Ragam Mayamalavagowla
Pramod Mahadev
song vidulaku mrokkeda - tyagaraja's krithi which I fail to recollect.
The list of songs , I am familiar with are
Devi Sri Thulasamma - Adi - Tyagaraja
Meru Samaana - Adi - Tyagaraja
Vidulaku Mrokkeda - Adi - Tyagaraja.
Pramod
V. Chandramouli
Just thought I will start off the discussion on this beautiful raga under the
Raga of the Week Series (though going by the current trends, it is probably
more appropriate to call it Raga of the Month). Anyway, following is a
rather pedestrian writeup on this raga. More knowledgeable folks can take
it up from here.
I haven't seen any raga discussion this week. So I am posting what little I know
about this great (and probably undersung ?) ragam. This raga also I think figured
somewhere in Mohan's list though I am not sure he scheduled it this week :-)
Hopefully this will prompt the pundits to share their information with us.
Mayamalavagowla (MMG) corresponds to Mela #15 of the katapayadi scheme. Its scale
is: S R1 G3 M1 P D1 N3 S, S N3 D1 P M1 G3 R1 S
It (and its M2 counterpart Pantuvarali) is the only ragam with a "unique" set of
notes. Thhat is, its R,G,D,N are such that they never assume the role of another
note. For instance, its R will never be a G and so on. In addition, this raga
is considered auspicious and is traditionally the scale in which beginners
are taught Carnatic music. Perhaps Carnatic music is the only system where one
does not begin with a major scale such as Shankarabhranam ? (I am merely
speculating here). One reason for this, among several others listed by Prof.
Sambamoorthy, is that it exposes the students to the various important
intervals in Carnatic music.
The feelings that I associate with this ragam are seriousness, a sense of
devotional pleading (I find it hard to describe here). Perhaps this is caused
by the presence of R1,D1 in conjunction with G3 ? Anyway, in H. music this
scale corresponds to Bhairav and is considered an early morning raga. Though
time theory is no longer considered important in C. music, we can perhaps
associate the early morning moods with this raga.
This raga is the janaka raga for ragas like Gowlai, Saveri etc.
Some of the compositions that I am aware of in this raga:
Vidulaku Mrokkeda - Tyagaraja
Tulasidala - Tyagaraja
Sri Nathadi - Dikshitar
My own favorite is Tulasidala. Illaiyaraja has adapted this as one of the songs
in his album "How to name it".
I think the note G is important and serves as a resting place in many compositions. In Tulasidala, for eg, at the end of the first line, the phrase
"Santoshamuga" is SRGRG, with the "ga" of "Santoshamuga" coinciding with the
note G. An intentional swaraksharam perhaps ?
I would love to get hold of an RTP in this raga.
M.Srikanth
>
>My own favorite is Tulasidala. Illaiyaraja has adapted this as one of the songs
>in his album "How to name it".
I am assuming that you mean the third composition in the album - "You cannot
be free". am i right?
By the way, can someone post the ragas of the compositions in this album?
Would be of immense assistance to us novices to appreciate both the ragas and
this album better...
Thanks,
Srikanth.
Latchi
raga, as it could make your mind take a calm pace in this so called fast
world. It sounds great in the mornings, in particular. I listen to this in
the mornings and it gives me so much energy for the whole day.
Even without going to technical details, one can appreciate this raga.
Compositions like Meru Samana, Tulasidala, DeviSriTulasamma(Alathur's
special), Deva Deva & ... can make your day peaceful.
Lakshminarayanan
Miami
K.S. Venkatesh
so far:
Maayatheetha Swaroopini
Does anyone know the composer?
K.S.Venkatesh
Nandakumar Gopalakrishnan
exquisite Sanskrit composition "Deva Deva Kalaiyamithe" in Rupaka talam
gloriously rendered by Semmangudi oftentimes (I guess this has something to
do with his scholarly research uncovering the work of the erstwhile
poet-Maharaja of Travancore.)
There is one particular version available on an HMV cassette with brilliant
accompaniment by L.Shankar on the violin and Palaghat Mani on the mridangam.
There is a neraval on the line "Yadaroopa Nivasena ..." followed by some
breathtaking Kalpanasvara. Altogether makes for some sublime Carnatic music.
Noteworthy of mention is an underlying symmetry in the raga structure while
dividing the 12 semi-tone intervals in an octave. The spacing between the
SRGMPDNS notes of this raga are: 1 3 1 2 1 3 1.
Other important janyas of this raga to add are:
Naadanaamakriya, Jaganmohini, Lalitha(?), Revagupti, Malahari ...
Played straight (devoid of gamaka) with quick tetradic phrases, this raga
conjures a vision of the sands of the Arabian desert, camels and date palms
included. In fact I've heard this melody played as a backdrop to Middle Eastern
settings in several movies and musical pieces, both eastern and western.
Obviously a popular scale in the Middle-East one wonders about the
antecedents of this raga!
Finally in Tamil film songs, music director Ilaiyaraja has scored heavily
with this raga (couldn't resist that pun) and an especially pleasing
*folkish* song that comes to mind is "Maruda marikozhundu vaasam ...". Also
a Hindi movie oldie classic in Bhairav is Lata's "Mohe bhool gaye ...".
-Nandu
(na...@lccinc.com)
C.R.Selvakumar - Electrical Engineering
Nandakumar Gopalakrishnan <nand...@noble.ecn.purdue.edu> wrote:
>
>Other important janyas of this raga to add are:
>Naadanaamakriya, Jaganmohini, Lalitha(?), Revagupti, Malahari ...
I wonder if Srini Pichumani or some other expert will kindly
elaborate on this Ragam. It is one of the most moving ragams.
What are the popular songs in this Naadanaamakriya ?
>
>
>-Nandu
>(na...@lccinc.com)
-selvaa
Kamala Anupindi
|>
|> I wonder if Srini Pichumani or some other expert will kindly
|> elaborate on this Ragam. It is one of the most moving ragams.
|> What are the popular songs in this Naadanaamakriya ?
|>
I'm no expert, does that disqualify me ? One kriti that I was taught
in this ragamu is 'karuNA jaladhE dAsaradhE kamanIyAnana suguNa nidhE',
a composition of Tyagaraja. I don't know if it is 'popular' though...
Kamala Anupindi
M. V. Ramana
The composer of this piece is Ponniah Pillai of the Tanjore Quartet.
Many other compositions in Mayamalavagaula have been mentioned
in this thread, however no one has mentioned the most prolific
composer in this raga - Papanasam Sivan. He has composed a varnam
(mAyam EdO swAmi) and atleast 5 other kritis. The kritis are :
1) pollA puliyinum
2) bhuvanEswari pugazh
3) mahimai aRiya
4) padamalarE gatiyena
5) illAtatai
Muthiah Bhagavatar has also composed 4 or 5 pieces in this raga.
Gopalakrishna Bharati has also composed a few pieces in this rAga.
The only one I remember is natanam AdinAr aiyar. SOme of the refrains
in nandanAr charitram are set to this rAga.
Some books (notably Rangaramanuja Iyengar's kritimaNi mAlai) mentions
Syama Sastri's nIlayatAkshi as composed in Mayamalavagaula. However
I have only heard this sung in paras, a janyA of Mayamalavagaula. Even
Dr. Pinakapani (a Rangaramanuja Iyengar protege in some sense) sings this
only in paras.
Ramana
Srini Pichumani
>(C.R.Selvakumar - Electrical Engineering) writes:
>|> elaborate on this Ragam. It is one of the most moving ragams.
>|> What are the popular songs in this Naadanaamakriya ?
>|>
>|> -selvaa
Yes, it is a very moving rAgam. Various factors seem to
contribute to this experience. One is of course the very
scale - same as Mayamalavagaula - with its serene and
contemplative tones (pun intended!).
Another factor is that, since the range of admissible
phrases in this rAgam is restricted, the sancArams
have a lingering and repetitive quality which serves
to reinforce this mood.
(phrases are not supposed to go beyond the madhyama
sthAyi N3 and below the mandra sthAyi N3)
This restriction in range also enables the singer to
shift the tonic to M1 comfortably while rendering this
rAgam. In a practical sense, this gives a different
aura to the melody, and lets the singer utilize a range
of his/her voice where normally there is increased
clarity and facility of movement.
The lyrics of various compositions in this rAgam are
also cruical to the mood. I think the tEvAram
"mAcil vINAiyum mAlai madiyamum"
is sung traditionally in this rAgam (at least, that is the
way I heard it from Prof.S.Ramanathan). MSS has sung
the Muttu Tandavar composition "ArAr AcaippaDAr" with
the preceding verse "peRRa tAi tanai" (Ramalinga Adigal ?)
in a very stirring manner. She has also rendered
Purandaradasa's "dAsana mADikO ..." on an old 78 rpm.
KVN's rendition of Vedanayagam Pillai's "cittam eppaDiyO"
is a classic. DKP has also rendered this. (Interestingly,
this is one of the few compositions in Carnatic music where
the prayer is addressed to Christ ! The anupallavi ends as
karttanE ! nI ennai kai viDuvAyo
The song is very non-denominational in general.)
Bhadracala Ramadasa's "Etiruhananu daya jUcedavu" is a
beautiful composition - seems to be made for singing with
a iktArA (the single string instrument used by wandering
minstrels); this composition as I heard it rendered once
on AIR seems to clearly point to the folk origins of this
melody.
-Srini.