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Annamalai Reddiar
Kavadic cindu
| Composition: |
cennik kuLa nagar vAsan… |
| Composer: |
aNNamalai reDDiar |
| mudrA: |
aNNAmalai |
| (signature): |
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| rAgam: |
senjcuruTTi (janyam of mELam 28
harikAmbhOji) |
| ArOhaNam: |
D2SR2G3M1PD2N2 |
| AvarOhaNam: |
N2D2PM1G3R2SN2D2PD2S |
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tALam:
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tisranaDai |
| Text: |
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1. chennik kuLanagar vAsan tamizh tErum aNNAmalai dAsan ceppum
jagamecciya madurak-kaviyadanaip-puyavaraiyil punai dhIran ayil vIran
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2. vaNNa mayil murugEsan kuravaLLip padam paNi nEsan uRai
varamE taru kazhukAcala pati kOyilin vaLam nAn maravAdE solvan mAdE
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3. gOpurattut-tangat-tUvi dEvar gOpurattuk-kappAl mEvi kaNgaL
kUsap prakAsattoLi mAsaRRu vilAsattODu kulavum puvi palavum
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4. nUputattutoLi veDikkum pada nuNNiDai mAdargaL naDikkum angE
nuzhaivAriDumuzhavOsaigaL disai mAsuNam iDiyOvena nOkkumpaDit tAkkum
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5. sannidhiyil dujattambam viNNil tAvi varugiRa kumbham enum
calarAsiyai vadivAr pala koDi sUDiya muDi mIdilE tAngum uyar^ndOngum
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6. unnatamAghiya inji ponnATumbar nagarukku minji migha
uyarvAnadu peralAl adil ati sItaLa puyal sAlavum urangum minnik karakkum
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7. aruNagiri nAvil pazhakkam tarum andat tiruppugazh muzhakkam pala
aDiyAr kaNam mozhi pOdinil amarAvati imaiyOr sevi aDaikkum aNDam uDaikkum
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8. karuNai muruganaip-pORRit-tangak kAvaDit tOLin mEl ERRik kozhum
kanalERiya mezhugAi varubavar evarum ihamE gati kANbAr inbam pUNbAr
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Source for lyrics:
Courtesy of Lakshman Ragde of Toronto, Canada
 Meaning: Kavadic cindu, by definition, does not follow the typical pallavi, anupallavi, and caraNam format. Let us take each couplet of lines for the meaning.
1. aNNAmalai dAsan, who lives in cennikkuLam and well-versed in
Thamizh, is penning this sweet poetry and is an expert in doing so.
2. I worship the feet of vaLLi who is the consort of Lord Murugan who rides the colourful
peacock. I now narrate the merits of the temple at KazhukAcalam
(kazhukumalai).
3. The golden cover of the temple tower shines well beyond the immediate area. The tower shines with such a brilliance as to dazzle your eyes all around.
4. At the temple there is so much light. There are so many slender-waisted maidens who enter the temple. The noise made by those who enter the temple makes it appear as though there is thunder in all directions.
5. At the main entrance there is the flagpost and the crown of the post stays high in the sky. The flag at the top is also flying in all
splendour.
6. The fort is also magnificent and the cold winds are blowing around.
7. Arunagirinathar has sung of the glory of this temple in his Tiruppugazh which is also recited by the devotees in loud deafening voices which reverberate all around.
8. The devotees who come here sing the praise of
Lord Murugan and carry the golden kAvaDi on their shoulders. They are so obsessed with devotion like a candle melting in a flame. They expect to obtain the grace of Lord Murugan and are happy to seek the grace.
General comments:
 KAvaDic cindu is a generic name for a group of delightful Thamizh folk songs which were a recent addition (19th century) to Carnatic music. They do not conform to the pallavi, anupallavi, and caraNam pattern but are just strung together in several couplets. Annamalai Reddiar (AR) appears to be the one who originated this style. These songs are written for the benefit of those who offer prayers to Lord Murugan carrying a ritualistic kAvaDi (which could be just a rod covered with a saffron cloth, or pots of milk, or any other device thought fit to be carried on the head or shoulders).
The kavadic cindus are distinguished by their characteristic lilting rhythms. In general, these describe the beauty of Murugan temples, especially the six fortress temples known as ARupaDaivIDu. Murugan worship was fostered by several devotional songs such as Tiruppugazh (Arunagirinathar), deivamaNimAlai (Ramalinga SwamigaL) and SkandapurANa kIrttanaigaL
(Kavi Kunjara Bharathi). KAvaDic cindu was the latest addition to this segment. While singing of kavaDic cindus in concerts is relegated to the tail-end, they are by no means light-weight. They must conform to proper prosody rules, including rhythmic complexities. In this sense they are unique in Carnatic music compositions. The language is sometimes hard to follow even by Thamizh-speaking folks.
 In this particular song, AR describes the environs of Kazhugumalai (also known as tenpazhani) Murugan temple near the town of
Tirunelveli. AR is spellbound when thinking about this temple and describing the commotion that takes place there when devotees gather in thousands to offer prayers. This is the very same temple on whose presiding deity
Muttuswami Dikshitar composed the famous 'subrahmaNyEna rakshitOham' in the ragam
sudda
danyAsi.
In recent times, in addition to AR,
Papanasam Sivan, Koteeswara Iyer, Subramanya Bharathi and
Periasamy Thooran have composed songs on Murugan, some of them in the kavadic cindu pattern.
"Thooran's 'azhagu deivmaka vandu' is simultaneously a heartrending and a heartwarming song." There is another delectable kavadic cindu which starts as, 'vaLLik kaNavan pErai vazhippOkkan sonnAlum uLLam kuLirudaDi…' (in senjcuruTTi ragam) whose authorship is ascribed to a police constable.
Composer’s bio:
Annamalai Reddiar (1865-1891) lived a short but meaningful life. AR was born in Cennikulam in Tirunelveli district. He showed talent in writing poetry even as a young boy. He attained proficiency in Thamizh and music at the Tiruvavaduturai Adheenam. Not much is known about his personal life. But his reputation rides high even today when the name kAvaDic cindu is mentioned since it is synonymous with AR.
AR was a pioneer in introducing kAvaDic cindu and writing a large number of such songs in praise of Lord Murugan. He has also authored Talapuranam and Gomati
Andadi.
Some kavadic cindu songs of AR that are popular in concert circuits and commercial recordings are:
bhUmi meccidum, ennaDi nAn peRRa mangai, maragata vikacita oLi tavazh, sIr vaLar pasum tOgai, pAdi rAttiri vELaiyil, puLLik kalApa mayil, manju nigar kuntaLA (popularised by the late Dr S Ramanathan), and
sentil mAnagar. Most of these are set to the rAgam harikAmbhoji although they are sung in other rAgams too like senjcurutti, Anandabhairavi, and kAnaDA.
References:
1. http://carnatica.net/composer/annamalaireddiar.htm
2. http://www.saigan.com/heritage/music/garlanda.htm
3. http://forumhub.com/indcmusic/24985.20.38.56.html
4. http://murugan.org/research/jayavidhya.htm
5. http://www.templenet.com/Tamilnadu/m023.html
Note:
Readers are welcome to reinterpret or offer their comments on the meaning of the song (given here) that is the subject of discussion of this article. Admittedly, some words in the song are difficult to explain in precise terms.
Sethuraman Subramanian
subramaniansethu@hotmail.com
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