CONTENTS:

Chapter I
Introduction 1-8

Chapter II
A study of kritis 9-40

Chapter III
A study of other compositions- 41-54
Svarajathi and Varna

Chapter IV
A study of the compositions with
multiple versvarajatsions 55-69

Chapter V
Discussions 70-77
Conclusion 78
Bibiliography 79-82
Appendix I 83-104
Appendix II 105-108

Foreword
The work of Dr. Y. Saradhambal, (Reader, Department of
Music, Seethalakshmi Ramasamy College, Tiruchirappalli),
Syama Sastry and his Descendents, is a valuable
contribution to the carnatic music students and scholars.
She has analysed the compositions of Syama
Sastry,Subbaraya Sastry and Annasamy Sastry in respect
of structure, Ragas, Talas, rhetorical beauties, etc. She
has taken efforts to consult the performers besides
musicologists along with written sources available. The
analysis is scientifically done, presenting the various
views of the scholars and performers of a few
compositions of Syama Sastry. Subbaraya Sastry and
Annasamy Sastry have been influenced by the
compositions of Syama Sastry, but they have not
duplicated or copied them. In short, it is useful for
researchers, teachers, students and rasikas.
(M.PONNAVAIKKO)
PHONE : (Off.) 2407048 (Res.) 2407070 Fax : 2407032
E.mailL vc@bdu.ac.in Website: www.bdu.ac.in

Dr. Y.Saradhambal has worked on A Study of the

Compositions of Syama Sastri, his Disciples and
Descendents for her Ph.D under my guidance. She was a
P.G. student of this department and has also completed
her Doctorate. Her research is a very good
Documentation
and Analytical Study of the style of Sri Syama Sastri one
among the celebrated Musical Trinity. I am happy that her
thesis is being published along with a CD where she has
sung some compositions of the Composer and his
Descendents. She is a good Researcher, a
DedicatedTeacher and an Able Vocalist.
I wish her all the best.
Dr. M.Premeela

Smt. Vidya Shankar Phone : 2847 5543

GITALAYA
No.8, 7th Lane,
Dr. Radhakrishnan Road,
Mylapore, Chennai - 600 004.

Dr. Y.Sharadambhal has done a commendable job in her

research on Composition of Syama Sastri and his
descendents in her thesis for Ph.D degree of the Madras
University. I congragulate her dedication and sincerity
apparent in the various chapters. This book is a valuable
addition to students teachers and researchers. I wish her
success in all her endevours.
Vidya Shankar

CENTER FOR ETHNOMUSICOLOTY

Dr. S.A.K. Durga SHYAM MANOHAR
M.A., M.Litt., Ph.D (India), Ph.D (USA)
Director, Prof. Emeritus Music Dept. Madras
University
4, BRINDAVAN STREET CHENNAI - 600 004
Tel : (044) 2498-1090 Fax : (044) 2467-1792

Foreword
The work of Dr. Y. Saradambal, Syama Sasthri and His
descendents is a valuable contribution to the Carnatic
music students and scholars. Dr. Y. Saradambal has done
her Ph.D on this topic on Syama Sasthri his Descendents
and disciples on which this book is based. She
has made an exhaustive study on the compositions which
has not been done as an academic study except a few
articles. About the descendents of Syama Sasthri not
much material is available but the author has taken pains
to bring out their contribution in detail.
Dr. Saradambal has taken efforts to consult the
performers besides musicologists along with written
sources available. The analysis is scientifically done
presenting the various views of the scholars and
performers of a few compositions of Syama Sasthri. The
quotations of the present scholars views are given which
is unique in her book. The notations and recording and
the long bibliography reveal her strenuous effort to write
the thesis of her Ph.D and this work is commendable work
on Syama Sasthri and his descendents.
With Very Best Wishes
S.A.K. Durga

Dr. R.Kausalya
Principal (Retd.)
Tamilnadu Government Music College,
Tiruvaiyaru - 613 203.

The unique feature of Indian Music is its Raga system.

Ragas live through the Composition in variety of Musical
Forms. In India Compositions are not merely composed.
They are the Divine experiences of Vaggeyakaras.
According to Prof. P.Sambamurthi it was a combined Datu
Matu Stream. Their knowlege in Literature, Music,
different Languages and branches of Sastras are evident
in those compositions. Decorative Angas enhanced the
beauty of them. Saturated in Bakti Bhava and clothed in
suitable Ragas they are living through the ages - in some
cases not even knowing the name of the composer. Of
the many such vaggeyakaras the Carnatic Music Trinity
and their contribution are noteworthy. The eldest among
them is Syama Sastry. Three generations of the same
family, Syama Sastry, his vaggeyakaras. Dr. (Smt)
Y.Saradambal with her strong Practical knowledge has
analysed the compositions of Syama Sastry, Subbaraya
Sastry and Annasamy Sastry in respect of structure,
Ragas, Talas rhetorical beauties etc. She has discussed
the variations in patantaram differences in opinion
regarding the Ragas and Talas of the compositions and
even the authorship with examples. She has analysed
even the pauses found in the compositions. She has not
left even single aspect in their compositions.
She is a sincere Music Teacher with a standing experience
of long years in the Music Department of Seethalakshmi
Ramaswamy College. Her long teaching experience has
made her to go deep in to their compositions in detail and
she also makes us to understand it. She has taken pains
to collect all the available publications on them, Hand
Written Manuscripts recorded cassettes etc. She has also
met Scholars and Musicians and gathered informations.
She has rightly established that their compositions
though identical in approach are unique in their own way.
No doubt that Subbaraya Sastry and Annasamy Sastry
have been influenced by the compositions of Syama
Sastry, but they have not duplicated or copied them. The
appendix of the book is a treasure house for the future
researchers in the subject.
In short the present is useful for researchers, teachers,
students and rasikas alike. I congratulate Dr. (Smt) Y.
Saradambal for this successful work and wish her many
more such works for the benefits of Music world.
(Dr. R. Kausalya)
Jatavallabar House
6/78 Thillaisthanam, Thanjavur Dt. 613 203
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

My sincere thanks are due to Sri R.Pancapakesan,

Secretary, Seethalakshmi Ramaswami College, Trichy,
who permitted me to publish my Ph.D thesis in a form of
a book, and had bestowed his wishes in his foreword.
I extend my thanks to Dr Ms .K. Shenbagavalli, Principal,
Seethalakshmi Ramaswami College,
Trichy for her continuous guidance given to me in
publishing the book.
I thank the authorities of University of Madras, for
permitting me to publish my Ph.D thesis.
I am grateful to Dr.M.Ponnavaiko, Vice-Chancellor,
Bharathidasan University Trichy being kind enough to
give foreword for my book.
I am very much indebted to my research guide Dr. M.
Premeela, Professor and Head of the Department of
Music, University of Madras, been a source of inspiration
during my research work, as well as in this publishing
moment.
I thank my guru Smt. M. Ramani, retired teacher and Sri
S.V.Parthasarathy retired music director All India Radio
Trichy and a senior vidwan from whom I have learned
many songs, which were useful for this research work.
My sincere thanks are due to Sri S.Rajah, the direct
descendent of Syama Sastri, who had furnished many
useful informations regarding the three composers of
their family. He also gave rare songs from his collections
and the two unpublished songs of Annasvami Sastri from
the notebooks of Syama Sastri .
My sincere thanks are due to Smt Vidya Shankar who had
shared her days of discipleship under Syama Sastri
the great grandson of Syama Sastri she has also thrown
light about some of the rare composition of Syama Sastri.
I also thank her for the foreword given to my book. I also
thank Dr.S.A.K.Durga and Dr.R.Kausalya for providing a
suitable foreword for my book.
My heartfelt regards are due to my husband Mr.
K.S.Meenakshi Sundaram who has been the source and
sprit of my work and helped me in every stage. I thank
him whole-heartedly for his support extended in the
publication of this book.
I am indebted for the encouragement extended by
Dr.N.Ramanathan, for the publication of this book. During
my course I had collected many books from the Libraries
of the Department of Music, University of Madras and
Music Academy. I thank the authorities of the libraries
who had helped me in the search of those books and
assisted me in collecting materials from the books and
for necessary assistance provided by them. I owe my
sincere thanks to Sri.N.V.Subramanium, President
Saraswathy Vaggeyakara Trust, and many other senior
artists Vidwan Sri.S.Rajam, Sri.T.K.Govindarao and others
who had given the songs of the composers in audio
tapes.
I thank my mother in law Mrs.T.R.Ramalakshmi who had
helped me in many ways. I also thank my colleagues who
assisted and helped me during the course my research
work..I thank my co artists as well as the production team
who had extended their support in production of the CD,
which is released with this book.
Last but not the least I owe my sincere prayers to
Goddess Bangaru Kamakshi of Tanjore for the success of
this book.
ABBREVIATIONS USED
ASR - Adi Sangita Ratnavali
CSS SuS and AS - Compositions of Syama Sastri,
Subbaraya Sastri and Annasvami Sastri
GGP - Gayaka Gayanijana Parijatham
GK - Gharbapuri Kirtanas
GL - Gayakalocanam
GM - Gnamrtamu
GP - Gayakaparijatham
GS - Gayakasiddhanjanamu
GVV - Ganavidyavinodhini
HW I - Handwritten Note Book I [with notation]
HW II - Handwritten Note Book II [without notation]
JMA - Journal of Music Academy
KMM - Kritimanimalai
PA - Prathama Abyasapustakamu
PI - Personal Interview
SK - Sangita Kalanidhi
SKM - Syama Sastri Kirtanamala
SS - Sangita Sudhambudhi
SS and ASC - SyamaSastri and Annasvami Sastris
Compositions
SSAU - Syama Sastrigalin Ariya Uruppadigal
SSC III - Syama Sastris Compositions Part III
SSK - Syama Sastri Krtulu [T.S.Parthasarathi ]
SSKM - Syama Sastri Krtugalu [M.R.Sankaramurthy]
SSKN - Syama Sastri Krtulu [N.C.Parthasarathy and
Dwaraka Parthasarathy]
SSS - Sangita Sudha Sangrahamu
SSSS - Sangita Sarvartha Sara Sangrahamu
SS and SuSC - Syama Sastri and Subbaraya Sastris
Compositions
SSP - Sangita Sampradaya Pradarsini
SSPS - Sangita Svaraprastara Sagaramu
SuS and ASC - Subbaraya Sastri and Annasvami Sastris
Compositions
SVD - Sangita Vidya Darpanam
SVT - Sarasvati Vaggeyakara Trust

GLOSSARY
Abhyasa gana - Compositions forming a part of initial
training
Akara - A syllable forming the text of the song
Aksara - Single count of the tala
Anga - 1. Section within an avarta of the tala
2. Section comprising a composition
Anupallavi - 2nd section of a musical form
Avarta - The last section of the krti
Carana - The last section of the krti
Citttasvara - A passage of text in the song consist of sa ri
ga syllables
Ettugada pallavi - The refrain line in the carana of a varna
Ettugada svara - The svara passages that followed
Ettugada pallavi in a varna.
Janta - Double svara
Janya raga - A raga that is derived from the parent raga
Jaru - The sliding form
Krti - A musical form
Madhyamakalasahitya - A musical passage where the
syllable of the text are relatively closer to each other
suggesting a quickening of the tempo
Madhyasthayi - Middle register
Mandrasthayi - Lower register
Mudra - A word in a composition that acts as a stamp to
denote the composer,
place, name of the raga, patron etc.
Muktayisvara - A passage of svara syllables that succeeds
an anupallavi in a varna
Pallavi - First section in musical form
Sahitya - Text or lyric in a song
Sancara - Characteristic movement of phrases in a raga
Sangati - Variations used in the melodic Movement
Sisya - Disciple
Solkattu - the vocal renunciation of jati Syllables
Svarajati - A musical form
Svaraksara - A feature in a song where the syllable of the
text is identical or similar to the
correspondent svara syllable
Svarasahitya - Literally svara syllables and meaningful
text, refers to each svara syllable having
a corresponding syllable of text of identical duration
Tarasthayi - Upper register
Tisragati - The gait of the composition in such a way that
each unit of tala as three
melodic pulses
Varna - A musical form
Vilomakrama - Reverse order
Visesa prayoga - Special usage of phrases in a raga
SOURCES OF STUDY

The opportunity I had in learning a very few compositions

of Syama Sastri, two of Subbaraya
Sastri, during my music career compared to other
composotions, has kindled my urge to search for learning
more compositions of them. I had learnt some
compositions from my guru Smt. M.Ramani, who is a
disciple of Dr.S.Ramanathan, renowned musician and
musicologist. The difficulty I had in mastering these few
kritis and svarajathis only after a long practice made me
to think over about the other compositions of Syama
Sastri and his descendents. I had to search over for them
in many directions and through this search I had found
out that the kritis of Syama Sastri are difficult in structure
with different tala dimentions, and in the deliniation of
the ragas. This may be reason for their lesser popularity
among the artists. I could find different versions of the
songs in the few available publications. The main source
is the three books
published by Smt. Vidya Shankar, which contain the
songs of Syama Sastri in large number. There were also
patantara differences among the artists regarding raga
and tala for some songs. These desparities were the
sources for my research work at the Ph.D level. This book
aims to make a study of the compositions of syama sastri
and his descendents, Subbaraya Sastri and Annasvami
Sastri. Eventhough the main thrust of this book will be on
the songs of Syama Sastri,
the study will strive to bringout the common and distinct
charecteristics in the compositional style of all the three.
In the search fo the compositions they could be obtained
through various sources like written books, audio tapes
from eminent vidwans and scholars like T.K.Govinda Rao,
Calcutta S.Krishnamurthy, Sri.S.Rajah, a direct
descendent of Syama Sastri and others.
In this book the study is extended to five chapters. The
chronological survey of the availability of the
compositions undertook in the introduction plays a vital
rold through out the book. The kritis belonging to the
earlier two periods are analysed in the second chapter
and the analysis confirms the kriti format of Syama Sastri
would be in the same pattern as found. The style is
confirmed regarding their structure, raga, tala and nature
of sahithya. Based on this style the similarities and
differences found in the compositions of the other two are
pointed out. The third chapter gives a clear picture of
svarajathis and varnas while the fourth one is focussed
upon the multiple versions of some of the compositions.
The fifth chapter discusses about the later compositions,
entity of new ragas, talas and forms are brought forward.
Songs with doubtful
authorship are also analysed. Finally, it is derived that the
kriti format as suggested by Syama Sastri, must be the
same as established in the earlier kritis, in slow medium
tempo with an elevation of the sahithya bhava and
ragabhava. It is also proved that the songs of Subbaraya
Sastri revealed this style very closely with some new
dimensions, while Annasvami Sastris songs reflect the
style to a certain extent but have more impact of the
style of post Tyagaraja period.
INTRODUCTION
This thesis aims at a critical study of the compositions of
Sym Sstri [1762 1827], one
Sstri [1803 1862], son and disciple of Sym Sstri,
Annsvmi Sstri, grandson of Sym Sstri, The three
great composers, Tygarja (1759-1847) Muttusvami
Dikshitar (1775-1835) and Sym Sstri (1763-1827) are
by common consent called the Musical Trinity of South
India.

SYMSSTRI
Sym Sstri came of the community known amongst the
Tamil-speaking Brahmins of Southern
India as the Vada-desattu Vadamal. His ancestors
originally lived in Cumbum Cumbattar. They later
migrated to Kchipuram in Chengalpat District. They
were not archakas (temple priests by profession. Tradition
has it that Brahma once performed a penance at
Kchipuram and at the conclusion of the same saw the
Jyoti (divine light) of Devi, which almost blindfolded him.
Brahma offered puja to the Deity and the idol was then
called Bagru Kmkshi . This is the idol that is now kept
in the Kmksh i Amman Temple in Tanjore. It is recorded
that Sage Durvasa amongst other Maharishis performed
puja to the Deity. When di Sankarachariyar visited
Kchipuram, the temple was in a dilapidated condition.
He renovated the same and ordered that henceforth
there shall be smartha vaidika puja to the Deity. The
Jagadguru chose the ancestors of Sym Sstri for the
purpose, as they were well known for their piety and
sound learning. After the fall of the kingdom of
Vijayanagar in1565 A.D the archakas carried with them
the Chaturbhuja Utsava Vigraham also with Bagru
Kmkshi Idol. Wandering through several forests for a
period of 28 years they came to Gingee in 1594. Santana
Maharajah ruled Gingee at that time. After a stay of 15
years at the Gingee fortress, the archakas traveled
southwards. At the forest adjoining Gingee they stayed
for 15 years. After staying in Anakkudy for a period of 15
years, they went to Vijayapuram, where they spent
another fifteen years. From Vijayapuram they passed
through Nagore, Madapuram and Sikkil, staying in each
place for a period of five years. They finally came to
Tiruvarur where they stayed for a long period of 45 years.
The Deity was kept in a special mantapam in Sri
Tygarja svami Devasthanam. It was at Tiruvarur that
Sym Sstri was born about the year 1763. Raja Tulaja
(1765-1787), the then ruler of Tanjore and obtained his
consent to come and stay with his family within the walls
of the Tanjore fortress where there was greater protection
and security. In the Konkanisvara Svami Kovil in Tanjore,
the Deity was kept for five years. From the Nataraja
Mantapam of Konkanisvara Svami Temple, Bagru
Kmkshi was taken and kept for three years at the
Moolai Hanumar Kovil. Soon a new temple was built and
the swarna vigraha was brought and installed there. On
the occasion of the Kumbhabhishekam ceremonies the
Raja gave Sym Sstris father large freehold estates,
including an agraharam and cultivable lands.
Sym Sstri was born at Tiruvarur in the year 1763, His
father was Visvanatha Iyer and his
paternal grandfather was Venkatadri Iyer. The
circumstances in which Sym Sstris birth took place
are interesting. In another street in Tiruvarur, there lived
a devout Brahmin who performed Sri Venkatachalapati
Svami Samaradhana on the last Saturday of each month.
On one of those occasions an inspired Brahmin called
upon Visvanatha Iyers wife. The pious woman soon came
and the Inspired Brahmin said that in the next year a son
would be born to her in the krirthika nakshatra. According
to the divine ordaining, she conceived and after a period
of ten months she delivered a male child. As the child was
born in the krithika nakshatra, the sarman of
Venkatasubrahmanya was given. Out of affection
however the child was called Sym Krishna. The boy
was brought up with parental care and affection. In his
young age itself he was given a sound education in
Sanskrit and Telugu. He learnt the rudiments of music
from his maternal uncle, who was not a great musician.
When he reached 18 years of age he came over to
Tanjore along with his parents. Syamas ancestors were
not musicians; nor did they encourage the study and
practice of music in their families. Even as the divine
Minstrel Narada came in the guise of a sanyasi and
initiated Tygarja Chidambarantha Ygi came to
Muttusvami Dikshitar to initiate him into the secrets of
Nija Sangita so also a sanyasi in the person of Sangita
Svami came to initiate him into the hitherto unknown
mysteries of ta and rg. Sangita Svami was an adept
in the art of Music and Bharata Sastra. At the invitation of
Visvanatha Iyer one day the Svamiji had his biksha there.
The Svamiji at a moments glance noticed that the young
person had rare musical talents. He immediately
predicted the future greatness of Sym. Sstri and
Sangita Svami bestowed special attention on the musical
training of Syama and led him to the hitherto unknown
mysteries of the rg and ta prastras.
At the time of the commencement of his career, Sym
Sstri was well placed in life, his father
having received large gifts of land from the Maratha
Rajah of Tanjore. He was thus above want, after his
father, the duty of performing puja to Bagru Kmkshi
devolved upon him. Sym Sstri soon acquired a great
name and fame as an expert musician and composer. As
he was an intensely pious person, on Fridays and other
sacred days he would sit down in prayer and in the height
of devotion, tears used to roll down his eyes. During
those inspired moments, he sang many melodious songs.
Sym Sstri had a majestic appearance and a
commanding personality. He had a beautiful complexion
and always wore a pure white, slightly lace-bordered
cloth. Unlike his two illustrious contemporaries, he had
few disciples and even to those few he did not care to
teach all his compositions with the same zeal, interest
and enthusiasm. Tygarja and he were goods friends
and occasionally he used to go to Tygarjas house in
Tiruvaiyaru. Once, a friend of his invited him, to go to
Pudukottai. An unknown person came to him and
requested him to go to Sri Minkshi Sannidhanam at
Madurai and sing a few krtis in her praise. On his way he
composed nine krtis in praise of Sri MinkshiAmman and
called them Navaratna-malika the garland of nine
gems. At Madurai, he was received with temple honors.
He sang the Navaratna-malika before the Goddess and
received her blessings. During the reign of Sarabhoji,
there came to Tanjore a musician from Bobbili called
Ksavayya. He was so puffed to himself the title of
Bhooloka Chapa Chutti. On his way he went to several
Samasthanams and challenged the vidwans there.
Invariably he won in all the musical contests. In course of
time he came to Tanjore and one day went to the
Samasthana and boldly challenged the vidwans there. To
save the reputation of Tanjore, the palace vidwans were
obliged to accept the challenge from the
Bobbili musician. They counseled amongst themselves
and at last resolved that the only person who could
successfully deal a blow to the Andhra musician and save
the honour of Tanjore was Sym Sstri. A day was soon
fixed for the contest and on the day prior to this; the
palace vidwans went in a body to Sym Sstris house
and acquainted him with the situation. After the palace
vidwans left, Sym Sstri sat alone and pondered deeply
over the matter. After the evening prayers, he went and
shut himself up in the temple and prayed the goddess
that he might be successful in the next days ordeal. He
sang on that occasion the famous kritiin Chintmani rg,
di ta Devi brva Samaya mide. Next day he left his
home for the palace. Ksavayya forthwith tuned his
tambura and started singing a rg. He followed it up
with tana.
When it came to the turn of Sym Sstri to sing, he not
only sang similar tanas without the least effort presenting
newer aspects of this branch. Ksavayya was easily
humbled. He took leave and went out of the place. While
young, one-day Syamas father left him in charge of the
temple and went out on some business. At that time a
devotee came to perform archana to Sri Kmkshi. Young
Sym Sstri recited the mantras distinctly in a
melodious manner and in rgs appropriate to the time.
The devotee was so pleased, that he went out forthwith,
purchased a costly shawl and presented the same to him.
Sym Sstri was an adept in the Jyotisha Sastra
(astrology). A friend of Sym Sstri once went to one of
the astrologers attached to the Tanjore Samasthanam and
giving his horoscope, requested him to tell his future. The
astrologer threw at him bombshell by saying that his end
was drawing near. He came weeping to Sym Sstri. The
latter just glanced at his horoscope and smilingly replied:
Do not feel worried, my dear friend. You will live for ten
more years This turned out to be true. It was his fortune
to possess a devoted wife. On the day following her
demise, friends, relatives, admirers and disciples of
Sym Sstri poured into his house to offer him their
condolences on his sad bereavement. To all of them he
was euphemistically remarking Sga anjunl; setta
runl . By this he meant that there were only five days
more for him to live in this world; on the sixth day after
the demise of his wife (the day predicted by him) he
shook off his mortal coil. Thus passed away the immortal
composer of Tanjore in his 64th year in the 1827.Sym
Sstri had two sons;-Paju Sstri and Subbarya Sstri.
Paju Sstri became the temple archaka after his fathers
demise and carried on the duties well.

SUBBARYA SSTRI (1803-1862)

Sym Sstris second son Subbarya Sstri proved a
worthy son of his father. He was born in
the year 1803. He attained great scholarship in Tamil,
Sanskrit, Telugu and Music. He had his early training in
music from his father and also became proficient in Tamil,
Telugu and Sanskrit in young age. Later on he had the
fortune of learning under Saint Tygarja. He had the
opportunity of listening to the Maharastra singers like
Merugosvami who were Tanjore Samasthnam vidwans at
that time. He was also an expert in playing the
instruments Violin and sarinda. After the death of Sym
Sstri, his elder brother Paju Sstrigal took the career of
his father as an archaka at Tanjore and Subbarya Sstri
took the career as a musician. Since he had no issues he
adopted Annsvmi sstri, the third son of Paju Sstri.
His wife hailed from Kchipuram and Subbarya Sstri
along with his adopted son who was seven years then
moved on to Kchipuram immediately after the demise
of his father in1834. He stayed in Kachipuram for more
than ten years. Then the family started for Tirupathy from
there but due to ill health they could not do so. They
came to Triplicane and stayed there for only one year. At
that time he composed the Kriti Ninnu Svicina in
Yadukulakmbhji rg in praise of Sri Parthasarathy
Svami of Triplicane. Then he was appointed as the
Samasthana Vidwan in the Udayarpalayam Zamin and he
settled there till his death. Subbarya Sstri visited
Madurai several times and popularized his songs in the
Minkshi Amman temple. Once he was presented with a
tambura with uplifted yli, which was preserved by his
son Annsvmi sstri. He gave training in Violin to his
son, Kachi sstri, Fiddle Rangachary and Violinist Balu. It
seems that both Subbarya Sstri and Annsvmi sstri
used to perform Violin duet performances. Subbarya
Sstri also taught vocal music to Tanjore Kmkshi, the
mother of veena Dhanammal. He was a pious man and on
the day of his death he felt conscious of his demise. After
performing Sandhyavandanam he poured water on the
floor saying Dattam and expressed that he would live
only for two more hours. The Zamindar and many people
gathered on hearing the news and the Zamin enquired
about his last wish. Subbarya sstri expressed that he
had no desire as the Goddess Kmkshi blessed him.
After a very few minutes he passed away peacefully in
the year 1862 A.D.
He began to compose compositions using the
MudraKumara. He had imbibed the style of his
father as well as his guru. He also had the chance of
composing compositions in the style of Muthusvami
Diksitar as he had the opportunity of hearing the music of
the latter. He is said to have composed two Krtis.
Venkaaoeaila in HamrKalyni rg and Ninnu Svicina
in Yadukulakmbhji rg in the long drawn out
Vilambitakla. He had composed combining the styles of
his father and his guru that is with sangathis like
Tygarja and with svara shitya and svarakara like his
father. It is said that once Subbarya Sstri got
appreciation for his Kriti Ninnuvinagatigana in Kalyi
rg from his guru while he sang the Kritiin the
Pachanadeeswarar temple at Tiruvaiyaru.

ANNSVMI SSTRI
Annsvmi sstri also known as AnnaSstri was the grand
on of Sym Sstri, Third son of
Sym Sstris first son Paju Sstri and adopted son of
Subbarya Sstri. He was born exactly two months after
the demise of Sym Sstri in the year 1827. Though he
was christened as SymKrishna he was addressed as
Anna affectionately. He learnt vocal and violin under his
father and they used to perform violin duets. He in turn
taught violin to his son ym Sstri II. Sundrambl,
mother of Veena Dhanamml, and Tacchur Chinna
Singaracharulu. It seems that when Annsvmi sstri
taught the Kriti Nannubrochutaku of Subbarya Sstri in
Tdi rg, he punned on the shitya namma
Kmakshamm Myamma and also appreciated the
rendition of Sundarammal. Annsvmi sstri used to sing
the svarshithya apart of the Kritiin the manner of a
duo, one singing the svara part and the other the shitya
part simultaneously. Melakkarai Govindan and Krishnan
Pillai-two nadhaswaram players had learnt music under
Annsvmi sstri. They used to popularize the
compositions of Sym Sstri. Annsvmi sstri was
preserving the Tambura presented in the Minkshi
Amman temple at Madurai with great care. After the
demise of his father Annsvmi sstri was appointed as
the asthana Vidwan of the Udayarpalayam Zamin. He
stayed in Madras for sometime this is evident from the
fact that he taught music to Chinna Singara Charulu who
lived in Madras. He was a composer of high order. Though
few in number his compositions includes vars, darus
and Krtis. They are in Telugu and Sanskrit. Unfortunately
the Tambura fell down one day and broke into pieces.
With in ten days after this incident Annsvmi sstri
passed away at the age of 73 in the year 1900.

CHRONOLOGICAL SURVEY BASED ON THE

PUBLISHED BOOKS
The availability of the compositions from the various
publications since 1859 to the present day
has been taken up and a survey has been done in a
chronological order of the publications. A list of all the
available compositions from various sources, dividing the
period into three categories on the basis of number of
publications available is given in Appendix I. The three
periods have been divided as follows:
From 1859 to 1930
1930 to 1970 and
1970 onwards.
In the first period various books are found, mostly in
Telugu, in which compositions of several
composers are found. Among these the three composers
under study are also included. In the second period, there
are specific books in which the compositions of Sym
Sstri, Subbarya Sstri and Annsvmi sstri alone are
published. In the third period, more number of
compositions of Sym Sstri alone is published in some
books. The early publications were Sangita Sarvarta Sara
Sangrahamu by Vina Ramanuja. Ganamrtamu by
T.M.Venkatesa Sstri and the books Gayaka Parijatham
and Gayaka Siddhanjanamu of Taccur Brothers, which
were published between 1859 and 1893. Between 1900
and 1920, there were two books each of Subbarama
Diksitar [Sangita Sampradaya Pradarsini, Prathama
abyasa pusthakamu and Taccur Brothers
[Gayakalocanam, Sangita Klanidhi], one book each of
Venkatasvami Naidu [Sangita Vidya Darpanam], Pammi
Arunacala Cetti [Gayaka Gayanijana Parijatam],
C.Munusvami [Sangita Sudha Sangrahamu], Nadamuni
Pandit [Sangita Svaraprastara Sagaramu] and Vina
Basavappa [Gana Vidya Vinodini]. K V Srinivasa Ayyangar
had published two books, one in 1924 and another in
1929 [Sangita Rasarnavam and Sangita Sudhambudhi).
During this period, twenty-one songs [S.No.1 to 21
Appendix I Chart I] of Sym Sstri came into vogue by
these publications. These songs continue to figure in all
the publications of the second and third periods.
In the second period starting from 1930 to 1970 the
unpublished notebooks of Sym Sstri II
along with some other published books, more number of
compositions come into the field. Now the total rises up
to fifty-two adding thirty-one compositions of Sym
Sstri [S.No.23 to 53 Appendix I Chart I]. The two books
belonging to this period, which had added more number
of compositions of Sym Sstri, are the three books of
Vidya Shankar and Krtimanimalai of Ranga Ramanuja
Ayyangar. In the third period, after 1970, the third edition
of the book Sym Sstris compositions of Vidya Shankar
plays a vital role in introducing twenty new compositions
making the total number seventy two.
Subbarya Sstris compositions are seen in some books
belonging to the first period, which
include the three books of Taccur Brothers [G P, GSid, SK]
two books of K V Srinivasa Ayyangar
[SRSS] and the books of T M Venkatesa Sstri [GM], C
Munisvami Naidu [SSS] and Pammi Arunacala Cetti [GGP].
There are ten songs totally taken from these books and
they are carried in the books of the other periods also.
With the arrival of the Handwritten Notebook (HW) of
Sym Sstri II there are two songs added to his credit as
can be seen in Appendix I; Chart I. One more song is
added through the book of Ranga Ramanuja Ayyangar
[KMM] in the case of song number 3 and 11 there is a
controversy regarding the authorship.
One daru of Annsvmi sstri is found in GL of Tacchur
Brothers. There are twelve compositions of Annsvmi
sstri, which are brought to light by H W of Sym Sstri
II for the first time. Among these besides a varn in Sri
rg and krtis in the rgs Kmbhji and Madhyamvathi,
all the other compositions figure in Vidya Shankars early
publication in 1947 and in the later one in 1998, while
these three compositions are also included along with the
new composition in the Kalyni in the book of T.K.Govinda
Rao belonging to the third period.
Thus the chronological survey reveals the fact that in the
early period before 1930 there were only twenty one
compositions of Sym Sstri, ten of Subbarya Sstri
and one of Asvmi sstri. In the second period the HW
of Sym Sstri II plays a vital role of introducing
seventeen new songs of Sym Sstri. [Appendix I
Chart I Serial numbers are: 22 to 29, 31, 34, 36, 38, 41,
43, 47, 50 and 51] and twelve new songs of Asvmi
sstri. Only two compositions are added to the credit of
Subbarya Sstri.
Eleven songs appear for the first time in Vidya Shankars
publications [Part I, II, III] of the same period. The serial
numbers of these songs, as per the Appendix I Chart I,
are 32, 33, 37, 39, 41 44, 45 46, 48, 49 and 52. Except
the song number 39, all the other songs figure in the
publications of the second period. There are three more,
which find a place in the book of Ranga Ramanuja
Ayyangar [KMM] for the first time [30, 35 and 40]. Though
they figure in some other books, they do not find a place
in Vidya Shankars publications [Part I, II, III]. Thus in the
second period along with the twenty one songs of the first
period we come to know about thirty one new
compositions. In the third period twenty new
compositions are thrown into light by the latest
publication SSC Edition III of Vidya Shankar [53 to 72
Appendix I; Chart I] and they are carried over by
T.K.Govinda Rao in his book CSSA. Taking into
consideration all the three periods we arrive at a figure of
72 compositions of Sym Sstri. No additions were made
in the compositions of Subbarya Sstri, in the third
period but there is one new composition of Annsvmi
sstri found in the book of T.K.Govinda Rao. There were
no new additions in the third period regarding the
compositions of the above mentioned composers
excepting Sym Sstri and Annsvmi sstri as is made
clear from this chronological survey.

RGS HANDLED IN THE THREE STAGES

Through this survey the rgs and tas handled by

Sym Sstri in the three stages are also known
[Appendix I Chart 2 & 3]. The general survey of the rgs
handled by all the three composers will show the fact that
they are either melakarta rgs of a very few number of
melas or janyas of them. Sym Sstri has handled three
melas while Subbarya Sstri and Annsvmi Sstri two.
The remaining forty-two rgs are derivative or janya
rgs.

TAS HANDLED IN THE THREE STAGES

The tas handled by Sym Sstri as found in the

compositions of the early period are only three (di, Cpu
and Rpakam). The introduction of Triputa and Khada
jhampa are found in the second period and only in the
third period use of more tas like Tisramatya, Catuhsra
Ata, Kanda Matya are found along with the other tas in
the compositions of Sym Sstri. It is striking to note
that only Subbarya Sstri has used Cpu ta in his
compositions. Both Subbarya Sstri and Annsvmi
sstri use di and Rpakam, Khada Eka is used by
Annsvmi sstri. Annsvmi sstri had composed his
varns in both di and Ata tlas.

TYPE OF COMPOSITIONS FIGURING IN THE THREE

STAGES

Regarding the variety of compositions of Sym Sstri we

find 3 svarajatis a varn and krtis in
the first stage. The krtis with a regular format is found in
both first and second stages along with one more var in
the second stage. It is only in the third stage that we
come across krtis with different structures regarding the
number of vartas, melodic structure of the Caraas (in
different dhtus and with madhyamakla shitya) two
more vars and new compositions in the name of gitas
without the division of ags as pallavai, anupallavai and
Caranas but with sections or khandikas [Appendix I Chart
IV]. Changes are not found in the compositions of the
others.

LANGUAGES USED IN THE THREE STAGES

There were compositions in Sanskrit and Telugu of Sym

Sstri in the first period while Tamil is added in the
second and more numbers of compositions are found in
Sanskrit in the third period. While Subbarya Sstris
compositions are found in Telugu, Annsvmi sstri had
used Sanskrit in most of his krtis and there are some in
Telugu (Appendix I Chart I)

A STUDY OF KRITIS

In the first chapter survey of the compositions of Sym

Sstri, Subbarya Sstri and Annsvmi Sstri is made on
the background of their availability in the publications.
Mention has been made of the rgs and tas used in
the compositions of Sym Sstri according to their
period of appearance. The rgs and Tlas included in the
compositions of Sym Sstri in the later periods are thus
pointed out. Mention has been made of the rgs and
tas handled by the other four composers also. Detailed
analysis of the compositons begins from this chapter. It
takes up a study of the kritis of Sym Sstri., Subbarya
Sstri, and Annsvmi Sstri. The kritis taken up for
analysis belong to the first two periods (i.e. 1859 to 1970)
and the analysis is mainly based on the early publications
prior to 1930 and the HW of Sym Sstri II.
The structure of a kriti is primarily defined in terms of the
sectios constituting it and they are
Pallavi, Anupallavi and Caraa . Kritis may have more
than one Caraa sung to the same tune (dhatu).The kritis
of Sym Sstri are normally found with three Caraa s.
Yet the kriti Nannubrvu in Lalit rg is found with four
Caraa s and the kriti Dvibrva in Cintmani is found
without the anupallavi section. Normally, the duration of
vartas in di ta kritis are two-two-four for the pallavi,
anupallavi and Caraa respectively. With the addition of
ciasvara or svara sahitya the number of vartas of the
anupallavi or Caraa will be increased for another two
vartas respectively. 4-4-8 or 8-8-8 is the organisation of
the duration of vartas in rupaka ta. The kriti Marivre
in nandhabhairavi rg in Misracpu ta is found with 8-
8-16 and also with a ciasvara for another eight vartas.
The kriti Sakari in Saveri rg is seen in with the
following format 8+8+8 and a ciasvara for eight
vartas. Most of the kritis in misra laghu or misra cpu
ta are found with the pattern 8+8+16 and only in some
kritis the additional element svarsahitya is found for
another eight vartas taking into consideration the svara
part and sahitya part as a single unit. The music settings
of the three ags are separate and all the Caraa s are
sung to the same dhatu in the compositions of ym
Sstri. Only in rare cases for example in the kriti
Marivre in nandhabhairavi and Brvavamma in
Mji rg the last two lines of the Caraa are sung to the
same dhatu as that of the anupallavi. Normally slow
medium tempo is employed in the kritis set in di ta
(Irandu) two kai with profusion of words without any
intermediary ending of the words. All the ags will be
set in the same tempo but in two kritis we find the
number of words is increased in the ags; anupallavi
and Caraa in Kanakaoeaila in PunnnagaVari and in
the Caraa in the kriti Myamma hiri. This increases
the tempo of the ags as if they are in madhyamaka
though infact they are not. The kritis of Subbarya Sstri
has the following structure. Pallavi and Anupallavi have
equal length while the Caraa comprises the combined
length of both. Most of his compositions had three Caraa
s and all the ags are sung to different dhtus as found
in most of the kritis of Sym Sstri. Yet in the kriti
Minanayana in Darbar rg the last quarter of the
Caraa is sung as anupallavi while in the kriti Janani in
Ritigaula rg the whole Caraa is sung in the tune of the
pallavi and anupallavi.Emaninne in Mukhri rg and
NinnuSvicina in Yadukulakmbhji rg are the two
kritis, which have only one Caraa. The kriti
Venkaasaila in HamrKalyi rg has five Caraa s and
Dacinavaru in Dhanysi rg has four Caraa s and
both anupallavi and Caraa are sung in madhyamaka in
this kriti. Though in many kritis
Subbarya Sstri has adopted the slow medium tempo of
his father there are two kritis in Vilambita ka i.e. slow
tempo. They are Venkaasaila in HamrKalyi and
NinnuSvicina in Yadukulakmbhji rgs. Use of
dirgha svars found in these kritis suggests to the listener
that they may reveal the impact of Muttusvami Diksitar, a
contemporary of Sym Sstri. Annsvmi Sstri has
composed kriti with only one Caraa .His kritis are simple
in nature. Normally his kritis will have four vartas in the
Caraa while it will be one or two in the pallavi and two in
the anupallavi. All the ags have separate datu. Only in
the last quarter of the Caraa in the kriti in Mahrji in
Bilahri rg and riKchinayike in Aavri rg the
music of the anupallavi is repeated. In the kriti ri
Kmk i in Sraga rg the speed of the whole Caraa
is increased not by increasing the speed but by increasing
the number of words without increasing the number of
svars. In another kriti he has used real
madhyamakTa....., in the Caraa of the kriti
Paramapvani in Ah rg the number of words and
svars are sixteen in the pallavi and anupallavi, but there
are thirty svars and sahitya letters in the Caraa .
The simple kritis of Annsvmi Sstri in which the rgs
are revealed a simple deleniations without any additional
elements are OEri Lalite, in Bhairavi, Vcite in
Madhayamavathy and OEri Kameswara in Kambhoji. The
kriti OEri Lalite in Bhairavi reveals the rg apana of
the rg in a nutshell. Just the singing of the pallavi in
slow tempo will be an apt preface for the rg. This
feature is found in some of the kritis of Tygarja and
Diksitar (Enatinomu, Bagopa) and this may be the
impact of those kritis.
nnd grg mp d Pd mpdn
S,ndp mN dpm GR,S rND nsrgmp gm
gr G R S
The kriti in Kambhoji is also a simple one. It starts with
the phrase pdS and the ending phrase of the pallavi is
`rssn and the visesa prayoga (sn) pdS is obtained by
combining both the prayogas.

Sagatis
Sagatis are melodic variations found either in the pallavi
or anupallavi but only rarely in Carana.
Though they are sung to the same sahitya, each sangati
is a logical progression from the previous one. The
recurrence of the sahitya gots hidden under the melodic
variations. The overall size of a section (pallavi etc.) in a
way does get enlarged by the introduction of sagatis.
Sagatis in songs found in the publications upto 1930.
Sagatis found in the compositions of Sym Sstri might
show some common factors among them.
I. The sagatis are not developed from the opening
phrase but only in later portion.
a. The sagatis are developed in a particular place and
the sthyi and tempo are not varied.
b. Though the sagatis are developed in a particular
place the sthyi and tempo increase gradually.
I.a Ninnuvinaga Prvikalyni Sym Sstri can be
grouped under this category where in the grahasvara
change does not occur and the development of sagatis
are also limited. It is as follows:
In the song Ninnuvinaga in Prvikalyni rg as
published in GS (pp.156-157), we find some slight
changes in the place without changing the graha svara of
the pallavi. Sangati runs like this:
1. S D s S R s R G R g R g r n
Ninnu vina gama ridik keva ru na. . ru
The beginning svars are kept constant and four
variations are found in the place varu naru as:
2. g p m D m gm gr
va . ru . . . .na . ru
In the third sangati, the svars are as follows:
3. gddM gmgR
Va ru na ru
The fourth line proceeds as
4. g G P p mp pd dm gr
Varu naru ni kila . lo . ka . . .
BiranaVaralicci Kalyni Sym Sstri (GS, p.153) can
be grouped under the second variety
of the first category wherein the graha svara is not
changed but the sagatis are developed gradually in the
place brvumuninnu.
There are four sagatis developed in the same place by
increasing the number of svars gradually as follows:
; r S s |r R G m | P ; pm, || gr
birana | Varicci | bro. vumu | ninnu
- do | gmP mPD Do ||
- do | bro Do ||
- do | gmpd ; pm ||
- do | bro Do ||
- do | gmpdnsnd p m ||gr
- do | bro . vumu || ninnu .
In the song Sakari in Bgada rg of Subbarya Sstri
(SSS, p.101) similar type of sagatis
are developed but with the words Satatamukori vacciti
interspersed with akaras in between as nr dpm d | pdnn
dpmp grsn
Satatamu. kori va . citti
While slight change occurs in the second one in the place
as follows:
1. dpmp 2. dpmm
va .. va ..
and the third one changes still further as nsrs || mgrs
S \mp dpN || , dpMgrsr
san.. tAamu ko ri va..citi
Sagatis developed in the form of akara syllables in the
middle of an varta of a passage before
continuing the passage with full sahitya and at the end of
the varta sung as akaras without syllables and words.
In the song Durusuga (SSPS, p.315) sagatis develop to
fill the gap found without sahitya at
the end of the first varta of the anupallavi. Here the
sagatis are executed with akaras only and no words is
added after the akara.
m m | m p, p m d D d n p d m | P ,, ,,,, | , , , , ,, dm ||
parama pa vani krip vanivinuta | a . . . . | . . . . . . a . .||
In the second and third sagatis the gaps are filled as:
P , , , , g r | pm pdnd pDm || and as P , d S , , nd | p M G r
s r ||
a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | | a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ||
respectively. By the gradual increase of the svars in the
two drutams sagatis are developed.
Similar types of sagatis are found in the compositions of
Subbarya Sstri also. In the kriti Janani in Ritigaula
(SSPS, p.337) variations are developed with the akara of
the word Ninnuvina and the second line follows it with
sahitya.
3. Sagatis are developed gradually and extended to
successive vartas also and the final sagatis spread over
the full line.
In the kriti Sarojadanetri of ym Sstri in
Sankarabarana rg (SSPS, p.310), we find the
sangati extended over the whole varta in the second line
of the pallavi. First sangati is developed from the place
ri Minaksamma while the second developed from the
beginning with slight changes occuring here and there.
I Sangati : g r S S n S , grg g m P | gR , , , , S S |
Sad nammina . namma subhamim| ma . . . .OErimi |
S, nP mg mggr
n . . ksa mma
II Sangati : g r S sn gr G mggr g g m P | DO , , , , S rgmp |
Sad nammi na nam . masubamim| ma . . . . .OErimi . .|
S, n P sndp mgrg ||
n . . . ksamma ||
The treatment of sagatis has a different aspect in the
HW of ym Sstri II though they fall in the three
categories mentioned earlier. The numbers of sagatis
are more but they present slight variations only.
In the development of sanga the kriti BiranaVaricci is
found only with three sagatis in the book GS as
mentioned earlier but in this notebook there are six
sagatis.
The two sagatis interspersed in HW
gmpd , , pm | gr
bro . . . . vumu | ninnu ||
gmpd N pm | gr
bro . . . . . vumu | ninu
The fifth sangati is the same as the third one of the
earlier and the sixth sangati varies as
DO nD, nP, pm | gr
bro vumu ninnu
In the development of sagatis we find that slight
changes are marked as sagatis in HW of Sym Sstri II
in the song of Subbarya Sstri also.
In the kriti Nannu brocutaku, we find six sagatis in the
first line as in HW of ym Sstri II.
The sagatis develop in the middle of the avartha in the
place. (brocutaku tamasam) yale. and this can be
classified as the second variety of the first category
wherein the graha svara is not changed and the sthyi
and tempo are changed to certain extent.
In the first one it is:
P ; ; D N | Sns ndD | P G ; r s || rn+
bro cuta | kuta ma | samya le || ..
In the second one only tamasa is changed slightly as:
S , N , D
ku t ma
In the third, change occurs in the place brocuta itself as:
G M D ; D M d d | N , d d n d d | M G ; rs ||
nanu bro cu ta| ku t ma | sam ya le ||
The fourth one develops further as:
do .. M dn | Ddn s n D | P G ; rs ||rn+
do .. cuta | ku t ma | samya le - ||..
In the next two sagatis change occur in the third varta
only as
r S r N d d and s r g r s n d n | d d m g ; , r ||S+
ku . t ma ku t .ma | sam ya le||
ri Kamambike in Diya Tdi rg is a song with a
number of sagatis both in the pallavi and anupallavi as
in HW of ym Sstri II. Here the sagatis are in
madhyamaka, while the melodic range covered by
sagatis is limited in pallavi it is quite wide in anupallavi.
Sagatis are in madhyamaka and prsesent only slight
variatons in melody.
1. gm pd | G,mmg mgrs
Ka . ma . lmba na
2. gm pd | G , m pdG mgrs
Kama .. | lmba na
3. d p | mgpm P,d mgrs
Kama | lm ba na
There are nine sagatis in the place Pakaripramukha of
the anupallavi. Each sangati has only slight difference
from the previous one, but there is a gradual rise in the
sthyi.
We find sagatis with slight variations in HW after the 7th
sangati; the sthyi again comes to
madhyasthyi, which is an unusual factor in the
development of sagatis. There are three sagatis in
madhyasthyi as follows:
8. G mp; P p m || d d n n s n ||
Pa . ka . ri pra || mukha sura nuta||
9. mgpm pdnd dp pm ||
Pa . . . ka . . .ri pra ||
ggmm pdnd dppm ||
Pa . . . ka . . ri pra ||
In the kriti Vanajsana in ri rg , there are ten
sagatis in the pallavi. They are in
madhyamaka..... and are developed in the second line
of the pallavi. They are developed systematically from
madhya sthyi to tara sthyi.
n n S r m | P p m R g r S ||
Varadayaki | OEri la . li ta .. ||
n n S r m | P n p p m R g r S ||
Varadayaki | OEri. . la. . li . . ta ||
The sagatis are gradually developed. The fifth sangati
developed as:
5. n n s r m p | m p n p p m R g r S ||
Upto the eighth sangati n n s r m pis kept constant and
the rest is changed as:
6. p n p m p m R g r S
7. m p N M R g r s
8. m p s n p m R g r s
In the ninth and tenth sangati it is changed as:
n n S / s n | p m P M R g r S and as
n n s r m p|/ S s n p m R g r S
Annasvamy Sstris compositions are met with in the HW
of ym Sstri II for the first time. He has introduced
sagatis only in some of his compositions. They are
mostly madhyamaka sagatis as found in the songs
Vanajsana, Emaninne of Subbarya Sstri as in HW of
ym Sstri II. They resemble the impact of post trinity
compositions with set sagatis.
In the kriti Paramapvani in Ah rg, there are
some sagatis in the first line in the place
Mamava and in the second line in the place putri.
1. ; p m p pmgm ,m | P , d | pd , P ||
parama p va |ni ma | ma va ||
2. ; p m p pmgm ,m | P ,p | d p d ND ||
parama p va | ni ma | ma va ||
3. ; p m p pmgm ,m | P , dn | S ; ,d ||
parama p va | ni ma . ma . va ||
4. ; p m p pmgm ,m | P , p d | pnS do ||
parama p va | ni ma ma do ||
5. ; p m p pmgm ,m | P , ns | rs ns rs D ||
parama p va | ni ma ma va ||
In the second line one sangati is seen as:
rmrs nsrm|pnsn dD, ||
pu tri .amba ||
Another kriti with set sagatis is Mahrji in Bilahari
rg. There are sagatis developed in
the increasing order in the pallavi. The sagatis are
developed in the place mm phi and the last two
sagatis are extended through out the line Mahrji
mm phi.
; | mg Rgm gp || r+
| pa hi..||
;dd | pdP mg || r
| pa hi..||
P pdnd | P mg || r
mm |Pa . || hi
pd dn | mg Rgm GP | r+
ma m | pa ..| hi
Pdsnsnd | ndP mg | r+
mam| pa| hi
s R Snd grG | G R | sndn Pmg || gr
Mah ra ji| mm | pa .. | hi
sR Snd srgp | d s Srg rsnd | Pdn dpmgrg |
Mahra ji| mm . | pa ..||
mggr+ g G P mg
hi.. Mahra ji

Auxiliary sections in Kritis

Apart from the three essential sections there are some
auxiliary sections figure in some kritis. They are
introduced as additional sections incorporated in the
structural format of the kritis.
Ciasvara or solfa passages are introduced in some of
the kritis of OEym Sstri. The kritis are as follows:
Song Rg Source
Phiri nandhabhairavi GS (p.155)
Plicu Kmk i Madhyamavati SK,(p.49),SSSS (p.217)
Nannubrvu Lalita SSSS (p.216)
Sakari Saveri HW (pp.34-35)
In the three kritis published in the books belonging to
early thirties the graha svara of the pallavi and the
ciasvara seems to be the same, [Sa in PahiOEri, Ni in
Palimcu and Ga in NannuBrva]. While it is different in
the song Sakari Saveri rg - grahasvara of the pallavi
is Sa, while the ciasvara starts on the svara Ri. Of
the four kritis mentioned above the cittasvars of the first
two songs are now sung with sahitya, while the other two
are not in popular use now.
Svara patterns found in the two cittasvars are as follows:
pmp srs (three svars)
mpmnp nsrS rsnP (five svars)
pmpnsR (seven svars)- Plicu
smggrs gmgrsn smGrs, snsmgr (grouping of six
svars)
sGmgmp gMgrsn (seven svars) - PahiOEri
The only kriti of Asvmi Sstri. With ciasvara is ri
Kmk i in Sraga rg. The kriti is sung in slow tempo
in the pallavi and the anupallavi followed by a samaka
ciasvara. In the ciasvara datu svars, groupings of
svars are found. n s r S s m p d P p - and S,dpm P ,
pmR gM- are groupings of svars and snrs sgrs nrnd
are the datu svars found in the ciasvara. The svara
structure resembles the arrangement of svars in the
svarsahityas of ym Sstri rather than the cittasvars
of Sym Sstri.

Svarsahitya
Another additional element found in the kritis of Sym
Sstri is the svarsahitya. Sym Sstri has introduced
this anga in some of his kritis.
Svarsahitya is a combination of solfa passage with
appropriate sahitya passages for the
svars. The svara part should melodically maintained a
continuity with a melody of the sahitya of Caraa and
then melodically lead to the pallavi. Again the sahitya
portion of the svarsahitya should blend with the sahitya
of the Caraa and later with the pallavi.

Name Rg Source
Durusuga Saveri SSSS (p.213) ; SK (p.47)
Marivre nandhabhairavi SSSS (p.215)
Ninne nammi Tdi HW [p.15]
Myamma Nakurunji KMM [p. 62]
Sarievvaramma Bhairavi [KMMp.68]
Kmkshi Vari KMM (p.77)
Regarding the tempo of the svarsahitya, Sym Sstri
has not introduced madhyamaka through this element.
In the kriti Durusuga (Saveri) he has composed the
svarsahitya passage in the same tempo without
increasing the number of syllables per beat. In this kriti it
is as follows:
Pallavi Durusugakrpajuci santAa | (15 letters in the
laghu)
Svarsahitya Saroja nayana Na Jana paliniva | ni . . .
(16 letters in the laghu)
In the kriti Marivre in Anandabhairvai, there is an
appearance of an increase in the tempo. In
the pallavi, anupallavi or Caraa of this kriti, we find the
numbers of sahitya syllables are four or five in one varta
while they are six or seven in an varta in the
svarsahitya pasage.
For example in the kriti Marivre the number of sahitya
letters are as follows:
Pallavi Marivre || . . . . . re || gati Evva || ram ma ||
Svarsahitya - P ; d p m| gpmg mgr ||
P dayuga | mumdilo ta.....ci ||
Subbarya Sstri has introduced svarsahitya in the
following songs.
Name Rg Source
Nannu brocutaku Tdi SK (p.54), HW (p.65)
Janani Ninnuvina Ritigaula GP (p.118), HW (p.55)
Emaninne Mukhri SK (p.55),HW (p.67)
NinnuSvicina Yadukulakmbhji SSSS (p.220), HW (86)
Ninnuvina Kalyni SK (p.56), HW (74)
Sakari Nivani Begada SSSS(p.217), HW (p.61)
Vanajsana OEri GP (p.119), HW (p.58)
ri Kamambike Diya Tdi SSSS (p.218), HW(p.77)
These are also found only after the Caraa part in the
early books as in the kritis of Sym Sstri. Since the
music of the anupallavi is repeated in the last quarter of
the Caraa in some kritis (Janani and Emaninne).
Svarsahityas suit when sung either after the anupallavi
or after the Caraa. Among the eleven kritis available we
find svarsahitya in eight kritis. In the kritis Janani in
Ritigaula, Nannubrocutaku in Tdi and Ninnuvina in
Kalyi the svarsahityas are constructed as in the kritis
of Sym Sstri without increasing the tempo. In some
kritis Subbarya Sstri has introduced dirgha svars in
the beginning and madhyamaka svars in the later
vartas. The svarsahitya found in the kriti Vanajsana
start with
the note Ri having six akara karvai followed by
madhyamaka svars as rp pm rrg rrs npnn and again
the svara Sa is rendered for a karvai of six akaras
followed by madhyamaka svars. In these
svarsahityas the tempo is increased by the profusion of
sahitya and svars. Another rare feature found in the
svarsahitya of the kriti ri Kamambike is the
madhyamaka sahitya sung at the end. This is as
follows: The same svars of the previous four vartas are
repeated with different sahitya.
n s n G g | mg d N s ||
Ni kh i la sa ksi | suta ni Brva
n g r N d | nd P g m ||
Ni nu vi na e | vari lo la ||
n s n G m d d N s s | n g r N dnd p G m ||
Nijamukapalikinanidi | nigama gamu nuta ra ve ||

Patterns of svars found in the svarsahitya

In the svarsahityas of the two kritis Durusuga and
Marivre of Sym Sstri we also
find patterns in the organisation of svars. In the
svarsahitya in Saveri rg kriti, svars are formed in
tisra (npd srs) and Khada patterns (mpmdp sndrs). In
the nandhabhairavi kriti janta svars and datu svars
figure (nnssggmm janta) (psnd, pndp, dpd datu). In
both these svarsahityas we find a pattern of svara at the
end.
Durusuga - g R s n d r S n d P g r n
para kusalu pardiyani vipudu
Marivre - n s n r S n d p P m g r G m
dharaloNa vanakutu hTa.....ni vega
Subbarya Sstri has also used some patterns of svars
in his svarsahitya. The svara sahitya of
the song Nannubrocutaku in Tdi rg is constructed
with pancama varja prayogas throughout. They are as
follows:
(G; , g m n d m g r) (n g r ) (n d m G g) (d N d m)
In the kriti Emaninne in Mukhri rg, we find
combinations of svars, in different groupings.
A tisram and misram - R g s r s n d p d
Two Khada ms - s r g S n d P m
A tisram, six akaras, catusram and a tisram - p D s r m
pDsndpmpd
A Khada m and a tisram - s r g S n d p
Tisram + catusram + tisram - d P m G , - R s
In many kritis the svarsahityas end with some notable
patterns though not in a specific makutam pattern.
1. Tdi kriti - d N d m g M g r s D n s r
(5) (6) (5)
2. Ritigaula kriti - S n d m M g r s S n p
(5) (5) (4)
3. Kalyi kriti - S n d p P m g r s D n s r
(5) (6) (5)
4. Yadukula Kambhoji kriti - p d r S ; - m p D P m g r
(7) (6) (3)

Madhyamaka shithya
Madhyamaka shithya are mentioned under general
strucure where the whole anga either
anupallavi or Caraa is sung in madhyamaka. Here the
addition of passage of meaningful text sung at the end of
the ags in madhyamaka alone is dealt with. This
feature is found only in the compositions of Subbarya
Sstri and Annsvmi Sstri and not in those of Sym
Sstri.
Regarding the madhyamaka shithya employed in the
kritis of Subbarya Sstri there are two
types. In the first the numbers of svara and sahitya
letters are found in profusion in the same tempo. In the
song Nannu brocutaku, we find this type of
madhyamakashithya at the end of the Caraa. The
madhyamakashithya has sahitya letters for almost all
thirty-two counts of the varta with less number of dirgha
svars.
p d n s s r G r s nd p d n s | dnsrns ns | Dpm G . s ||
Karuna nidine va.....nega.....da| daralopa.....ni ra|
Navuni yeve ||
In the kriti Dacina in Dhanysi rg, anupallavi and
Caraa are set in madhyamaka of this
type. The pallavi proceeds in the following manner;
g m P S ; sn dp mg | r s +
dacina va ru |
The anupallavi and Caraa have a profusion of words with
the same number of akaras in an
varta.
Anupallavi : gmp P p d n r s r n ss r n
ta.....ci ve dukone kolicina va riki |
p r s r n s d p dpM ppmg || rs+
pamulanosake lali tambaninu || da
20
Caraa : GmP p d p nsrs N d p ||
Kori sannitini cerini du pada
nsrn d p d p M d p mppm gm || , g +
varica mulamana sraka ko lici || da
In the kriti Vanajsana in ri rg we find another type
of madhyamakashitya wherein the
svars and sahitya are doubly increased. The Caraa
ends as:
grSrsNsnP|snPMpmrgrs
Ilalo pani vane | Kada ri lali tambike
Annsvmi Sstri has included some vartas of
madhyamaka shitya in some of his kritis. In the kriti
ri Kamsvara in Kambhoji rg, at the end of the
Caraa there is a madhyamakashitya as:
(S s ), r g R ; r s | p d S n d P d d S |
(Vate) Karua m kru | paramesvari Sakari ri |
p d p d S n d nd pm |
kari karu namkari subha kari
Here both sahitya and svara syllables are doubled and
thus increases the speed and makes it a real
madhyamakashitya.
MELODIC ASPECT - RG
This section discusses formerly some individual rgs and
then the opening or introductory phrases in some
compositions. The rgs taken up are
1. Kalyni,
2. nandhabhairavi
3. Tdi
4. Sakarbharana
5. Paraz and
6. Sveri
7. Citmani and Kalkada
While the first six figures in more than one kriti,
Citmani and Kalkada represent relatively unknown
rgs.
The rg Kalyni is portrayed in a nutshell in the kriti
Biranavaricci and in a detailed manner
in the kriti Tallininnu as in HW of ym Sstri II.
Misracpu ta with pauses in profusion helps to reveal
the dirgha kampita svars of the rg very well. The rg
Kalyi is portrayed only in madhyasthyi in the two kritis
the range does not go beyond tarasthyi ga and below
mandrasthyi ni. In the kriti Biranavaricci here and
there madhyamaka phrases are added.
Subbarya Sstri had composed the kriti Ninnuvina in
this rg, giving the opening svars as
`gmpD as seen in the kritis of Tygarja and Diksitar
(Etavunara and Kamambham bhajare) and not
on the note `ri as the two kritis of ym Sstri
mentioned here. Svars centers round madhya and tara
sthyi in all the three ags while mandra sthyi svars
are also found along with sa, pa varja prayogas in
the svarsahitya.
nandhabhairavi is a rg that has been used by ym
Sstri in four kritis. These four kritis
analysed here as based on the version given in HW of
ym Sstri II. The kriti Himachaanaya
reveals the simple portrayal of the rg, while Jaru
gamakas are sung in madhyamaka in rupaka ta in the
kriti PahiOEri and they are sung in slow tempo in misra
cpu ta in the kriti Marivre. The elaborate
form of the rg is seen in the kriti Jagadamba in the
slow tempo in di ta two kai.
Tdi rg has been handled in three kritis, which are in
three different tas. The kriti Karuanidhi
is in rupaka ta, while Ninnenamminanu in cpu ta
and the kriti Emani migula is in irandukai di ta.
The range of the first composition covers the three
sthyis. In the pallavi melodic movement is around the
madhyasthyi in most of the places, occasionally
touching madrasthyi. The anupallavi goes upto
tarasthyi
while the Caraa covers the pallavi and anupallavi. In the
kriti Ninnenammi the music goes upto tarasthyi
in the second line of the pallavi itself
The kriti Nannubrocutaku of Subbarya Sstri is in di
ta irandu kai. The graha svara of the
pallavi is dirgha kampita Ga. The anupallavi starts with
the samvdi svars as spdP and the Caraa
starts with a svarakara as:
MD;
Ma ra
Sancaras are found in the madhya and tarasthyi in all
the three ags while the beginning of the
second line of the pallavi and Caraa alone comes down
to mandrasthyi svars upto dhaivAa. PG,rs,
dmGrs, ddGrs, rnd are some of the notable prayogas
used in this composition. Use of dirgha svars
are found profusely in this kriti that resembles the kriti
Ninnenammi of ym Sstri.
Sakarbharaa
The two kritis of ym Sstri in the rg
Sakarbharaa are Sarojada and Dviminanetri.
They are analysed as found in the book S.S.P.S. and H.W.
respectively. In the first kriti a profusion of
words is found but comparatively there is less number of
words in the second one. The kriti Sarojada
starts from tara sa and comes down to madhyasthyi in
the pallavi ending with a prayoga in the descending
order as sndpmgrs. Both anupallavi and Caraa center
round tarasthyi after starting from the note as
sSs and P, pppm respectively. The upper limit is only
tara ga. SnP and sdP are the visesa prayogas
found in this kriti. Jaru prayogas are found in the
anupallavi as sSs/Sss and mP/sdP.
22
The other kriti centres round madhyasthyi with
occasional touches of mandrasthyi and tarasthyi.
The grahasvars of the various ags are as follows
M;GM-pallavi S/PmP-anupallavi GMP-Caraa ).
Though the words are less in this kriti, use of dirgha
svars is limited and the ta pulse is filled with more
akaras. For e.g. the last line of the anupallavi is as
follows:
nsgr grrs snnd ddP | mpdpsddp | pmmgmggr || S+
cinta mani | dai| yu..nna || ra.
Paraz
There are two kritis in the rg paraz. Both the kritis start
with the same pattern of svars but for
a slight change and the finishing notes of the pallavi are
also similar in nature, as shown below:
; gmpm | GRSn || sMgM,
vu | .amba || Trilka
gmpm gmgr || sn + | S ; | M ; | G M ||
saksi.|| . Ni | la | ya ||
In both the kritis music is built around tarasthyi in most
of the places. The melodic structure of the
anupallavi is repeated in the latter half of the Caraa in
both the kritis. The svara ni is used as a janta svara
in both the kritis as NNS. The svara prayogas are in the
descending order in most of the places in the kriti
TrilkamAa and the use of pdnd is not found in this
kriti while it is found in the kriti Nilyatki.
Saveri
The four kritis in Saveri rg are analysed as found in the
HW. In all the four kritis the music is
woven round madhya sthyi with some sancaras in
tarasthyi touching ga. Though a profusion of words
is found in all the four kritis, the kriti Durusuga is in the
model of the kritis of Pallavi Gopayyar as
mentioned by Dr.C.K.Reetha (Reetha, C.K., 1987, P.221)
with a continuous flow of svara and sahitya,
the other two kritis Sakari and Janani have a little
pause in the middle, and there is a gap in the
beginning itself in the kriti OEri Patimukha.
Citmai and Kalkada
The rgs Citmai and Kalkada seem to have been
rarely in use in the earlier period. We find a
kriti of Tygarja in the rg Kalkada and there is no kriti
in the rg Citmai. There are different
versions for the rg Citmai whi
The rgs Citmai and Kalkada seem to have been
rarely in use in the earlier period. We find a
kriti of Tygarja in the rg Kalkada and there is no kriti
in the rg Citmai. There are different
versions for the rg Citmai which is discussed by
C.K.Reetha (Reetha, C.K., 1987, p.227) and by
Dr.V.Raghavan in his article ri ym Sstri
(Dr.Raghavan, V., JMA, 1977).
23
The rg Citmai is introduced at the outset giving
importance to the svara risabha and vakra
prayogas, which is incorporated in the scale itself.
[rgppmGRgs]
Dirgha svars are admitted in this rg are portrayed in
the Caraa as
G,R,S;S,R,gs
ri Kchi ke mam ma
The beginning of the words of the vartas of the Caraa is
sung with a pause as mentioned above.
Though there are different opinions about this rg.
S.Rajah, the direct descendent of the composer, said
in a discussion with the writer that this rg resembles
the rg Bhairavi with pratimadhyama. (PI dated
11.5.95)
Kalkada is another rare rg used by ym Sstri.This
rg is listed under the thirteenth mela in
the book Rg Pravaham (Dhandapani, M.M. and
Pattammal, D., 1985, p.76). The correct version of the
rg is the janya of the 13th mela with vivdi svars says
S.Rajah, the direct descendent in a discussion with
the author. ym Sstri has used the vivdi svara in the
beginning itself as:
Ppdnd
(Par) vatininnu .
Prayogas do not go beyond tara ri in this kriti. Both sdp
and sNdP prayogas come in this kriti.
The finishing phrase used in the anupallavi and Caraa
before taking up the pallavi is rsrnsp.
ym Sstri and Subbarya Sstri had have adopted
some methods of introducing the key
sancharas of the rgs at the outset in some
compositions. In the rg nandhabhairavi he has used
the
three svars sa-pa-sa as the opening phrase in the kriti
Pahiri as
S / P / S with errajaru.
Pa hi OEri
This is unique, as it is not found in the kritis of the others.
Combinations of sa-pa or pa-sa are
found in the kritis of the others but this combination is
unique and it reveals the rgbhava very well. Here
are some instances of the earlier kritis.
Kannatalli - Merattur Venkaarama Sstri -
srsrsnNnn - Pallavi
Kan . nata
(SSP of S.D. Part V, p.1408)
In this kriti the anupallavi start as gpP and Caraa as
nsMm
Pahisesasailanayaka Margadarsi Sesa Ayyangar
P, p P p - Pallavi
Pahisesa (JMA, Vol.XLIII, p.171)
Anandesvarena Muttusvami Diksitar
24
P ; ; S ; Sns N
A . . nan de . . .
(SSP of SD, Part II, p.340)
In the above-mentioned examples only two svars are
combined. Combining the three octave
svars in the opening phrase omitting the other svars in
the middle is to be noted in the kriti of ym
Sstri.
The kriti Trilkamaa in Paraz begins with the melody in
an ascending order svars and also with
dirgha svars in the two kritis Trilkamaa and
Nilyatki
S G m P D n S, s s N D P M -[ G S of T S Pp156 ]
Trilo ka mAa nanu Brva Karua nu
The other kriti Nilyatki also has the opening phrase
as:
S ; M ; G M D ; ; D N s r S || -
Ni la yaa . . . . . . . . . .ksi ||
Similarly Subbarya Sstri has suggested some new
opening phrases for some of the rgs
(Mukhri, Bgada and HamrKalyi). In the above-
mentioned rgs the kritis in the first two rgs start
in mandra sthyi as ndDsRM Mukhri and DPSNRS
Bgada. Usually the kritis in these rgs start
from the svara Sa, ri, pa in Mukhri rg and ga, Ni, Sa in
Bgada rg. The kriti Smininera of ym
Ssatri also starts on tara sa as:
S,,,,, N,,,,, D,
Samini
The kriti in HamrKalyi rg starts with the svars
,,S ; r S p MdP | S;
Venkaa sailavi | ha ra
Which is also a rare feature. The two kritis (Parima and
Purahara) of Muttusvami Diksitar start as
follows:
GgpmPm Mdp pg
Pari..mala.
r sSn d pPm
pura..ha..ra
Among the compositions of the disciples of ym Sstri
we find the impact of the composer
through the above-mentioned similarities. Subbarya
Sstri had adopted the svarsahitya element from his
father and had beautified his kritis adding other elements
as madhyamaka, finishing with idam as his
own contributions. Samaka sagatis used in the
portrayal of the rg are found in some kritis and
sagatis
developed in madhyamaka figures in many of his kritis.
Asvmi Sstri has used only madhyamaka
sagatis and madhyamaka sahityas in his kritis .In one
of his kriti we find ciasvara.
25
ASPECT OF LAYA
The advent of the trinity with their compositions paved
the way for a new era in the growth of kriti.
They gave importance not only to melody but also to the
temporal aspect or laya.
Eduppu or graha is the place where in the song starts in
the Ta......This plays an important role in
the construction of a composition.There are songs which
start on sama eduppu, that is, the Ta..... as well
as music start at the same time from the beginning of the
Ta..... count.There are some songs which start
after the Ta..... begins.This is called anagAa
eduppu.Some songs start before the Ta..... varta, that
is,
in the previous varta itself and that is called atita
eduppu.Usually in songs the eduppu will be uniformly the
same in all the three ags either sama or anagAa.We
also find different eduppus among the different
sections within a song of OEym Sstri. (Appndix I; Chart
V).There are some songs in which two ags
start on the same eduppu and one anga has a different
one. They are as follows:
1. Birana - Kalyi - Rpakam
2. Sakari - Saveri - Rpakam
3. Himdrisute - Kalyi - Rpakam
4. Dviminanetri - Sakarbharaa - di
5. Dvinipada - Kambhoji - di
6. Ennramum - Punngavarli - di
7. Myamma - Naakuriji - di
8. Karuajda - Vari - Cpu
9. Sakari - Kalyi - Aa
In the song BiranaVaricci in Kalyi rg and the song
`Himdrisute with the same structure
but in Sanskrit, a special eduppu is found in rupaka
Ta......The pallavi and anupallavi start after the first
beat, that is, in the second beat or after four
akarakTa.....s.The Caraa of the song start after two
akara kTa.....s. In this song the padagarbham falls on
the sixth beat and again the words start after a
karvai ofeight akaras.This gives a grip to the song over
the Ta......
Another song in which the Caraa alone starts after two
akaras while the pallavi and anupallavi
start on some eduppu is Sakari in Saveri rg. These
two kritis belong to the group of kritis prevailing
since early thirties. There are some kritis which figure
only after 1930. Among them the two kritis in the
rgs Sakarbharaa and Kambhoji alone figure in the
notation of ym Sstri II and the rest figure in
the books of others of the same period. In the four kritis
in di Ta..... mentioned above either sama or
anagAa eduppu is kept for one anga and the other two
ags have different ones. For example, in the
song Dvi ni pada in Kambhoji, the pallavi start after two
akaras while anupallavi and Caraa have
sama eduppu. In the kriti Myamma in Nakurunji
rg, this is reversed. Pallavi has sama eduppu and
anupallavi and Caraa start after two akaras. In the kritis
Dviminanetri in Sakarbharaa rg and
Ennramum in Punngavarli rg, the pallavi and
Caraa start after four akaras while the anupallavi
26
start on sama. In the kriti Karuajda in Vari rg,
cpu Ta..... the anupTa.....lvi alone start after
one akara and the other two ags start on sama. In the
kriti Sakari in Kalyi rg catuhsra Aa
Ta..... the Caraa alone start after one akara and the
others on sama. There are some songs set in misra
cpu Ta..... in the krama order as 3+4, but the eduppu
gives the impression as if the songs are sung in
Viloma cpu. The songs start in the last beat of the
Ta..... and so the structure is formed as 2 + 3 + 2.
Nannubrvu in Lalita rg and Tallininnu in Kalyi rg
and Minalcana in Dhanysi rg can be
cited as examples. The song Ninnuvinaga in
PurvaKalyi rg is the only song set in regular viloma
cpu
which starts in the place Takdimi and then takita follows
as in HW of ym Sstri II, says S.Rajah. In
the HW of ym Sstri II all the songs are written only in
the form 4+3 but the eduppu alone is denoted
either as 4+3 or 3+4 or 2+3+2 by an asterik mark.
Tempo or Kapramana of the Compositions
Though, most of the songs of ym Sstri are in slow
medium tempo in di Ta..... two kTa.....i,
there are some songs in oru (one) kTa.....i di Ta..... in
fast medium tempo. The songs in misra cpu
and triputa Ta.....s also are mostly sung in slow medium
tempo. The long drawn out rhythm with many
pauses is seen in cpu Ta..... compositions less number
of words with pauses here and there are found in
these kritis. Some of his compositions in di Ta..... have
a tight knit relation between the Ta..... akaras
and sahitya letters. Almost all the svara letters have
sahitya letters and hrasva letters found in profusion.
For example, songs like SarojadTa.....netri in
Sakarbharaa rg, DviBrva in Citmai rg,
though are set in two kTa.....i di Ta....., the tempo
seems to be increased and gives the impression that
the song is set in madhyamakTa...... We do not find
extensive pauses in these songs. The pauses are
limited and words are many and this appears that the
tempo is increased. The songs set in orukTa.....i di
Ta..... or rupaka and other Ta.....s are set in fast
medium tempo. Prvatininnu in Kalkada ,
BiranaVaricci in Kalyi can be sighted as example.
Thus we find three different tempos such as slow,
slow medium and fast medium tempos among the
compositions of ym Sstri.
Arudi
Arudi or Padagarbham is a pause that occurs in between
the Ta..... varta. Usually it occurs at
the middle of the Ta..... in two kai di Ta..... or in the
beginning of the next varta in oru kTa.....i di
Ta..... or in the beginning of the third varta or in rupaka
Ta..... or cpu Ta...... In the songs
Kanakaaila in Punngavarli rg, Myamma in hiri
rg, Emani migula in Tdi rg, Plicu
Kmki in Madhyamavathy rg, Dvi Ni padasarasa in
Kambhoji rg, Dviminanetri in
Sankarabarana rg, DviBrva in Citmai rg in di
Ta..... two kai as found in the notation of
ym Sstri II have the pada gharbha exactly at the
middle of the varta, that is, on the first druta. The
pause occurs dividing the varta into two and after a
pause for two or four or three akaras, the song
proceeds further.
27
In the songs having two vartas in the pallavi and arudi
occurs in both the vartas. For e.g. we find
padagharghas in the two vartas in the kriti Myamma
in Nakurunji rg, one in the first varta and the
second in the second varta.
Mayam . | ma . nannu | Brva vam ||
ma+ ma ha ma | ya .. u | ma ||
Similarly in the song Sarojadanetri in Sankarabarana
rg, we find two padagarbhas for the
pallavi.
Saroja da netri himagiripu | tri ni | padam
Sada nammina namma subhamim | ma OEri |
In orukai di ta..... this pause occurs at the beginning
of the next varta as in the song Karua
judu in ri rg.
;Karua judu ninnu | nammina | vaduga ||
da ..in ta | parake | lanamma ||
The kriti Karua judu as rendered in misra cpu ta.....
in the 4 + 3 gait has the padagarbham at
the beginning of the fifth varta in the word ga as seen
in the notation of ym Sstri II.
; n s n P ||; M nPpM || R G r S || s n n p n N || S ; , R ||
Karua ju || du ninnu || nammina || va . . . . dana ||ga . da
||
NS Rm | ; pP, N |mpN m P |
yinta para | ke la | na mma |
The kritis in rupaka ta..... and cpu ta..... have the
padagarbham at the commencement of the third
varta.
Examples of such are as follows :
Ninne in Tdi rg and cpu ta...... This kriti has two
lines of shithya and had pause for the
two lines at the beginning of the third varta.
Ninnenam || mi na || nu sa || da ne ||
vin na pa || mu vi ni || nan nu || bro vumu ||
Minalcana in Dhanysi rg in cpu ta......
Nannubrvu in Lalita rg in cpu ta.....
Pahiri in nandhabhairavi rg in rupaka ta.....
Karuajda in Vari rg in cpu ta.....
Biranavara in Kalyi rg in rupaka ta.....
Ninnuvina in Ritigaula rg in rupaka ta......
28
Pauses found in different places
There are some kritis in which pauses occur in different
places i.e. at the end of the pallavi, at the
end of the first varta and so on. There are kritis which d
ot have pauses in between the vartas but
pause occurs only after finishing the pallavi at the end of the second varta. For
example, in the kriti
Durusuga in Saveri rg, we find pause only at the end
of the pallavi, whereas In the kriti Marivre in
nandhabhairavi rg, we find a pause at the end of the
first varta itself in both the lines as
Marive | re | ga ti ye vva | ram ma ||
Mahilo | .I. | mahilo .. | brocu taku ||
Similarly in the kriti Janani in Saveri rg, we find a
pause in the beginning, but after that words
follow without any pause upto the end and the pause
occurs after the words as :
janani Na | jana pari | pa lini
pahivambhava | ni .|
In some kritis pauses occur in the beginning but in the
end of the vartas in some and in many places
in some kritis whereas there is no pause at all in some
kritis.
The kritis in cpu ta..... are found wit less words and
more pauses occuring in different places. In
the kriti Tallininnu in Kalyi rg in cpu ta..... a
pause occurs at the end of the second varta and it is
continued in the beginning of the third varta.
;;Talli | Ninnu nera | nammi | na nu vino | ve ..
In the kriti Ninnuvinaga in PurvaKalyi rg in Viloma
cpu ta....., we find karvai at the end of
the first and third varta.
Ninnu vina | ga mari | dikkevarun | na ru
||
The karvai is found in the second line also.
In the kriti Brvavamma in Mji rg in cpu ta.....
pauses occur in many places as required
and not at a specified places.
;; Brva vam |ma ta | masa me | le
| .
bi ..| ra na ||
;; Dvita | la le | ne bi | ra na

Similar type of kriti is Nilyatki in Paraz rg. We can

find pause here and there controlling the
flow of the rhythm.
Ni la ya || ta ksi || ni ve ||
jagatsa ksi ||
In order to control the less number of words emloyed in
an varta in the above mentioned kritis in
cpu ta....., ym Sstri might have used these pauses
wherever necessary.
29
Underlying Rhythm in Sahityam
ym Sstri has used the different combinations of
svara syllables as well as sahitya syllables
to reveal the new patterns within the framework of the
ta......In his compositions we find many words
constituting of five syllables corresponding to the
tdinginatom in a natural way.In the compositions as well
as in svarshithya we find words as anudinamu,
Taruamidi, durusuganu, kama.mukhi, samayamidi and
so on.His compositions have plenty of sahitya syllables
which are in the same manner as the dirgha svars
and hrasva svars, paved way for different patterns
within the ta..... framework. Here are some examples
of this type.In the kriti Jagadamba in nandhabhairavi
rg in the anupallavi, the words are used in the
following manner.
(S,) (grn) (ssP) (mgpm grgm)
3346
I Jagati gatiyai ja . nu . la kumari
(P,) (pnPpm) (M, m n p) (mpn)(ggM)||
33334
te ja muna ra ja | vinuta yau ||
Compositions in Misra Cpu ta.....
Cpu ta..... is a ta..... with two beats of unequal length
for an vartas.We find a different
magnitude of the cpu ta..... in the compositions of
ym Sstri.A study of the compositions of ym
Sstri in misra cpu ta..... will reveal the different uses
of the ta..... by the composer.He has given cpu
ta..... compositions in three different varieties.One is the
regular misra cpu ta..... as takita + takdimi
i.e. 3 + 4 gait.The second one is somewhat like viloma
cpu ta....., but only misra cpu ta..... with the
eduppu as dimi + takita + taka as 2 + 3 + 2 gait.The
third one is viloma cpu ta..... as takdimi takita i.e.
4 + 3 gait cpu ta..... in the reverse.
Laya aspect in the compositions of the other composers
Though his disciple had not shown the rhythmic aspect as
extensively as ym Sstri, the impact
of the composer can be seen in some aspects in their
kritis. Subbarya Sstri had composed two kritis in
cpu ta..... (Janani Ritugaula, NinnuSvicina
Yadukulakmbhji) only in slow tempo having
profession of pauses in between. Most of his compositions
have sama eduppu and some have anagAa
eduppu for all the ags and only in a few kritis we find
different eduppus. In the kriti Nannubrocutaku
the pallavi and Caraa start after two akaras while the
anupallavi starts on sama eduppu. Likewise only
the pallavi starts after two akaras, the anupallavi and
Caraa on sama in the kriti Da...cina Dhanysi.In
most of the madyamaka...sahityas figuring in the kritis
he has given only patterns of sarvaghu and only
in the kriti Ninnuvina in Kalyi we find both sarvaghu
pattern as well as combination of six akaras in
the last line of the Caraa.
30
nd sn r s g r s n n d d p d n |
mahe na vanadta..... ci ninne goliciti |
r N dpd d M, gr nrnr gm ||
marta.....gama nara vevu purari sati ||
Asvmi Sstri composed kritis only in di and rupaka
ta...s but not in cpu ta... All the
compositions are in sama eduppu excepting the kriti
Paramapvani in Ah which starts after one
akara in the pallavi and anupallavi. However the
profusion of sahitya letters found in some kritis are
suggesting different rhythmic patterns like the
compositions of ym Sstri.Some examples are: In the
kriti ri Lalite in Bhairavi, the anupallavi is as follows:
[S, - d p mgm] [G R s] [n | Sd g r s ] [rg | m] [n s r g m p
d] ||
[Ni la bjada.....] [locani] [sa | da janita] [da sa]
[janaraksane] ||
(3) (5) (7) (7) (3) (7)
[N d G r] [n s r] [S r n s p d] [n s n d P] [m p | d] [M p g r
s r] ||
[nilamega] [sadrsa] [kundalemai [krpamvidara] [vi na ta]
[lokapalini] ||
(6) (3) (7) (6) (3) (7)
SHITHYA ASPECTS
Most of the compositions of ym Sstri and all the
kritis of Subbarya Sstri are in Telugu
while some compositions of ym Sstri are in Sanskrit
and Tamil. Among the compositions of Asvmi
Sstri more are in Sanskrit and only a few in Telugu.
A study of ym Sstris compositions reveals to us that
he is an asukavi portraying his ideas
immediately. As an archaka in the temple he not only
performed pujas to the deity as a profession, but also
worshipped the Goddess with his pure and pious
dedication. Though there are many abstract concepts in
the Dvicult and diverse procedures for worshipping the
Goddess, ym Sstri chose to adopt a method
of his own and infused an emotional strength into his
worship of the Goddess.The nature of sahitya found
in his kritis differs distinctly from the sahitya found in his
svarajatis. In the svarajati, the sahitya is more
poetic in nature. Comparisons of the Goddess
[Kamamukhi], some philosophical truths
[Danavamardhini],
are some notable factors found in the svarajatis.
Colloquial words are used less in the svarajatis but they
are in profusion in his kritis. He used spoken language as
if a child is freely talking with his mother. He
addressed her as Mother and poured out his intense
feelings in his kritis.
Subbarya Sstris style resembles that of his father in
most of the compositions in terms of words,
ideas, description of the deity and the colloquiual idioms.
Subbarya Sstri also uses some comparisons in
the kritis Vanajsana in ri rg, Nannubrocutaku in
Tdi rg. The words Kdhari and
Kbharanaskari respectively identify the Goddess as
the one adorned by crescent moon.
31
In the kriti NinnuSvicina in Yadukulakmbhji rg, he
praises the Lord by asserting that the
devotees worshipping the Lord will have no rebirth I
janana bdhlu gave. This reveals his staunch
bakti towards the Lord.He further elaborates the
greatness of the padasevanam of the Lord.His feet
provide not only salvation but also worldly enjoyment.
There is no sorrow but only happiness prevails for
people who surrender themselves at His Lotus Feet.The
first Caraa runs as:
Bhava sgara trakamaiyunndi ni
pada srasa yugamamu
bhuvi manava lkulaku
bhukti mukti pradamu
Moreover he says that the Lord is pleased by nama
sankirtana as nidu nama bhajana sada jeyucunna
kavijanavana lola.
Asvmi Sstri does not adopt any particular mudra of
his own in his compositions. Most of his
compositions are written in praise of Goddess
Kmki.The nature of sahitya is simple in his
compositions
and in the most of the kritis names of the Goddess are
found in the sahitya. In his kritis, Kchipuram is
referred to as Kchi nagara, ri nagara, Kchipura,
Kchi and so on. In the kriti Mahrji in Bilahari
he refers to Lord Brahma who installed the Bagru
Kmk i Vigraha.In the anupallavi of the kriti in
Ah, we find a description of the Goddess as the one
holding the goard, flower, sugarcane bow and an
arrow:Karadrita psangusa suma visikesu cpeIn
another kriti in Mdhyamavati rg he refers to Mukha
kavi who was blessed by the Goddess in the words
Mukha hrida Vkpradyinias his father Subbarya
Sstri in his kriti Emaninne in Mukhri.She is described
as the destroyer of demons like Bhandsura and
Mahisura in some kritis.
Though spoken language is employed, ym Sstri has
adopted the essential poetic factors
found in the kriti form prevailing from the beginning of
the eighteenth century onwards. The essential
elements are found in the kritis of others also.
Prsa is the second letter repetition and Muhana is the
first letter repeition between the vartas.
Antyaprsa is the repetition of a letter or group of letters
at the end of the varta. The compositions of
ym Sstri can be divided into four categories with
regard to the occurance of prsa kara.
1. Dirgha syllables preceding the prsa kara in the
Caraa alone. The total numbers of thirteen kritis
have this feature and among them four belong to the
period prior to 1930.
2. Dirgha letter preceeds in the all the three ags. There
are twenty kritis in which seven belongs to
the prior 1930 compositions.
3. Hrasva letter is found through out the composition.
There are ten songs found with this element.
4. Dirgha syllable is found in pallavi and anupallavi and
hrasva syllable in the Caraa. Dvinipada
in Kambhoji rg and Myamma in hiri rg can be
cited as examples.
32
In the songs of Subbarya Sstri also we find similar
types of songs regarding the dirgha hrasva
niyama. There are songs in which hrasva letter occurs as
muhana letter throughout the composition. They
are
1. Janani - Ritigaula
2. Vanajsana - ri
There are some songs in which conjunct consonants
occur as Muhana letters in the pallavi and
anupallavi alone.
1. Ninnuvina - Kalyi
2. Nannubrocutaku - Tdi
3. NinnuSvicina - Yadukulakambhoji
4. Sakari - Bgada
5. ri Kamambike - DesyaTdi
In the compositions of Asvmi Sstri also the dirgha
hrasva niyama is followed in the same
manner. In some songs pallavi and anupallavi alone has
dirgha letter or the vice versa.
Pallavi and anupallavi alone having dirgha letter.
1. ri Kmk i - Sraga
2. ri Kamsvara - Kambhoji
3. ri Kchinayike - Aavri
4. OEri Lalite - Bhairavi
In the song Paramapavana in Ah rg, hrasva letter
is found in all the three ags while in
the kriti Vcite in Madhyamavati rg, dirgha letter is
found through out.
Prsa yati
ym Sstri had used the method of splitting up the
words i.e. antarukti for introducing prsa yati
in some compositions. In the songs Jagadamba,
Himaca. in nandhabhairavi rg, Kmki
in Vari rg we find antarukti used to bring the prsa
yati.
Jagadamba nandhabhairavi
Pallavi: OJagadamba nannu (n..-antarukti Vujavamuna)
brvumu ..
Anupallavi : Rajamukhi . (Suguna antarukti
Rjarajita) Kmk i
In many of the songs of Subbarya Sstri we find
antarukti in order to bring out prsa yati.
For example, his mudra Kumara is used in antarukti in
order to bring the yati coincidence in two of
his songs.
ri Kama.....mbike in Diya Tdi
sma rana muje yu ku
33
mruni Karuici
Sakari in Bgada
Karua bdhi vani ku
ma ru du nirAambu
In the kriti Mahrji in Bilahari rg of Asvmi Sstri
only in the Caraa we find prsa yati.
These words banda, kandita, tundiyira and pundarika
occur as prsa yati as well as anuprsa s.
Anuprsa
Varieties of Sabdankara called Chkanuprsa, repetition
of a vowel or consonant or both,
Vrittanuprsa, repetition of a single letter or letters
throughout and Lanuprsa, repetition of a word with
the same meaning but with different concepts are
collectively called anuprsa in music compositions.
There are a handful of songs of ym Sstri found with
this feature, there are few songs of others also in
which anuprsa is found. Here are some instances of
ym Sstris kritis.
In the kriti Kanakaoeaila in Punngavarli rg, the word
da is repeatedly used in the second
Caraa as
Canda munda kandana Panditesu
Danda kodanda mandita pani
Pundarika nayanarcita pate
Prvati Ninnu in the rg Kalkada is a composition in
which anuprsa is seen in many places
such as
Anupallavi : Sangitalle, Sugunajale, and Jamela
I Caraa : Banda daitya Khada na ganda.....
Mrthanda and Nerajaksi Nikhilasksi
II Caraa : Induvadana, Kundaradana, Sindurgna
and makarandavni, Nilamega veni and Girvani.
Anuprsa found in kritis of Subbarya Sstri.The kriti
Venkaasaila for instance has beautiful
anuprsa phrases such as vintini, kantini, mantapa,
bantuda and dinamunu. Ghana mukhanu, cira munanu
are found in the Caraa s. In the kriti Emaninne in
Mukhri rg also words like vara, pura, para,
narudanu and pamarudanu are found.
Kritis of Asvmi Sstri are decorated with beautiful
anuprsa s. In the kriti Paramapvani
in Ah rg also we find anuprsa s in the Caraa
with the same words: Bandana Kandita banda
mahisa mukha canda daitya manda ripu dandaya In
the kriti Mahrji in Bilahari rg also we find
similar type of words figuring as anuprsa is mentioned
under prsa yathi.
34
Antya Prsa
In some of the compositions of ym Sstri we find
antya prsa. Here are some instances from the
compositons of ym Sstri.In Sakari Samkuru in
Saveri rg antya prsa is found in all the three
ags.
Pallavi : Akhilandesvari Vandite Gouri
Anupallavi : Kalyi Jagatjanani
I Caraa : Jagadavanollasini Kapadarinisulini
Another type of Antya prsa handled by ym Sstri is
the repetition of the same word at the end
of all Caraa s. For example, in the kriti Brvavamma in
Mji rg, the word birana is repeated at
the end of each Caraa and the pallavi is taken up as
birana Brvavamma. Similarly the word MAalli
is repeated at the end of the Caraa s in the song
DviBrvasamayamide in Citmai rg, brocutaku
is repeated in the kriti Ninnuvinaga in PurvaKalyi rg.
Antya prsa is also found in some compositions of
Subbarya Sstri. For example, in the kriti
Minanayana in Darbar rg, the Caraas has antyaprsa
letters such as Nivasini, bhanjani, vilasini,
suvasini and vinuma, patrama, parulanu and vadanu.
Antyaprsas are found in the kritis of Asvmi Sstri
also. Antya prsa s found in the kriti in
Sraga rg in the last two lines of the Caraa s.
Patita pavanidi bhakta plini
Paramesvari suddha senani
Paskusa cpa bana drini
ri nagara vsini suvsini
ym Sstri born in the family of arcakas of Goddess
Bagru Kmki followed the Dvi
worship not only as his family profession, but as the goal
and purpose of his life. He did not relish worldly
pleasures or wealth but found joy only in he worship of
Goddess. In addition to the ritual worship performed
by his father and his predecessors ym Sstri
worshipped the Goddess with his music.Goddess Bagru
Kmki became his mother as he thought of himself as
her child.
ym Sstri uses the terms Myamma, Malli, talli to
refer the Goddess as his mother and
bidda, biddayani to refer himself as her child.
Songs addressing Goddess as Mother
The song in hiri rg starts with the word Myamma
Yanine Pilacite i.e. refer to you as my
mother. Similarly the song in Kalyi rg opens with the
words Talli ninnu nera namminanu. In the kritis
Karuajdavamma and DviBrva in the rgs Vari and
Citmai, the Goddess is addressed as Malli.
In addition to the word Myamma, ym Sstri adopts
other meaningful terms like krupajuda,
Mtlda, Dayajda and addresses the Goddess as
Krupajudavamma, Mtldavamma and so on.
35
We find such references in the following songs. The song
in Vari begins with the word
Karuajdavamma. In the song Karuanidhi in Tdi rg
we find the words taja namma myamma
in the first Caraa .In the compositions of Subbarya
Sstri also we find the similar usages such as:
Myamma, Talli, Dikkevaramma, Tmasamu Seyagara,
Karuajda vamma and Kripajudavamma.
This is not met with in the kritis of Asvmi Sstri and
his kritis mostly in Sanskrit may be the reason for
not using these words.
Other Deities in the songs of ym Sstri
ym Sstri composed most of his kritis in praise of
Goddess Bagru Kmki. Yet there are
some compositions in praise of Goddess
Dharmasamvardhini of Tiruvaiyaru, Nilyatki of
Nagapattinam,
Akhilandesvari of Tiruvanaikovil, Brihadamba of
Pudukottai and Minki of Madurai. Besides these there
are two separate compositions, one in praise of Lord
Varadaraja of Kchipuram [Sminirammanave
nandhabhairavi Tanavar] and Muttukumarasvami of
Vaidisvaran Kovil [Sami ninne Bgada
Kriti].
In most of these compositions we find references to the
location or stha but in some songs
which are in praise of Goddess Brhadamba we do not find
any such reference.
Songs of Dharmasamvardhani
There are evidences in the life history of ym Sstri
that he had contacts with ri Tygarja, his
contemporary composer, who lived in Tiruvaiyaru a
nearby village of Tanjavur according to S.Rajah (P.I.
dated 6.11.96). During his vistits to Tiruvaiyaru he might
have composed some songs in praise of the
Goddess Dharmasamvardhini of the Pancanatesvara
temple in Tiruvaiyaru, in which the references to the
place are seen.
SONG RG REFERENCE TO THE PLACE
manimigula Tdi Pancanata Kaveri Teramuna nivasince
uma (Goddess of the
placepancanata, Which is surrounded by river Kaveri)
Durusuga Saveri Pranatharthiharu rani(another name of
the Lord isPranatharthihara)
Karuajda Vari
PancanatesuraniDharmasamvardhini[Queen of Lord
Pancanatesa]
Songs on Mink i
This is the famous ksetra kritis composed by ym
Sstri says P.Sambamurthy and interesting
circumstances which led to the composition of nine kritis
in praise of Goddess Minki are traceable
(Sambamurthy, P., 1962, p.83). During one of his usual
visits to Pudukottai temple, a brahmin devotee
requested him to compose songs in praise of Goddess
Minki of Madurai. He agreed to do so but
forgot about it after his return to Tanjavur. Some time
later the same man appeared before him in his dream
36
and reminded him about his promise. Immediately he
started his journey towards Madurai and composed
songs even on the way. Though he had composed nine
kritis only seven had come down to us. In all these
compositions the place is referred to in many ways.
SONG RG REFERENCE
Dvinipada Kmbhji OErivelayu madhura nela
KonnaKadambaganana mayuri
[Madurai is referred as Kadamba forest]Sadasivuniki rani
[Name of the Lord]
Dvi Minanetri Sankarabarana Minanetri [eye like
fish]KadambavihariOEricakrakone
nivasini[One who dwells in OEri Chakra abode of the
Goddess]
Myamma hiri SundaresaruniraniMinaksamma
Marivregati nandhabhairavi Madhurapurinilaye
Nannubrva Lalita Minaksamma
Sarojadanetri Sankarabarana Minaksamma
Minalcana Dhanysi Minalocani
When he sang his kritis in the temple, the temple
authorities presented him the pattu saree worn by
the Goddess which no doubt is the highest honour
conferred on any devotee. He was also gifted with a
tambura in which the figure of yali facing upright was
fixed says S.Rajah.
Other Deities in the songs of others
Subbarya Sstri had also sung in praise of other Deities.
There are kritis in praiseof
Dharmasamvardhini of Trivdi, Kamamba of Tiruvarur,
Minki of Madurai, OEri Parthasarathy Svami of
Triplicane and Lord Venkatesvara of Tirupati. Apart from
Bagru Kmki of Tanjavur he has composed
in praise of Goddess Kmki of Kchipuram and the
name of the place is referred in the shithya. In the
kriti Emaninne in Mukhri he refers to the place as Vara
Kchipuraya Vasini and as ri
Kchisadana in the kriti Sakari Nevani in Bgada. In
this kriti he also refers to the great poet Mukha
the author of Mukhapancasati (500 slokas in priase of
the Goddess Kmki) who was dumb by birth
and got the power of speech by the grace of Goddess
Kmki of Kchipuram. He signs muni-mukhuni
brocina dallanu sa vini vacciti meaning that he had
come to Her on hearing the story of Mukhamuni and
Her blessings on him.In the kriti ri Kamamba sung in
praise of Goddess Kamamba of Tiruvarur he
refers to the place as ri Velayupuranivasini as the
place is also called ri Velayupura. In the kriti
Minanayana sung in praise of Goddess Minki the place
is simply referred to as madura nagara nivasini
and the Goddess is not addressed simply as Minki but
by the term Minanayana Nivu. In the kritis of
Asvmi Sstri also Kchipuram is referred to as Kabci
nagara, ri nagara, Kchipura, Kchi and
so on. In the kriti Mahrji in Bilahari he refers to Lord
Brahma who installed the Bagru Kmk i
Vigraha.
37
Vaggeyakara Mudra
Mudra is the ankita of the Vaggeyakaras to identify their
songs. Tirukkadaikkappu is the earliest
evidence for mudras found in Tevaram hymns. Prof. P
Sambamurthy has listed different types of mudras
and defined the vaggeyakaras as svanamamudrakaras
who use their own name (Sambamurthy, P., 1990,
p.185).
ym Sstri is classified as svanamamudrakara since he
used his surname ym Kri a in his
compositions.
Though his surname is ym Kri a he uses this word
not to suggest his name but to suggest the
name of the Goddess as the sister of Lord Kria in many
songs _ ymKri a Sahodari or ymKri a
Sodari.
In some compositions, with the mudra he refers to
himself also as follows: ym Kri a Vinuta,
ym Kri a nuta and ym Kri a Pujite suggests
that the composer himself is the worshipper of
the Goddess.
In some compositons he associates himself with the
Goddess in different ways such as:
1. ym Kri a Plini, ym Kri a Pariplini, ym
Kri a Plitajanani and ym
Kri a Pariplitajanani All these mudras suggest that
the Goddess is the protector of the
composer.
2. ym Kri a janani suggests that the Goddess is
the Mother of the composer.
3. ym Kri a Satvarade suggests that Goddess is
the
giver of boons.
Subbarya Sstri adopted the mudra kumara in his
compositons and there is no mudra found in
the kritis of Asvmi Sstri.
Svarakaras
Svarakara is the technical element in which the sahitya
syllable and the svara syllable are
identical or similar sounding words and so it is called
datu-matu of samyukta ankara
In the kritis of ym Sstri, we find the extensive use of
svarakaras of all types wherever possible.
We find both suddha and sucita svarakaras in the kritis.
They occur more as two or three lettered words
than as one lettered. The combinations like sa-ma, pa-
ri, sa-ri, ga-ma, ni-da, da-ri-sa, pa-dasa
are some such combinations of svarakaras found in the
kritis.
Examples:
1. sa-ma Brva samaya S m g r
Punngavarli Brva sama
38
2 ga-ma Kmk i G, M, .
Vari Kmki
3. sa-ri Sariyevva S;R; ..
Bhairavi Sari yevva
As the svarsahitya portions where profusion of sahitya is
found give plenty of room for the
introduction of the svarakaras, ym Sstri has used
many apt svarakara syllables in them. They are
revealed clearly as the svara and sahitya are sung one
after the other. Here are some instances. We find
svarakaras in the svarsahitya of the kriti
Ninnenamminanu in Tdi rg.
G ; ; ; (M N D ) (N, S)
Ni (ma hi ma) (Ni ve) ;
( G M) G R S (D) M G R S (N D) M G (G) R
(Kama) la bha va , (da) nu ja ri pu (nu ta) pa ta (Ka) ma
In the kriti Marivre in nandhabhairavi rg, we find
the svara sahitya starting with suddha
svarakara as:
P;;;DPM|
Pa da yu ga
There are many svarakaras here and there throughout
the svara sahitya.
Subbarya Sstri has introduced svarakaras more in the
svarsahityasthaninhiskritis.
Some of the best examples are the svara sahityas of the
compositions in the rgs Yadukulakmbhji,
Mukhri, Kalyi and Ritigaula start with svarakaras
1. Yadukulakmbhji - s ; , R, M
Ra. ra ni
2. Mukhri - R; R g s r s
Ra kenduvadana
3. Kalyi - n d m g r
nira tamuga
4. Ritigaula - n p n n s
ni ra vatika
There are some more in the svarsahityas wherein
svarakaras are found here and there.
1. Mukhri - s r g S .
sa ri ga dai
2. Ritigaula - ( g g r s n s ) ( s r s s n ) ( n S n n )
goliciti nira , mora luvini suvasini
39
A study of the sahitya aspects of the kritis of ym
Sstri will reveal that they are simple and
elegant. Though they do not possess philosophical ideas
in profusion they express the natural feelings and
tenderness of the child crying out to reach the
Mother.Informal colloquial expressions are seen in many
songs, which directly address the Goddess. Many of his
kritis are found with prasodic beauties such as
anuprsa and antyaprsa. Muhana and prsa are also
found in his kritis, but more kritis are found with the
element Prsa yati. Subbarya Sstri has imbibed some
of the similar usages of words, ideas and the
prosodic beauties adopted by his father. He uses Telugu in
his compositions but the colloquial idiom is used
only to a certain extent. Sahitya of descriptive nature is
found in many kritis [Emaninne Mukhri,
VenkAasaila HamrKalyi]. Asvmi Sstris kritis
are in Sanskrit with simple doxologies mixed
with poetic words. So colloquial words are not found in
the sahitya. Philosophical truths and some
descriptions are found to certain extent. In the use of
svarakara it is Subbarya Sstri who have followed
ym Sstri to certain extent but not Asvmi Sstri.
The analysis of the kritis undertaken in this chapter views
a picture of the kriti format found in the
early publications. There is an equal propotion between
the vartas in the tas in which they are composed.
Sangati is a feature found in some of the kritis of ym
Sstri. With regard to citts svars they are found
in both madhyamaka as well as in the same tempo in
the kriti. In the case of svara sahitya, the svara and
sahitya part if rendered only at the end of Caraa appears
as a proper mode of rendering the sahitya
portion seems to have a better link between the Caraa
than the anupallavi.
Regarding the kriti format of Subbarya Sstri some kritis
are found with three Caraa s and some
with one Caraa. The kriti Venkaaoeailawith five Caraa
s is an exception. Asvmi Sstri has composed
with only one Caraa. Though they have adopted the
method of introducing Sagatis without changing the
grahasvara as Shyama Sstri, but the increase in tempo
and range of svars is more in Subbarya Sstri
and Asvmi Sstri. The patterns of svars, sahitya and
ending svara pattern found in the svara sahityas
of Shyama Sstri are also found in the svara sahityas of
Subbarya Sstri along with some new innovations.
While Subbarya Sstri had adopted apparent
madyamaka sahitya as Shyama Sstri he has used real
madhyamaka sahitya also. Asvmi Sstri has used
only real madhyamaka sahitya in his kritis.
Use of ri rg with outdha is found in the compositions
of ym Sstri, Subbarya Sstri and
Asvmi Sstri. Pancama and sadja varja prayogas are
found in the two kritis in Tdi rg and Kalyi
rg. Rare opening phrases for some songs of ym
Sstri and Subbarya Sstri are found (Pahiri
nandhabhairavi, TrilkamAa Paraz OEym Sstri
and Emaninne Mukhri Sakari Bgada,
Venkaaoeaila HamrKalyi Subbarya Sstri). After
ym Sstri, no composer had composed more
than one kriti in a rg.
Regarding the use of rhythmic elements it is only ym
Sstri who has used cpu ta in equal
number of compositions as di and Rpakam. Subbarya
Sstri has used cpu ta in a few compositions.
Cpu ta is used with different formations namely 3+4
and 4+3, dimensions only by ym Sstri.
Different groupings of svars displaying patterns are
suggested within the framework of the ta in some of
the compositons of ym Sstri, Subbarya Sstri as
well as Asvmi Sstri
Sahitya elements found in the compositions of ym
Sstri and Subbarya Sstri are followed
the rules of prosody to certain extent. Colloquial words
are less in Subbarya Sstri while they are in
profusion in ym Sstri.Detailed descriptions as in the
kritis of Diksitar are found in some of the kritis of
Subbarya Sstri.
40
A STUDY OF OTHER COMPOSITIONS-SVARJATI AND
VAR
Compositions other than kriti, which include the svarjatis
of ym Sstri, the vars of ym
Sstri, and Asvmi Sstri, a daru of Asvmi Sstri,
are analysed.
Svarjatis are taken to be technical compositions taught
to learners after gita and before vars.
Svarjati belongs to the abhyasagana group of
compositions i.e. technical compositions as found in the
book of P.Sambamurthy (Sambamurthy, P. 1962, p.7). In
these compositions there is a pallavi, anupallavi
and many caraas in the form of svarshityas. After the
svar part of each caraa, the svar portion of the
pallavi is repeated and after the shitya portion, the
shitya of the pallavi is repeated. By increasing the
svar letters and shitya letters according to the ta
aksaras the caraasvars are sung as if in
madhyamakala.
The number of avartas for the caraasvars is also
increased gradually. The svarjati Smbasivyenave in
Khams raga can be given as example for this type.
ym Sstri has composed three svarjatis which are
aptly called Ratnatrayam i.e. three gems,
says P.Sambamurthy in his book. (Sambamurthy, P., 1962,
p.87). Dr.S.Seetha in her book (Seetha, S.,
1981, pp.294-301) also called these svarjatis as
`Ratnatrayam and classifies them as art musical form
used in concerts.
Vidya Shankar has analysed the three svarjatis (Vidya
Shankar, 1973) in the articles published in
the Journal of Music Academy. She points out the vdi-
samvdi svar combinations, svarkars, ateeta
and anahaa eduppus and prolonged svars with karvai
for five or seven aksaras figuring in the svarjatis.
The svarjatis in the ragas Kalyi, Mukhri and Khams
as found in the book of K.V.rinivasa
Ayyangar have the following structure. There is a pallavi,
anupallavi and caraa after which there are few
caraa svars. After all the angas only the pallavi is
repeated i.e. after anupalalvi, caraa and the caraa
svars. In the svarjati Smbasivyenave in Khams
raga alone there is a mention of the svar of the
opening phrase of the pallavi is to be sung after the svar
part of the anupallavi, caraa and caraasvars
and shitya of the palalvi to be sung after the shitya
part of the caraasvars. This is as follows:
Anupallavi
S, r N, s D, n P, d |M, p M, g | M, p D, n || (S)
sambavi mano harapa | rAa para kr | pa kara OEri ||
(Sam)
(Ayyangar K.V., 1977, p.63)
Dr.N.Ramanathan says that there is another variety of
svarjati, which is modelled in the structure
of a padavar with pallavi, anupallavi, muktayisvar,
caraa and caraasvars (Ramanathan, N., SVT,
1997). In this type, the muktayisvar passage consists of
two parts i.e. pa syllables and svars. It ends
41
with the jati ta-dingia-tm before returning to pallavi.
He mentions that the grahasvars of the caraasvars
are in the ascending order in this type it is observed only
in the svarjati Emandaynara in Huseni raga
composed combinely by Paccimiriam diyappa and
Melattur Venkaarama Sstri. In these svarjatis we
find the shitya of the pallavi and anupallavi is spread
over a number of svars and only in the caraa
svars we find the svar letters and shitya letters are
identical either long or short (dirgha or hrasva).
Moreover klaprmana also differs between the purvapart
and uttrapart in some svarjatis. The purvapart
is in slow tempo while the uttrapart is in madhyamakala
(Ponniah Pillai, 19 pp.34-36, 43-46).
Structure of svarjatis of ym Sstri
The three svarjatis are in the ragas Tdi, Bhairavi and
Yadukulakmbhji.The svarjatis in Bhairavi
and Yadukulakmbhji are set in misracpu ta, while the
svarjati in tdi is set in di ta (two kalai).
Of the three svarjatis the Tdi svarjati Rve himagiri
kumari in di ta is with six caraas while
the Bhairavi and Yadukulakmbhji svarjatis in
misracpu ta are with eight and seven caraas
respectively.
The graha svars for the caraas are in the ascending
order in the Bhairavi and Yadukulakhambhoji svarjatis.
In the Tdi svarjati a slight change is found, the second
caraa starts in the note ma while the 3rd, 4th
and 5th caraas on ga.
In the earlier books which published the svarjatis of
ym Sstri [SK, HW) it is mentioned that
the svar of the pallavi should be sung after the svar
portion of the caraa and the shitya of the pallavi
after the shitya portion of the caraas. As seen in the
book GS (Singaracharulu Brothers, 1905, p.50) the
finishing portions of the pallavi and caraas of the
Bhairavi svarjathi are marked as follows:
Pallavi (last avarta) M G, R s (N)
(nammiti) ni OEri kan ci (ka)
I caraa svar (last avarta) D N S r (N)
(tal) li ra ksin cu (ka)
Svarjati in Tdi raga is the first svarjati composed by
ym Sstri according to the words of
his descendent S.Rajah. [P.I. dated 25.5.95]. This svarjati
was composed with not only svars and
shityas but also with appropriate jatis for the whole
svarjati. All these three are sung one by one says
ym Sstris descendent, but only svar and shitya
are seen to be sung at present. In the HW. It is
published as follows:
Last two drutas of the pallavi of the Tdi svarjati and the
opening line of the pallavi are as follows:
r G, s r n s | , n G, R n || (D ; ; N ; , r s n d p) |
navammasubami | mma ma yamma || (Ra ve..
himagiriku) |
takum taritajam | takum tari || (jam ta .ri ta ki ta) |
42
After the caraas also the similar pattern is followed. For
e.g. the last druta of the first caraa.
s r G, R n (D)
nisada brova (Ra)
takanam tari (jam)
Though S.Rajah says that this is the first svarjati
composed by ym Sstri, it is not found in the
books, which belong to the early thirties. The only book in
which it is seen is SSP of Subbarama Diksitar,
and there too it is seen only in the anubhandam section
and again without jatis. The only available source
where jatis are found is the HW of ym Sstri II.
In the svarjatis of ym Sstri slow tempo is employed
throughout the composition. ym
Sstri had used slow tempo for his svarjatis uniformly for
all the sections by using karvai here and there. A
perfect synchronisation is also found between the svar
letters and shitya letters inhis svarjatis.
MELODIC ASPECTS
Generally in all the three svarjatis mandra sthayi is used
in the pallavi which paves way for the
elaorate delineation of the raga and a gradual rise in the
sthayis as well as number or avartas are found in
the subsequent caraas.
Tdi raga Svarjati - Rve
The pallavi of the svarjati Rve begins in the mandra
sthayi dirgha dhaivAa, which is sung with
kampita gamaka. The caraas either end in mandra
sthayi nisada or madhya sthayi sadja with a natural
lead to the pallavi as n (D) or s ( D ).The range of the
svars increase gradually in sthayi. In the first and
second caraa svars the lower limit is mandra dha and
upper limit is madhya ma. In the second and
third caraa svars the lower limit is mandra ni and upper
limit is madhya ni while the fifth svar touches
tra ga in the finishing phrase as dgrnD, p |, mG Rs ||.
The second caraasvar start with madhyama while
the other three caraasvars start on madhya ga. The
first caraasvar start on mandra da and the last
on madhya da. The melodic movement of the last svar
also centers between madhya ma and tra ri,
only in the final phrase comes down to mandrasthayi
svars as PmG, Rs. In the third, fourth and fifth
svars that start on the svar ga, stress and shake is
given to the svar in different ways. GmP,
GmDm in these prayogas dirgha kampita ga is sung.
Flattened ga is found in the prayogas Grs, rgs,
ndmG and mgrs. Ga is sung as errajaru in both
mandrasthayi to madhya sthayi and trasthayi in the
fifth svar as d/GsrnS and d/grnD.
Bhairavi raga svarjati - Kmk i
In this svarjati the eight caraasvars start on the sapta
svars in the ascending order as s, r, g, m,
p, d, n and s. The svars end mostly or rsabhasvar and
the pallavi is taken as g r \ N or s r \ N. Only the
third and fourth caraas end sadja as g r s and m g r s.
The number of the avartas as well as the range of
43
svars increases gradually from the first caraa passage
to the last caraa passage. The first caraa has
four avartas and the last caraasvar has sixteen
avartas. The melodic range in the first caraasvar is
from
the mandra madhyama to madhya rsabha gradual
increase in the sthayi is noticed in the subsequent
caraasvars. In the second caraa svar the lower limit
raises to mandra dha and the svar sancaras
are framed upto madhya ma. In the next two caraa
svars the sancaras does not go below mandra ni
while the upper limit is increased to tra ri and tra ga.
The seventh and eighth caraa svars touch
tra ma while the svarsancaras cover madhya and
trasthayi in many places occasionally touching
mandrasthayi svars also.
Yadukulakmbhji raga Svarjati - Kmki
This svarjati is a lengthy one with eleven caraas in all
the versions of the published books and
also in the HW of ym Sstri II, but in SSP of
Subbarama Diksitar there are only 10 caraas. This has
been referred in fourth chapter Page no.190.
In this svarjati also the starting svars of the caraas are
in the ascending order. This raga has
only five svars in the arohana [s r m p d], so more than
one caraa start on the same svar. There are
two caraas starting on the svars sadja rsabha and
dhaivAa and three on pancama. There is only one
caraa each starting on the svar madhyama and tra
sadja. The nyasa svars of the caraas are mostly
ga and ri and the caraas either end as `srg, `rmg,
`dpmg, `pmgr, `Gr,mggr and `dp/gr. Only one
caraa i.e. the 9th one ends on the svar dha as `nd pd.
In the first seven caraasvars the melodic
movement in the mandrasthayi touches `mandra pa and
the upper limit only increases gradually as `ma,
`da, `ni and `sa. In the eighth caraa alone thelower
limit happens to be `madhya sa and in thenext three
caraa svars also `mandra pa is included in the svar
sancaras. The last caraasvar gives the climax of
the raga as mentioned in her book by Dr.S.Seetha
(Seetha, S., 1981, p.301).
Patterns of Svars found in the the svarjatis of ym
Sstri
We find sadja, pancama varja prayogas in the Tdi
svarjai. They are varja and also datu prayogas.
[gmndm, gmdm, ndmG, mgrnD, rnd ] varja, [ dgrnD
gdMgrn ] - datu.
In the first svar it is a combination of a misram and a
tisram as [dnsrG,] [-Rn] while it is simply a
misram in the second svar as [dnsrgrn]
We find a number of svar patterns in the Bhairavi
svarjati also. Though the composition is in
regular misra cpu ta, we find patterns of svars in the
vilomakrama (i.e. reverse order 4+3). The third
caraa ends with this pattern as NNdP | PMgrs ||
In the seventh caraa we find the ending as
( N d p g R ] [ ; s n d P ] [ ; g r (N) ]
44
The eighth caraa ends in a combination of misram as
m G R g r || S r N d p || m G R g r ||.
In the svarjati in Yadukulakmbhji raga svars are sung
in two octaves. Here is an instance in the
fifth svar ppddS/ppddS. We see the erra jaru gamaka
also in this svar combination. In a similar way
different patterns of svars are also sung in two octaves
with an upward glide.
s n d p || D , | ; / D || P m , G r || - 3rd svar
s n d p | d D | ; / d d | p p m | m g g r || - 4th svar
There are svars sung in two octaves with a downward
glide also.
s s r s s R || , \ p p d d S || - 5th Svar
m p d d | S , \ ; P / r s n d p m g - 6th Svar here both
the jarus are found
p d r S | \ ; m p d P || - 8th Svar
Prathyhaa gamaka, which is another characteristic
gamaka of Yadukulakmbhji raga, is found
in some places.
1. d d p p m m g g r - 4th Svar
2. n d d p m g r - 8th Svar
3. s n n d d p m - 8th Svar
In this svarjathi also we find some datu svar prayogas as
Mgsr, pmgsr, pndmp, rpmg,
ndmp and srgS.
The finishing svars of the caraasvars before taking up
the pallavi is interesting to note.
In many svars we find svars in all the three octaves
occurring as finishing svars.
The sixth svar finishes as
P | dsrmpdd | S ; , P|| r s n d p m g ||.
In the seventh svar the following svars figure
pp | dds srmp | D ; , pd | rsndpmg.
In the eighth svar we find the ending as:
[ p d | r S ; ] [ m p | d p ; ] [ m g || + [S , ; ]
In the ninth caraa the last two avartas cover the three
octave svars as grsndpm | grs ndpd ||+
SHITYA ASPECTS IN THE SVARJATIS
Mention must be made of a distinct and characteristic
shitya aspects of the svarjatis of ym
Sstri. He employs a high-flown language in svarjatis
when compared to the simple colloqual style
45
adopted in the kritis. The speech idiom is also
interspersed with the poetical description of the
Goddess.The
three svarjatis exihibit this aspect of shitya
The following chart furnishes the comparisons and
philosophical truths found in
Shitya Aspects
Comparisons Name of the svarjati Actual words
eyes are compared to Bhairavi kuvalayanayana
lotus flower Yadukulakmbhji kamaladalasama
gait compared to the Tdi gajagamana
gait of elephant Bhairavi madamattagajagamana
Yadukulakmbhji madagajagamana
Neck compared to Tdi daragala
conch. Bhairvai kambugala
Teeth compared to Tdi maniradana
perals and jasmine flower Bhairavi kundaradana
Face compared to Bhairavi viduvadana
the moon Yadukulakmbhji sasadhara nibhavadana
Philosophical Trutus Name of the svarjati Actual words
Protector of the universe Yadukulakmbhji
sarasijasanaharisa vinuta pada
kamalasambava
suramunidrulace tanu ninu
pogadutaku
Protector of the devotees Tdi natajana paripalini
Bhairavi nismarana mdilo
Yadukulakmbhji dalacinajana dulaku bahu
sampadalanusadadalacina
manavulakella phala mosage
Destroyer of sins Yadukulakmbhji patakamulanu vdiga
Bhairavi patakamulanudircci
Destroyer of demons Tdi madamatta mahisadanava
mardani
Bhairavi madadanuja varanamrgen
drarcita kalusadahana
The greatness of the Goddess as exhibited in the vedas is
described as srtutulumoralidaga and
`vedamulu moralidagana in the above-mentioned
svarjatis. ym Sstri uses the word `dorayanucu
vedamulu moralidaga. Here the word `dora normally
used to refer male personalities is used to signify the
Goddess is a great person.
46
Thus the profusion of philosophical truths and poetic
comparisons found in the above chart reveals
the nature of shitya is different from the kritis. At the
same time as found in the kritis, he uses informal,
colloquial expressions considering himself as Her son,
Sutudamma. He requests her to guard him against
trials and tribulations. Here are some instances:
Abhimanmulednpai Devi
parkelane brvave ipudu
cintalu vevega dirccamma
mora vinada parkelanamma
Savaraksaras found in the svarjatis of ym Sstri
Svarjatis with many caraas as svarshityas give
plenty of scope for introducing svarkars.
Both suddha and sucita svarkars are found in the
three svarjatis as the svar and shitya are sung one
by one; we are able to understand the svarkar well in
the svar shityas of the svarjati. The svarkar
syllables occur in between other letters as a single letter
in many places and also as combined with two or
thre letters. The svar syllables ma, ni, pa, sa are
frequently used as single syllables as the svarkar
syllables while the grouping of two or three are found by
combining gm gmp, gmd, srm, rs and sr.
Examples of single letters
In the last caraa of the Tdi svarjati the svar ni and pa
fit in as svarkar.
RsnsP,D,N,PmG,
cinta nuve kaly ni p da me
The following chart reveals the svarkars.
Svars used Place Svarkar syllables
ri sa 3rd caraa S R Sha ri sa
pa ma 7th caraa d p m gsu bha mo sa
pa da - sa 10th caraa D s p d Sni du pa da Sa
ri ma 11th caraa s r M mta ra mamma
ANALYSIS OF THE VARS
We find vars among the compositions of ym Sstri,
and Asvmi Sstri. There are two
vars of ym Sstri found in the early publications.
Asvmi Sstris three vars are found in HW.
The vars are:
Name Raga Ta Composer Source
Sminirammanave Anandabhairavi Khada Aa ym
Sstri SSP (pp.1498-1504)
Dayanidhe Bgada di ym Sstri SKM (p.53)
Karua kaaksi Tdi di Asvmi Sstri HW (pp.106-
107)
Ninnkri Kmbhji Aa Asvmi Sari HW (pp.109-
111)
Kacciyuvaranga OEri di Asvmi Sstri HW (pp.107-
108)
47
Shitya found in the Vars
All these vars are tanavars yet in the var
Sminirammanave in nandhabhairavi raga of
ym Sstri the shitya alone resembles a padavar.
This is sung by the nayaki to her sakhi requesting
her to describe her plights to Lord Varadaraja of
Kchipuram, who is the nayaka of this var. We find
the ksetra mudra as Kchi vasudaina ri Varadarajuni
in the anupallavi. The Telugu language as used in
this var is different from the one found in his kritis. The
use of words of poetic nature, resembling the
svarjatis, gives a complex form to the language as
against the simple colloquial style of ym Sstri.
There are descriptions of the Lord such as kamini kanna,
who gave birth to Manmatha,
gunavantudaina meritorious one, srasa nayana eyes
like Lotus, smaja gamana Elephant gaited
vislajhagana with heavy hips and so on.
The var Dayanidhe in Bgada raga of ym Sstri in
praise of Goddess Rjarjesvari in
simple diction.In the pallavi of the var itself we find the
mudra of the composer in the second avarta. The
actual words start as atitaeduppu from the first avarta as
sa || da syamakrsna. Usually the mudra of the
vaggeyakara will figure in the anupallavi of the var.
The var Karua kaaksi in Tdi raga of Asvmi
Sstri is in praise of Goddess Kmk i
and the other two Kacciyuvarnga in OEri raga and
Ninnkri in Kmbhji raga are in praise of his
patron Kacci Kalyanaranga, the zamindar of
Udayarpalayam.
Structure of the vars
Var though similar to Svarjati (pertaining to the realm
of dance) in structure has evolved with a
separate pallavi, anupallavi and muktayisvar collectively
known as purvanga. The uttranga part consists
of caraa and caraa svars and shitya.
In the incomplete version of the var Sminirammanave
in nandhabhairavi raga seen in the
notebook of ym Sstri II there is no shitya for the
ettugadasvar. The caraa and caraasvars are
also missing. But in other books shitya is found for
ettugadasvar and some caraa svars. Among the
five caraasvars, the first, fourth and fifth caraa svars
alone have shitya portions. The four caraasvars
have one avarta while the last one has two avartas. There
is an anubandha or continuing portion after the
last caraasvar. After singing the last caraa svar and
shitya the ettugada pallavi is sung, then the
anubandha is sung and finally the var is concluded with
the singing of the pallavi.
The var Dayanidhe in Bgada raga is not found in the
H.W. of ym Sstri II. This var as
found in the book of A.Sundaram Ayyar is in the regular
structure of a tana var with pallavi, anupallavi
and muktayi svar in the purvanga and the uttranga
consists of a caraa and four ettugada svars. Yet we
find shitya for the muktayi svar and a second avarta for
the caraa to be sung after the last ettugada
svar in the book of Vidya Shankar (Vidya Shankar, 1989,
pp.136-137).
48
Among the three vars of Asvmi Sstri, two are in
di ta and one in Aa ta. In the two
vars of Asvmi Sstri in the ragas ri and Kmbhji
only we find a second line of the caraa, which
is sung after the last ettugadasvar and after which the
muktayisvar is sung, and the pallavi is sung to
complete the var. In the var Ninnkri in Kmbhji
raga there are four avartas in the caraa while
the first two avartas have separate music, the other two
avartas are sung to the same music as anupallavi.
In the var Kacciyuvaranga in OEriraga also has two
avartas with separate melodic structure. In the
var Karua kaaksi in tdi raga there are three
sangatis for the caraa and atita eduppu i.e., after four
aksars which is a rare feature in di ta vars. The
var Karua kaaksi in Tdi raga has three
caraasvars in which the first one has one avarta,
second one two avartas and the third one has four
avartas. In the var Kacciyuvaranga in ri raga all the
four caraasvars have two avartas each.
Normally the first two caraasvars will be of only one
avarta in di ta vars. In the var Ninnkri
in Kmbhji raga, Aa ta which has eight caraasvars,
the first four caraasvars have one avarta each
and the second four caraasvars have two avartas each.
Melodic aspects of the Vars
The graha svars for various angas of this var Smini
in nandhabhairavi raga are sadja for
pallavi, anupallavi and muktayisvar. The caraa starts
as mgM gmP after the ending phrase P, dpmgg
the caraa is taken as gg(M). While first and second
ettugada svars, start on pa, third and fourth svars
on madhyama and the fifth svar on nisada. The ending
phrases of the svars have a natural link with
caraa. We can find different svars as the ending notes.
While the first and last svars end as sgrgg, the
second ends as pmgrn, third as, SNDp and the fourth
as M, Psnd and the graha svar M is sung with
a glide from g, n, p and d.
Both the nisadas are used in the var Daynide in
Bgada raga. The anyasvar Kaisiki nisada
is used only in the opening phrase as dpmpdndp. The
pallavi alone starts with dha while the anupallavi
and ettugadasvar start on ma; ettugadapallavi and the
first two svars start on pa thrid one on ga and
the last on tra sa. Though in many vars we find
similarity in the opening svars of the pallavi and the
ettugadasvar here it is missing.
In the three vars of Asvmi Sstri also we find that
the grahasvars of the pallavi and
muktayisvar are same. This is a regular feature in most
of the vars mentioned in the book of Lalita
Ramakrishna (Lalita Ramakrishna, 1991, p.27).
Name of the Var Opening phrase of Opening phrase of
the
the pallavi muktayi svar
1. Karua kaaksi GG rg rm M ; gg rr nn
Tdi Karua
2. Kacciyuvaranga- R p pmpm RG RS R ; ; rg rr ss
OEri Kacci.. yuvaranga
49
3. Ninnkri P D S ; R ; pp dd s dd s
Kmbhji Ni..nne ko.
Patterns of Svars
Smini nandhabhairavi
Different patterns of svars are found in this var ym
Sstri. Before taking up the caraa we
find the following svar patterns.
Ns Grgg M, -Psnd [4th svar]
Sndp M, grs N, sgrgg [5th svar]
In the last ettugadasvar the svars are combined with
the mandrasthayi ni in decreasing order of
pitch as
Nspmgrs nsmgrs - nsggm
Dayanidhe Bgada raga
Svars in the pattern of samayati are found in the
muktayi svar and third ettugadasvar in this
var.
mgmr sgrg mpdm pgmr gmpd - Muktayi svar
Mgr Sgr Gmg Mpm - III svar
In the last svar we find the following svar pattern such
as yati
sndp
rsndp
gRsndp
Visesa prayoga mMgrs nNdp mMgrs figuring in end of
the muktayi svar reveal the ragabhava
and gives a rhythmic stress for concluding the muktayi
svar along with the svars grgmp.
Moreover svars in different combinations are also found
in this var.
3 + 5 - grs / Sndp,
5 + 3 - Pmgm - rgm
8 + 6 - pmpd Ndp - MgrS
6 + 6 - MgrS grGmg
Patterns of svars found in the vars of Asvmi
Sstri
Karua kaaksi - Tdi
In this var the svar pancama is sparingly used. We
find the pancama svar once in the pallavi,
twice in the anupallavi, once in the caraa and twice in
the sangatis of the caraa. The first and second
caraa svar and the muktayisvar do not have prayogas
with pancama while pa is used in some places
in the last svar.
50
Jantasvars found in this var are as follows:
Pallavi : rr gg mm gg rr ss nn gg
Muktayi svar : gg rr nn gg rr ss
The speciality of this var lies in the profusion of datu
svar prayogas. The second caraa is full
of datu svars such as:
(grnr rn) ss (nr nr ndng)|
rgM grsn | (dgrm G;) ||
mggrs (dmgm) dN dmdn |
Snd Dmg | ,rs g(mdnd) ||(mgrg) +
In the muktayi svar we find beautiful combinations of
svars resembling the alankaras:
gg rr nn gg rr ss and rRgG rRmM.
The ending svars are as follows:
grnD SndmG rsnD nsr
(5) (7) (5) (3)
Kacciyuvaranga OEri raga
In this var beauty lies in the delineation of dirgha
svars with karvai. Even in the pallavi the dirgha
svars are used, continuously in the second line.
R; pmpm RG RS | nP,NN | S ; ; ; ||
NN SR MP N; | Nsn PM | RG grrs||
The anupallavi also starts with dirgha svars.
Ninnkri Kmbhji raga
The var in Kmbhji raga is also constructed with janta
svars, datu svars, rare prayogas and
combinations of svars in different groups.
janta svars are also found throughout the var.
Anupallavi : ppdd ssrr ggrr
Muktayi svar : ppdds
Caraa : mmppddnn and nnddpp
4th Caraasvar : pp ddssrr ggmmgr
Grouping of svars found in this var are as follows :
Pallavi : gmggrs rgrrsn
(6) (6)
Muktayi svar : drR dGgrs ppdds ddssr
(4) (6) (5) (5)
51
Finishing svar : rS sndmp Dp
(of the mukthayi svar) (3) (5) (3)
mgr - srgS / sndpm
(3) (5) (5)
Third svar : pdsD, - dsrS, - sdsrg
(6) (6) (5)
Seventh svar : pdrSs mpdPp mgrSs rGMpd +
(6) (6) (6) (8)
Gamakas found in the vars
The var Smininne opens with the key phrase of
nandhabhairavi raga i.e. the Errajaru
prayoga as s/dpmgm in the pallavi and also in the
anupallavi as ss/dpm as published in SSP of Subbarama
Diksitar. This jaru prayoga is not only found as the
opening phrase but also in the other parts of the
composition.
The pratyahaa gamaka svars lend beauty to the var
Ninnkri in Kmbhji of Asvmi
Sstri. It is found at the end of the pallavi : grrs rssn.
The third caraasvar contains : rgmg grrs and
srsn pdds; in the fifth svar : nddp dppm pmmg
and the seventh svar : grrs rssn and dnnd dppd
dppm mppm. The last svar starts with pratyahaa
gamaka : pdds. In the second avarta we find a
line continuously : srrg mggr rssn nddp.
Pratyahaa gamaka prayogas are found in the last
caraasvar of Karua kaaksi in Tdi raga as
follows :
nddn, nddm and mggr
Svarkars
We find the svarkar in many places in the vars of
ym Sstri as in the svarjatis.
In the two vars svarkar syllables are found in the
beginning as well as in some places. Both
suddha and sucita svarkars are found in them. In the
var in nandhabhairavi raga svarkars are
found in the beginning of pallavi, anupallavi and caraa.
The places wherein suddha svarkars occur :
Pallavi Anupallavi Caraa
sdpmM;;pmpSMg
sa . . . ma . . kan . . ci ma ga
The fourth caraasvar starts with svarkar syllables
where three words are combined and it is
found in another place also.
52
M ; m g - - - - - - - - m g G, g S ; s
ma ma gu (na la So) mu ni Ka Ka Sa mi
The var Dayanidhe in Bgada raga also starts with
suddha svarkar in all the three angas
Pallavi Anupallavi Caraa
dpmpd-nPdp-sPDP
da - ya . . ni bha . . ya Pa ra ma
The var in Tdi raga of Asvmi Sstri starts with the
svarkar as :
G G rg
Ka ru na
The caraa of the var in Kmbhji starts in the svar :
MGM;
Ma no
Asvmi Sstri lived in the later half of the 19th
century when many vars were composed
without the section called anubandha he followed the
footsteps of his grandfather and composed these
vars with `anubandha. In the grouping of some svars
with a special rhythmic finish one can see similarity
between the vars of ym Sstri and Asvmi
Sstri.Prayogas without pancama in the Tdi raga
var resembles the svarjati Rve of ym Sstri.He
has also composed the riraga var without
using dhaivAa svar.He has attempted some new
devices in tana vars such as : eduppu after four
aksaras in the caraa of the Tdi var more than one
avarta for the caraa s in the vars in riraga and
Kmbhji raga, and the long ettugadasvars numbering
eight in Kmbhji var.
DARU OF ASVMI SSTRI
Kaminciyunndira Kedaragaula - Rupaka ta
Ritha Rajan has mentioned that there are two darus in the
ragas Kedaragaula and
Yadukulakmbhji.(JMA, 1983, p.197). But only
Kedaragaula is found in the book GS (Singaracharulu
Brothers, -1905, p.169). Yet the daru in Kedaragaula raga
alone is found in HW with notation.
The composition which is known as daru in Kedaragaula is
an extensive compsosition of Asvmi
Sstri. The reason for desiging this composition as daru is
not clear. This resembles a kriti with a lot of
sangatis and svarshityas, but the words are in
madhurabhava in praise of his patron, the zamindar of
Udayarpalayam, this might be termed this as a daru. This
is the longest compositon with sixteen avartas in
the carna in rupaka ta. Apart from the set sangatis this
song has a cittasvarshitya for another sixteen
avartas. We find dirgha svars in the cittasvars like his
var in ri raga. Similar types of svars are found
here (see Appendix III).
The first twleve avartas are in slow tepo and the rest of
the avartas set in real madhyamakala
ending gwith the makuta svar.
53
r m G r g R s n s r | g r s n d p m p N s r ||
Mahi lo taruni janasukha | karadala yuga ra ti kantaru ||
S, n d p, P, m g r | S, n d p ns r m p d ||
ni vegati svan tamu | pre du ni ra ta. mu kainu ||
The svarjathi has attained a new shape in the hands of
ym Sstri.
(a) The grahasvars of the caraas found in the
ascending order are also seen the svarjatis
belonging to the sphere of dance also
b) With the special features as dirgha svars sung with
gamaka, slow tempo and grouping of
svars in various patterns svarjatis of ym Sstri have
been raised to the level of art
music.
The vars of ym Sstri and Asvmi Sstri are in
the model of early Var with anubandha
section. Asvmi Sstri has made innovations in his
three vars by introducing
(a) a rare anaga eduppu for the caraa in di ta var.
(b) An ettugada pallavi of more than one avarta duration.
(c) Sangatis in vars in ettugada pallavi.
(d) Daru, a form not used by other four composers,
resembling a kriti with many sangatis and
svarshitya wherein dual tempo is found.
54
A STUDY OF THE COMPOSITIONS
WITH MULTIPLE VERSIONS
There are some differences among the compositons of
ym Sstri published prior to 1930 and
HW regarding shitya, number of Caraas, omission or
addition of cittaswara and svarshityas. There
are also some songs of the second period found with
differences regarding melodic movement, rgs, tas
along with some of the above; both in the publications
and in the rendition. We find differences in rendition
in the compositions published between 1930 and 1970.
Yet in the development of sagatis we find a
gradual growth from the 1859 to the present day. There
are many differences which arise due to rgs or
rglaksanas and ta also.
CHANGE OCCURRING IN THE STRUCTURE OF THE SONGS
Songs taken up for discussion for the first category are as
follows:
1. Tallininnunera - Kalyi - Cpu
2. Ninnuvinaga - PurvaKalyi - Cpu
3. BiranaVaricci - Kalyi - Rpakam
4. Marivre - nandhabhairavi - Cpu
5. Brvavamma - Mji - Cpu
6. manimigula - Tdi - di
7. Dvi Ni pada - Kambhoji - di
8. Janani - avri - di
9. Minalcana - Dhanysi - Cpu
10. Karuajda - Vari - Cpu
11. Kmk i - Vari - Cpu
12. Sakari - Kalyi - Aa
In some songs mentioned above there are changes only
in the development of sagatis [2, 5 and
8]. In the song Tallininnu structural changes occur with
the grahasvara, sagatis and the eduppu in the
ta. In the song manimigula changes in melodic
movement and shitya are found. In the songs 7 and 12
slight changes in the svars are found here and there and
in the songs 9 to 11, changes occur in the
placement of syllables of words in the ta varta thereby
changing the structure.
Graha svara change found in Tallininnu Kalyi
In the early publications SSPS and SR have been the
sources for the notations taken for analysis.
In both the books the opening phrase is as follows:
(Pandit, Nadamuni, 1914, p.322).
55
, , S , S | R R g G || , , P , M || G G r M g || gr +
Talli | ninunera || nam mi|| nanu vina || ve
The graha svara is changed as Rgr snS from the next
sangati onwards and it is kept constant for
the remaining sagatis. This may be the reason of the
change in the grahasvara of the opening line found in
the later books.
Graha svara as found in HW (Syama Satri II, p.20)
, , * r s Ns|| R R g G || P,,,,p | G G r P || G *
Tal. li || ninu nera || nammi | nanu vina || ve *
Further development in the opening phrase can be seen
in oral tradition.OEri D K Jayaraman has
sung this as:
R;, S || R R g G
Tal. li || ninnunera
(Audio Vedavalli, M.B., 1998, p.330) giving four-akara
krvai to the grahasvara.
There are some songs of ym Sstri in which structural
changes occur in the development of
sangati (melodic variations) and are seen the pallavi,
anupallavi or Caraa. Some songs have been taken
up in which in the later editions either additional sagatis
have come in the or the duration of the passage
has got extended in the sangati. In the song
Brvavamma in Mji rg though there are more
number of
sagatis found in HW of ym Sstri II, the range and
place of occurrence of sangati do not change
much. But in the later books and also in oral trditions
madhyamakla svars covering three octaves are
found.
Brvavamma - Mji rg
Brvavamma in Mji rg is the song that has a
maximum number of sagatis in the notation of
ym Sstri II.It has twelve sagatis in the pallavi. The
sagatis actually start from the place Dvi t a
lene.
In the third sangati, we find a change in the place ne as:
R, m pdp | m m g; gp | m G R S ||
(Dvi t] a ne . | ye ..... bi| r na ||
In the next step the svars of the previous sangati are
retained for words Dvita and changes
occur in the place neye. We find madhyamaklasvars
and combinations of jaru in the next three variations.
1. dn sn nddp | pm mG .
ne ...| ye
2. S , \ P | G
ne . | ye
56
3. m pdp / sndp | mg ,
ne | ye
In other books this song is seen with
madhyamaklasagatis developed for the words birana
but
here sagatis are developed for the worlds Dvita and
not in birana. The last sangati which happens
to be in madhyamakla as found in the various books is
to be mentioned here.
SKM (Ayyar Sundaram. A., 1988, p.39).
n g r r Sn nd | d P m p d n s r g r ||
De . . vi . . t | a ne . . . . . . . . . ||
s n d p m g ; , m d | p m G R s g r|| sr+
. . . . . . . . . . . bi . | r . . . . . . na ||
, nsR rSn nd || dP mpdnsrgr ; | sndpmg Gmgrs || nndpggrs
de . . vi . . t || a . le . . . . . . . . | ne . . . . bi . . . .||
r . . . . . .
sndpmg || rs+
na. . . . . . . . . SSAU (Ramanathan, S., 1985, p.50)
Though the svars are identical for the words lenebirana
as in the above book they are slightly
different in the place `Dvita in the book SSKN
(N.C.Parthasarathy, 1970, p.114). They are as follows:
; ; N | N ; N ; || N D P |
de | vi t || a.| .
KMM (Ayyangar, Ranagaramanuja, 1948, p.89).
dn Srg R,g rSn rssn || nDdP mpdn srgm ||
de . . . . . . vi . t . .|| . . . a ne . . . . . . . ||
grsndp mgrg mpdn || Srs s Pdp p mgpm dpmg || rs +
. . . . . . . . . . . . . bi || r. . . . . . . . . . . . . . na || . . .
In the book SSC.The above mentioned sagatis in the
place birana are missing but the last sangati
varies in the place Dvitane. :
(Vidya Shankar, 1989, p.293).
P g R rrS | n d p mgrs / m g r s |
de . vi t . | . . a. . le . . . . . . . . .|
s n d p M, g G M p d P,d |ppmg,m srgr || rs+
ne . . . . . . . . . . bi . . . . . |r . . . . . na . || . .
Here we find less number of madhyamaklasvars in the
first one and maximum in the second.The
ranges of the svars also vary in the above illustrations.In
the first one we find the range goes upto
57
mpdnsrgrsndp while it is mpdnS; sndpmg in the second
illustration.The third and fourth illustrations
show further developments while the range goes upto
srgm grsn in the third and it is octave svars in the
fourth mgrs / mgrs. In the rendition of the song by Smt.
D K Pattammal (Audio Pattammal I PI 15.7.97)
and Smt. R Vedavalli (audio SVT. 26.4.87) is in slow tempo
without many madhyamakla sagatis. It also
resembles the HW notation of ym Sstri II. This song
sung by Smt. Brinda was heard and notated
from Sampradaya (audio Sam

daya Cassette No.0413-Side-B). In this we find madhyamakla sagatis

in the pallavi. The last sangati of the pallavi for the word tane figures thus :
mpdnsrgr | sndpmgrg mpdpmg | rg/gmgrsndp mgrs ||
le . . . . . . .| ne . . . . . . . . . . .bi r. . . . . . na . .||
In another version sung by Smt. Sowmya (audio SVT
16.4.91).This sangati is changed as:
ggrs nndp/ggrs sndp mgrs
bi . . . . . . . r . .na . . . . . . (Brva)
Marivre - nandhabhairavi
Like Brvavamma, Marivre in nandhabhairavi is
another song, which has acquired changes
in the sagatis. In the krti, we find many sagatis.
The notation in the H.W. runs like this:
p P p; | p , n P m | g M P n p M p m | g R G M ||
mari ve | ye . .. . re| gati ye . .. . va . . . | ram . ma ||
There is only one sangati in this handbook in the place:
yevva as
gmpm pddp |
yev . . . va |
In the available books, the gap between the words
Marivre and re is filled with sagatis as in
the following.
There are three sagatis found in the books SSAU
(Ramanathan, S.P., p.46) and SSKN
(Parthasarathy, N.C., 1970, p.109) while there are four in
the book KMM (Ayyangar Rangaramanuja,
1947, p.26).
The second sangati found in the book SSKN is as follows:
n p P , | pn Srs ndP pm || mG, M mgmp mpnp ||
mari ve | re || ga ti ye .va .. ||
The second sangati as found in the book SSAU is as
follows:
D O | p n s R s r s n d D n p
mari ve | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . re . .
58
In the book KMM it is found as the third sangati as
follows: (Ayyangar, R.R., 1948, p.27).
MNP, pn Srs ndP || Pdn Dnp mPn nPm ||
Mari ve . . . . . . .|| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .||
The fourth sangati as found in KMM and the third sangati
as found in SSKN are identical but the
third sangati found in the book SSAU has some slight
variations.
KMM SSKN SSAU
MNP, | pnsR, nP P ; | pnsr nsrs n P | P ; ||
Mari |ve.. marive | ma ri |ve ||
nsrsndP || ndPpm || nsRgrnsrs
|| re . || .
ndPnPm
.||
Pdn Dnp | mPn nPm ||
| .||
We find six sagatis in the book SSC of Vidya Shankar.
Some more slight differences are made in
between and the final sangati also differs in svars. They
are as follows:
(Vidya Shankar, 1989, p.300)
DO Pdn Dnp | ; , pnP pm | g G mgmp Mpd | pm g r Ggm
DO ve . . . . . | . . . . . . . re | gati ye . . . . va . .| . . .ram . ma
DO Psn dNp | MpNp DO . . . . . .
DO ve . . . . . .| . . . . . .DO . . . . . .
DO P,n Srs ndP | DO
DO ve . . . . . . . . | DO
DO pn srgr nsrs ndp |
Do ve . . . . . . . . . . . .|
Change occurs with the placement of words in ta varta
along with slight changes in the melodic movement
There are some krtis with structural differences in the
melodic structure as the words are changed
in the ta varta. Karuajdavamma Vari, Kmki
Vari are the songs.
Kmki - Vari Rg
In the kritiKmki, the pallavi has only two vartas as
found in KMM. But it has been extended
to four vartas extending the karvai between the words
Kmki for one varta in the book SSC.
59
In the second version the first sangati is extended to
three vartas with the words Kmk i
amba. In the second and third sagatis, the word
bangaru is added within the three vartas while the
fourth and fifth sagatis are extended to four vartas with
the words nannu Brvave.
The kritiKmk i in Vari rg has different facets when
we analyse the renderings of different
singers also. A mixture of the versions of the available
notations is found from the version sung by Smt. S
Sowmya (auido S.V.T. 16.4.91). It has a simple structure
with jaru prayogas according to the school of
ri.D.K.Jayaraman (audio Jayraman, D.K., 15.5.97). The
pallavi has only four vartas in total. The
words Kmki is sung in one varta as:
g M g r r s
Ka ma ksi
In the version taught by ri. T.M.Tygarjan in the
programme titled Isaiselvam, conducted by the
All India Rdio, Chennai the basic version is based on the
notation published by Smt. Vidya Sankar but
many madhyamakla sagatis like:
nsr ns dn pd pm Grrs are added in the pallavi.
Ka . . . ma . . . . . + .ksi
KRTIS THAT DIFFER WITH REGARD TO RG AND RG
LAKSANA
According to different pathantaras there are some krtis in
which the rgs themselves are changed.
In this change closely allied rgs are involved.
Name Rg Rg
Nilyatki Paraz Mayamalavagaula
Nannubrvu Lalita Vasata
Ninnuvina bhri Ritigaula
Prvatininnu Kalkada (janya under 13th mela) Kalkada
(janya under 16th mela)
Taruamidamma Gouipatu (Suddhamadhyama)
Gouipatu (Sharpened
suddhamadhyama)
Karuajdavamma Vari PantuVari
ri Kamalmbike DiyaTdi (Janya under 8th mela)
DiyaTdi (janya under 45th mela)
The kriti which is sung with different svars but in the
same rg is Prvatininnu in Kalkada rg
(ym Sstri II, p.44). This rg is mentioned in almost
all the books as the janya of the 13th melakartha
Gayakapriya with the arohana avarohana srgpds
sndpgrs taking the svars Suddha-risabha,
Antargndhara, Suddhadhaivaa and Suddhaniada. In
the book Rgpravham (Dandapani, M.N.
and Pattammal, D., 1985, p.76) this rg is listed as the
janya of 13th mela with the vivdi svars. Sundaram
60
Ayyar has given the arohana avarohana as srgdpns
sndpgrs (Ayyar Sundaram, 1988, p.17). Vidya
Shankar (Vidya Shankar, 1989, p.p.225-227) has
mentioned the arohana avarohana as srgpds
sNdpdndpgrs and T.K.Govinda Rao has published the
arohana avarohana as srgpds sndpgrs (Govinda
Rao, T.K, 1998, p.34) but as a janya of the 16th
melakartha, Cakravakam taking catuhsruti dhaivaa and
kaisiki nisada. He has also mentioned that there is also
another version of the rg which is the janya of the
13th melakartha.Prvati Ninnu is sung in Kalkada as a
janya of 13th mela by OEri D K Jayaraman (audio
SVT 21.4.87) S.Rajam (audio 22.5.86) and it is sung as
the janya of 16th mela by OEri Rajkumar Bharathy
(audio SVT 9.10.94).
ri Kamalmbike DiyaTdi
The kritiri Kamalmbike in Diya Tdi of Subbarya
Sstri, has another version regarding
svars taken by the rg. The rg Diya Tdi is sung as
the janya of the 45th melakarta by ri S. Rajam,
a leding performing artist with prati madhyama and he
has told that it is the version sung by ri Muthiah
BhagavAar (P.I. dated 22.5.96).
Changes of tas found in some krtis
There are some songs in which the ta is different
Song Rg Ta Ta
Partvatininnu Kalkada Rpakam Tisrgti di
Karuanidhi Tdi Rpakam Tisrgti di
Sakari Saveri Rpakam Tisrgti di
The total number of akaraklas of the two tas is same
and it does not make much difference in
the structure.
There is another group of songs which is found in misra
cpu ta with seven akaras for an varta
either in the regular or reverse order as 3 + 4 or 4 + 3 in
some books and also in di ta one (oru) Kaai
which has eight akaras for an varta, in other books.
They are:
Name of the krti Rg In Misra Cpu ta in oru Kaai di
Himcala Anandha- S.S.II (p.43) V.S. (p.342),
bhairavi S.Rajam (Oral) RRI (p.30)
C.K.Reetha (Oral)
Karua judu OEri S.S.II(p.52), RRI (p.110)
V.S.,(p.98) D.K.J. (Oral)
NCDP (p.118)
61
Trilkamatha Paraz S.S.II(p.16), RRI (p.96)
V.S.(p.127),
NCDP(p.63),
TSP (p.19)
T.R.S. (Oral)
Taruam Gaulipantu V.S. (p.24) T.S.P. (p.18)
NCDP (p.57), RRI (p.66),
SR (p.39) S.Rajam & D.K.J. (Oral)
Himcala nandhabhairavi in the version of ym
Sstri II is in cputa in vilomakrama. There
are plenty of pauses in between to adjust the words. The
three words Hima, Kuma, Uma and Sama are
sung to four svars i.e. takdimi count of cpu ta. The
pallavi is sung for eight vartas as
Himaca | laanayabro | o . | cutaki |
timanci samayamu | ra | ve am ba ||.
In each varta the number of words varies from one, two
three and four in the second varta alone
we find six letters.
In the book of N.C.Parthasrathy this song is published in
oru Kaai di. We find pauses in between
the words in this version also.The second varta of the
pallavi starts with the words Kitimanci which does
not confine to the rule of muhana.
I line Himcala. II line kiti manci.
In the version sung by S.Rajam (audio Rajam, S., PI
28.5.96) this songs starts on atita eduppu in
viloma cpu ta. The word hi is sung after six akaras of
the varta and the word ma comes as the first
letter in the next varta. While repeating the line the
syllables sung in the last varta are eight as follows:
(Rve amba-hi). Similarly in the anupallavi also while
repeating the first word ku we find eight letters as
lomanavati-ku. In the development of sagatis the
dirgha letter lo is sung to hrasva svara as
s snrs n d p P
lo ma ..navati ku
In the third varta of the Caraa also we find eight letters
that are adjusted by singing in
madhyamakla
s P P S, S, n d | P,
mavinuma..kanu ma
Here also the dirgha letter ma is sung to hrasva svara.
62
In the oral version collected from Smt.C.K.Ritha (Audio,
Ritha, C.K.-1, 23.3.95) the dirga hrasva
svars are aptly sung to the same svars. Perhaps lesser
number of words as fourteen and thirteen in some
avAas as against sixteen for oru Kaai di ta may have
suggested this kriti to be rendered in cpu ta.
The song Trilkamatha in Paraz rg as found in HW in
misra ka ta which has seven akaras
for an varta we find the distribution of Shitya syllables
as four, six, three and so on. Yet in the fifth and
sixth varta, we find only two syllables for the seven
counts of the ta (vi and ksana). Similarly in the last
varta of the anupallavi and the last two vartas of the
Caraa we find five shitya syllables while in the
second varta of the second line of the Caraa there are
six syllables.
d d m g r sn Anupallavi m n d m g m g r n
Caraa(p.257)
na Kmksi ginnudaiti dantyujesi
p d p d
gandikku II varta of the second line of the first
Caraa.
So the tempo is fast in the above vartas.
In viloma cpu ta as in the book SSKN (Parthasarathy,
N.C.,1970, pp.63-66),this song is
found with the same arrangements of words as in HW but
with the ta akaras of 4+3.In oral trdition
T.R.Subramaniyan (audio SVT 26.4.87)has sung in viloma
cpu. Mrs.Ambujam Vedandam has sung this
in di ta.
In the other songs of ym Sstri in cputa also we
find less number of words but the Klapramana
of the song is uniform throughout. The shitya syllables
are according to the duration of the svars though
karvai is found in between the words. The uneven
distribution of words and the mixed klapramana is seen
in the songs Himcala, Karua judu and
Taruamidamma in cpu tala suggests oru Kaai di ta
for these songs and in the song Trilkamatha this is in
reverse order so cpu ta for this song alone.
Changesfound in the ciasvars
In the songs that appear in the publications in the post
1930period thereare somesongs that pose
problems regarding the authenticity of the ciasvars.
The following chart shows the sources from where
they have beentaken.
Name ofthe song Rg Ciasvara Source
Dviminanetri Sakarbharaa With CS KMM,SSK,SKM,
CSS,SuS,and AS
Without CS Other sources
Dvinipadasarasa Kambhoji Version1 KMM
Version2 Smt.Saroja & Lalitha
Without CS Other sources
63
Parkla Kedargula Version1 Personallylearntfrom
S.VParthasarathy
N.Vijayasiva
Version 2 CSS,SuS and AS
Note : From the above table we notice two kinds of
situations regarding ciasvara.
1. In the kritiDviminanetri there is ciasvara in the
kritifrom one source but not in the one from
the other sources.
2. The krtis Dvinipada and Parkla have two versions of
ciasvars, one in the book and the
other in oral trdition. In the rest of the sources no
ciasvara is found.
In the krtis with ciasvara as seen in the sources prior to
1930,We noticed that the grahasvara of
the ciasvara and the pallavi happens to be same in the
two krits Plicu and PahiOEri They are also found
with more hrasva svars, while the ciasvaraof the first
kritiis in the same tempo of the krti, the ciasvara
of the second kritiis in madhyamakla.
Dvinipadasarasa- Kambhoji.
The kriti Dvinipadasarasa has two versions,
solkattuciasvara and a ciasvara with dirgasvars
and hrasvasvars employing long karvais.
Version 1:
P, mg pdn pdmp gmrg | S, gr gmp |n dn p dmpd ||
Tam takatdimi pdmp taritaka|jan gr januta|
udanitAamapd||
s r g m rg sr S, \ p d s P \ | , s r g S , / s | N d P m g m|| p d
+
dimikita takajam takitajam| takitajam s| Ndtimtdingi||
natom+[Dvi]
Version 2:
G;; m g g rr rsnpD| S;; rp | mgrmgrsr[m] g ||
mgrgS pmgrg Sndp|mgpdS,s|dp, mg srg ||
None of thecompositions of ym Sstri is found with
solkattu. Moreover solkattu ciasvars
are more suited to the compositions figuring in the sphere
of dance. This composition being a kritinot meant
for dance the solkattu does not fit in. Yet the graha svara
of the first ciasvara coincides with the pallavi .In
both the versions patterns of svars are found. Svars
with long karvai is found in the second version and
the grahasvara is different here. The flow of the svara
pulse as felt in the krtis belonging to the early period
is reduced to certain extent due to the profution of karvai
and dirgaa svars in both the versions.
64
Parkla-Kedargula
This song has been learnt by the present writer from
S.V.Parthasarathy.This ciasvara is seen in
the rendering by N.Vijayasiva.There is also another
ciasvara found in the book of T.K.GovindaRao.
The first one is as follows:
R;; rmgr sndpmg |R ; ; mr | pmnpsnrs ||
Ndpmgr_pmgrs_ ndpns | rmpndpmg |rmpmP; ||
MgrPmgr ndp Sndp | nsrSndp | mpnnS; ||
pns nsr srmgr pmgrs | nsrS ndp|, mgr mpns ||
The second one is as follows:
srs, ndpdPmgrgR| snsr S nd | pnsrmpns ||
Rpmgr RmgrsRsn | dpPmgrs | rmpnsrmg ||
In the oral version it is a madhyamakla ciasvara as
seen in the earlier krtis prior to 1930.We find
karvai for six akaras in the beginning aswell as in the
padagarbham for the same svara ri but in tarasthyi
and madhyasthyi respectively and in the rest of the
places the svara mostly proceed as hrasvasvars.
Patterns of svars are interspersed with the maximum of
hrasva svars in the constructions without disturbing
the flow of the svars.
nsr -Snd -Pmgr -mpns
In the book of T.K.GovindaRao, the ciasvara is in a
different form. Though it is also in
madhyamakla similar grouping of svars are found
continuously in the first and second varta. The last
quarter of the two vartas proceeds with svars in
sarvalaghu pattern in the ascending order and the
ciasvara is finished with tarasthyi svars srmg and the
pallavi is taken up as {srmg} rsThe grahasvara
differs in this version.
Svarshityas
In some songs problems regarding svarshitya are met
with. In some of the early publications
svara shitya is completely absent or only svars are
present .In some songs svara shitya is added in
the later books. There are some songs with different
versions [with respect to svara] also. The following
chart shows the differences.
Song Rg Svarshitya Source
Jagadamba nandhabhairavi Without SS or CS GS
With SS SSPS and all the
publications and HW
PahiOEri nandhabhairavi WithCS GS, Oral version by C.K.
Ritha
With SS HW all publications
65
Plicu Madhyamvathi With CS SSSS
With SS HW and all publications
Marivre Anandabharavi Version1 SSSS
Version 2 HW
Version 3 SSC
Version 4 SSAU
Kmk i Vari Version 1 KMM
Version 2 SSC
In the above table we notice four kinds of situations
regarding svara shitya.
1. There are four versions for the kritiMarivre with minor
changes in karvai of svars.
2. The kriti Jagadamba is found without svara shitya in
one source but with svara shitya in
the others.
3. The two krtis PahiOEri and Plicu are found only with
ciasvara in one source and with svara
shitya in the other sources .The first type is seen in oral
trdion also.
4. The kritiKmki has two different versions of
svarshitya.
Marivre
There are differences found in the arrangements of karvai
among the four versions in the first two
lines of the svara shitya nportion and not in svars, the
next two lines are identical in all the versions.
Version 1[SSSS, p.205]
Pdpmgmgp | mgmgrG | mpgmdpm | grsgmpm |
gmGrgr | nsngrnn | ssggmmp | mggMps |
ndpndpm |dpdmpgr | pmgrsnsg | rgmPdp |
snsgrmg |grnsnrs | ,nddPm | gRGM |
Version 2
Pdpmgp | m-gmgrG | mpgmdpm | grsgmpm |
gMgrgr | nsngrnn | ssggmmp | mggM; |
In Vidya Sankars version change comes in the third
avartha as [SSC, p.302]
mP,gmd | pmgr sgm | pmgmGr ||
In the version as available in the book [SSAU, p47] it is as
follows in the rest of the books
mentioned above:
P; dpm | g pmgmgr | Gmpgmd | pmgr sgm ||
pmgMgr | grnsngr | nnssggm | mpm ggM ||
66
Karvai for two aksaras is added in the beginning after the
svara pa so the karvai found after ma in
the last varta of the second line is omitted,excepting for
this the svarshitya is identical with the others
Jagadamba - Anandabairavi
The song Jagadamba is found with neither ciasvara
nor svarsahita in the book GS [p.154] but
this kritiis found with svarshitya in SSPS [p.320] and
allthe other publications of the later periods including
HW of SamaSastri II.As seen in the notation of SSPS the
svara and sahita letters snchronise well as hrasva
and dirha letters are used uniformely in both svara and
shitya. P.Sambamurthy has mentioned in his book
that one of SyamaSastris sisya by name Sangitasvami
had composed a suitable shitya for the ciasvara
composed by SyamaSastri. [Sambamurthy, P, 1962, p.91]
Differences found in the svarshityas of Subbarya
Sstri
Among the published books we can find slight changes
also regarding the svarshityas of the
kritiJanani in Ritigaula rg and Vanajsana in ri rg. In
the kritiin Ritigaula rg the thirteenth and
fourteenth vartas are changed in KMM.
[GP, p.118]
g g m g r G | g r n S n n | S n d m |
sarasirugalo | canisuvasini | tamasamu |
[KMM.p.116]
NSGRGM;| GRNS; ND | NSNDMM;|
Sarasirugalo| canisuvasini|ta masamu|
In the kritivanajsana in ri rg there are two versions of
svarsahiyta .In the first as in HW
wefind eight vartas . While in the second version as n
KMM there are only six vartas.The svars are
changed completely excepting the finishing svars by
omitting the karvais, the vartas are reduced in the
second one.
Version 1 H .W.-5-8 vartas
rGgrs rmpnpm | nNs nsrs snp |
n n S;;;; | ;Psnpmrgrs |
Apart from the krtis, there are changes in the Tdi
svarajati and Bgada var of SyamaSastri.
There are some minor changes in the svarajati in
Yadukulakmbhji and the var in nandhabhairavi.
Differences found in the Svarajati in Tdi
Between the book of Vidya Shankar and other books
differcences are found in the svarajati Rve
in Tdi rg .The starting note of all the Caraas are same
in all the sources .Inthe fifth and sixth Caraas
excepting the beginning they are entirely changed .
67
The following chart will show the changed portions.
All the sources Vidya Shankars version
!Caraa in the place g m g r s R r s n d D, S n R s
m g r s n R d n s r vinivanucunammitinisada brva
vinivanucunammitinisa
G, Rs
da brva
||Caraa s n D n s, |,g r d g r s n||
s n s r S; | d n s r g r n danivedatircaveduramuganu
||dinivedatir caveduramuganu
|||Caraa G m P md N, ndg g r
G m P, g m D, n d m g m Kamapalinini vegatiyani
Kamapalinini vegatiyani
IV Caraa ,
m g r S, |r g s R r n s , d m g , R , m | g r N, g r s
tibirudu |mahiloni ketaku tibiruduni ma | hiloniketaku
The fifth Caraa as seen in other sources is as follows:
g m n d m g m d m g d M g r n|
Kamalamukhi dargla ghana lila kaca
d G s r n S | g r n d g r G ||
Paramrgavilo | canamani radana ||
mg r n D, g m p_g m g D n |
Gajagamanamahilon inusadaa |
d g r n D, p | , m G R s ||
lacukoninidhya | na me talli ||
Vidya Shankars Version
g m n d m g m d m g d M m r s |
Kamalamukhi darglaganalilakaca |
p M r g m G, | m g r n s r G ||
paramru gavilo|canamaniradana ||
g r g m D m d N d n s D d ||
gajagamanamdiloninu sadaa ||
n d g r N, d | M, G R n ||
l acukonini dya | nametalli ||
The sixth Caraa is also changed in the same way.
68
On seeing the changes it seems they are brought out in
order to bring out the svarakara coincidence.
So the svars are chaned according to shitya syllables.
There are three versions for the var in Bgada rg as
found in the three publications SKM,
SSC, and SSKN of Sundaram Ayyar, Vidya Shankar and
N.C.Parthasarathy respectively. There are
changes in the pallavi, anupallavai and ettugada svara
between the first and second book, while the third
book combines both the versions. The entire muktayi
svara also vary in the first and second while the third
follows the second version.
Multiple versions of the compositions are found only in
the compositions of SyamaSastri.Some
of the compositions have existed from the first period and
undergone changes in their melodic structures by
the addition of sagatis, introduction of a shitya for
existing ciasvars thus converting it in to svarshitya,
some of the songs underwent change in tas in which
the were originally set.
Compositions also underwent changes in shitya setting
through repetition of words, mixing up of
Caraas and through occurrence of variation in words.
Changes in rgs and rglaksanas are found in the
krtis of the second period. The two rgs attributed to
same kritihappen tobe closely allied rgs. The
change would have occurred only due to the handling the
rgs.
Only minor changes occur in the songs of
SubbarayaSastri while no changes are found in the krits
of Asvmi sstri. The var in Bgada with an
additional vartas of music after the Caraa followed by
the muktayisvara shitya resembles the anubandha
section found in the var in nandhabhairavi rg.
The melodic structure of the var in Bgada rg given
in SKM seems to refiect the real style of ym
Sstri.
69
Discussions
The compositions published in some select books and the
omission of some compositions in a few
that belong to the second period 1930-1970 are taken up
for discussion along with the compositions
published after 1970.Two kritis of Subbarya Sstri are
also taken up for the discussion against there
authorship .A var found in some books and a new kriti
found in the book of T.K.Govinda Rao of
Asvmi Sstri are taken up for discussion.
KRITIS PUBLISHED IN SELECT BOOKS
The list of kritis published and omitted in the publications
is as follows:
Song Rg Published in Not published
Plimpavamma Mukhri KMM (p.69), SSKN of NCDP
SSC (pp.229-231)
SSK (p.30) (as the
kriti of S.S.)
Tanjore as a seat
of Music S.Seetha as
a kriti of T.P. (p.216)
NannuKaruici Sakarbharaa KMM (p.52) SSC III All
other sources
GK (p.75) as Gharbhapuri
composition
Brvasamaya Punngavarli KMM (p.42) SSKN
SSC (pp.289-290),
SSK (p.16)
Sarievvaramma Bhairavi KMM (p.67), SSKN
SSC (pp.324-326),
SSK (p.34)
Parkla Kdragaula KMM (p.59) S.S.K. of NCDP
SSC III (p.SSK (p.34) S.S.C. IV
In the above table, three types of situations are noticed.
1. The song Plimpavamma has been published in three
books as the composition of S.S. but
in one book as that of T.P. It is also omitted in the book
SSKN.
2. The song NannuKaruici is found only in KMM and
the early publication of Vidya Sankar
(1948) as ym Sstri and as the kriti of Gharbhapuri
composers in the book GK.
70
3. The remaining three songs are found in the three books
but omitted in the book S.S.K. The
third song is found in the early publication of Vidya
Sankar but omitted in the later publication
of the same author (1989).
All the five songs are being found in the H.W. of ym
Sstri II is also a point to be noted out
here.
NannuKaruici
NannuKaruici in Sakarbharaa rg as found in the
two books mentioned earlier has no
mudra Caraa. There are some new words found as
Varijasuda, Gambhira, dhanujanuta, duskarma
vidhu vidarini, which are not found in other compositions
of ym Sstri. Moreover this has been listed
as one of the compositions of Garbhapuri compositions in
the book of T.Visvanthan (Visvanathan, T.,
1968, p.75).
Brvasamaya - Punngavarli
This song is seen in the group of songs prior to 1930
(Appendix I, Chart I), notation is available
only in these books. In KMM, the kriti Brvasamaya in
Punngavarli rg starts after (3/4 matra) three
akaras in two-Kaai di ta but it is in sama eduppu in
the books of V.S. (1947) and the svar structure
is also different in the opening phrase as follows :-
G r S m g g r g m P d n | dpmp . .
Brvasamaya.mu..|ni..ve.KMM
G ; ; gMg gR, s r g r g m P ; ; g g | P , pmg rsn
Bro . . . . . va . sa . ma . yami te de . | vi . . . . . . . .[V.S.]
Two Kaai di in slow tempo is maintained throughout the
composition in KMM, while the Caraa
is rendered in medium tempo by the increase of words in
SSC.
The new songs published in the latest book of Vidya
Shankar, 1989 include a variety of compositions
as gits, vars and kritis. Some compositions structured
with sections, without pallavi, anupallavi and
Caraa are listed as gits in this book by V S.
GITS OF SYAMA SASTRY
Kmki Karua Katki - Paraz - Tisra triputa (p.108)
Satatam - Paraz - di (pp.322-323)
Prvati Janani - Bhairavi - Khanda matya (p.228)
Sraski Pahimam - OEavri - Tisra triputa (p.327)
Kmki Lokasaksi - Madhyamvathi - Tisra triputa
(p.119)
71
The five gits have sections or kandikas that are of same
length and sung to same music.
Atita eduppu in all the five sections of the gita Satatam
we find atita eduppu.
e.g. Vandippen anudinam
sindippen
barama kadaikkan
paramma
Madhyamakla phrases
Apart from the above illustration of the gita Kmki
Lokasaksi in Madhyamvathi rg and in the
gita Sraski in OEavri rg also all the three sections
ends with a madhyamakla phrase, which is unusual
in gits. Normally in the gits the tempos are not varied.
In the first section the third line proceeds as
d S r r g r Rs | rgR |S ||
Para sakti ba lesu | si | le ||
In the second section as
g R s s D R s | r g R| S ||
Kati dr ta kance - | sali | le ||
In the third section as
D sS rs R s| r g R |S ||
Sama ganalo lesu so|be|| .
According to ym Sstris descendent S. Rajah, gits
are not found in the collection of songs
possessed by the family, excepting the one in Tamil
(Satatam) in Paraz rg which is listed as a kriti. But
Vidya Shankar has mentioned that only her guru S.S. II
had taught her these as gits as the gits of S.S.
[P.I. dated 10-11-1994]. Moreover she has mentioned in
her book ym Sstri that these are composed
for performing pujas. However as stated above among
the five songs discussed here only Satatam figures
in the collection of ym Sstri, that too only as a kriti.
The tempo of the gits as analyzed here is slower
than the other gits sung as samanya gits
[Kerayaniranu, Kundagoura] i.e. there are two svars for a
beat
instead of one svar. The only resemblance is the
sections or khandikas between these two. But
madhyamakla phrases found in the gita Sraski in
avri and Kmk i in Madhyamvathi is a
unique factor. Only simple svar structure is found in the
normal gits, we find jru prayogas, Dhtu svar
prayogas in the above-mentioned gits. The shitya used
here is doxology excepting the Tamil composition
Satatam. There are possibilities of considering these
compositions as kirtanas rather than gits.
The kritis, which are found only in the third edition
published by Vidya Shankar in 1978, are from
the serial numbers 53 to 72 Appendix I and all the kritis
are found in the book of T. K. Govinda Rao also.
72
Among the kritis published in these books there are two
kritis in the rg nandhabhairavi, four
compositions in the rg Kalyi and two in Gouipatu.
There are compositions in the rgs Na, Nlmbari,
rabhi and Jagamhini, which are the rgs, not found in
the other publications and additional compositions
in the already published rgs such as Kedargula,
Prvikalyi and Madhyamvathi. Among these kritis
some structural changes and the use of new tas are
also found apart from the new rgs and tas. In
some kritis some portions of the Caraa are sung in
madhyamakla e.g. last line of the Caraa in the kriti
Brihannayaki, the same words are repeated twice to
different music in the last varta. Of course there
are some songs in which the whole Caraa is sung with
profusion of words, which are also seen in the early
kritis.
There are two kritis in the rg nandhabhairavi that
have different in melodic movement of the
rg from the other compositions already analyzed. They
are Mahil-di (p.304-305) and dinamunci
- triputa (p.81-82). In this rg. Frequent use of Jru
prayogas in an varta such as: mp\S/S | nS\S/S |
gm\S and rare prayogas like pnp, mnp are found in the
kriti dinamunci. The text of the kriti Mahil is
found in one of the notebooks of the descendents but not
the notation. This kriti has three Caraas which
are sung in different dhtus. The graha svar is M P M ;;
Ma hi l
Which is a rare thing to be found in the kritis in this rg
as said by Calcutta S.Krishnamoorthy (PI
dated 15.5.1997).
Prayogas as rgrs, gmms and janta svar prayogas as
pss, sspm are also used in this kriti.
Stressing the svars repeatedly is also found as
ssssnnsss, mggmm and so on. These features are not
found in the rest of the kritis prior to 1970 in this rg.
There are some more new kritis found in this book are as
follows:
Brvavamma Nlmbari Triputa (pp.296-297).
Pahimam Na Rpakam (pp.237-238).
Palayasumam rabhi Triputa (pp.236).
Ninne nammiti Kedargula - di (pp.211-212).
Dayajuda Jagamhini Misracpu (pp.133-134).
Brihannayaki Madhyamvathi Tisramatya (pp.244-
243).
Kmk i Bgada di (pp.109-113).
Brvavamma is a kriti in the rg Nlmbari and di ta.
This kriti is found with the characteristic
jru gamakas of the rg. The use of words in profusion
with fewer gaps in between and the slow delineation
of the rg bring the rg bhava. Music of the anupallavi
is repeated in the last quarter of the Caraa also.
The last varthas of the anupallavi and Caraa are left
out with pause with only one word. In structure as
well as shitya, this kritis has similarity with the old kritis
but we find only one Caraa and the rg is also
not found in the earlier kritis
73
Phimam in Na rg and Playasumam in rabhi
rg are two kritis in Sanskrit. While
rabhi rg kriti is a simple one with two Caraas sung to
the same music, the Na kriti is different with
the Caraas sung in different dhtus as madhyamakla
shityas.
Ninne nammiti is a kriti in Kedargula rg that
resembles the kriti Parkla in svar structure
but is without mudra. Dayajuda in Jagamhini rg is
found with notation in the book of V.S. but the text
of the composition is found in one of the notebooks of
S.S. II in which it is grouped as one composed in
praise of Goddess Brihadamba of Pudukottai.
Brihannayaki in Madhyamvathi rg is a simple kriti
resembling the gita Kmk i in the
same rg mentioned earlier. In the last varta of the
Caraa we find madhyamakla shitya in which same
words are repeated twice to different svars. Kmki in
Bgada rg is a kriti set in madhyamakla.
Nivegatiyani is a var in Kalyi rg, Tisramatya ta
(pp.220-222). This var starts with a
combination of svars as N, D pmpdnd in the pallavi in
avarohana krama, and this pattern is found in the
two avartas as S, R, sns dns and P , D , mdmgrs. The
second line of the pallavi itself goes up to tarasthyi.
Dhtusvar prayogas are found dgrnrn dnd (mukthayi
svar), dgrn rndmg (III Caraa svar). After the
last svar the Caraa is sung for two avartas and in the
second varta we find the mudra of ym Sstri.
It is followed by the mukthayi svar shitya and finally
the var is concluded with the pallavi.
The var Namanavini in Sourra rg and Catusra
aa ta has the same structure as the
var in Kalyi rg with a shitya for ettugadasvar
and a second varta for the Caraa with the mudra
ymkri a nuta, which is sung after the last Caraa
svar. The unusual prayoga smgm occurs in
many places in this var, smgmpmD occurs in the
ettugadasvar and in the fourth Caraa svar. Moreover
sMgrrs, SMgrsn, S;;mgpm also occur here and there
along with the srgm prayoga.
An analysis of the two vars reveals are fact that in the
var in Bgada rg Vaggeyakara mudra
is seen in the pallavi and in these two vars it is found in
the second line of the Caraa which is sung only
after the last eddugada svar as an anubandha. In
music structure also these two vars have tra sthyi
svars in the second line of the pallavi. Though this is
found in the Bgada var also in V.S. 1978 in the
other books it is different. This var (Sourra) also
uses some janta and Dhtu prayogas and jati
patterns as found in the other two vars in Bgada and
nandhabhairavi analyzed earlier, yet the use of
Tisramatya and catusra aa tas are rare features.
Though we find a var in Nyaki rg in catusra aa ta
use of Tisramatya is rare in a var and excepting the
gits and the kriti Brihannayaki analyzed earlier in this
chapter no other composition is found in Tisramatya ta.
Tamil Compositions of ym Sstri
Taruam Idamma in Gouipatu rg came into vogue in
the second period and is found in many
publications for this period but not in H.W. The two
versions of using sharpened madhyama and suddha
74
madhyama and in cpu ta and di ta have been dealt
earlier. This kriti has been carried over by almost
all publications from 1947. Though this is not found in the
H W of S S II, S Rajah says that ym Sstri
had composed ten to fifteen compositions in Tamil but
only a few are available now (P.I. dated 22.5.2000).
We find the compositions Ennramum in Punngavarli
rg and Satatam ennai in Paraz rg [text only]
in the collections of the descendents. There are two more
Tamil kritis found in this book H.W.II. As the
notations are only available in the book of V.S. 1978 the
analysis is based on this book. They are as
follows:
1. Ennramum - Punngavarli
2. Ennramum - Prvikalyi
3. Satatam - Paraz
4. Parmukha - Kalyi
5. Taruam - Gouipatu
Satatam in Paraz has been grouped as a gita and
analysis has been done under gits.
We find that the style of the text is different from that of
the other compositions. They are just
doxologies and not in usual spoken language. The
structure of some songs are also different with the
Caraas sung in different svar structure repeating the
words the different svars, and singing some portions
in the madhyamakla which are not found in the
compositions. Though the Caraas resemble the
svarjatis,
the tempo is same in one kriti and it is sung in madyama
kala in the other kriti.. We find some kritis of
Tygarja (Endukunirdaya Harikmbhji and Muttusvmi
Dikitar (Myetvamyahi Sudhatarangini)
with this structure. Likewise the authorship of some
compositions in the rg nandhabhairavi and Kalyi
are to be studied. We find a definite difference in the
melodic movement of the rg and shitya of these
compositions from the others like the jaru prayogas and
frequent use of same svars and the number of
words are more in a varta in some compositions. In
some of these compositions tas like tisra matya,
chatusra jati aa, Khanda matya are used which is also a
rare feature, but all the above-mentioned
controversial compositions bear the mudra of the
composer.
Among the compositions of Subbarya Sstri, there are
two songs with doubtful authorship ri
Kmki Vasata and Inkevarrru in Sahna.
ri Kmki in Vasata rg has been published as the
kriti of Subbarya Sstri in the book
Ranga Ramanuja Ayyangar and T.K.Govinda Rao, but this
kriti has been learnt by the present writer as the
kriti of Tiruvarur Ramasvamy Pillai. Vidvan T.M.Tyagarajan
in a demonstration of the songs of Tiruvarur
Ramasvamy Pillai sang the songs Jagadesvari [Mhanam],
Ekkalattlum [Prvikalyi], ri Kmk i
[Vasata] and explained how the composer had fitted in
beautiful svar shitya in them [JMA, 1982,
p.37]. Though this song has the mudra Kumara of
Subbarya Sstri, there is an occurrence of the mudra
Vedapuri of Tiruvarur Ramasvamy Pillai also. There are
also similarities between the svar shitya of the
kriti Jagadesvari-Mhanam with the kriti ri Kmki
Vasata. Both of them have svarksara syllables
75
figuring at specific places .The syllable ma in the Vasata
kriti and da in the Mhana kriti thus with these
similarities this seems to be the kriti of Tiruvarur
Ramasvamy Pillai than Subbarya Sstri.
The kriti in Sahna rg is included among the
compositions of Subbarya Sstri in the HW
notebook of the family. This kriti bears the mudra kumara
in the second Caraa as Vadanu Kumarudanu.
There is a note that this s the last kriti of Subbarya
Sstri on Goddess ri Kusumakuntambika of
Udayarpalayam where he lived his last days. Under this
note there is a signature of the writer ym Sstri
|| with the date 17.8.35.
Dr. Rita Rajan has analyzed this kriti as a kriti of
Asvmi Sstri [JMA.1983, pp.192 to197].
But the setting of this kriti with lot of sagatis and a svar
shitya reveals the style of Subbarya Sstri
rather than that of Asvmi Sstri.
In the shitya Subbarya Sstri refers to the Goddess as
being worshipped by Brahma, Visnu, and
Devas in the words Pankaja bhava hari surapati pujita in
the anupallavi .A similar reference is found n the kriti
Emaninne in Mukhri rg: Harihara suramuni varulagu
nidu Caraa mahima poaduta tarama. He refers to the
place Udaarpalayam as Mugadapura in this song. This
method of referring to the place is also found in the
compositions of Subbarya Sstri. For example, Tiruvarur
is referred to as ri Velayupura in the kriti ri
Kamalmbike and Kchipuram is referred to as
Varakchipuralayavasini in the kriti Emaninne n Mukhri.
The reference to the patron Kacci Kalyanaranga makes it
appear though Asvmi Sstri had composed
the song in praise of his patron .His two vars in ri rg
and Kmbhji rg for instance are in praise of
kacci Kalyanaranga, in fact it is not the patron, but the
Goddess who is celebrated as the protector of Kacci
Kalyanaranga in this song as Kacci Kalyanaranga sambini
Brvave in the second Caraa.
With regard to the music set in this kriti there are ten
sagatis in the first line and two sagatis in the
second line .In the first line sagatis are developed from
the middle to the end. Madhyamakla sagatis are
also found as:
r g m p | D Pdp Mpm | G Gmg R Rgr ||
In the eighth and ninth sagatis we fimnd jaru prayogas
as:
pmdns \ | RGMmmr Rgr || S+
na.nu brova.|| +
S| NSRR ; / N; | nsdndp - dp | mpmg do ||
The sagatis found in this song resemble the sagatis of
Subbarya Sstri than Asvmi Sstri.
The svar shitya in this kriti also bear the style of
Subbarya Sstri with many dirgha svars. It proceeds
with dirgha svars as:
R ;rgmpD ndpm |
G ; ; R| ; rsnR |
S ; ; sr | N,DPm ||
76
Here we find combinations of svars in tisram as Ns,
Rs,Ss,Pp, here and there and also in the last
line continuously as :
D n, Ss , P | pMm Gg rrs +
In the Caraa we find apparent Madhyamakla shitya
also as in the other kritis of Subbarya
Sstri.
The auxiliary elements found in the kritis of Asvmi
Sstri are citta svars and madhyamakla
shitya and not svar shitya as pointed out in the
chapter two is to be noted here.
On account of these similarities, this kriti may be
attributed to Subbarya Sstri, rather than to
Asvmi Sstri.
VAR AND A KRITI OF ASVMI SSTRI
The var Ninnumincina in Tdi rg is mentioned as the
var of Asvmi Sstri in the
books of P.Sambamurty and Dr. S.Seetha but this is not
found in the HW of ym Sstri | | or in the
books of Vidya Shankar and T.K.Govinda Rao. Perhaps the
word Ninnumincina found in the Caraa of
the var Karua Katki in Tdi rg found in all sources
might have been mentioned as the name of the
var itself in the two books. The kriti ri
Kchipuravasini in Kalyi rg is found in the book of
T.K.Govinda Rao. Though the shitya is in Sanskrit there
are some new words like Shanmukha Janani are
found. The structure of the kriti resembles the other kritis
with one Caraa with real madhyamakla shitya
which is the feature found in the kritis of Asvmi
Sstri. There are five sagatis in the pallavi though
there are some minor variations with more similarities
this kriti seems to be Asvmi Sstris.
77
CONCLUSION
I had started my quarrys regarding the difficulty in
learning the compositions of Syama Sastri in
the beginning of my research work. The disparities
regarding the structure, raga and tala prevaling with the
compositions of Syama Sastri alone has been analysed
and the reasons for these desparities are found out
as a result of this work.
The structure of the kriti format as found in the kritis of
ym Sstri is normally with three Caraas
of a proportion in length is found between the angas,
sagatis in small number, ciasvars and svars
shitya are included in the format of some kritis. The
other kritis with one Caraa, Caraas with
madhyamakla shityas and angas of shorter length
though found with the mudra of the composer and
seen in the post 1970 period do not appear to be in the
style of ym Sstri. Thee songs do not reflect the
same way in which the ragas are handled in the kritis of
earlier periods. The additional features and sagatis
too differ in style. The pauses employed in between the
words in the cpu ta kritis suggest slow-medium
tempo for the compositions of ym Sstri. The difficulty
in maintaining the pauses in these compositions
might have changed the ta of the compositions from
cpu ta (7 akaras) to oru Kaai di (8 akaras) as
evident in Himcalatanaya in nandhabhairavi.
Subbarya Sstri with his innovations made in the kriti
format by introducing sagatis svars shitya
and madhyamakla shityas in a single kriti had
attempted to elevate the kriti format suggested by
ym
Sstri. Asvmi Sstris kritis are simple yet he had
made innovations in his vars and also adopted the
anga anubandha which would have become absolute
during his period.
In the choice of ragas there are some ragas that
commonly occur in the songs of ym Sstri,
Subbarya Sstri and Asvmi Sstri. Many of the
ragas chosen by Subbarya Sstri and Asvmi
Sstri are the other janyas of melas handled by ym
Sstri. In the treatment of ta ym Sstris style
in di and cpu ta compositions are revealed in the
medium, in the slow tempo, less number of words in
ta avarta pauses occurring in different places in order to
control the flow of rhythm and the different
usages of the cpu ta. Though Subbarya Sstri had
composed in cpu ta he has not employed long
karvais with sparse use of syllables of text as found in the
song of ym Sstri. Profusion of words with
less karvai are found in his compositions. The kritis in di
ta of Subbarya Sstri reflect the rhythmic gait
of ym Sstris compositions in slow medium tempo
but Asvmi Sstris compositions in both di
and rpakam are mostly in madhyamakla . Thus the
findings reveal that the composers who come in the
line of disciples of ym Sstri have by and large
followed his style, carried it further and at the same time
reveal some deviation.
78
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Publications.
Vijayalakshmi, K., Ragamalika, M.A. Diss. Department of
Music, Madras: University of Madras, 1978.
JMA ym Sstri Bibliography, Madras: The Music
Academy, 1977.
ym Sstri by Dr.V.Raghavan.
Music Master Pieces Navaratnamalika of ym Sstri
by S.Vidya.
ym Sstri, Krishnamachari, T.T.
Ragas in ym Sstris Compositions, Vidya Shankar.
JMA, 1983, Ritha, Dr. C.K. Asvmi Sstri and His
Compositions, Vol.LIV, Madras: The Music
Academy, 1983.
JMA, 1982, Tyagarajan T.M., Lecturer Demonstration on
the compositions of Tiruvarur Ramaswami Pillai.
Ramanathan, Dr.N. Musical aspects in the svarsjatis of
ym Sstri, SV Trust, Chennai: Music Academy,
4.5.1997.
ym Sstri II, Handwritten Notebook 1 & 2, 1932 to
1942.
81
AUDIO REFERENCE
Sampradaya - Mylapore, Chennai-4.
T.Brinda - Cassette No.0431 side B
Ramaravi - Cassette No.0408 and 0409
Vidya Shankar - Cassette No.072 and 073
Saraswathy Vaggeyakara Trust : Chennai
a. R.Vedavalli - Recorded on 26.4.87
b. Charmuathy Ramachandran - Recorded on 26.4.87
c. B.V.Raman & B.V.Lakshmanan - Recorded on 16.4.91
d. D.K.Jayaraman - Recorded on 26.4.87
e. S.Sowmya - Recorded on 16.5.91
f. Rajkumar Bharathy - Recorded on 9.10.94
g. Bombay Sisters - Recorded on 9.10.94
h. Subramaniyam, T.R. - Recorded on 9.10.94
Private Collections
a. Dr.C.K.Ritha Rajan I-ym Sstris Compositions
-23.3.95
b. Dr.C.K.Ritha Rajan II-Subbarya Sstris Compositions
-23.3.95
c. S.Rajam -ym Sstri & Subbarya Sstris
Compositions 28.5.96
d. S.V.Parthasarathy -ym Sstris Compositions
28.5.95
e. Pattammal I-Collected from N.Vijayasiva 15.7.97
f. Pattammal II-Collected from N.Vijayasiva 15.7.97
g. Jayaraman D.K.-Collected from N.Vijayasiva 15.7.97
82
APPENDIX I
CHART II
RAGAS HANDLED
S.No. Name of the raga S.No.of Mela No.of Compositions
S.S. Su.S. A.S
1. Todi 8 4 1 -
2. Desiyatodi 8 - 1 -
3. Dhanyasi 8 1 1 -
4. Punnnagavarali 8 3 - -
5. Ahiri 8 1 - 1
6. Asaveri 8 - - -
7. Kalkada 13 1 - -
8. Saveri 15 5 - -
9. Lalita 15 1 - -
10. Paraz 15 4 - -
11. Jaganmohini 15 1 - -
12. Gouplipantu 15 3 - -
13. Sourastra 17 1 - -
14. Vasanta 17 - 1 -
15. Anandhabhairavi 20 4 - 2
16. Bhairavi 20 3 - -
17. Manji 20 1 - 1
18. Madhyamavathi 22 3 - 1
19. Sri 22 1 1 -
20. Karnatakakapi 22 1 - -
21. Abheri 22 1 - -
22. Ritigaula 22 - 1 -
23. Mukhari 22 - 1 -
24. Darbar 22 - 1 2
25. Kambhoji 28 1 - -
26. Yadukulakambhoji 28 1 1 -
27. Sahana 28 - 1 1
91
28. Mohanam 28 - - -
29. Natakurinji 28 1 - 1
30. Kedaragaula 28 2 - -
31. Sankarabharana 29 3 - 1
32. Bilahari 29 - - 1
33. Athana 29 - - -
34. Begada 29 3 1 -
35. Nilambari 29 1 - -
36. Arabhi 29 1 - -
37. Janaranjani 29 1 - -
38. Nata 36 1 - -
39. Varali 39 2 - -
40. Purvakalyani 53 2 - -
41. Cintamani 56 1 - 1
42. Kalyani 65 9 1 1
43. Saranga 65 - - -
44. Hamirkalyani 65 - 1
APPENDIX I
CHART III
TALAS HANDLED
S.No. Name of the tala No.of Compositions
S.S. Su.S. A.S
1. Adi 27 7 9
2. Rupakam 9 4 2
3. Triputa 10 - -
4. Capu 14 2 -
5. Khanda jhampa 1 - -
6. Khanda ata 2 - -
7. Tisra matya 3 - -
8. Khanda matya 1 - -
9. Misra jhampa 2 - -
10. Misra laghu 3 - -
11. Khanda eka - - 2
92
APPENDIX II
Example 1
Transliteration of the notation of the krti Emaninne
Mukhari of Subbaraya Sastri (Anupallavi)
as found in the book SSPS, pp.332-334.
Emaninne
Raga : Mukhari
Tala : Adi
Anupallavi
1. ,,, N d D Pmpm pD| S ,,,, m m | p m G rs rmpd ||
Samaja ka . mini | i.| am.ba . ||
2. pdm+ do | g R pM dp | do ||
do | .i.. do ||
3. Pdppm+ do | rrmm pdN dp | do ||
. Do | i | do ||
4. Pdppm+ do | S ,,,, sndp | mgrsrmpd ||
. do | i | do ||
5. . do|S ,, srgrsndp| sndp mgrs rmpdN ||
. do | i | do ||
6. dpmPm+ do | srgr rsNdp mpdn | do ||
. do | i | do ||
7. Do do | srgr rssn nddp mpdp | pmmg grR s rmpdN ||
. do | i | do ||
105
Example 2
Tallininnu
Transliteration of the notation of the krti Tallininnu
Kalyani (pallavi and anupallavi) as found in
the book SSPS (pp.322-324).
Raga : Kalyani
Tala : Misra capu
Pallavi
1. ,, + S, S | R R g G | , m P, M | G G r m g ||
Talli | ninunera | nam mi | nanuvina ||
2. gr + Rgr sns | do | ,, P m P| G pm rmg ||
ve do | do | nam mi| nanuvina ||
3. do | do | ,, dn SR | do ||
do | do | nam mi | do ||
4. do | do | ,,dnsr gpm | do ||
do | do | nam mi | do ||
5. do | do | ,, Ndp M | G sdpM rmg ||
do | do | nam mi | nanu vinave ||
6. do | do | ,,gmpdnsnd p | do ||
do | do | . nam..mi| do ||
Anupallavi
1. ,,, + S, S | S N s S | ,, dndn dN | dp D nN ||
Yella | lo
S + do | do | dnsn dnsn dN | do ||
S + S, sn | D n d P| ,, gmpd snnd P| g Pdp M rmg || gr|
(Talli)
106
Example 3
Cittasvara of the song Sankri in Saveri raga, Rupaka tala
Version I from HW (p.35)
R ,, ,,,, R ,, || ,, R gsrs ndpd ||
S ,, ,,,, S ,, || ,, R rgrs ndpd ||
rsrm, grs rmpd || pmpd , ppm pds ||
rgrg rsnd pmpd || rSr sndp mgrs ||
Version II from SSKN(p.78) Tisra gati
R ;; ;; R ; Rgs rsnd pd | S;;; S ; + ; srg rsndpd ||
rsr Mg rs rm pd pm pdp pm pdsr | g R grs ndp pdr | S,
rsndpM gr ||
Example 4
Emaninne
Raga : Mukhari
Tala : Adi
Carana
m g G grR g r s ndpm | p d s n d P |
Vara kan cipura laya va sini Sri | parade vadane |
d m P p m g r | gs+
dukuma raru danam | ma (Rakendu)
107
Example 5
Sankari
Raga : Begada
Tala : Rupakam
Anupallavi
n s r s m m r s r n d P | rs P d M R S ||
pankaja sambhava sannuta | pa . lincu kamaksi ||
Carana
n d p m p g r s n s G | r g m p ddps n s r s |
munumo konibrocinadala | lanucala vini vacciti |
n s r s m m r s n n d p | r s S p d p m R s ||
vinuma ganama ninunam | minava danara ksi mpa ||
Kamakshi
Raga : Varali
Tala : Misracapu
(Version I KMM, p.77)
; ; G ; M ; P | ; M G R G ; M ||
Na . ma . na | vivinude vi ||
; N; D; N D | M G M ; N D ; ||
ni ve gati | yaninam mina ||
P M; ; G ; M | D ; R S; N S ||
nu ma . . yamma | ve ga me karu ||
D N; D P ; M | d M G, R, s ; R ||
naju davam ma | banga ru bomma ||
Version II (SSC, p.117))
P , ; d p | m g r GM | D, N d m | g r s g r G ||
Na . mana | vivinide vi | ni ve gati | yani namina
m P;; m d n |G r G s r | nS n d p m | p P m G R ||
nu ma yamma |ve game karu |naju de vamma |bangaru
bomma
108

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