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SWATHY
THIRUNAL - THE COMPOSER AND CHOREOGRAPHER
[M.K.K. NAYAR] |
Maharaja Swathi Thirunal was a rare genius. It would be difficult
to find a parallel. Like all such men of extraordinary genius he also passed
away in his early thirties. Erudite scholar,enviable linguist, rare aesthete,
builder of vision, administrator of varied dimensions, conneisseur ofeverything
artistic and above all a great poet and composer, Swathy Thirunal compressed
into ashort period of 12 years was of the most magnificient achievements
of human capability. Generationsafter him have wondered at his miraculous
achievements. Scholars havce despaired at the great
heights of glory he had reached. Sahrdayas still continue to be dazzled
by the blazing trail of enjoyment of beauty (Soundarya aswadana) left behind
by him Swathi Thirunal was born into a family with justifiable pride of
ancestry. There wasVeermarthanda Varma who in the midst of his battle worn
life, while carving out a whole state called Travancore did not forget to
patronise some of the greatest poets of Kerala. Dharmaraja who followed
the conquerer was an incomparable scholar. An authority on natyasastra,
he found time while fighting the tiger of Mysore on the borders of the state,
to sit down and compose several Kathakaliplays, a number of poetic works
of merit and to crown them all, a detailed treatise on Natyasastrarenowned
by the name of Balarama Bharata. Educated by a galaxy of scholars and aided
by thebest private library of the South available in his own palace, Swathi
Thirunal had mastered Sanskrit,English, Persian, Hindustani, Marathi, Telugu,
Tamil and Kannada in addition to his mother tongueat the early age of 16,
when he ascended the throne and became Maharaja Swathy Thirunal.Although
a great scholar and poet in his own right, he is remembered more as a composerBhakthimanjari,
a devotional poem consisting of 101 slokas, Syanandoorapura varnanam,a Champudescribing
the city of Trivandrum and the reigning deity Sri Padmanabha Swami, Sri
Padmanabha Sathakam, another devotionoal poem in praise of Lord Padmanabha,
Ajamilopakhyanam,Kuchelopakhyana, two musical pieces for Harikatha performances,
Ulsava varnana and an intro-ductionto Prabandham describing the temple festival
of Sri Padmanabha Swami and an introductionto Anyopadesa Sathaka. Another
lasting work of his is a discourse on the various Prasas used in poetry
particularly, the Moolanuprasa and the Anthyakshara Prasa.Swathy Thirunal
composed over 500 songs. But so far we have been able to get only 313 of
them. There is a common belief that his signature "Padmanabha"
is there in all his works. That is not true. There are many compositions
of Swathy Thirunal which do not contain that signature. Of the songs that
are available 197 are in Sanskrit, 63 in Malayalam, 37 in Hindustani, 8
in Telugu andone in Kannada. In addition he has also composed 5 Thillanas.
He has used with eclat rare ragas like Poorvakamodari, Sudhabhairavi, Dyujavanthi,
Lalithapanchaka, Malavi and Gopika Vasantha. Some of these however were
popular in the Kaathakali literature which was there before him. His Hindustani
compositions include Drupat, Khyal, Thyal, Thumri, Gasal and Tharanas. He
also adopted from Marathi, ragas like Saki, Bhindi, Ovi, Panchachamara and
Kekavali.His kirthanas are all devotional mostly addresssed to his family
deity Sri Padmanabha of the 188 Kirthanas composed by him 150 are in Sanskrit,
37 in Hindustani and one in Kannada.So far we have found 65 padas composed
oby him for Bharatanatyam and Mohiniyattam.50 of them are in Malayalam,
10 in Sanskrit and 5 in Telgu. He has also composed 19 Chaukavarnasand 2
Thanavarnas, of the 19 Chaukavarnas, 17 are in Sanskrit, one in Telugu.
Every compositionof Swathy Thirunal is distinguished by the choice of the
most appropriate words,a regal flow of poetry and a very enjoyable musical
quality. When you start singing a composition of his, the intrinsic feature
of the raga gets expounded in the very first line. Being a good musician
himself he could bring into his works a rare content that any musicologist
would envy. Swathy Thirunal was to an extent a contemporary of the great
musical composersThyagaraja Swamikal, Muthuswamy Deekshithar and Syama Sastry.
While Swathy Thirunal died at the age of 34 in 1847, Thyagaraja Swamikal
outlived him by a year and died at the age of 88 in 1848.Muthuswamy Deekshithar
died at the age of 60 in 1835 when the Maharaja was 22 years old.Syamasastri
died at the age of 64 in 1827 when the Maharaja was only 14. At the time
of Swathi Thirunal the most popular compositions in karnatic music were
no doubt those of ThyagarajaSwamikal. There is reason to Swamikal's compositions
which were also dedicated to Rama, an avathara of Sri Padmanabha.Shatkala
Govinda Marar who began as a student of percussion instruments like the
Chenta, Thimila and Itakka had to give up that line due to a severed attack
of rheumatism. Thereafterhe came to Trivandrum and studied music under Haripad
Ramaswamy Bhagavathar and became a great exponent of Thyagaraja's compositions.
He met Swathy Thirunal in 1831. The Maharaja was drawn to him like a magnet
and honoured him in severeal ways including a presentation of a vaijayanthito
be attached to Marar's seven stringed Thampuru. Govinda Marar called on
Thyagaraja in 1837. When he offered to sing before Thyagaraja, Thyagaraja
was a bit doubtful whether this rheumaticlooking musician from Kerala could
sing at all. But when Govinda Marar's music began to flow mellifluously
and reach to the heights beyond the then prevalent Thala and Kalaa, the
great composer was spell bound. It was Marar's music that inspired the great
composer to create his famoous Krithi, Entharo Mahabhavalu and simultaneously
sing it for the benefit of Marar. During the period of Thyagaraja and the
other great composers we do not find any sig-nificant musical compositions
in Tamil. The only one that attracted spontaneous attention was Nandanar
Charithram, by Gopalakrishna Bharath. It is significant that we have not
so far been able to locate a single song, Kirthana or Pada by Maharaja Swathy
Thirunal composed in Tamil . He too must have felt like his great contemporaries,
the inadequacy of the Tamil alphabet. Much later pattanam Subramanya Iyyar,
Bharatiyar, Papanasam Sivan and others have composed delightfulsongs in
Tamil.Sri Rangaramanuja Ayyangar in his " History of South Indian Music
from Vedic Times tothe Present" observes that "Maharaja Swathy
Thirunal has covered a wide range in patterns ofcomposition, Geeta, Thavarna,
Jarati, Ragamalika and Hindustani songs. For sheer variety inlanguages and
patterns Swathi Thirunal songs. For sheer variety in languages and patterns
SwathyThirunal has no equal. It may be said of him in truth that theory
and practice of Carnatic music found their fulfilment in his unfolding.The
Maharaja's unique concept of the aesthetics of various ragas are clearly
seen in hisfamous Navarathri Kritis. He has chosen the raga with particular
case to be in tune with the mood orSankalpa of the Mother in each kriti.
Thus his Devi Jagajanani is in Sankarabharana, Pahimam SriVageeswari in
Kalyani, Devi Pavane in Saveri, Bharathi Mamava in Thoti, Janani Pahisada
in SudhaSaveri Pahi Janani in Nattakurinji and Pahi Parvathanandini in Arabhi.The
beginning of the 19th century was the golden age of Thanjavoor. Sharabhoji
Maharaj,a great Sahrdaya with a distinguished Marathi lineage was the leading
light of the time. His court was crowded with artists of quality, musicians
of eminence and scholars of depth. That was the time when the famous tanjavoor
quartet, Ponnayya, Chinnayya, Shivandam and Vadivelu, the Nattuvanars of
Dasiyattam emerged as the saviours of our national heritage, the bharatanatyamwhich
had decayed through centuries of sensuality when the leaders of society
were more inter-ested in the artists than in the art form. Dasiyattam, which
had during the time of the legendaryMadhavi of Chilapathikaram, driven the
Urvasis and Menakas into envious despair, had reached astate of social stigma
and condemnation. The four Nattuvanars who could distinguish the woodfrom
the trees, decided to cleanse the depraved art from that was Dassiyattam
at the time. It was
an uphill task; but their sincerity of purpose attracted the attention of
sarabhoji who gave them allthe support necessary. Within a decade thes Thanjavoor
quartet rechoreographed the old Dasiyattaaminto the new and delectable Bharatanatyam
. They picked and chose students, subjected them tothe severest of discipline
and presented them before discerning audiences after prescribing a traditional
sequence followed in the performances since than namely, the Alaripu, the
Swarajathi,the Sabdam, the varnam, the padas and the Thillana By their effrort,
Bharatanatyam the padasthe recaptured its classical stature and its remarkable
beauty. The quarte's sudden rise to fameand their privileged position in
Sarabhoji's court roused green eyed jealousies. Taleswere carried toSarabhoji
who whoo in one of his drunken moods, banished them from his territory.
It was indeeda sad fall for the quarte. they had to flee the state. The
only place that offered them a refuge wasthe court of Swathi Thirunal. When
they arrived there in distress, the Maharaja received them withhonour and
gave them every facility to devote themselves to the art.Vadivelu though
eswsentially a nattuvanar, had also acquired the facility to play on theviolin,
an instrument which was still then used only by the westerners. the Maharaja
was im-pressedby this and he showed special consideration to Vadivelu. Vadivelu
had come along with hissister and two other girls, one called Sugandhavally
and her elder sister. Sugandhavally and her sister had their origin in south
Travancore. Their ancesters had moved over to Thanjavore a few decades earlier.
there they had got Sugandhavally and her sister trained in Bharatanatyam
under Vadivelu. During the presence of Vadivelu and the three girls that
the Maharaja got the idea ofrechoreographing Mohiniyattam. Like Dasiyattam
in Tamil Nadu, Mohiniyattam of Kerala had over the centuries, undergone
considerable decay. Again it was the leaders sof society whose preferencefor
the artist to the art form that led to the social ostracisation of Mohiniyattam.
At the time of theMaharaja, Mohiniyattam was not considered decent enough
to be presented in respectable society.When the Maharaja had learned from
Vadivelu and others now they had revitalised the degenerated dasiyattam
and recreated an exquisite Bharatanatyam out ofo it, the creative genius
in the Maharajaroused itself. He had excellent companions sto stimulate
his thought and ideas. They were the grand uncle, Irayimman thampi and the
famous poet Kilimanoor Vidwan Koyithampuran, familiarly known as Karindran.
Thus a Travancore trio obegan to reincarnate mohiniyattam and give it a
respectable form and content. Sugandhavally's mastery of dance.A few years
after the death of Sarabhi Sivanandam, Chinnayya, Ponnayya went back to
Vadivelu stayed over for some more time. Earlier the had taken Sugandhavally
as his second wife. His first had taken Thiruvattattu Narayani Pillai was
a distinguished Veena. She was also known for
her beauty. Sugandhavally was only years old when the Maharaja took her
as his second wife. She died 4 years later. Vadivelu had hopes that the
Maharaja would, in the re-bound, take his sister in place of Suganthavally.
That was why he stayed behind. But a year later he realised that the Maharaja
was no longer interested inthe pleasure of the flesh. So he went back with
his sister to Thanjavoor.The last 5 to 6 years of Swathy Thirunal were years
of mental agony and distress. Thenew Britissh Resident, General Cullen was
in the hands of an intriguing clerk who aspired to become the Dewan of Travancore.
Although it was a sad commentary on a man of General Cullen's standing,it
turned oout that Cullen was a mere play thing in the hands of his clerk,
Krishna Rao. The resulting intrigues, controversies and the increasing interference
of Cullen in the internal affairs of the administration led to a major conflict
between the Maharaja and the Resident. The artist in theMaharaja was too
sensitive to the outrageous conduct of the thick skinned Cullen. The Maharajabecame
despondent and began slowly withdrawing from his administrative responsibilitiess.
It wasindeed most unfortunate for the state administration by like the curse3
of Urvasi, it was indeed aboom to the music lovers of the future. It was
in his most agonising moments that the Maharaja soughot refuge at the feet
of Sri Padmanabha. Some of his most melodious songs came out onsuch occasions
in unpremeditated strains of proofound sorrow and sweetness. An example
isSarasakshaparipalayamam in Pandvarali.Swathy Thirunal spread his rays
of kindness and glory like the sun an everyone aroundhim. They in turn had,
lilke the moon, enjoyed othe splendour of that borrowed glory.of music and
the choreographer of Mohiniyattam, the indigenous dance form of Kerala.With
all the administrative talent available around him, one can imagine the
plight of a16 year old lad, when placed in charge as the ruler of a state
faced with many problems, social,political and financial. History has recorded
that during his reign he had handled thoseproblemswith the sagacity of a
far more mature man of wisdom and administrative experince. It was side
byside with the first survey and settlement for the whole state, he set
up the departments of Publicworks and Irrigation. He modernised the state
forces on a par with the British army though limited in numbers. He conducted
the first census of Travancore. It was during his time that a comprehensive
manual of Laws, both civil and criminal were introduced and several courts
of justice established invarious parts of the state to render fair and impartial
justice to the opeople. The credit for setting upthe observatory, the museum
and the zoo also goes to Swathy Thirunal. Being an avid reader andlover
of books, he built the Government press and organised both the public library
and the manuscript library. It was during the period when he was busily
engaged with all these activities, at a timewhen talent was few, modern
education was in its infancy and the attitude of society, far too conser-vativeto
absorb the benefits of modern civilisation, that Swathy Thirunal also composed
hundreds of lasting works in poetry and music. His Sanskrit works other
than musical compositions includes