Over the recent weekend, the curtains of several sabhas have risen, throwing open the ‘Season Sangeeta Darbar’ to one and all. Let’s add some royal streaks to the season with trivia on Raga Darbar
*The word ‘Darbar’ traces its origin to Persia and refers to the enclosure or royal court where noblemen and courtiers congregated.
*The Raga Darbar is believed to have entered the Carnatic music paradigm briefly before the era of the Musical Trinity and yet carved a niche for itself in the galaxy of Carnatic ragas in just about two centuries.
*The raga is also referred to as ‘Darubaru’ in some musical texts such as the Sangita Sampradaya Pradarshini , where it is considered to be a part of the Shriraga Mela .
*Multiple beautiful compositions have been penned in this raga by composers including Tyagaraja, Muttuswami Dikshitar and Swati Tirunal.
*Several varnams including Tanavarnams are set to Darbar and are embellished with phrases that clearly and crisply bring out the essence of the raga.
*‘Halaasyanatham’, one of Muttuswami Dikshitar’s compositions in Darbar, describes the Teppotsavam or float festival conducted at Mariamman Teppakulam, near Madurai.
*The song ‘Naradaguruswami’ in Ragam Darbar is part of the ‘Narada quartet’ songs by Tyagaraja.
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