Arunaacala Kavi

Who is this person?…

'Katradhu Tamizh' Ram's next Diwali in Suburbs Rajini Still In A Dilemma! அஜீத் பேட்டி? ராம் இயக்கத்தில் சேரன்? கமல் பாராட்டிய டைட்டில்்

Lyrics: Courtesy Lakshman Ragde

Meaning:
Pallavi: Who, Who is she? What is her name? I don’t know.

Anupallavi: In the city of mitilai (King Janaka’s capital) which is resplendent with glamour and glory, wherein clouds cast a beautiful transient canopy, who is this person who is standing at the front of the balcony of the kannimADam (gynoecium)?

Caranam: Her breasts appear as though they have been uniquely designed and installed in her body. She is surrounded by a band of friends with sweet chatter. In thought and appearance (complexion) she looks like the goddess seated on lotus, viz., Lakshmi. Who is she?

Caranam 2: One must have earned a lot of merit to have the audience of this woman. To have that opportunity right here is really significant. Her nose is long and eyes are wide. When other girls look at her they are so captivated by her charm and cannot take their eyes off her.

Caranam 3: She is glancing at me with her moon-like face. It appears that this is due to a past connection between us. It is because of such a primeval connection that she is appearing in front of me now!

General comments:

This particular song is part of “Ramanatakam”, Arunaacala Kavi’s magnum opus. The song depicts Rama’s thoughts upon looking at Sita The contextual scene for this song is the city of Mithilai, the capital of King Janakan, foster-father of Sita. Rama and Lakshmana were taken by sage Viswamitra to Mithilai on their way to Janaka’s court. That is the first time Rama encounters Sita who was standing in front of the kannimADam (the palace maidens’ quarters). Rama was stunned by the sight of Sita and was wondering who this person was. Some internal thought frequency was resonating within himself. This is a classic scene captured by poet Kamban in his famous line, 'aNNalum nOkkinAn avaLum nOkkinAL' (He saw and She saw) which by itself speaks volumes.

Nobody sings the full song, as it appears here, in the concert circuit. The musicians sing only the pallavi, Anupallavi and the third caraNam in the interest of brevity. The unsung portion is rich in meaning and gives a more complete picture of the incident. In the storehouse of Thamizh songs, when one mentions a bhairavi ragam composition, only this song springs up, which redounds to the glory of Arunaacala Kavi (AK).

AK's Ramanatakam is a daru ( a musical drama interspersed with text describing the context) in which the lyrics were written by him while the music was composed by his disciples. The musical drama, enacted by musicians, became very popular in the days following the staging. The beauty of this musical drama is such that it was understood by the masses since it was written in such a lucid style. The musical drama was first performed at the Srirangam temple. For this work AK was honoured by the King of Thanjavur and some wealthy patrons.

This song carries a charm not only because it deals with semi-divine romanticism but appeals as well to common folks. The language used has a mixture of pure Thamizh words, Sanskrit words, and some colloquial expressions too. The song that is normally sung (without the first two caraNams) leaves a doubt as to whether Sita is singing about Rama or vice verse. The proof that it is actually Rama who is singing and thinking about Sita lies in the words found in caraNam 1.

Composer’s bio:

Arunaacala Kavi (1712-1779 ?) was born in Tillaiyaadi in erstwhile Thanjavur district to shaivite parents Nallatambi Pillai and ValliammAL. He was sent to Dharmapuram Adheenam to study Thamizh and Sanskrit. While the head of the Adheenam encouraged AK to take up asceticism, AK would have none of it. He really wanted to experience family life. He married, set up a jeweller’s shop and in his spare time wrote literary works in Thamizh. He settled in the town SIrkAzhi.

It appears two musicians (Venkatarama Iyer and Kodandarama Iyer) wanted AK to give them an exposition of KambarAmAyaNam. That is the time AK composed the opera, Ramanatakam, which was then set to music by the two musicians. The debut of the opera was in Srirangam after some persuasion by AK who sang 'En paLLI koNDIrayyA', after which it seems Lord Ranganathar appeared in the dreams of the temple priest and AK, sanctioning the debut of the opera in Srirangam temple.

The enactment of Ramanatakam boosted the popularity of AK bringing royal patronage with it and the support of wealthy nobles, which brought pecuniary benefits. The opera includes verses sung in about 40 rAgams. Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Iyengar sang some of the songs from the opera in his concerts thereby adding clout for inclusion of AK's songs in mainstream concert music.

While Ramanatakam was the crown jewel of AK'’s literary works, he also wrote SIrkAzhi stala purANam, SIrkAzhik kOvai, anumAr piLLait thamizh, and ajamukhi nAtakam, in addition to other songs.

ArunAcala Kavi, Muttut tANDavar and MArimuttA piLLai together are hailed as the Thamizh Trinity for their immortal contributions to Thamizh music, along the lines of Carnatic music trinity (Syama Sastry, Tyagaraja, and Muttuswami Dikshitar).

Some of Arunaacala Kavi’s compositions that are very popular in textual form and music concerts are: En paLLi koNDIrayyA, and rAmanaik kaNNArak kaNDAnE (mOhanam), ramanukku mannan muDi (handloom), annai jAnaki vandALE (sankarAbharaNam), enakkun iru padam ninaikka* (rAgamAlikA), srirAmacandranukku (madyamAvati), kaNDEn kaNDEn (bAgEshri or vasantA) and caraNam caraNam enRAnE (saurAshtram).

* This single song describes the whole Ramayanam episode in a nutshell. Such a thematic composition has also been attempted by later composers like Swati TirunAL (BhAvayAmi ragurAmam, for example).

References:
1. http://www.chennaionline.com/musicnew/Devotional/ramanatakam.asp 
2. http://www.geocities.com/promiserani2/co1000.html 
3. http://www.geocities.com/promiserani2/c1156.html 
4. http://carnatica.net/composer/arunachalakavi.htm 
5. http://ckrishnamurti.tripod.com/chap12d.html 
6. http://www.chennaionline.com/musicnew/Devotional/ramanatakam.asp

Sethuraman Subramanian
subramaniansethu@hotmail.com

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Published on 21^st July, 2004