Thyagaraja’s Pancharathnams
With the 173rd Thyagaraja Aradhana at Thiruvaiyyaru just over (15th Jan 2020), and as many other musicians gear up to conduct Aradhanas at the same time in different cities, I tried to understand more about this tradition and its link to the Pancharathna Keerthanas composed by Saint Thyagaraja.
The Composer
Thyagaraja, Muthuswamy Dikshitar and Syama Sastri are regarded as the carnatic music Trinity. All three of them were born in Thiruvarur, and were carnatic music composers, but their music, lyrics and favourite God were distinctively different. Saint Thyagaraja in particular, wrote about, sang and worshipped Lord Rama in the language Telugu. Out of 24,000 songs said to have been composed by him in his lifetime, only about 700 songs remain now.
The Tribute
The Thyagaraja Aradhana festival held at Thiruvaiyyaru every year on his death anniversary is a tribute to the genius works of Saint Thyagaraja. On the day of “bahula panchami” (the day when he left his mortal self), musicians from all over sing/play his Pancharatna krithis along with few other compositions in unison.
But what are these Pancharathna compositions? Are there only five such krithis?
The Five Pancharathnams
Pancharathnam literally means “five gems”, in this case, precious gem of a composition of Thyagaraja. When we talk about Pancharathnams, most with Carnatic Music awareness attribute it to the archetype, Ghana Raga Pancharatnam, but in fact there are five such groups of compositions. The first four pancharatnams have Pallavi-Anupallavi-Charanam or Pallavi-Anupallavi- upto 3 Charanams structure, akin to a typical keerthana format.
1. Thiruvottiyur Pancharathnam
Thiruvottiyur Pancharathnam was composed on Goddess Tripurasundari of Thyagaraja Temple, Thiruvottiyur at the request of Veenai Kuppaiyer. The krithis are:
- Kanna Thalli – Saveri
- Sundari Ninnu – Aarabhi
- Sundari Nannindharilo – Begada
- Sundari Ni Dhivya – Kalyani
- Dharini Thelusukonti – Sudha Saveri
2. Kovur Pancharathnam
Kovur Pancharathnam was composed on Lord Sundareswarar of Kovur when Thyagaraja was visiting Kovur Sundara Mudaliyar. Four of the five have only one charanam. The krithis are:
- Ee Vasudha – Sahana
- Kori Sevimpa – Karaharapriya
- Sambo Mahadeva – Pantuvarali
- Nammi Vachchina – Kalyani
- Sundareswaruni – Sankarabharanam
3. Lalgudi Pancharathnam
Lalgudi Pancharathnam was composed on Saptharisheesar / Pravutha Srimathi, deities enshrined in Lalgudi at the request of his disciples. The krithis are:
- Gathineevani – Thodi
- Lalithe Sri – Bhairavi
- Deva Sri – Madhyamavathi
- Mahitha Pravutha – Kamboji
- Eesa Pahimam – Kalyani
4. Srirangam Pancharathnam
Srirangam Pancharathnam was composed on Srirangam Ranganathar. Four of the five have only one charanam. The krithis are:
- Joothamurare – Aarabhi
- O…o rangasayee – Kamboji
- Karuna Joodumayya – Saranga
- Raju Vedala – Thodi
- Vinaradhana – Devagandhari
5. Ghana Raga Pancharathnam
Ghana Raga Pancharathnam are a set of compositions composed on Ghana Ragas such as Nattai, Gowlai, Aarabhi, Varali and Sri. More details in the ensuing sections.
When there are the other group of compositions (Utsava Sampradaya, Prahladha Bhaktha Vijayam, etc) and other Krithis on various Kshetras (Thirupathi, Nagapattinam, etc) by Thyagaraja, there is not much clarity on why and how these krithi sets got the title pancharatnam.
Ghana Ragas
Before understanding the Ghana Raga Pancharatnam, let us first look into what a Ghana raga is – it is not just a heavy (gamaka filled) raga as the name implies. Among types of ragas (such as Ghana, Naya, Desi), Ghana raga is characterised by its grandeur and majesty; it is used at the beginning of concerts. The ten Ghana ragas are: Nattai, Gowlai, Aarabhi, Varali, Sri, Kedaram, Reetigowla, Narayanagowla, Saranganattai and Bowli.
Ghanam singing is said to be a type of improvisation, done by the nasal articulation of the humpita gamaka, with the mouth closed and the sound emanating from the naabhi. Ghanam is also said to be the dhuritha kala (fast paced) Thanam singing. I tried to find recordings to help differentiate the two improvisation techniques, but nothing much exists online. But we know that musicians were titled based on their expertise in this technique, like Ghanam Krishna Iyer. Ghana Ragas lend themselves well to Thanam and Ghanam singing, and hence the name.
Ghana Raga Pancharathnam
The other four pancharatnams were composed during specific visits to specific Kshetras – they have at least that much in common. However, we don’t know if Thyagaraja composed the ghana raga compositions with the categorizing in mind.
Below is a list of what I presume are the characteristics of each Ghana Raga Pancharatna Krithi for having been grouped together (assuming the grouping happened in the later years).
- Being composed in a Ghana Raga (refer above section)
- Rich in Laya and well structured having no or few stretched (vilamba) sangathis – thus making it easy for coordinating while singing in groups (similar to a varnam).
- More than 5 charanams (Sadhinchane is an exception, it has sub-charanams instead). Here is a graph of # of Thyagaraja Krithis composed vs # of charanams in each.
- Swara Sahithya in the charanams (as mentioned in a Sruthi magazine) – however I have my own qualms if Thyagaraja wrote plain charanams and it was notated and sung with swaras much later.
- Not composed on a specific Kshetra or its residing deity. When all the other Pancharatnams are attributed to a specific deity in a specific location (kshetra), only the Ghana Raga Pancharathnam are on generic Gods like Rama, Krishna, Vishnu and not on a specific temple location (though they were all composed when Thyagaraja was in Thiruvaiyyaru).
- That be the case, it is a wonder who would have compiled them into a category? Even more a wonder is how Ghana Raga Pancharatnam became the classic category to be performed in chorus on each Aradhana.
How it all began
It is safe to assume that the grandson and various disciples of Thyagaraja would have been performing the Aradhana as a simple musical tribute on his death anniversary since his demise on 6th Jan 1847, as this year is the 173rd Aradhana. Then the disciples seem to have split and continued doing separate tributes to the guru.
There is one story that says the Thyagaraja Aradhana (as it happens today) is said to have been started by Bangalore Nagarathnammal of the Thyagaraja disciple lineage in the early 1900s, who also built his shrine at the place he attained samadhi. She was also the one who put the said krithis together.
There is another source which says Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavatar selected the five krithis (Nattai to Sri) as being best suited for group rendering, so that a common homage by all musicians became possible. This idea was adopted and the choral rendition of the five songs was made an integral feature of the Aradhana.
One thing can be concluded for sure – it was the Thyagaraja Aradhana that brought the Ghana Raga Pancharathnam into existence, and the two have been tied down to each other ever since.
The Format
Usually, a Thyagaraja Pancharathnam event starts with a prayer to Lord Ganesha, “Sriganapathi nee sevimparare” in ragam Sourashtram, followed by a song for the teacher “Gurulekha etuvanti” in ragam Gowri Manohari.
This is followed by the gana raga pancharathnams, viz.,
- Jagadhanandha karaka – Hail the one who brings happiness to this world
- Dhudugugala nanne – Rama, please save me from my sins and arrogance
- Sadhinchane o manasa – I achieved, O mind!
- Kana kana ruchira – It is an endless pleasure to see you
- Endaro mahanubavulu – A salute to all the great people out there!
This is generally followed by individual song offerings of musicians showcasing their talent.
Finally, we conclude by singing a “Geetharthamu”, Thyagaraja composition on Lord Hanuman, a fellow worshipper of Ram, and then the mangalam.
Going global
As it was not feasible for every musician in the world to both go and sing at the same venue on the same day, and still out of love for Thyagaraja’s music, people from various regions started conducting their own aradhanas for Thyagu, preferably around the same period. To name a few – Cleveland Aradhana, Stree Thyagaraja Pancharatnam, Chennaiyil Thiruvaiyyaru and every sabha conducting one on its own.
And also local!
That is how we also started. When we were out of Chennai, and not connected to the musical frenzy here, we decided to call friends who share the same interest and sit at home and sing. This started happening every year and we started getting audience as well. But when we moved to a town (more like a big village) and conducted the aradhana there, more than half the locality turned up for the performance, in a place where I had thought none really cared about carnatic music. And thus we are back here continuing tradition for the past 23 years.
Endaro mahanubavulu; anthariki vandhanamu _/\_
References
- Sri Thyagaraja Swamy Keerthanaigal by T.S.Parthasarathy
- Wikipedia
