 ‘sAvEri’ and ‘kAvEri’ are amongst the many wonderful things that the southern region of India can boast of.
Muttuswami Dikshitar justifies this by saying "kAvEri taThasthitham, sAvEri rAganutam" while praying to
Lord Ganapati in the kriti 'karikaLabha mukham'. The classic masterpiece 'shrI rAjagOpAla' is more than sufficient to understand both sAvEri and Dikshitar’s style in general.
Tyagaraja has been prolific in his application of sAvEri. He sings in sAvEri about
Rama, Krishna, as also about the various forms of Shakti such as Tripurasundari, Dharmasamvardhani and
Nilayatakshi.
Again it is sAvEri for singing the greatness of the Krishnabhakta who follows the path of karmayOga (samsArulaitE). The rAga has been frequently used in his divyanAma kIrtanas (ex: balamu kulamu) and also in his operas (cAlu cAlu, tIruna lOni dugdha and rAmAbhi rAma). 'tuLasi jagajjanani', one of his numerous kritis in praise of tuLasi, is in sAvEri. 'rAma bANa’, 'daridApulEka', 'inta tamasamaitE' and 'rAmam bhajEham' are some of his other
kritis.
All said and done, the bard’s rAma bANa is a great classic and alongside Dikshitar’s shrI rAjagOpAla and
Syama Sastri’s 'durusugA', it is a lesson in sAvEri. In typical Dikshitar-like fashion, Tyagaraja sings this song in viLamba kAlA. This apart, 'rAma bANa' speaks of the glory of Rama’s arrow, his
valour. Tyagaraja’s usage of sAvEri, a melody that suggests a sombre mood in order to convey the rasa of vIra, is a paradox that the bard indulged in occasionally, nevertheless, most convincingly. His genius turned apparent contradictions into lovely, moving statements of melodic wonder.
Syama Sastri’s sAvEri is very special. This bhAva-oriented rAga turns out to be a perfect melodic vehicle to convey his soulful implorations. Who would not be moved while experiencing his bhAva-soaked sAhitya, coupled with his eloquent sentiments in sAvEri? 'durusugA' with its inimitable svara-sAhitya, 'shankari shamkuru' and 'janani natajanaparipAlini' are powerful expressions of his soul, craving for his Mother’s grace. He has also contributed a gItam (sArasAkShi) in this
rAga.
'sarasuDa' is an oft-heard varNam by Kothavasal Venkataramayyar, while there are also other varNams by Vina Kuppayyar (sarOjAkSha nI), Koteeswara Iyer (mAnE mOham) and a pada varNam, 'vanajAkShA', of
Swati Tirunal.
The anubandham of Sangita Sampradaya Pradarshini has a varNam in aTa tALam by Tirunelveli Vengu Bhagavatar. Swati Tirunal has a few padams to his credit, besides the fairly well known 'AnjanEya' and the navarAtri kriti 'dEvi
pAvanE'.
His popular rAmAyaNa rAgamAlika 'bhAvayAmi raghurAmam' was originally composed only in sAvEri. 'vElayyA dayavillaiyA' of Koteeswara Iyer and 'murugA murugA enrAl' of
Periyasami Tooran are a couple of good compositions in Tamil.
Patnam Subramanya Iyer’s
'eTu namminAvO' and 'entanErcina' are beautiful kritis modelled on Tyagaraja’s style.
Part
- II | Part - I
To be continued...
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