAya natavidhAtrE dEvarAja jAmAtrE
bhUrAdibhuvanabhOktrE bhOgamOkSapradAtrE

'thAraka simhamukha sUrapadmAsura samharthrE' - one who vanquished Tharaka, Simhamukha and Soorapadma (add 'namasthE' here) Pallavi and anupallavi had all the words in the fourth person (nAlAm vEttrumai in Tamil). Now charanam has words ending in 'ru' - a weak, half 'u' (kutrialugaram in Tamil). 'Samharthru - upadEsakarthru - savithru' - in 4th person these do not become 'yAya' but take the 'E' sound - 'harthrE - karthrE'.

Tharaka, Simhamukha and Soorapadma are brothers. Tharaka is elephant- faced, Simhamukha obviously lion-faced, and Soorapadma has an ugly rAkshasa face. In the South, Soorapadma is the king of Asuras, and the chief villain. We even celebrate Soorasamharam. But in the north, Tharaka takes this place. Kalidasa in his 'Kumarasambhavam' says that Subrahmanya was born for the purpose of vanquishing Tharakasura. And in Subrahmanya Bhujangam, Adisankara mentions all three. Dikshitar follows the 'southern line'.

OK; Dikshitar has spoken of His beauty (kOti kOti manasija lAvaNyAya), kindness (dhInacharanyAya, apIshtavarapradhAkshagrahaNyAya) and valour; what next? What signifies Dikshitar's kritis? What is his mudhra? 'Guruguha'.

This is Subrahmanya's greatest quality. He is the one who teaches us the path to the Ultimate. He even teaches His father, Shiva ('guruvAi ararkkum upadEsam vaiththa' - Arunagiri) - He is 'thagappan swAmi - swAminAthaswAmi - 'gnAnapandithaswAmi'.

'thApa-thrya harana nipuna thathvOpadEsa karthrE' Jeevatma - human soul - has three kinds of desires - thApathryam.

They are Aadhyatmikam, Aadhiboudhikam, Aaadhidhaivikam. And all three lead to suffering; the first to suffering within our soul. The second is brought about by other (human/animal) beings. The last, Aadhi dhaivikam, literally means God's work, but here stands to mean our fate - vidhi. Subrahmanya teaches us how to win over them - he is an expert - nipunA - at such teaching.

'vIranutha' Wisdom and valour - we ignorantly that they are different. But the truly wise man - gnAni - can take any form, but still be a gnAni inside. Krishna tells Arjuna to take his bow and shoot (gAntIpathai edudA ambai thodudA) in the midst of Gita which is essentially a Gnanopadesham. Subrahmanya is a 'gnAnavIra' - the wise warrior, c-in- c of the devasena and worshipped by all brave and wise men.

Hence 'vIranutha'. 'nutha' - one who is worshipped. One more interpretation - He has nine deputies whose names all start with 'vIra' - vIrabAhu, vIrakEsari, vIramahEndra etc. So also He is 'vIranutha'.

'guruguhAya' After valour, again gnAna! Subrahmanya's abodes are mostly hillocks or caves - guhai ('kurinjikkadavul' in Tamil). Philosophically, He is the Divine Truth residing deep in the cave that is the human heart.

And when He comes out and preaches, he is 'guruguhA'. This is also Dikshitar's mudhra, having flown spontaneously out of his heart into his words.

'agnAna dwAntha savithrE' 'dwAntham' - darkness; Savitha - Sun. Just as Sun drives out the darkness, He drives out the darkness of ignorance. The use of the word 'savithA' for Sun is significant here. Sun - Surya - has several other names - Aadithya, BhUsha, Bhaskara, Bhanu, Marthanda, Dinamani (more to be found in Aadhithya Hrdayam). Of these, the name savithA appears in Gayathri Manthra. Roughly translating, in Gayathri, we pray that the brilliant wisdom light of the Ultimate, likened to the glow of the Sun, should awaken our inner wisdom and make it glow, too. Speciality of the name is, Savitha does not talk of the destructive-of-darkness nature of the Sun, but of the creative nature. Savitha - literally one who creates. (prasavam - giving birth - same root here). Sun not only destroys darkness, dirt, insects etc, but also induces rain, growth of vegetation, our good health and even our mental growth. Similarly, Subrahmanya vanquishes darkness (of the mind), but also fills in this void space with wisdom. The use of the word Savitha has come out beautifully.

(ThirumurugAtruppadai starts with a similar simile of dawn) I think the whole point of this kriti is to show Subrahmanya to be the essence of Gayathri, which is itself the essence of Vedas. The kriti starts with Brahmanyaya; at the high point of the anupallavi we have 'varENyAya' and the high point of charanam has 'savithru'. The kriti touches its peak at this point.

And then, 'vijayavallI barthrE' This is fun! the real fun with real gnAni is he can be anything outside; brave, beautiful, kind, anything. He is SUrasamhAramUrthi, the valiant victor at Tiruchendur; a sanyAsi at Palani; a Brahmachari boy at Swamimalai; Devasena's and Valli's husband at Tirupparankundram and Tiruttani. Vijayavalli is none but Valli.

(Devasena is Jayanthi). So He has Jaya and Vijaya as His consorts! Valli Kalyanam is a jolly good anecdote. But the philosophy there? He frees the mind, caught between IndriyAs (the tribal folk in the story) and merges it with Himself. Goes also to show how much of a 'dhInacharanyA' He is - He, the Son of Universe's first couple, took on many different roles and what not, just to please the deep, innocent love of a tribal girl.

'sakthyAyudha dhartrE' - one who wears the powerful spear - ShaktivEl.

'dhIrAya' We generally take this to mean strength, fearlessness; of course that is correct. But another meaning is sharp intellect. And this 'dhI' sound is found in Gayathri too! Gayathri's use of 'dhI' refers to our intellect, which, pray, be induced by the Ultimate Light (paramAthma thEjas). The root meaning of the word 'gAyathri' is 'that which protects/elevates the one who sings it'. Sing? The recital of Vedas, in up-down fashion, is itself like a song. And Dikshitar probably made this kriti as a kind of musical Gayathri, and hence borrows many words and ideas from Gayathri Mantra.

Which is the first and basic swara of the saptaswara? Shadjam. The cooing of peacock is likened to Shadjam, and peacock reminds us of what? Him! (Arunagiri says 'maragadha mayUra perumAl kAN'). If He is the Lord of Shadjam, the base note, is He not the Lord of music too? And must He not have a Sangeetha Gayathri on him? Which is why, He created Dikshitar, started him off with a sugar candy and got him to sing this kriti! 'natha vidhAtrE' Vidhatha is Brahma. natha here is the same as nutha in vIranutha - means one who is worshipped. We all know the story. Subrahmanya asked Brahma for the meaning of Pranava Mantra; Brahma could not give a satisfactory answer. And our young boy imprisoned Brahma and took over his duty of Creation. In some temples, we can see Subrahmanya donning the japamAla and kamandalu of Brahma (eg. Kanchi Kumarakkottam). Shiva came to Brahma's rescue, "OK my son, Brahma does not know; you tell me the answer, if you know". Pat came the reply, "I can not be talked to like this; if you want the answer, ask like a student does, not like a teacher". Even great people take pleasure in losing to their offspring! Shiva went down to Subrahmanya and got 'PranavOpadEsha'. A lesson to all of us - in pursuit of knowledge, there is no shame. Having now realized Subrahmanya's greatness, Brahma worshipped Him and was released back to his job.

'dEvaraja jAmathrE' - son-in-law of Indra, we have already seen this.

'bhUrAdhi bhuvana bhOktrE' 'bhUrAdhi' - earth and other; bhuvana - worlds. It is customary to classify the infinite number of worlds into 14, of which seven are below, and further summarizing as 'bhUr-bhuva-suvar' ie lower, middle and upper worlds. Recognize these? Gayathri again! We add a 'Om' to it and recite as part of many our rituals. The idea is that the fruits of our rituals should reach all of the people in all of these worlds. 'bOkthA' means ruled by, enjoyed by. Are not the happenings- on in all these worlds at and for His pleasure? (leelAnubhavam) Finally, 'bhOga mOksha pradhAtrE' As seen, He is the one who rules over and enjoys all good things in this world, while giving us the illusion that we too enjoy various pleasures like wealth, position and fame. 'dhAthA' - one who gives. 'pradhAthA' - expert at giving. In the fourth person, it becomes 'pradhAtrE'. As long as this illusion - drama - is on, it is fine for us to enjoy, and for Him to give. But if we delude ourselves into thinking that this drama is the real thing, we are fools. Once the drama is over, should we not go back to our real selves? This is the state when the mind (manas), the drama stage, dies and the Atman alone exists. He gives us this state too - as 'agnAna dwAnta savithA', 'mOksha pradhAthA'.

If we seek moksha from Dhanalakshmi, or from Santhanalakshmi, we are not going to get it. And Dakshinamurthi would not give us wealth or offspring, either. Subrahmanya gives us both bhogam and moksham.

There is nothing more to say after this sentence, and the kriti ends.

Paramacharya further tells Ariyakkudi and the gathering at large, "I'm happy to see that you, coming from a good guru-sishya parampara, are preserving good music. You must also bring up good disciples and keep the tradition going. A Brahmin, having learnt Veda, has a compulsory duty to teach atleast one more person (athyApanam). This can apply to other sastras and arts too."

"One more point about musicians. You should sing the Telugu and Sanskrit kirtanas fully aware of their meaning. It is not fair to say that Tamil songs alone are enough. Great composers in this country have created hundreds of Telugu and Sanskrit songs of much musical and lyrical beauty. If we ignore them, the loss is ours. Do not defend by saying, 'I do not understand them!' - if only we desire, do we not spend time and energy on all sorts of useless things? If musicians dedicate themselves to pure music and proper rendition of words without losing the 'osandha artha visEsham', language can not be a barrier. Now that you are #1 in the music world, do your best towards this. May Subrahmanya's Grace be with you in this endeavor."

Ariyakkudi was totally moved. He took leave saying, "This has been the best day in my life".

And Paramacharya went back to his penance the next moment.

Here are some more renditions of this song by other great musicians.

Ragam - kamAs

2008-03-01T13:23:00.000-08:00

This is the start of another new theme for my blog posts. I plan to take up carnatic ragams for analysis, illustrate them through recordings of great musicians, and also provide some instances from film music where these ragams have been employed.

Starting with kamAs, a janya of the 28th melakartha harikAmbhOji, this ragam has the following scale in carnatic music:
ArOhaNam: S M1 G3 M1 N2 D2 N2 P D2 N2 S
avarOhaNam: S N2 D2 P M1 G3 R2 S

As you can see, the arohanam has many jumps (vakra sanchAra) that are characteristic of this ragam. Also, kamAs is a shAdava-sampUrNa rAgam since rishabam is missing in the arohanam. Before I go further, here is a popular varNam in this rAgam, mAte malayadwaja, composed by srI harikEsanallUr muthaiah bhAgavathar. It has beautiful muktAyi swarams, especially phrases like 'M1 D2 N2 M1 N2 D2 D2 ', 'S" S" P D2 N2 D2 D2' and also some rare kamAs phrases such as 'N2 D2 P M1 G3 P M1', 'N2- M1 G3 M1 D2 N2', 'S M1 N2 G3 M1' and 'N2 G3" R2" G3"'.

M.S.Subbulakshmi (1978) - Lyrics

kamAs, a rAga associated with shringAra rasA, is usually employed for short krithis (tukkadas) in carnatic concerts. However, there are some krithis in this rAgam that have been sung as main pieces in concerts, such as the popular brOchEva rEvarurA (by Mysore vAsudEvAchAryAr) and sujana jIvana (by tyAgarAja). While brOchEva has melodious chittai swarams that are usually sung in 2 speeds, sujana jIvana gives a very classical touch to this rAgam and establishes its identity in the very first phrase.

brochEvA - Sanjay Subramanyam - Lyrics
sujana jIvana - T.N.Seshagopalan - Lyrics

Muthuswami Dikshitar has also composed songs in kamAs, namely sArasa daLa nayana and srI swaminAthAya, where he demonstrates the rAga chAyA in the opening phrase itself. For example, he starts at the tAra sthAyI in sArasa daLa with 'S" , , R" S" N D N S" D N P , , D N S"' to introduce the rAga. I've included a rendition of this song by Sri T.N.Seshagopalan in the playlist below. In the second krithi, Dikshitar conveys the rAgam in just two words: srI swaminAthAya using 'P , D P M G M N D , D ,'. Though these are the two popular krithis of Dikshitar in kamAs, he has composed some other ones such as daNDanAthAya rakshitOham, saDAnanE sakalam and santAna gOpAlakrSNam.

kamAs is also rendered with kAkali nishAdam (N3) in few phrases like 'S" N3 S"' and 'P D2 N3 S"'. Though no mention of this is made in the sangItha sampradAya pradaRshiNi by Subbarama Dikshitar, he does include that sAdhAraNa gAndhAram (G2) appears in tAra stAyi phrases such as 'S" R2" (G2") R2" S"' (as in his own vaRNam sAmi ninnE).

Here is a playlist of popular songs in kamAs rendered by past/current carnatic musicians.

List of Carnatic Songs in kamAs

[−]

anbilaiyE - rUpakam - Papanasam Sivan
apadUruku lOnaitinE (jAvaLi) - dEshAdi - Pattabhiramayya
apuDu manasu (jAvaLi) - dEshAdi - Patnam Subramanya Iyer

brOcEvArevarurA - Adi - Mysore Vasudevacharyar

chalamEla jEsEvurA (dAru vaRNam) - Adi Svati Tirunal

dEva namO namO - Adi - Tulasivanam

I vELa nannu - Adi - Bhadrachala Ramdas

Ehi mudam dEhi - Adi - Narayana Theerthar
ennannaiyE - Eka (tisra gati) - H.N.Muthaiah Bhagavathar
entanI nE delupudurA (pada vaRNam) - Eka (tisra gati) - Subbarama Dikshitar

jayati jayati - rUpakam - Mayuram Vishwanatha Shastri

kaDaikkaN pArvaiyadu - Adi - Papanasam Sivan
kaNDavar maravArE - Adi - Sudhananda Bharati

mAtADa bAradEnO - tripuTa - Naraharidasa
mAtanga vadana - Adi - H.N.Muthaiah Bhagavathar
mAtE malayadwaja (dAru vaRNam) - Adi - H.N.Muthaiah Bhagavathar
madanAnga mOhana - Adi - Oothukaadu Venkatasubbayyar
manasA rAmuni - Adi - Walajapet Venkatramana Bhagavathar
mareya bEDa manavE - rUpakam - Purandara Dasar
marulu konnadirA (jAvaLi) - Adi - Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar
mODi jEsEvElrA (jAvaLi) - Adi - Pattabhiramayya

pAda bhajana - rUpakam - G.N.Balasubramaniam
paripUrNa sutantira - jhampA - Sudhananda Bharati
paRpala poRpaNi (kaNNi) - rUpakam - Papanasam Sivan

rAmajOgi mandu - also vasantA - Adi - Bhadrachala Ramdas

sAmba shivAyanavE (swarajati) - Adi - Chinnakrishna Daasar
sAmi nI rammanave (pada vaRNam) - Adi - Ponniah Pillai (Tanjore Quartet)
sAmi ninnE kOri (tAna vaRNam) - Adi - M.D.Ramanathan
sAmiyai azhaittu vAdi (pada vaRNam) - Adi - Tanjavur Quartette
sAnarO I mOhamu (jAvaLi) - rUpakam - Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar
sArasa daLa lOchana (dAru vaRNam) - Adi - Vinai Shesha Iyer
sArasa daLa nayana - jhampa - Muthuswami Dikshitar
Sa va marushayatu (pada vaRNam) - Adi - Svati Tirunal
shambhO mahAdEvA (vaRNam) - Adi - Parameshvara Bhagavatar
sItApati nA - dEshAdi - Thyagaraja
shrI paramEshwari - Adi - H.N.Muthaiah Bhagavathar
shringAra mUritivi - jhampa - Annamacharya
swAmi enniDam (pada vaRNam) - Adi - Vinai Shesha Iyer
sujana jIvana - rUpakam - Thyagaraja

tillAnA - Patnam Subrmanya Iyer
tiruvaLar mayilaiyun (kaNNi) - Adi - Papanasam Sivan

vesariti nE vedaki (tAna vaRNam) - Adi - Balamuralikrishna

kamAs in Film Music

This ragam has been used in several film songs over the years. The erstwhile Tamil film actor/singer M.K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar has sung many songs in this ragam, such as Oru Naal Oru Pozhudu from Thiruneelakantar (1939) and mANiDa janmam from Raja Mukthi (1948), both written by Papanasam Sivan. The carnatic song brOchEvA rEvarurA became very popular after it was sung by S.P.Balasubramaniam and Vani Jayaram in the Telugu film Shankarabharanam (1979).

pazhamudhir chOlai, a song from the Tamil movie Varusham 16, is another pleasant composition in kamAs by the maestro Ilayaraja and sung beautifully by Yesudas. Rahman has also employed this rAgam in a very creative fashion. Stepping aside from usual fast-paced songs in kamAs, he has composed a slow, soulful melody called uyirum nIyE (Pavitra), sung by Unnikrishnan and conveying the beautiful bond between a mother and her child.

Here is a playlist of some film songs in kamAs that I could get my hands on.

List of Film Songs in kamAs

[−]

aruL pera duNindavan - dugArAm

brOcEvA revarura - shankarAbharaNam

mAnida janmam - rAja mukti - C.R.Subbaraman
mArgazhi mAdam - panchami

oru nAL oru pozhudAgilum - tirunIlakaNDar - Papanasam Sivan

palamudir sOlai - varusham 16 - Ilayaraja
pUvaiyar karpin perumai - krishNabhakti

uLLAsamAy kUDi viLaiyADuvOm - nyAnasowndari
uyirum nIyE - Pavitra - AR Rahman

Aahaa!

2008-02-27T20:17:00.000-08:00

Deva gave some great music towards the late 90s, especially for Ajith and Rajni films such as Aasai, Vaali, Baasha and Arunachalam. Aahaa, released in 1998 and starring Vijaykumar, Srividya, Bhanupriya and debutant Rajiv Krishna, is a superb family entertainer. It is definitely one of Suresh Krishna's finest movies and has some great, hard-hitting dialogues by Crazy Mohan. Though the music album isn't one of Deva's best, Muthal Muthalil is a pleasant, romantic tune sung beautifully by Hariharan and Chitra. Here is my attempt at this song, for which Deva chooses a popular ragam used in film songs, Kalyani!

Get this widget

Track details

eSnips Social DNA

Lyrics of Muthal Muthalil

[−]

Film: Aahaa (1998)
Director: Suresh Krishna
Music: Deva

Mudhal mudhalil paarthaen Kaadhal vandhadhae!
Enai marandhu endhan nizhal pOgudhae!
Ennil indru naanae illai!
Kaadhal pola yaedhum illai!
Engae endhan idhayam anbae vandhu saerndhadha?

(Mudhal mudhalil)

Nandhavanam idho ingaedhaan
Naan endha jeevanai naerinil paarthaen!
Nallavalae anbae unnal dhaan naalaigal
Meedhu oru nambikkai kondaen!
Nodikkoru tharam unai ninaikka vaithaai
Adikkadi en udal silirkka vaithaai!
Mudhal paarvai nenjil innum uyir vazhudhae!
Uyir vaazhudhae!

(Mudhal mudhalil)

Utharavae indri ullae dhaan
Nee vandha naerathil naan illai ennil!
Andha nOdi anbae en jeevan
verengu ponadhu paaradi unnil!
Unnai kanda nimishathil uraindhu nindraen
Marubadi oru murai pirandhu vandhaen!
En suvaasa kattril ellam un nyabagam!

(Mudhal mudhalil)

this expanable content box is made using a
free javascript from floobleBlackjack Guide

Sri Satyanarayanam

2008-02-23T21:18:00.000-08:00

Muthuswami Dikshitar has composed two masterpieces in the ragam Subhapantuvarali (or Sivapantuvarali), one on Lord Shiva (pashupathIshwaram) and the other on Lord Vishnu (srI satyanArAyanam). This ragam, also known as Gujri Thodi in Hindustani music, is the 45th melakartha in Venkatamakhim system and is said to alleviate mental dilemmas and indecisiveness (from rAga rAgiNi vidyA or 'knowledge of how to use rAga for the purposes of healing' in the Ayurvedic system).

In the song srI satyanArAyanam, Dikshitar extols Lord Vishnu at Badrinath as Sri Satyanarayana, the form of Truth, Knowledge & Bliss. Here is my attempt at this beautiful song!

Get this widget

Track details

eSnips Social DNA

Lyrics of Sri Satyanarayanam

[−]

Song: srI satya nArAyaNam
Ragam: shivapantuvaraaLi

45 shubhapantuvaraaLi mela
Aa: S R1 G2 M2 P D1 N3 S
Av: S N3 D1 P M2 G2 R1 S

Thalam: rUpakam
Composer: Muthuswami Dikshitar

Pallavi

shrI satya nArAyaNam upAsmahE nityam
satya jnAnAnanda-mayam sarvam viSNumayam

Anupallavi

vAsavAdi pUjitam vara muni gaNa bhAvitam
dAsa jana paripAlitam bhAsamAna badarIsthitam

Charanam

vaishya jAti kAraNam vaTu vESa dhAriNam
kaliyuga prasannam vasu pradAna nipuNam

matsya kUrma varAhAdi dashAvatAra prabhAvam
shaNkha cakrAbja hastam guruguha nuta prasiddham

this expanable content box is made using a
free javascript from floobleget free javascript games and effects

As in all Dikshitar krithis, there is a lot of interesting information packed into the lyrics of this song. Lord Vishnu took the form of a dwarf (Brahmaccharin) in the vAmana avatAr and asked mahAbali (king of rAkshasAs) for three steps of land measured by his own feet. Though mahAbali recognized who the dwarf was (from his preceptor Sukra) he still promised the land. The dwarf then became a giant, measured the earth in one stride and the heavens in another. He then asked mahAbali where the third measure would come from. mahAbali asked the Lord to place His foot on his own head. The Lord did so and pushed mahAbali into the nether world. This is the story behind the line "vatuvEshadhAriNam". Dikshitar also mentions that the business community as well as childless couples worship Lord Satyanarayana in the lines "vaishyajaati kaaranam" and "vasupradaana nipunam" respectively.