The first lecture of the day was titled “Dikshitar and the North: Tracing Hindustani Threads in a Carnatic Fabric” and was delivered by my dear friend Bharat Sundar. Since I already know him as someone with a flair for presentation, especially when it comes to explaining complex ideas in a simple and engaging manner, I was greatly looking forward to this session. He did not disappoint.
One of the first points Bharat made was that while the separation of Hindustani and Karnatik music did eventually happen, there had been a great deal of exchange between the two systems well before Dikshitar’s time. I had always believed, and perhaps this is a commonly held view, that Dikshitar was largely responsible for bringing several Hindustani ragams into the Karnatik fold. Bharat clarified that this was not entirely accurate. There was already a free flow between the two systems, with ragams being absorbed, reinterpreted, and reshaped over time.
I was surprised to learn that many of these Hindustani ragams had been handled by Dikshitar’s father, and that their usage went back even further. Bharat mentioned Giriraja Kavi, who had composed in many of these ragams and is believed to be among the first to compose in both Brindavani and Dwijavanti. One particularly interesting observation was that the kampita gamakam, now a defining feature of Karnatik music, evolved gradually and was not emphasized as strongly in earlier periods as it is today.
Bharat then went on to discuss five ragams: Yamuna Kalyani, Ramakali, Hamviru, Jujavanti, and Brindavani.
He traced the evolution of each ragam within Karnatik music and compared it with its Hindustani counterpart. At the end of the discussion on Yamuna Kalyani, he played a dhrupad that shared a similar melodic palette with “Jambupathe.” I thought I could hear shades of Ramakali, and I was relieved to find that Ramakali was indeed the next ragam he took up. It felt like a natural and satisfying segue, and I was pleased that my listening instincts were not entirely off the mark.
Any discussion on Ramakali inevitably begins with the question of authorship of the composition “Rama Rama,” and Bharat appropriately started there. He played a version sung by Viswa sir of the Dhanammal school, which I found deeply haunting. Next came Hamviru, which is not Hamir Kalyani, though I would not be able to tell the difference myself. I thoroughly enjoyed the snippet that Bharat sang in this ragam.
Dwijavanti is one of my most favorite ragams, so much so that I had written a blog post about it some time ago. There was an extended discussion following the presentation, focusing solely on the name of this ragam. I had assumed that its adaptation into Karnatik music was due to Dikshitar, but this presentation corrected that assumption.
Brindavani and Brindavana Saranga are again so close to each other that a lay listener like me cannot easily distinguish between the two, though I can enjoy them both equally.
Bharat also spoke about ragams mentioned in the Guru Granth Sahib, which include ragams from the South. This further reinforced the idea of fluidity between different musical traditions. V. Sriram added more historical context to this point during the discussion that followed the lecture.
In addition to the adaptation of ragams, Bharat also spoke about common structural forms shared by the two systems and how these influenced Dikshitar’s compositional approach.
If I have one complaint, it is that forty-five minutes is simply not enough to do justice to such a rich topic. Perhaps focusing on a single ragam and exploring it in greater depth, with more extensive musical illustrations, might have been another effective approach.
The second lecture of the day was delivered by Dr. Rama Kausalya and was titled “The Vara Kritis of Muthuswami Dikshitar,” with vocal support provided by Vidushi Madhuvanti Badri. Appropriately, the lecture began by addressing why Dikshitar composed Vara Kritis, seven songs corresponding to the celestial bodies governing each day, rather than a full Navagraha set, and why the compositions on Rahu and Ketu are excluded. Dr. Rama Kausalya then narrated the story of Ammaiappan, a disciple of Dikshitar, to explain how these kritis came into being.
The lecture covered all seven compositions, highlighting both their shared features and their individual distinctions. Informative details were woven throughout, such as the presence of ragamudra only in Saurashtram and the mention of a kshetra only in Angaraka. When Dr. Rama Kausalya spoke about the beauty of prasa, it resonated deeply with me, as it mirrors the grammatical principles of Tamil poetry, an area in which I occasionally dabble. The use of edugai, monai, and iyaibu, the rhythmic and alliterative devices in the lyrics, is one of the reasons I enjoy Dikshitar’s compositions even without understanding Sanskrit.
The most intriguing part of the lecture, for me, came when Dr. Rama Kausalya spoke about the mythological narratives embedded in these songs, particularly the explanation for Saturn’s slow movement. She displayed a slide listing the time taken by each of the seven celestial bodies to move from one astrological house to another. I am not certain whether these figures were explicitly mentioned by Dikshitar or were additional explanatory inputs. However, the durations broadly align with the sidereal orbital periods of these bodies, with Saturn being a notable exception. I did some additional reading afterward and found that there are plausible astrological explanations for this discrepancy, though I did not fully grasp them. Since astronomy is another area of interest for me, this intersection of music, mythology, and celestial science was especially fascinating.
This lecture also included a reference to Kallidaikuruchi, so that is yet another point of pride for our village. As always, the summing up by Shriram was a mini lecture in itself.
My post on Dwijavanthi - https://elavasam.blogspot.com/2020/08/a-day-of-dwijavanthi.html
Link to the post on Yamuna Kalyani by Ravi Rajagopalan that Bharat mentioned - https://guruguha.org/articles-ravi-rajagopalan/?_page=11
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