LalitAmbikAyai- Bhairavi

After 2 months, I am finally getting an opportunity to blog :). I know its been extremely long since I last posted and I have even come to realize that I was posting more often while I was in the US. Time has indeed become a luxury after coming back to India. I cant believe that 4 months have flown by since I came back home. Over the last 2 months, I have been refreshing a lot of my Engineering basics and completed a course in Catia, a nice design tool with which I have completely fallen in love with. However, with the current economic scenario, I havent had much success obtaining interview calls. And even those few companies which called me for interviews, offered me extremely poor pay packages. I guess they are taking advantage of the situation and are trying to acquire qualified professionals at cheap rates.

With the situation being so, I guess the field of mechanical engineering is going to lose yet another decently skilled guy to either the software or the management stream :(. Though I hate to do it myself, I reckon I will be pushed to take this decision after putting up a fight for a few more months. Well, if thats what God and Guru have planned for me, destiny..here I come. Sorry if I have bored you guys with my rant but it always feels great to share things with my friends here :). Anyway, on the musical front, I have been attending quite a few concerts and have been enjoying myself :). And after some vain attempts at singing and playing guitar, I have come to the conclusion that I am much happier just being a nice rasika and an ardent devotee of this art in general and dIkshithar in particular :).

Offlate, I have been captivated by hindustani music thanks to my brother. I have become a huge fan of Rashid Khan sir. The impeccable shruti he maintains combined with his amazing voice, control and brilliance has continued to blow me away over the last 3 weeks or so. His pUriya kalyAn, bAgESri and gOrakh kalyAn pieces to name a few are mind-boggling. I have also taken a huge liking for the ali brothers from across the border, Ustad Nazakat Ali khan and Ustad Salamat Ali khan. Their open throated music, mind-boggling sangathis and crystal clear 4th speed brighAs are qualities have made me listen to their presentation of kAfi and Sindh Bhairavi over and over again. However, in my extremely humble opinion, the lack of laya aspect (no kanakkus, koraippus, thIrmAnams etc) leaves a gaping hole in the otherwise beautiful edifice of Hindustani music. Anyway..thats a topic to be discussed in another post.

Coming to today's krithi, since in my previous blog, I had mentioned of an intersting story about the LalitAmbika dEvi at tirumeichur, one of the temples I had visited in my december pilgrimage, I thought I will take up a dIkshithar krithi composed on this dEvi. From the story I am going to narrate and from the sAhityam in this krithi, it would make sense why I took up this relatively unknown krithi. Anyway, the story goes like this. After coming back from the US, I was invited for lunch by my dear friend Shreekrishna's mother and father. During a casual discussion after lunch, SK's mother told me the story of the people who were her sister's neighbour about 20 years ago. It seems the couple who lived beneath her sister's house were pious and were great devotees to Goddess Ambal. It seems that Goddess was appearing in the wife's dreams every night as a small girl child and was telling her to buy her a nice pair of anklets (kolusu). When the wife asked the child how she will know her ankle size and where to find Her, the child just replied saying that "buy what you think will look good on my legs and I will wear it".

The wife and husband bought a nice anklet and went in search of the ambal. But to whichever temple they went, the kolusu was either too small or too big for the dEvi. After going to hundreds of temples and trying in vain to fit the anklet, the couple came to thirumeichur. After convincing the pUjAri at the sannidhi, it seems the lady tried the anklet on the dEvi's leg and it just snapped into position. It was such a perfect fit that to date, not even the pUjAri has been able to remove it while doing abhishekhams. What an amazing story and what a blessed couple they were. When she told me this story, SK's mother could not recollect the name of the temple and told me that it is somewhere near tiruvArUr. Accidentally, during my kumbakonam trip, I was travelling from tirunAgESwaram to kUthanUr Saraswati temple, my cab driver Guru told me the exact same story ("kolusu pota swami"-as the locals call it there) as we were passing tirumeichur. With tears rolling down my cheek and hair standing on my back, I told him to drive me there. Inspite of a broken bridge (the temple is pretty much inside a forest), he took me there. I was thinking to myself "I am indeed blessed and probably the dEvi is drawing me to Her temple" because this was too much of a coincidence. More amazement awaited me as I reached the temple.

I felt a current race through my body as I entered the MeghanAtha swami- LalitAmbika temple at tirumeichur. I was pretty much the only person at the temple. After spending some time at the main meghanAtha sannidhi, I ran with great eagerness to see the Goddess. However, to my utter disappointment, the sannidhi was closed and I was crest fallen. As I was wondering what to do and cursing myself, out of nowhere, a pUjAri came and smiled at me. He told "romba dhooram lendhu varel polakke ambAl a darisanam panna..sannidhi a naan thirandhu vidaren" ("Looks like you have come a long way to have the darshan of the dEvi..I will open the sannidhi for you"). As he opened the door, I was visibly shivering and I was crying uncontrollably. He opened the door and there She was fully covered in white. I cried more as I saw the anklet and how it fitted Her. I felt as if I had satisfied the purpose of my birth. After spending sometime there, I thanked Her from the bottom of my heart for providing such a wonderful darshan, a sight this soul will not forget till his last breath ;(.

In this beautiful krithi "LalitAmbikAyai" composed appropriately in Bhairavi by the nAdhajyOti, in the samaSTi caraNam, dIkshithar describes the Goddess as "bAlikA nAma rUpAyai" (the one who has the form of a young girl) and as in the story, the Goddess appeared as a small girl child in the lady's dreams. I will move on to the krithi now..

Pallavi:

lalitAmbikAyai lakSya kOTyANDa nAyikAyai
lalanAyai namastE namastE

Meaning:

dIkshithar sings "I prostrate again and again ("namastE namastE") before LalitAmbika, the queen/ruler ("nAyikAyai") of lakhs and crores of universes ("lakSya kOTyANDa"), the one who is embodiment of shakti (womanhood) ("lalanAyai")".

dIkshithar bursts into music straight away prostrating before the dEvi and describing Her as the ultimate ruler and protector of the different worlds. The "la" adyAkshara prAsam strikes the observer. As we have observed in so many of his krithis, the "double namastE krithis" (as we call it :) ) are something special. And this krithi is no different..he starts off with the niSadam and brilliantly employs the avarOhaNam as "nnrsndp" phrase at "lalitAmbi" followed by a plain mukhAri-ish "M GR S" at "kAyai" (the word split is just to explain the phrase-sorry about it). He brings in the bhairavi rAga chAya completely with the oscillating gAndAra at kOT"yAN"Da and completely embellishes it with "r G M P" at "lalanAyai". The two namastEs are interwoven with symmetric phrases to create a masterpiece of a pallavi and the typical "rgmpdnsr" at the end of the pallavi to loop back gives that extra punch. dIkshithar manages to capture the essence of such a majestic rAga in the 5 words of the pallavi itself :). A genius non-pareil as I always say :).

SamaSTi caraNam:

bAlikA nAma rUpAyai phAla candra dharAyai
jAlandara pIThAyai jvala-jvAlA mAlAyai
nIla lOhita pUjitAyai naTa bhairavI nartanAyai
kalAnidhi vadana SobhAyai kAnCana-maya guruguha nutAyai

Meaning:

dIkshithar describes the goddess as "The one who possesses the name and form ("nAma rUpAyai") of a young girl ("bAlikA"). The one who wears ("dhArAyai") the crescent moon ("candra") on Her forehead ("phAla"). The one who resides in jAlandara peetha and the one who wears a sparkling ("jvala-jvAlA") garland ("mAlAyai"). The one worshipped ("pUjitAyai") by the red-blue hued one, Lord Shiva ("nIla lOhita") and the one who danced ("nartanAyai") the cosmic dance as Bhairavi. The one who is a treasure-house of arts ("kalAnidhi") and the one whose face ("vadana") is beautiful ("SobhAyai"). The one who is covered in gold ("kAnCana-maya") and the one who is worshipped ("nutAyai") by Lord guruguha".

As I mentioned earlier, dIkshithar also sees the dEvi as a divine small girl. The reference to jAlandara peetha is something for which I request a more detailed explanation from the readers of this blog. I am not sure if dIkshithar is referring to the 64 Shakti Peethas in this physical world or if he is referring to one of the shakti centers in the astral body plane. If someone can throw more light on this, I would be really happy to learn. dIkshithar describes Lord Shiva as "nIla lOhita". The basic explanation for this reference is ofcourse Lord Shankara's blue neck and red colored body. The upanishads describe that the fire of His third eye and the cool bluish color of the crescent on his head combine for the nIla lOhita effect. In philosophy, we find yet another definition where ignorance is symbolized by blue color and knowledge by red color. Since Lord Shiva is the destroyer of ignorance, he is called nIla-lOhita.

Musically, there are some pretty phrases in the caraNam. dIkshithar begins the caraNam with the "pdndp" phrase at "bAlika" followed by a dIrga "D mp" at "nAma". dIkshithar completely murders the tAra sthAyi with phrase like "rG Mgr" at "jAlandara" and the ever pleasing "RSNDP" at "jvala-jvAlA". As always, the madhyama kAla sAhityam has that extra kick and gallop. dIkshithar embellishes nIla lOhita with a swarAksharam beginning "nd dp" and a brilliant "ss ndp" at "naTa bhairavi". And he shows his skill once again at incorporating the rAga mudhra. Considering some of his other extremely brilliant shows of rAga mudhra usages, this must have been a cake walk for the genius :).

On the whole, this is a wonderful composition from which there is much to learn and understand. I am sure that most of you wouldnt have even heard about this krithi and hence I urge you to listen to it when you find time. There is a really good rendition of this krithi by Vijay shiva sir on our dIkshithar website..please make use of it. On my next visit to tirumeichur, I will surely sing this krithi and seek the dEvi's blessings :). After what I would call a divine experience, I feel very attached to this temple and the Goddess and this krithi for sure has become very special to me :).

Now that I am jobless anyway, I guess I will make good use of this time and try to blog as much as I can till I find employment :). In that sense, the coming months will definitely be a pleasure :). I have not decided which krithi to take up next. I will think it over tonight and try to post it within the next few days :). Jumping into SSP right away :). shrI gurubhyO namah:

A trip to remember-Part2

(Continued from previous post)
I just came back from the music season in Chennai and hence the delay in posting this. I had an absolutely wonderful time listening to so many kutcheris and spending time with some cherished friends :). Continuing with my pilgrimage trip, December 4th, 2008 was a special day in this mortal's life. I got up at 4:45 in the morn, took a refreshing bath and caught the bus to trichy inorder to attend my friend Vasumathi's marriage at Srirangam. As the bus passed through tanjore, I caught a glimpse of the BrihadISwara temple and continued on to trichy. I reached Srirangam around 8:30 am and was right on time for the muhurtham. Vachoo akka welcomed me with her brilliant smile as always :). For pictures, please click here. I had breakfast, watched the mAngalyadhAraNam and after wishing the couple, I walked to the Srirangam temple. By accident, I tagged along with a special darshan group (they had obviously paid money for the darshan :) :)). I did not know it was a special darshan group and I got an amazing darshan for free thanks Ranganatha swAmi :). I sang "rangapuravihAra", "ranganAyakam" and "shrI bhArgavi". I took the prasAdham (kalkandu, chandanam and a lotus from thAyAr RanganAyakI's divine feet) and went back to the kalyana mandapam. Vachoo akka and Balaji were extremely happy and took the prasAdham with glee..what better way to bless the newly-weds. After a sumptuous lunch, I bid goodbye to the couple and took a bus to my college REC, Trichy (now NITT).

As I walked into the campus, I realized that thanks to some serious Central government funding, the college has undergone a massive transformation in the last 3 years. There were new buildings for classrooms, a brand new alumni building and great upgradation of the EEE auditorium (where we used to watch films every friday night), the A2 hall and the barn. The main road itself has been converted into a beautiful avenue filled with trees. After paying a visit to the Octagon (our computer center) and the snacketeria, I went to my mechanical engineering department building :). Amidst nostalgic memories, I walked around the building and went to a few other places in the campus which are very close to my heart ;(. For pictures, click here. With much reluctance, I moved on to the bus stand to catch the next bus to tanjore. I reached tanjore around 2:30 in the afternoon and immediately took a bus to tiruvArur, the divine place that had drawn me to come back to India from the US.

With much excitement I boarded the bus and watched all the paddy fields pass by in a rush. As I reached tiruvArur at 4:00 pm, the evening breeze had set in and cool winds welcomed me :). For some weird reason, I felt as though I belonged there and had been there already though I have never been to tiruvArur in the past 25 years of my existence. I walked in a particular direction from the bus stand without asking anyone for directions to the temple. After a 15 minute walk, I was standing outside the majestic tyAgarAja-kamalAmbA temple. At that moment, I felt as though I had attained the goal of my life and served the purpose of my existence. As I entered the temple through the east gopuram, vast corridors welcomed me. I felt like an ant as the 8 towering gopurams of tiruvArur stood before me. With tears in my eyes and devotion in my heart, I started singing the tyAgarAja vibhakti series of krithis as I walked around the temple. There were probably around 60-70 lingams just on the outside prAkAram, each with their own sannidhis. After a wonderful darshan of the swAmi, I continued to go to each of the famous tiruvArUr panCalingams. I sang AnandESwarEna samrakSitoham and went to all the 5 sannidhis.

I came back to the main prAkAram and visited the nIlOtpalAmba sannidhi. She was beauty personified. Running high on emotions, I sang "shrI nIlOtpalanAyike", "nIlOtpalAmbAm"(both in nArirItigowLa) and "nIlOtpalAmbikayAH"(kannaDa gowLa) and did a sASHTANga namaskAra to the dEvi. I prepared myself to enter the hallowed corridors of Goddess kamalAmbA next. With trembling feet and the navAvarNams on my lips, I entered the sannidhi. I have no words to describe the beauty of Her. She was robed in glorious red and Her beauty brought tears to my eyes right away. I spent quite sometime at the sannidhi and sang a few lines of all the navAvarNams. With utmost reluctance, I left the temple and walked to the grand temple tank, kamalAlayam. As I sat there on the steps of the tank and watched the sun go down against the main gopuram of the temple, at the height of my emotions, I prayed that if I ever had a next birth, I should be born in tiruvArUr and spend my entire life in and around this temple.

Since it was getting dark, I had to move on. A 5 minute walk from the temple took me to dIkshithar's house. I had run out of tears already and with a kind of numb feeling, I entered the nAdhajyOthi's house (now converted into a small temple for the trinity by the Government). I prayed with all my might and meditated for a few minutes. I sang "mInAkSi mE mudam". As I finished, a group of about 10 kutti school girls came and sang beautifully. My soul was satisfied and I had finally done what I had wanted to do for so many years. I went to tyAgarAja swAmi's house in the next parallel road and to Shyama Shastri's house in the road next to that. The fact that the trinity, perhaps 3 of the biggest musical geniuses to have walked this planet were born in the same city and had lived within 5 minutes walking distance of each other is remarkable to say the least. It was past 7 pm and I still had a 2 hour ride back to kumbakonam ahead of me. Hence, I was forced to leave this beautiful town ;(. With a promise to myself that I will come back in 2009, I consoled myself and took the next bus to kumbakonam. With my heart still at tiruvArUr, I spent the next 2 hours in the bus to kumbakonam listening to some nice dIkshithar krithis on my ipod. After a nice dinner, I retired for the day.

On 5th December, I woke up at 5:15 and after a refreshing bath, I was off on my temple hunt :). I began the day with a visit to the Brihaspathi navagraha sthalam at Alangudi, about 20 kms from kumbakonam. Since the next was guru payirchi, I wanted to avoid the crowd :). Had an amazing darshan and sang the pallavi and anupallavi of "brihaspatE" (aTHAna) as I walked around the prAkAram. Next stop was Pattiswaram durga dEvi temple. I was blown away by the size and beauty of the main gopuram as I approached the temple. I entered the temple right in time for the morning main Aradhanai. The dEvi was amazingly beautiful and even now as I write about Her, my eyes well up. If anyone goes to the kumbakonam area, this temple is a must visit. With much reluctance (as always :)), I left this temple and the next stop was thirukarugAvUr garbarakSAmbikai temple. As the name of the dEvi suggests, this temple is extremely special for pregnant and expecting mothers. This temple is a 10 km deviation from the main road to tiruvaiyyAru. Guru (the cab driver) took me as close as possible to the temple. From where he parked the car, I had to cross a beautiful bridge by foot. The wooden bridge overlooking the Kaveri river was the only way into the town. After crossing the bridge and walking half a kilometer, I reached the garbarakSAmbikai temple. As I washed my feet in the huge temple tank, the soothing morning breeze and the bright sunlight was a beautiful experience in itself.

After a peaceful darshan of the dEvi and the swAmi here, I walked back to the cab as we took off for the 108 sivAlayam in papanasam on the way to tiruvaiyyAru. As the name suggests, this temple has 108 lingams. It was much smaller than I expected it to be. The next stop was tiruvaiyyAru. As we drove from pApanAsam, we crossed the 5 rivers after which the town is named ("aiyy"(5)+"Aru"(river)). I couldnt get enough of the countryside as we drove for about 40 minutes. I reached the tiruvaiyyAru panCanadISwarar temple around 10:30 am. The main gopuram was huge but it for sure needs a new touch-up. As soon as I entered the temple, I could immediately feel vibrations which were perhaps the highest I have felt in the last few days. The temple's long winding corridors were intricate and I reached the main sannidhi wondering how they had constucted this magnificient temple. I sang shrI panCanAdISam in sahAna composed by Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer as walked around the huge prAkAram. I walked through a small corridor to enter the Dharmasamvardhani thAyAr sannidhi. The dEvi was beautifully adorned in green that day and it was a sight for eternity. With all devotion I sang dharmasamvardhani in madhyamavati. I was just in time for an abhishekam. As I left this wonderful kSEtra, I once again consoled myself by promising to come back in 2009. A 10 minute walk took me to Saint tyAgarAja's samAdi. After praying to the sadguru and worshipping the same rama idol that he had worshipped, I sang manasa yetulo in malayamArutham and nannu vidaCi in rItigOwLa. I walked behind the temple and sat under a huge tree on the banks of Kaveri. After enjoying the location and the breeze for a few minutes, I walked back to my cab.

Next stop was the navagraha sthalam for Chandra at thingalur, a 15 minute drive from tiruvaiyyAru. I very vividly remembered the winding path from the main road to the temple through the paddy fields from my previous trip here. After worshipping the Lord, I sang Chandram Bhaja mAnasa in asAvEri. As it was approaching noon, I had to get a move on. The final stop in my pilgrimage was swAmimalai on my way back to kumbakonam. After having darshans of Lord Shiva and Parvati here, I walked up the steps to Lord Swaminatha's Sannidhi. I sang swAminAtha paripAlayAsumAm in nATa and seeked His blessings. I sang daNDAyudapANim (Anandabhairavi) and the majestic shrI subrahmaNyAya namastE (kAmbhOji) as I walked around the beautiful temple. Guru drove me back to Kumbakonam. After thanking him for the wonderful service, I had a nice lunch and caught up on some sleep in the afternoon. Around 5 in the evening, I had a hot coffee and went on a nice evening walk around this beautiful temple town. I purchased some sweets and a pack each of the famous kumbakonam appalams and kumbakonam coffee :). I went to the nAgESwaran temple in kumbakonam and spent my evening there before returning to my hotel. Had dinner, watched some TV and went to bed.

On December 6th, I had to catch my train back to bangalore at 8:30 pm. From my college days, I had fallen in love with the Sangeethas restaurant next to Central bus stand in trichy. Just for eating there, I had decided to board the train from trichy instead of kumbakonam :). In the morning, I woke up a little late, took a bath and went to the famous kumbESwarar-mangalAmba temple. I sang mangaLAmbAyai namastE in mALavaSri and had a wonderful darshan. I then went to the sArangapANi temple and returned to my hotel. After having a sumptuous lunch, I packed my luggage, settled the hotel bill and around 3:30, I left kumbakonam. I bid adieu to this amazing place with a tear in my eye and caught the next bus to trichy. I passed by the BrihadISwara temple and my beloved college REC,trichy once again. I reached Trichy around 6:30 pm and ate to my heart's content at Sangeethas. Amazingly, the manager recognized me from my college days (because of my extremely often visits I presume :)) and came and spoke to me :). After a nice, slow dinner of bhel puri, pAv bhAji, one masala dOsa and a hot coffee, I walked to the train station at 7:30.

Since it was December 6th (Babri masjid disaster day ;(), there were elaborate security arrangements at the train station. After a brisk frisk through my luggage by the police, I entered the trichy station from where I have travelled so many times during my college days. The train journey was uneventful and I was back in Bangalore the next day. I will forever remember the 4 days I spent in and around kumbakonam visiting all those temples. The only regret about this trip was that I could not go to the mannArguDi rAjagOpAlaswAmi temple :(. It is just a 20 km drive from AlanguDi but because of the heavy rains, a connecting bridge was broken and unfortunately, I could not go there ;(. I am sure I will be going back to kumbakonam once again in 2009 and I will for sure visit mannArguDi and ofcourse go back to tiruvArUr :) :). I thank you all for reading patiently and listening to my experiences :). If any one of you is planning to make a similar trip, please contact me and I will be more than happy to share with you some travelling information (route maps etc) so that you can plan your trips accordingly. I feel blessed to have gone on this pilgrimage and I am sure this is just the beginning and there will be many more temple trip in the coming years :).

A trip to remember-1

On the 4th of December, 2008, I finally set foot on the holy land of tiruvArUr, the birth place of some of the greatest souls to have walked this planet. I had to start off this post on my amazing pilgrimage with the high point. Now that I have mentioned this and got my urge satiated, I will try to list the temples I visited in chronological order and write a few lines about any special incidents or feelings I experienced in this extraordinary trip. For those of you who are just interested in the pictures and not in my ramblings, please click here

On December 2nd, 2008, I left my house in Bangalore on what I would call as my "dream-come-true" trip to South India. I bid farewell to an anxious amma (anxious for sending me alone) and boarded the Mysore-Mayiladuthurai express from BNG junction at 7 pm. Except for the excitement of going on a train after 4 years, the evening was quite uneventful. The next day morning, I woke up at 4 am and immediately opened the window to feast my eyes upon the glorious country side. The rich paddy fields and the "margazhi oodha kaatru" waltzed into my heart. Around 6 am, I disembarked the train at kumbakonam junction. After checking into "Hotel Kasi International", I started off the day with a cup of hot kumbakonam coffee..the taste still lingers in my tongue :). I took a snappy bath and made a few calls to find the cheapest cab service inorder to start my visits to the temples. After narrowing down, my cab driver friend for the next couple of days, Guru picked me up in that ever faithful Ambassador car :).

I started off with the Raghu navagraha sthalam at tirunAgESwaram. The first thing that struck me about this temple was the beauty of the temple tank. I washed my feet and entered the temple to see nAganAtha swAmi and the separate Raghu Bhagavan sannidhi. I sang "nAgAbharaNam nagajabharaNam". Next I went to Uppiliappan temple (stone's throw away from the Raghu temple) and sang "ShankachakragadApANim". From there, I went to Pratyangira dEvi temple, made famous by the former chief minister J.Jayalalitha. The dEvi here was perhaps the most ugra (angry) I have seen. Next stop was Thirumeichur lalitAmbika temple. With mEganAtha swAmi, the dEvi here moved me to tears. Also, the lalitAmbikai here wears an anklet ("kolusu") in one of her legs. This anklet has a wonderful story behind it as narrated by Shreekrishna's mother when I met her nearly 2 months back. I will get the full details from her and post it in my next blog.

The next temple in line was Koothanoor Saraswathi amman temple. Guru took major pains to drive us to this temple as one of the bridges were broken. It was well worth the effort. This special temple dedicated to Saraswathi amman was a mesmerising sight. I sang shrI saraswathi namOstutE in Arabhi. From there, it was a long drive straight to tirunallAru, the navagraha kSEtram for SanISwara Bhaghavan. On route, I saw some of the damages the recent torrential rains have caused. dharbAraNyESwarar in all his majestic beauty welcomed me :). I proceeded to the SanISwara sannidhi and witnessed a beautiful ArAdhanai for the deity. I felt extremely blessed to witness this and sang "diwAkara tanujam". With no heart to leave this temple, I reluctantly moved on to tirukadaiyUr. For some reason, the abhirAmi thAyAr-amritakadESwarar temple here was distinctly imprinted in my mind from my previous trip. The huge, beautiful gopuram at the corner of the dead end road brought tears to my eyes. Altogether, it was an overwhelming experience here. I sang shankaramabhirAmi manOharam with tears of joy ;(.

From here, we drove further east to kEthu navagraha sthalam at keezhperumpallam. Though the temple lacked great embellishments or a big gopuram, there were still some very strong vibations that I experienced here. Since it was nearing lunch time, I had to rush so that I could cover a few more temples before they closed the sannidhis. Next temple in line was the Budhan navagraha sthalam at tiruvEnkAdu. With a newly touched up gopuram and a huge prAkAram, the shwEtAranyESwarar swAmi temple with the sannidhi for Budhan bhagavAn was an extremely pleasant sight to say the least. The temple has two huge tanks and long corridors. I sang budhamAshrayAmi on a wednesday at the budhan sthalam..what more could I ask for. From there, we rushed to vaithISwaran kovil, the navagraha sthalam for angArakam. This kSetram is of special significance for any dIkshithar bhakta since he was named after Muthukumaraswami at this temple. The main sannidhis of VaidyanAtha swAmi and tailAmba dEvi were beautiful. I proceeded to the muthukumAraswAmi sannidhi and sang bAlasubrahmanyam in surutti. I managed to make it to the sannidhi as they were closing down for the morning with the deepArAdhanai. I then proceeded to the angArakam sannidhi and sang angArakam AshrayAmyaham and rejoiced watching all the reddish decorations for the God.

Guru and I decided to stop at mayilAduthurai for lunch and take a small nap until the temples reopened in the evening at 4. After a nice lunch, we went and parked the car in front of the abhyAmbA-mAyUranAthar temple and took a small nap :). I was the first person to enter the temple at 4. Needless to say, it was a beautiful and a pretty huge temple with long prAkArams. The mAyUranAthar sannidhi was brilliantly decorated and I sang mAyUranAtham in dhanyASi. I continued to the abhyAmbA sannidhi and spent some time there. The dEvi here was one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. She was dressed in green and I could feel extremely divine vibrations here that my knees started shaking. I sang abhayAmbA jagadamba in kalyANi, abhayAmbikAyAH in kEdAragowLa and shrI abhayAmbA in shrI rAgam. With utmost reluctance, I left this temple and proceeded to vadAnyESwarar temple, which is hardly a few kilometres from the mAyUranAthar temple. The local people at mayilAduthurai call this temple as Vallalar kovil. vadAnyESwarar has a small sannidhi but I once experienced some very high vibrations that instantly brought tears to my eyes. I had a nasty headache because of roaming since morning but the energy here was so great that my headache went away in a break of sweat. I sang vadAnyESwaram, the best dEvagAndhAri ever. I then visited the jnAnAbikA sannidhi and continued to the next sthalam.

We started our way back to kumbakonam and had quite a few temples on the way. The next stop was tirumanamchEri. The kokilAmbAl temple here is very famous and the grandeur was marvellous. We moved on to a small yet famous vanadurga temple at kadirAmangalam. True to the name, the durga dEvi here sits pretty much in the middle of a forest. But, the effort was well worth it. The deity was decorated beautifully with a garland made out of lemons. I loved the location of this temple and ofcourse the deity's brilliance. Next stop was kanjanUr. The sukra bhagavAn temple was deeply engraved in my mind from the previous visit (probably 10 years ago). Unfortunately I dont know shrI sukra bhagavantam and hence did not sing anything here :(. It was slowly getting dark as I left this temple and continued to Suriyanar kovil, the navagraha sthalam for Sun God. I wanted to be at the temple exactly at dawn or dusk, but I was a little late and reached the temple only around 7 pm. Unlike other navagraha sthalams where an amsha of Lord Shiva is the main deity, the main sannidhi at Suriyanar kovil is Lord Surya himself. Since He is believed to be an amalgam of Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma, Surya occupies the central and a supreme position among the planetary members. He sits in an elevated platform and as you go on a pradakshanam around the temple, you will come across separate sannidhis for all the other navagrahams. I hummed SuryamUrtE as I walked around the temple.

As I left Suriyanar kovil, night had fallen. The last stop for the day was tribuvanam (tiru-pU-vanam). The majestic SarabESwarar temple here is very famous. This was perhaps the most well-maintained temple that I have seen till date. The towering gopuram and the huge corridors stand testimony to some of the best architectures ever. I was really tired by this time and my legs were aching. I found it a challenge to complete the pradakshinam :). It was 15 minute ride back to my hotel at kumbakonam. I had a nice dinner, made a complete tally of the money I had spent for the day and rejoiced in the fact that I had covered 17 temples in one day :) :). After informing amma of my rich haul :), I went to sleep very early (around 10 pm) because I was tired and since the next day, I was to go to Srirangam and to tiruvArUr :D :D.

Since this post was a little longer than I thought it would be, I will stop here and continue with the rest of my experience in the next post. Hope I did not bore you guys with my own stories and experiences. I will try to wrap up my next post a little shorter than this :). More later.

kanjadaLAyatAkSi-kamalA manOhari

As I type this post, I am listening to a wonderful, heart melting mukhAri that my brother is singing in the next room and munching on yummy "maavu urundais" cooked by amma. He is practicing for his audition next week for a higher grade in AIR, bangalore. It is at moments like these that I feel extremely happy to have done what I did..leave the US and come back home. However, the flip side of the decision is that I have lost touch with so many close friends in the US (SK, hari..my gurunathars) mainly because of the time zone difference ;(. Goddess kAmAkSi should show mercy and show me the way to have the cake and eat it too.

I am leaving on a small pilgrimage to the kumbakonam belt next tuesday for a week. The highlights of the trip would be visits to the Srirangam temple, the navagraha temples, mannArguDi rAjagOpAlaswAmi temple, nAgai SoundararAja perumAl temple and the grand tiruvArur tyAgarAja swAmi temple with visits to the houses of the trinity. As any reader of this blog can imagine, I am eagerly awaiting that minute when I step into dIkshithar's house (his memorial mandapam). I will care less if my soul escapes the realms of this earth after that moment. I have been planning my schedule to cover all these places in addition to many more temples in this region. As I mentioned above, these are a few blissful moments that this soul has been waiting to experience for an entire lifetime :). At the end of the trip, I am going to chennai for the music season :) :). The next 4 weeks should be filled with fun indeed :). I would also like to take this opportunity to wish my good friend Vachooo akka a wonderful marriage and a very happy married life. I am extremely excited about meeting Bala sir and Vachoo too :).

Moving on to the dikshithar krithi for today, I will be taking up "kanjadaLAyatAksi" in rAga manOhari, a beautiful composition embellishing Goddess kAmAkSi of kAnchi. Goddess kAmAkSi is considered as a representation of shrI vidya. The idol and the meru at this temple are carved out of Salagrama and is believed to have been consecrated by sage Durvasa. Legend has it that the Goddess performed severe penance under a mango tree at kAnchi and worshipped a shivalingam made out of sand, inturn gaining Lord Shiva's hand in marriage. The dEvi here sits in a majestic padmAsana posture signifying complete control over the universe. The original kAmakSi amman temple, where Adi Shankaracharya is believed to have worshipped the Goddess and established the shri chakra. Initially, the Goddess here was a ugra form (an amsha of anger). After Adi Shankara's worship, the Goddess is said to have become peaceful and attained Her present day Shanta swarUpa. The new kAmAkSi amman temple was built in the 12th Century. More details of the temple and controversies on the authenticity of Adi Shankara sculptures at this temple can be found here

With this small introduction, I will move on to the krithi now. According to the SSP, manOhari is classified as an upAnga janya of the 33rd mELa gangataraNgiNi with the scale "Sgmpns; sndpmgs". dIkshithar straightaway employs the avarOhaNam in the opening line of the krithi,

Pallavi:

kanja daLAyatAkshi kAmAkshi
kamalA manOhari tripura sundari

Meaning:

dIkshithar directly addresses the Goddess "kAmAkSi!! The one who has large eyes ("akSi") like lotus ("kanja") leaf ("daLa"). The one who is dear ("manOhari") to Goddess Lakshmi ("kamalA")-Goddess tripurasundari!!"

dIkshithar beautifully brings in the raga mudra in the pallavi itself. This rAga has become so famous exclusively because of this krithi that people refer to the rAga itself as kamalamanOhari. As I mentioned above, the krithi starts off with the avarohaNam-"sndpmgpmg" at "kanjadaLAyatAkSi". The final oscillating gAndAram here gives the krithi a wonderful flavour. He immediately follows this with the ArOhanam-"sgmpn" at "kAmAkSi". The gAndAram seems to carry a really nice tone that gives this raga the identity and dIkshithar has repeatedly emphasized the usage of this gAndAram in this krithi. Moving on to the anupallavi,

Anupallavi:

kunjara gamanE maNi maNDita manjuLa caraNE
mAmava Siva panjara Suki pankaja mukhi
guru guha ranjani durita bhanjani niranjani

Meaning:

dIkshithar describes the Goddess in detail- "The one who has a majestic gait ("gamanE") like an elephant ("kunjara"). The one who has beautiful ("manjuLa") feet ("caraNE") adorned with ("maNDita") gems ("maNi"). Please protect me ("mAmava")!! The one who is the parrot ("Suki") encaged in the cage ("panjara") of Siva. The one who is lotus ("pankaja") faced ("mukhi"). The one who captivates ("ranjani") guruguha. The one who destroys ("bhanjani") all afflictions ("durita") and the one who is blemishless ("niranjani")."

dIkshithar employs a majestic madhyamakAla gait to describe the Goddess's gait in the anupallavi. The pallavi begins with a "nsgsgGM" phrase. The entire anupallavi gallops in madhyamakAla. The "nsgsg" phrase seems to be a pretty significant sangathi as dIkshithar repeatedly uses it to bring out the rAga bhAva. He once again employs the "nsgsg" phrase at "mAmavasiva".

dIkshithar alludes to the Goddess as the parrot in the cage of Siva. One can easily derive a much deeper meaning for this reference. The body will become a lifeless lump if there was no soul to move to physically, mentally and spiritually. Similarly, there is no point in any form ("Siva") to exist if there is no life force ("Shakti"). Thus, dIkshithar beautifully refers to the dEvi as the soul/driving force encaged within the body. dIkshithar closes the anupallavi with an amazing "psnd,pdpm,mgmpn" phrase at "durita bhanjani,niranjani". In my humble opinion, the anupallavi of this krithi serves as a websters dictionary for this rAga.

caraNam:

rAkA SaSi vadanE su-radanE
rakshita madanE ratna sadanE
SrI kAncana vasanE su-rasanE
SRngArASraya manda hasanE
EkAnEkAkshari bhuvanESvari
EkAnandAmRta jhari bhAsvari
EkAgra manO-layakari SrIkari
EkAmrESa gRhESvari Sankari

Meaning:

dIkshithar continues to describe the dEvi's beauty as he addresses Her as "the one whose face ("vadanE") is like the full ("rAka") moon ("SaSi") and the one with beautiful teeth ("su-radanE"). The one who rescued ("rakSita") cupid ("madanE"). The one who is in a bejeweled ("ratna") peeta ("sadanE") and the one who is adorned with ("vasanE") auspicious ("Sri") gold ("kAnCana"). The one who has a beautiful tongue ("su-rasanE"). The one whose beautiful smile ("manda hasanE") is filled with shringAra rasa."

In the madhyamakala sAhitya, dIkshithar continues to describe the Goddess as "the one who is embodiment of single and multiple syllabled ("Eka-anEka-akshari") mantras. The one who rules the universe ("bhuvanESwari"). The one who is like a waterfall ("jhari") of blissful ambrosia ("EkAnandAmrta") and the one is resplendent ("bhAsvari"). The one who brings auspiciousness ("Srikari") to those who worship her with steadfast devotion ("EkAgra manOlaya"). The Goddess who rules the house ("grhESwari") of Lord EkAmrESwara and the one who symbolizes auspiciousness ("Sankari")."

dIkshithar emphasizes the fruits of staunch devotion in these few lines. Look at the details he has observed in his meditative state of mind including the beautiful teeth and the graceful smile of the dEvi. The Goddess's smile once again reinforces the fact that She is no longer a "ugra" amsha of Shakti. There is a chitta swaram in this krithi which I love :). If you havent heard the swarams, I strongly urge you to look at the SSP for this krithi.

I am already excited about my train journey to Kumbakonam and my visit to all the other temples in the region :). Hence I conclude this post here. In my next post, I will post pictures of all the temples I was privileged to go to and write a few lines about my trip in brief. Watch out for some exclusive pictures of dIkshithar's house (now converted into a small temple for the trinity). Hoping to see you all on the other side of this pilgrimage as a much better human being :) !! Shri gurubhyO namah.

mInAkSi mE mudaM dEhi- gamakakriyA

Wish you all a very happy and prosperous deepavali. I apologize for not being able to post for a long time now. As most of my friends reading this blog know, I wound up my operations in the US and came back home to India on October 20th. Hence, the last month or so has been a little crazy because of packing up and travelling. Now that I am back at home, I should be able to post a little more frequently. It feels awesome to be back home, bathing in amma's love and good food and drowning in anna's wonderful music, going to temples and meeting up with friends- Life has never been more meaningful.

This past sunday, I went to my good friend Shreekrishna (SK)'s house and spent the whole day with his parents, his sister and Vasumathi Sridharan (perhaps the best akka I ever had :)). After getting to learn more about SK and his musical and academic achievements (to write about these, an entire new post will not suffice), I feel even more honored and privileged to share this blogspace with him and to have moved in close quarters with him. SK's mother showered me with more love and good food :). As I mentioned before, life seems to be much more complete than ever before.

Moving on to the krithi for the day, I will take up mInAkSi mE mudaM dEhi in gamakakriyA. Today being naraka chaturdashi (dIkshithar's samadi day), it is most appropriate that I will be blogging about this krithi. As most of you would have heard, it is said that dIkshithar shed his mortal coils on narakachaturdashi while his disciples sang the lines "mInalOcani pASamOcani" in the anupallavi of this krithi. Saluting the great guru,

Pallavi:

mInAkSi mE mudaM dEhi mEcakAngi rAja mAtangi

Meaning:

dIkshithar directly addresses the Goddess " O Goddess mInAkSi, give ("dEhi") me ("mE") bliss ("mudaM")". He describes Her as "The one who wears golden ornaments ("mEcakAngi") and the one who exists in the form of rAja mAtangi."

As I mentioned in my previous blog, there is a lot of folklore associated with this temple. Please refer to my prior post on the significance behind the term "rAja mAtangi" used by dIkshithar to describe the Goddess at Madurai. The antyAkshara prAsam set in motion in the pallavi pervades all through the krithi. The krithi starts off with "S, rssd" and dIkshithar immediately starts weaving the ArOhanam with the "Srgrgm" phrase at mI"nAkSi mE". The "Snd" phrase at "kA"ngi melts the rasikas' heart. Moving on to the anupallavi,

Anupallavi:

mAnamAtRmEyE mAyE marakataccAyE shivajAyE
mInalOcani pASamOcani mAnini kadambavanavAsini

Meaning:
dIkshithar gives Her the ultimate description in the anupallavi. He describes the Goddess as "the concept/knowledge ("mAna")(of the ultimate truth), the one who knows ("mAtR") (the ultimate truth) and the measurable/known part ("mEyE")(of the ultimate truth)". He continues to describe Her as "the one who creates delusion ("mAyE"), the one who has the color of emerald ("marakataccAyE") and the one who knows ("jAyE") Shiva." dIkshithar continues to describe Her as "The fish-eyed Goddess ("mInalOcani"), the one who destroys the bond of worldly attachment ("pASamOcani"), the venerated one ("mAnini") and the one who resides ("vAsini") in the kadamba forest ("kadambavana")".

What a beautiful anupallavi. dIkshithar pays huge respect to the Goddess in these few lines. He clearly states that She is the embodiment of ultimate truth, and that by worshipping her, one can be liberated from all the worldly attachments. dIkshithar, being the yogi he was, shook off his mortal coils and attained Sripuram while making his disciples sing these very lines. When rendered properly with bhakti, these lines combined with the beautiful retta kalai Adi tALam makes one's hair stand and the rasika in me always has that tear rolling down his cheeks while saluting this great soul ;(.

Grammatically, the alliterations in the first line of the anupallavi and the antyAkshara prAsam makes the rhyme scheme gallop at a steady pace. Musically, dikshithar uses swarAksharams for the "ma" shabda in the first line of the anupallavi. Personally, I love the "m, dmgrg" phrase at "mAnamAtR". The entire last line is beyond description. "Ss, srsn" at mInalOcani followed by "dd, sndp" at pASamOcani promptly melts the rasika's heart. And he caps it all off with a brilliant "ga da" swarAksharam at "kada"mba. What a genius ;(. Since life must move on, I will continue with the charaNam,

Charanam:

madurApurinilayE maNivalayE malayadwaja pANDyarAja tanayE
viduviDambanavadanE vijayE vINAgAna daSagamakakriyE
madumadamOdita hRdayE sadayE mahAdEva sundarESapriyE
madumuraripu sOdari SAtOdari vidiguruguha vaSankari Sankari

Meaning:

dIkshithar sings "She is the one who dwells ("nilayE") in madurApuri. The one who wears gem-studded ("maNi") bangles ("valayE") and the one who was born as the daughter of ("tanayE") of King Malayadwaja Pandya. The one whose beautiful face ("vadanE") outshines ("viDambana") the moon ("vidu") and the one who is victorious ("vijayE"). The one who created ("kriyE") the ten gamakas associated with vINa music. The one who brings delight ("mOdita") to one's heart ("hRdayE") which is as sweet as honey ("madumada") and the one who is compassionate ("sadayE"). The one who is dear ("priyE") to Lord SundareSa. The sister ("sOdari") of Lord Vishnu, who is the enemy ("ripu") of the asuras Madu and mura and the one with a slender waist ("SAtOdari"). The one who captivates ("vaSankari") Lord Brahma ("vidi") and Lord guruguha. She is Shankari, the ever auspicious one".

dIkshithar packs one big punch in the charaNam as he brings in the name of the kSEtra ("madhurapuri), describes the lineage of the Goddess ("malayadhwaja pAndyarAja"), incorporates the rAga mudra and the composer mudra. As you would recollect from my previous post, I had mentioned that Goddess rAja mAtangi is the yogic counterpart of Goddess Saraswati and is often described as holding a vINa. dIkshithar brilliantly brings in this amsha of the dEvi while at the same time incorporates the rAga mudra at "vINAgAna dasagamakakriyE"..what a genius. >--<-o. Grammatically, If you notice, throughout the krithi (pallavi, anupallavi and charaNam), dIkshithar uses the "yE" and the "I" prAsams. He employs similiar words to describe different things in the charaNam, for eg, he uses madu for both "honey" as well as the demon and uses vaSankari and Sankari one after the other..yet another display of his brilliance. Overall, a great masterpiece that has had a huge impact on me and I am sure many rasikas would share the same belief. As I conclude this post, I once again wish everyone a very happy deepavali. The best way to celebrate, as always, would be to listen to dIkshithar krithis and eat amma's food :). Continuing with dEvi krithis, as one of the readers had requested, I will take up kanCadalAyatAkSi in kamalAmanOhari in my next post. Until then, shrI gurubhyO namah:

mAmava mInAkSi- varALi

It has been nearly a month since I posted anything here. I have been travelling a bit on the weekends and hence have not been able to blog :(. Further, I am winding up here in the US and going back to India for good on October 18th. For Labor day weekend, I had amazing fun with SK, hari and audi. We spent a few days together and had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Ajit Bhaskar and his wife Nandini and meeting Prasanna Venkatesh, a devout student of carnatic music :). On the following weekend, I travelled to Indianapolis and met my Ann arbor room mates, Bharath, Aditya and Sharanya :). We had perhaps the best fun ever in those 2 days. At times like these, I profusely thank God to have given me such wonderful friends, without whom life in the US would not have been possible in the first place, let alone boring and dull.

In the last 3 years and 2 months I have spent in the US, I have changed a lot- predominantly for the good and for betterment :). Apart from the maturing experience, it has been a few years in which I have gained so many new and wonderful friends which is ultimately what matters in life. The love my friends have showered on me (and will continue to shower on me for this lifetime) just makes my hair stand up and I immediately get goosebumps. Hence, I do a sAshTAnga namaskara at all these angels that God has sent to love me >--<-o @ All!!

Shri Sanjay Subrahmanyan is performing here at Austin, Texas on October 4th and I am really excited about the fact that I will get to listen to him live after a very, very long time. Hopefully he renders some thalaivar krithis for this guruguha dAsan :).

Today, I will take up the beautiful dIkshithar krithi, mAmava mInAkSi in varALi composed by the nAdajyOthi at Madurai. Before I dive into the krithi, I would like to give a brief introduction about this kSEtram and its folklore. According to mythology, Indra once killed an innocent demon by mistake and in order to escape the effects of this sin, Indra built a small lingam in the forest he was roaming and propitiated Lord Shiva. After severe penance, Lord Shiva forgave him and Indra built a small temple at that site. King Malayadhwaja Pandyan was ruling this part of the country called kadambavanam and he came to know of this small temple. He decided to expand this temple into a big complex and build the city of Madurai around it. The king was childless and did severe penance to please Lord Shiva and beget a child. Lord Shiva answered his prayers and gave the king a 3 year old ayonija (not born out of a womb) daughter. This child was a manifestation of Lord Shiva and Goddess Shakti. Due to her beautiful fish-like eyes, the king named her as mInAkSi. She grew up to be a great warrior and after the king's demise, ruled the kingdom ably.

I must mention the yogic interpretation of Goddess mInAkSi. Sage Mathanga was from the lower chandal caste but did not believe in the caste system and wanted to attain brahmin hood through penance. Through the kripa of Lord Indra and Goddess Saraswati, sage matanga was given a beautiful daughter, Matangi. In tantraic tradition, there are ten wisdom Goddesses, Mahavidyas and Matangi is one of them and is believed to be the yogic counterpart of Goddess Saraswathi. On another note, these ten Vidyas are believed to be the source of then ten avatars of Vishnu.

Goddess Matangi is believed to have a dark complexion and she resides in the vishuddhi chakra at the throat. Through upAsana, She can be invoked for command over speech and knowledge. Goddess mInAkSi at Madurai is believed to be this amsha of Goddess Shakti. dIkshithar very beautifully brings this aspect out in the very first lines of the pallavi by addressing the Goddess as "rAja mAtangi-princess mAtangi", thereby consolidating both the physical as well as the yogic beliefs as I have described above. Since mAtangi is the yogic counterpart of Goddess Saraswathi, she holds a veena studded with emeralds and this is once again brought out by dIkshithar in the pallavi itself. With this introduction, I will now delve into the krithi,

Pallavi:

mAmava mInAkSI rAjamAtaHNgi
mANikyavallakIpANi madhuravANi varALivENi

Meaning:

dIkshithar sings "Oh Goddess mInAkSI, the fish-eyed one, the princess mAtangi, please protect me ("mAmava")." He describes the Goddess as "The one possessing an emerald studded vINa ("mANikyavallakI") in Her hands. The one with a mellifluous voice ("madhuravANi") and the one with dark hued hair ("vENi") that resembles a swarm of bees ("varALi")."

dIkshithar directly addresses the Goddess and seeks refuge. Being a vainika himself, he promptly salutes Her and refers to Her vINa. Musically, the key "PMGRS" phrase occurs at "mInAkSI" followed by the defining "S n gr G M" phrase at "varALi vENi". dIkshithar once again shows his command over the language by brilliantly incorporating the rAga mudhra as a figure of speech describing the beauty of the Goddess' hair :). Other than that, it is a pretty simple and peaceful pallavi. Moving on to the samaSTi caraNam,

samASTi caraNam:

sOmasundarEshvara sukhasphUrti rUpiNi
shyAmE shaHNkari digvijaya praTApini
hEmaratnAbharaNabhUSaNi Isha guruguha hRdAgAriNi
kAmitArttha vitaraNadhOraNi kArunyAmRtaparipUraNi
kAmakrOdhadi nivAriNi kadambakAnanavihAriNi

Meaning:

dIkshithar describes the Goddess as "The embodiment ("rUpiNi") of the vibrating force ("sphUrti") that delights ("sukha") Lord SomasundarEshvara. The dark-hued ("shyAmE") one who does good deeds ("shaHNkari") and the one who has the glory of conquering all directions ("digvijaya") and is the ruler of the world ("pratApini"). The one adorned ("bhUSaNi") by gem studded ("ratna") golden ("hEma") ornaments ("AbharaNa") and the one who resides in the heart ("hRdAgAriNi") of Lord Guruguha, the preceptor of Lord Shiva ("Isha"). The one who bestows ("vitaraNadhOraNi") all the desired boons ("kAmitArttha") of devotees. The one filled with ("paripUraNi") the nectar of compassion ("kArunyAmRta"). The one who removes ("nivAriNi") lust ("kAma"), anger ("krOda") and all other vices. The one who resides ("vihAriNi") in the kadamba forests ("kAnana")."

Look at how beautifully dIkshithar depicts the entire shrine. He brings the sannidhi right in front of your eyes in all his descriptions in the caraNam. There is once again no yogic or puranic references here that need detail explanations. He employs a vicious "S r ss S n G" at "sukhasphUrti" and the word itself vibrates to bring joy to one's hearts just like the word suggests :). This is followed by a rich "n S G M; D D N" at "shyAmE shankari" that brings out the essence of the pUrvAngam clearly. I also love "S N G R" at "hRdAgArini" and the way the caraNam ends as "nDpmgr-rsGM" at "kadambakAnanavihAriNi" and beautifully merges into the pallavi :). I dont think there is much more to beat upon here and I will promptly wind up.

Since I have given a decent explanation about the kSEtra and since one of the readers had requested, I think I will take up "mInAkSi mE mudam dEhi" in my next post. Though I wanted to reserve this krithi as the very last krithi for this blog (for obvious reasons), I guess I will take it up at this juncture and will provide some insight. I will hopefully post a few more krithis before leaving the US. See you all very soon :). shrI gurubhyO namah:!!

Panchabhoota kshEtra krithis - An email excerpt

Being the highly inert character I am, it takes a lot for me to get down to writing something in one shot. However, one fine day, I felt spirited to discuss my understanding of 3 of the 5 panchabhoota kShEtra krithis with a very close uncle (read - nearly father figure) of mine, and sent him a rather verbose email. An excerpt of the same is reproduced here. I, by virtue of being human, may have erred in many a place; I'd only be glad to rectify all such, if any.

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I want to share some certain facts about the 3 panchabhoota-kShetrams - chidambaram, tiruvaNNAmalai and SrIkALahastI with you in this mail. Most of these might be superfluous, and already known, but the context in which they are put forth in the krithis of Dikshitar that I will talk about in chunks and how merely singing/these songs is sufficient to appease/woo the deities in these places, is what I want to discuss in this mail. There will be also be instances of Dikshitar's literary genius that I will rave about to no end (where I might begin to get painful to people!) Owing to that, this mail WILL test your endurance, with its length.

Introduction

Most of these kShEtrams fall in a belt rich with puranic tales and mythological events associated with them. Unfortunately, whenever I have visited these places, my lack of knowledge of the local languauge deterred me from reading and understanding more about the kShEtrams. Also, I have always wondered how to pray to these different forms of the same God at different kShEtrams. It is the same God, and one stOtram should do, but there are differences in the "swaroopa" and "kArya" (groping for an English translation here - in a loose sense, form and purpose of appearance at that kShEtram - Shiva as the Atmalingam in gOkarNam for eg., and as kirAta (hunter) in SrIshailam - difference in form and purpose) from one kShEtram to another, which makes each kShEtram unique. Thanks to widely traveling saints and saintly figures, we have with us, almost always, stOtrams or shlOkams composed and recited in praise of that unique deity at every kShEtram. But then again, due to our limited means to get to them (Such knowledge is far from being digitised 100% still) and inescapable involvement in mundane life, we rarely attempt to get access to such resources.

Luckily for me, and for many of us students of music, the widely traveling, highly knowledgeable and polyglot vaggEyakAras of the yesteryears, have almost always visited all these brilliant kShEtrams, and documented their prayers to the Almighty there, in the form of exceptional and brilliant krithis, which have been passed down generations for our benefit. So, thanks to their scholarship, the average level of understanding and knowledge about various kShEtrams becomes accessible to those associated with Carnatic music. With some effort towards understanding their picturesque sketching of Sanskrit grammar, a whole new level of elevation can be reached, merely by enjoying the lyrical and grammatical beauty of these krithis. Amongst these, Muthuswami Dikshitar stands out, with a notorious reputation of having composed songs even on vaTukanAtha, found in a roadside temple at Thiruvaiyyaru !!

Being a devout student of Sanskrit, my love towards and minuscule understanding about Dikshitar krithis is not very coincidental. So, I will be citing from Dikshitar krithis alone, in a bid to try erase the thin line demarcating carnatic music and bhakti (from a personal perspective).

Chidambaram
As you may already know, shiva at chidambara is formless, or more aptly, adorns the form of "ether" - AkAsha, the all pervading formless panchabhootam. Muthuswami Dikshitar, in his krithi called "chidambara naTarAjamoortim", mentions this in the very first paragraph, pallavi, of the krithi as "chidambara-naTarAjamUrtim chintayAmi atanukeertim". The term atanukeertim, meaning "The one who is famous for being formless". ('tanu' means 'body or form', 'atanu' means 'bodiless or formless) qualifies the ethereal form of shiva. He talks about the consort of shiva at chidambara, shivakAmI (often mispronounced in tamil as sivagami), in the 2nd paragraph - madambA shivakAmIpatim. He refers to dEvi as 'madambA', meaning my mother, with a passionate emphasis on "my", seen quite often in his dEvi krithis.

He goes on to describe the naTarAja there as "shining with the ethereal joy derived from the cosmic dance" in his krithi Ananda-naTana-prakAsham (which is a panchabhoota krithi) in the pallavi - "Ananda-naTana-prakAsham chitsabhEsham AshrAyami, shivakAmavalleesham". The consort of shiva is referred to as shivakAmavalli! What a beautiful phrase to refer to pArvati! Further, he goes on to attribute the form of AkAsha to shiva in the phrase "bhuktimuktiprada dharAkAsham" in the anupallavi. The unintentional, yet intentional attribution to the kShEtram as such, comes in the phrase "shArddUlacharmAmbaram chidambaram", in the charanam, which talks of the formlessness of naTarAja and the kShEtram in one word. The beauty of the word chidambaram itself is evident in its grammatical split chidambaram = chit + ambaram. I confess not to have a good understanding of the depth of the meaning of this word, but my interpretation is that of "ambaram iva chit" = "a level of consciousness as pure as that of Ether". chit here refers to the 2nd of the 3 - sat-chit-Anandam. I may be totally wrong with this here. Moving on, Shiva's pose of tAnDava is brought out in the term vinOdatANDava - the cosmic dance which is vinOda, fun and frolic, to him.

The richness of description of Shiva, his concert and a complete qualification of his form at chidambaram are so succinctly put forth in these two compositions. Of course, there are a few more compositions on naTarAja at chidambaram (shivakAmeepatim chintayAmyaham is one that comes to me right away).

The lyrics of these songs are available at the links hyperlinked to the krithi name - AnandanaTanaprakAsham (Lyrics, Audio), chidambaranaTarAjamUrtim (Lyrics, Audio), ShivakAmpatim chintayAmyaham (Lyrics, Audio), chidambaranaTarAjam AshrayE&ham (Lyrics). Also, do listen to shivakAmIshwarIm chintayAmyam, a krithi of dEvi shivakAmI at chidambaram (Lyrics, Audio).

Talking about chidambaram, there is a gOvindarAja temple there, which has also been sung in praise of in gOvindarAjEna rakShitO&ham (Lyrics, Audio).

SrIkAlahastI

I will be refering to primarily two krithis here. One of them is a panchabhoota-kShEtrakrithi, SrIkALahastIsha, and another is jnAnaprasUnAmbikE on shiva's consort at SrIkALahastI.

Shiva at SrIkALahasti is said to be in the form of Air (anila, vAyu, sameera etc.). This point is driven home right away by Dikshitar in the pallavi of the krithi on shiva at SrIkALahasti, "SrIkALahastIsha" as "SrIkALahastIsha shritajanAvana-sameerAkAra mAm pAhi rAjamouLE Ehi". The term sameerAkAra describes the AkAra, form, of shiva to be that of sameera, air. [I will not go into describing the legend of SrIkALahasti here (the story of the spider, snake and elephant). I refer you to the temple website for the same.]

The anupallavi of the same song beautifully ascribes the five fundamental elements, panchabhootas, to shiva. It also has one of the most brilliant uses of Sanskrit grammar in - "pAkArividhihariprANamayakOSha-anilAkAsha-bhoomi-salilAgni prakAsha shiva". There are numerous ways of understanding and interpreting this line. One direct understanding is that shiva manifests his jyoti/tejas in the form of anila (air), AkAsha (ether), bhoomi (earth), salila (water), agni (fire) - the panchabhootams. Of course, the panchabhoota-kShEtrams represent this fact. He is also described as 'pAkArividhi' - another lovely usage - which means "fate to the enemies of indra (pAka) - destroyer of all evil". (The link to the lyrics that I shall provide you with at the end of this section puts forth another interesting interpretation of the anupallavi. The difference in meanings could be beacuse, either I am completely ignorant, or Sanskrit is beautiful, or both!).

The charaNam is wonderful again. His consort is brought into picture directly with - "jnAnaprasUnAmbikApatE bhaktAbhimAna-dakShiNa-kailAsa-vAsa". It also talks about shakti in the form of jnAnaprasUnAmbikA. Moreover, the krithi incorporates a reference to SrIkALahastI as dakShiNa-kailAsa. In fact, in another kShEtram - shiva is proclaimed as the "resident" of dakShiNakAshi - kuzhikkarai in Central TN. Of course, the fact that kuzhikkarai is dakShiNakAshi is well corroborated with the use of the exact sanskrit translation, gartateera, in 2 of Dikshitar's magnum opuses - kASi vishwEshwara Ehi and SrI vishwanAtham (a krithi composed in 14 ragams), (as well as annapoorNE vishAlAkShI in sAma). While the former actually explicitly uses 'dakShiNa-kAshi vishwEshwara" for the anupallavi-pallavi joiner, the latter uses "SrIpura-niRRutti-bhAga-gartatIra-sthiratara bhoopAla-pAlanam".

A note on this now. Here, my interpretation, is that SrIpura refers to Thiruvarur, for Kuzhikkarai comes south of NH-67 connecting Tanjavur (which is west of tiruvarur) and tiruvarur. So, kuzhikkarai is indeed southwest of Thiruvarur. I support my claim as follows. The corroboration for SrIpura being thiruvArur comes in Dikshitar's SrI kamalAmbA jayati - in the line "SrIpura-bindu-madhyastha chintAmani-mandirastha shivAkAra-manchastitha shivakAmEshAngastha". Here, Dikshitar seems to be defining the "coordinates" of kamalAmbA, from the city, to the temple, to the position, to shiva himself! (Talk about shiva-shakti union!). Sure enough, the tiruvarur temple is right in the middle of the town - SrIpura-bindu-madhyastha (bindu-madhyastha = center point ?), and there on, the localization of the coordinates of kamalAmbA. Dikshitar never ceases to amaze me with his brilliance! Interestingly, mannArguDi, referred to as dakShiNa dwAraka (Thanks Sai!) in SrI rAjagOpAla, is also southwest of Thiruvarur and south of the NH-67, on SH-66 off nidamangalam! Now, back to kALahastI.

Another term that describes shiva ever-so-wonderfully here is "heenajAtikirAtakEna poojita-keertE" - One who is famous to be worshipped even by the low-caste hunter (kaNNappa, in folklore). I understand this line very differently, which gives a different, perhaps unreasonably ridiculous, interpretation too (Again, I might be stupid here). The term "heenajAtikirAtakEna-poojita-keertE" could be split as above, in which case, the "grammatical case" that flows through the krithi faces a small alteration - with the 3rd case (tRutIyA vibhakti) coming in (with kirAtakEna) and then restoring to the 'reference' case (with poojitakeertE) (called sambOdhana vibhakti in Sanskrit). However, the case can be maintained in the sambOdhana itself, if understood as "heenajAtikirAtaka" + "ina-poojita-keertE". Shiva is himself a hunter, who thrives in the graveyards, so the first term could refer to him. Shiva also has the distinction to be worshipped by Sun (ina = sun). In fact, though I could be taking it a little too far, Lord Rama is referred to as inakAnta in lore. tyAgarAja refers to rAma as inakula mandu in the song kanugoNTini. So, it could also be referring to the event in rAmAyaNa where rAma worships shiva during his search for seeta. (I don't know if there's a story of rAma getting to SrIkALahastI and such. The locals might know.) Multiple interpretations, the latter, possibly erroneous, but the beauty remains unquestionable.

Moving on, Dikshitar sings in praise of Shiva's consort here, jnAnaprasUnAmbikA, exclusively, in his krithi - jnAnaprasUnAmbikE. He refers to her husband in the song as kALahastIsha-manOllAsini.

To the extent that I know, these are the two songs sung in praise of kALahastIsha and kALahastI.

The lyrics of these songs may be found hyperlinked to the title - SrIkALahastIsha (Lyrics, Audio), jnAnaprasUnAmbikE ( Lyrics, Audio).

Tiruvannamalai

The panchabhoota-kShEtra krithi aruNAchalanAtham smarAmi talks about shiva here, in the form of fire. The beauty is that there is no explicit mention of the word fire or its synonyms in this krithi. More on that later.

The pallavi goes as "aruNAchalanAtham smarAmi anisham, apItakuchAmbA-samEtam SrI". Clearly, the reference to his consort at TiruvaNNAmalai, apItakuchAmbA has been brought in straight away! The anupallavi is something that makes aruNAchalEshwara unique, because this is a reference that is not come across in the other four. It goes "smaraNAt-kaivalyaprada-charaNAravindam"!!!! By mere 'thought' of shiva here (charaNaravinda = the lotus feet of shiva (aravinda = lotus)), one is granted kaivalyam - mukti! Interestingly shiva is referred to as 'smaraNAt-kaivalyaprada-charaNAravinda' here. So, shiva here is the shiva who grants kaivalyam to one who merely thinks of his lotus feet. (Reiteration for grammatical clarity.).

The reference to the 'fire' form comes in 3 places, metaphorically though. The reference 'taruNAdityakOTi-sankAsha-chidAnandam' is the first ; Shiva is compared to be as bright as crores of 'rising suns' - taruNa+Aditya (taruNa = young, Aditya = sun). Clearly, the energy of the rising sun is more abundant and rejuvenating than that of the setting sun. I admire Dikshitar for his tactful choice for a simile here - taruNAditya, not merely Aditya. Also, crore here doesn't mean a crore, but actually means infinite! So, the interpretive meaning here is aruNAchalEshwara is crores of times brighter than the sun, a reference to his 'fiery' form! The next reference comes immediately after the charaNam starts - "aprAkRuta-tEjOmaya-lingam". Notice the use of the term aprAkRuta - meaning, something not natural, something extraordinary/supernatural. Shiva in the linga form emanates a rather supernaturally extraordinary amount of mystic brilliance/tEjas, a second reference to the fiery form. The third reference is described later.

The rest of the charaNam just makes me cry in awe, with bhakti towards shiva-parvati, with bhakti towards Dikshitar and his brilliance. The lyrical majesty is inexplicable thru an email. Snippets follow however. Shiva is described as - "apramEyam" (unqualifiable, unlimited), "aparNAbja-bhRungam" - the most majestic description of a couple! - aparNA refers to pArvatI (she was on an unbroken fast to woo shiva. aparNA means a lady of unbroken fast), abja = lotus (ap-water, ja-born in), bhRungam = bee. How do we make sense out of this? Shiva is that to the lotus-like pArvati, what a bee is to a flower - the reason for being. Without bees, there are no flowers. Bees and flowers are amongst the first examples of interdependence and complementing that I can think of. Shiva is described later as viprOttama-vishEShAntaragam - the one who dwells in the hearts of austere people (vipra = brahmin, actually), and further as swapradIpa - self illuminating (one who is naturally brilliant), mouLividhRutagangam - the one who is crowned by gangA, swaprakAsha-jita-somAgnipatangam - the one, who, with his innate brilliance, has won over moon, fire and the sun, meaning to say, the one who leaves sun, moon, and fire far behind with his brilliance - another reference to the 'fiery' nature of shiva at tiruvaNNAmalai.

Thus, Dikshitar closes an exceptional, heavy, description of shiva at aruNAchala. I've only been very superficial in interpreting it. Almost 50% of the words herein have multiple interpretation, each more brilliant than the other! It's just a joy to even contemplate on it.

aruNachalanAtham smarAmi - (Lyrics, Audio).

Final comments

I have excluded the 2 other krithis - jambUpatE mAm pahI on jambukEshwara, shiva in the form of water, at the kShEtram - jambukEshwaram and chintaya mAkandamoolakandam on shiva at kAnchIpuram, in the form of earth. Note however, that the pallavi of either song, at once ascribes the respective panchabhoota forms to shiva at those kShEtrams. The philosophical implications that these krithis have from the advaitic viewpoint is a discussion that's very very interesting, and owing to its depth and verbosity, excuse itself from this mail.

Thanks for your patience, for reading all the way through till here!

There are so many such lovely instances of describing the almighty - be it Vishnu, shiva, dEvi, subrahmaNya, whosoever! There is just not enough time in life to live each moment thinking about all these. I also want to tell you about the tiruvArUr panchalingams and krithis associated with them, but that will have to wait a while. Perhaps when we meet next, we will have some time to discuss and deliberate and contemplate on such things.

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Thanks for all those patient souls who read all the way down to here. I'll be getting back to writing about the navagraha krithis, as soon as I can.