Did you know that Maharaja Swati Tirunal, one of the greatest Carnatic music icons, also composed Hindustani forms like tumri, tappa, bhajan and tarana nearly 200 years ago?
They are among 300 of his works, which include kriti, tana varna, pada varna, jatiswara, swarajati, padam, javali and tillana. “He was one of the earliest composers to transport taranas into Carnatic music that gradually metamorphosed into tillanas,” explains vocalist, vainika and musicologist Aswathi Tirunal Rama Varma, ahead of his two-day workshop on the Maharaja’s kritis.
Rama Varma, member of the erstwhile Travancore Royal family and a direct descendant of Maharaja Swati Tirunal and Raja Ravi Varma, will conduct the workshop on September 4 and 5 at the Indiranagar Sangeetha Sabha here as part of the ongoing bicentenary celebrations of the Maharaja. It will be followed by a talk on the Maharaja on September 7 (4.30 p.m.) by noted historian Achut Shankaran Nair, and a vocal concert by Rama Varma (6 p.m.).
Swati Tirunal’s stamp was his abundant use of ‘swaraksharam’ in his sahitya, says Rama Varma, demonstrating the Maharaja’s erudite configuration of the Kamach pada varna. “It is akin to a pun using notes and lyrics to sound similar,” he says. “What makes it exceptional is the fact that the body of work he has left behind in seven languages, including Sanskrit, Malayalam and Brijbhasha, was in 33 years.”
“Apart from the nava vidha bhakthi that he propagated through his compositions, there are interesting aspects as ‘Shringara rasa’ used in his padam, javali and varna,” he says. The stunning example of ‘sakhi-bhavam’, illustrated in the Mukhari-kriti lyrics Bhavati Vishwaso Me , has the composer implore with the Lord to have faith in him just as he showed faith in Arjuna. The diversity inherent in his compositions with respect to the language, make-up, matter and the ragas stamped him as an intellectual,” explains Rama Varma.
Workshops can help students learn better with explanations that transport them to the golden era of the ‘Padmanabha-dasa’, he says.
For details, call 25215525 or email info@isangeethasabha.in.
