New Odia Music Download [EXCLUSIVE]
Marion Loyd
New Delhi: In a private hospital in Cuttack, renowned music director and composer Swarup Nayak died on Friday. He was 76 years old. Sources say he has been fighting throat cancer for a long time.
Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister of Orissa, expressed his sadness at the passing of lyricist and musician Swarup Nayak in a statement of sympathy posted on X. He wrote, "I am saddened to know about the demise of a noted music director and lyricist Swarup Nayak. His unique music compositions will always remain special in the hearts of the listeners. He will be remembered forever for his valuable contribution to enriching the world of Odia cinema. May his soul rest in peace and my condolences to the bereaved family members."
The various aspects of Odissi music include Odissi prabandha, Chaupadi, Chhanda, Champu, chautisā, janāna, Mālasri, Bhajana, Sarimāna, Jhulā, Kuduka, Koili, Poi, Boli, and more. Presentation dynamics are roughly classified into four: raganga, bhabanga, natyanga and dhrubapadanga. Some great composer-poets of the Odissi tradition are the 12th-century poet Jayadeva, Balarama Dasa, Atibadi Jagannatha Dasa, Dinakrusna Dasa, Kabi Samrata Upendra Bhanja, Banamali Dasa, Kabisurjya Baladeba Ratha, Abhimanyu Samanta Singhara and Kabikalahansa Gopalakrusna Pattanayaka.[3]
According to Bharata Muni's Natya Shastra, Indian classical music has four significant branches: Avanti, Panchali, Odramagadhi and Dakshinatya. Of these, Odramagadhi exists in the form of Odissi music. Odissi music crystallised as an independent style during the time of the early medieval Odia poet Jayadeva, who composed lyrics meant to be sung, set to ragas and talas unique to the local tradition.[4] However, Odissi songs were written even before the Odia language developed. Odissi music has a rich legacy dating back to the 2nd century BCE, when king Kharavela, the ruler of Odisha (Kalinga), patronized this music and dance.[5]
The traditional artforms of Odisha such as Mahari, Gotipua, Prahallada Nataka, Radha Prema Lila, Pala, Dasakathia, Bharata Lila, Khanjani Bhajana, etc. are all based on Odissi music. Odissi is one of the classical dances of India from the state of Odisha; it is performed with Odissi music.[6]
Odissi music is intimately and inextricably associated with the Jagannatha temple of Puri. The deity of Jagannatha is at the heart of Odisha's culture, and Odissi music was originally the music offered as a sevā or service to Jagannatha. Every night during the Badasinghara or the last ritual of the deity, the Gitagovinda of Jayadeva is sung, set to traditional Odissi ragas & talas. This tradition has continued unbroken since the time of Jayadeva, who himself used to sing in the temple. After the time of the poet, the singing of the Gitagovinda according to the authentic Odissi ragas & talas was instated as a mandatory sevā at the temple, to be performed by the Maharis or Devadasis, systematically recorded in inscriptions, the Mādalā Pānji and other official documents that describe the functioning of the temple. To this date, the Jagannatha temple remains the fountainhead of Odissi music and the most ancient & authentic compositions (including a few archaic Odia chhandas and jananas by Jayadeva himself) survive in the temple tradition, although the Devadasis are no more found owing to their systematic eradication by the British government.
Ancient Odisha had a rich culture of music, which is substantiated by many archaeological excavation throughout Odisha. At Sankarjang in the Angul district, the initial spade work exposed the cultural stratum of the Chalcolithic period (400 BC onward). From here, polished stone celts and hand-made pottery have been excavated. Some of the Celts are narrow but large in size. Thus they are described as Bar-celts. On the basis of bar-celts discovered in Sankarjung it could be argued that they were an earlier musical instrument in India. Scholars have referred to these as the earliest discovered musical instruments of South East Asia.[7]
There are vivid sculptures of musical instruments, singing and dancing postures of damsels in the Ranigumpha Caves in Khandagiri and Udayagiri at Bhubaneswar. These caves were built during the reign of the Jain ruler Kharabela of Kalinga in the 2nd century BC.[1] In inscriptions, Kharabela has been described as an expert in classical music (gandhaba-beda budho) and a great patron of music (nata-gita-badita sandasanahi).[8] Madanlal Vyas describes him as an expert who had organized a music programme where sixty four instruments were played in tandem. Kharabela was an emperor of the Chedi dynasty. Chedi was the son of Kousika, a Raga that is said to have been created by sage Kasyapa according to Naradiya Sikhya. The ancient musicologists of Odisha, like Harichandana belonged to the Naradiya school. The Raga Kousika is an extremely popular raga in the Odissi tradition, even until date.[1]
One of the caves of Udayagiri is known as the Bajaghara Gumpha, literally meaning 'hall of musical instruments'. It is designed such that any musical recital inside is amplified by the acoustics of the cave.[8]
In the temples of Odisha, oldest among them dating to the 6th century AD, such as Parasuramesvara, Muktesvara, Lingaraja and Konarka, there are hundreds of sculptures depicting musical performances and dancing postures.
Bharata's Natya Shastra is the most respected ancient treatise on Indian music & dance. Bharata in his seminal work has mentioned four different 'pravrittis' of natya (which includes both music & dance). The classification into pravrittis can be roughly said to be a stylistic classification, based on unique features of the regional styles that were distinctive enough in Bharata's time. The four pravrittis mentioned are Avanti, Dakshinatya, Panchali and Odramagadhi (or Udramagadhi). Odra is an ancient name of Odisha. Parts of ancient Kalinga, Kangoda, Dakhina Kosala, Tosali, Matsya Desa, Udra now constitute the state of Odisha. The classical music that prevailed in these regions was known as Udramagadhi. The post-Jayadeva text Sangita Ratnakara also makes a reference to the same. In the present times, it is this very system that goes under the rubric Odissi music.[1][8]
The Charyapadas or Charya songs usually consist of five or six padas. The last pada bears the name of the poet. The ragas to sing them have been indicated by the authors themselves, but no mention of tala is found. The ragas used by the Mahasiddhas continued to be popular in Odissi music for centuries afterwards, and remain important to this day. Many of the raga names as written bear significant resemblance with the raga nomenclature of Odisha & the pronunciations of raga names in the Odissi tradition, such as the mention of Baradi and not Varali. Some of the ragas mentioned in the Charyapadas are :
The Gitagovinda written by 12th-century poet Jayadeva is known to be one of the earliest, if not the earliest Indian song where the author has indicated with precision the exact raga and tala (mode of singing and the rhythm) of each song. This makes it one of the earliest texts of Indian classical music. Many of the ragas indicated in the Gitagovinda continue to be highly popular in Odissi music even now, and some of the talas mentioned in it are exclusive to the tradition of Odissi music.[8]
Pt. Raghunath Panigrahi is known for his contributions in popularising the Gitagovinda through Odissi music & Odissi dance across the globe. Scholar-musicians such as Guru Gopal Chandra Panda have also attempted to reconstruct melodies of the ashtapadis of the Gita Govinda in adherence to the poet's original indications, and based on extant traditional rhythmic & melodic patterns in Odissi music.[9]
During the reign of Alauddin Khilji, Gopala Nayaka had an important role of popularising old Indian music. Some scholars from Odisha in the first part of the 20th century have written about local legend that states Gopala Nayaka was from Odisha.[10]
During the 18th and 19th centuries, Odissi music was chiefly patronised by local kings of princely states of Odisha. This included the Gajapati of Puri as well as the rulers of the kingdoms of Paralakhemundi, Mayurbhanj, Ghumusara, Athagada, Athagada Patana, Digapahandi (Badakhemundi), Khallikote, Sanakhemundi, Chikiti, Surangi, Jeypore, Ali, Kanika, Dhenkanal, Banapur, Sonepur, Baramba, Nilgiri, Nayagarh, Tigiria, Baudh, Daspalla, Bamanda (Bamra), Narasinghapur, Athamallik as well as places with a significant Odia population and cultural history such as Tarala (Tharlakota), Jalantara (Jalantrakota), Manjusa (Mandasa), Tikili (Tekkali) and Sadheikala (Seraikela). Rulers often patronised poet-composers and skilled musicians, vocalists and instrumentalists. Musicians were appointed in royal courts and honoured with land or other rewards. Many kings were themselves skilled musicians and poets, such as Gajapati Kapilendra Deba of Puri or Biswambhara Rajendradeba of Chikiti.
Several dozens of treatises on music written in Odisha have been found. It is known that at least from the 14th century onwards, there was a continuous tradition of musicology in the state. Many of the texts have been critically edited and published by the Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi and the Department of Culture, Odisha. Of these, the core texts of Odissi music are:[1][11][12]
Jayadeva, the 12th century Sanskrit saint-poet, the great composer and illustrious master of classical music, has immense contribution to Odissi music. During his time Odra-Magadhi style music got shaped and achieved its classical status. He indicated the classical ragas prevailing at that time in which these were to be sung. Prior to that there was the tradition of Chhanda. A number of treatises on music have been found,[13][14] the earliest of them dating back to 14th century.
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