Varahappa Iyer Lane, Thanjavur holds special significance for those who revere Tyagaraja and his works. It is here in a tiny house that the Rama idol worshipped by Tyagaraja is kept. This icon was inherited by Tyagaraja’s daughter and from her by his grandson Panchapakesayya who died in his 35th year, leaving behind a childless wife, Gurvammal. When she grew old, she sold Tyagaraja’s house on Thirumanjana Veedhi in Thiruvaiyaru and returned along with the Rama frieze to her parental home at Varahappa Iyer Lane, Thanjavur. The idol continued to remain with her brother’s family after her passing. The Lord is seated with Sita on his lap. Bharata holds an umbrella over Rama even as Shatrughna waves a flywhisk. Lakshmana and Hanuman are seen in front with their palms pressed together in prayer. The icons are all on one pedestal. Photography of the idol is not permitted and what is reproduced alongside is a sketch that appeared in the Mulakanadu Sabha souvenir to commemorate Tyagaraja’s death centenary in 1947.
In the Samadhi in Thiruvaiyaru is another iconic representation, this a conventional one of Rama standing with Lakshmana and Sita, with Hanuman featured in profile.
This is said to be the idol that Tyagaraja’s father worshipped and which by right went to the elder brother Panchapakesayya/Panchanadayya/Jalpesa — depending on which source you refer to. Clearly, the elder brother also worshipped Rama. Between them, these two Rama idols must have heard all of Tyagaraja’s songs directly from his lips.
The Thanjavur icon must have also enjoyed all the utsava sampradaya kritis of his wherein he performed all the daily offerings to the Lord — from waking up in the morning to the rocking to sleep with lullabies. After all, it is to Rama that the bulk of Tyagaraja’s output is addressed.
A perusal of Tyagaraja’s kritis reveals his in-depth knowledge of the Ramayana. Valmiki was of course the predominant source. But what is interesting is that he did not stop with just that. Dr. V. Raghavan in his writings has shown that Tyagaraja was clearly very familiar with several other versions — namely the Bhusundi, Adyatma and
Ananda Ramayanas. Some songs are an amalgam of two Ramayanas. Take for instance the story of the aged ascetic Swayamprabha entertaining Hanuman and other monkeys when they search for Sita. This is a minor episode from Valmiki. Yet in the Adyatma Ramayana, Rama gives her salvation just as he did for Sabari. Tyagaraja in his ‘Appa rama bhakti’ (Pantuvarali) exclaims about the greatness of devotion to Rama which bestowed salvation on Swayamprabha. He appears to have delighted even in folk tales that later aggregated to the core story. That the squirrel has three stripes on its back because Rama stroked it in appreciation of its role in building the bridge to
Lanka is a local tradition. It does not appear in any version of the Ramayana. Yet Tyagaraja mentions it in his ‘Enduku nirdaya’ (Harikamboji).
That he may have been familiar with the Ram Charit Manas is a fascinating possibility. Tyagaraja’s opera ‘Prahlada Bhakti Vijayam’ opens with salutations to several saints and Tulsidas is the first. In addition, Dr. Raghavan speculates that ‘Oka mata oka bana oka patni vratude’ (Harikamboji) could be inspired as much by Tulsidas’ line ‘Eka vacana eka Bana eka patni’ in Vinaypatrika as it could be from the Ananda Ramayana, which also places these three terms together.
Tyagaraja adds his own creativity to Rama’s life. In this, he is at his best in depicting the period post Rama’s coronation. Thus in ‘Mitri bhagyame’ (Kharaharapriya), he marvels at Lakshmana’s fortune in being able to rock Rama to sleep on a bed made of the serpent Sesha, even as the women of the court sing songs in rare ragas. In
‘Kaluguna pada niraja’ (Purna Lalita) there is a description of Rama’s routine — up in the morning, bathing in nectar, worshipping Sri Ranganatha, partaking of food prepared by Sita and then commanding Hanuman to read from the puranas. Besides there is the delectable ‘Vinanasagoni unnanura’ (Pratapa Varali) where Tyagaraja desires to be with Bharata and Anjaneya even as they eavesdrop on Rama and Sita conversing with each other amidst a game of dice.
In the early 20th Century, it became the practice among harikatha artistes to utilise Tyagaraja kritis to illustrate episodes from the Ramayana.
As per Dr. Premeela Gurumurthy’s ‘Kathakalakshepa, A Study’, it was Chidambara Bhagavatar of Agara Mangudi who in 1932 for the first time did a comprehensive presentation of the Ramayana using Tyagaraja kritis, of which he sang portions from 300 songs.
Later T.S. Balakrishna Sastrigal too specialised in the Ramayana as seen by Tyagaraja. Rather intriguingly, no copy of any version of the Ramayana has survived among the composer’s effects. What has is a notebook containing the Pothana Bhagavatam!
