Pujya Sri Mahaswamy Divya Charitram Part#19

 

Support of Musical Art
There is nobody who can enjoy the classical and aspects of the shastras in music like our Swamigal. He would listen raptly to the top musicians performing at the mutt, ask them very thought provoking questions on the lyrics of the pieces performed; the intricate details of raga and the tala of these pieces. His questions and explanations would astonish the musicians who themselves were on the pinnacle of their careers.

As our Swamigal was well versed in Telugu language, he would explain in detail the meaning
behind Thyagaraja kritis and other Telugu kritis to the musicians. He would emphasize that the musicians should be fluent in Tamil, Telugu and Sanskrit so that they can comprehend the lyrics and then sing them. They would be persuaded that this was the practice of musicians of olden times also. Most of them were not familiar with the compositions of Sri Sama Shastrigal and Sri Muthuswami Dikshithar. Swamigal would persuade all visiting musicians to learn and perform the compositions of these two composers.

In those days, musicians and Bhagawathas who would perform katha kalakshebham took it to be a privilege and honor to perform and show off their talents in front of Swamigal.

Umayalpuram Swaminatha Iyer, who was the primary disciple of Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer, who also hailed from the illustrious tradition of Sri Thyagaraja Swamigal, resided in Kumbakonam. He visited the mutt daily and had darshan of our
Swamigal. He and our Swamigal had many discussions and arguments on music.

Swamigal honored him with the title of ‘Nadanubava- Sarajna’. Once, the famous
violinist, Thirkodikaval Krishna Iyer visited the mutt and pleased Swamigal when he played the fiddle. Mayavaram Veena Vaidyanatha Iyer would visit to have darshan of Swamigal along with his two sons Sabesa Iyer and Krishnamurthi. Sabesa Iyer was very proficient in playing veena. Whenever he played veena and sang along in his soft voice, the audience would be enthralled. Especially when he performed compositions on Devi, Saraswathi’s blessing would be very much evident in him. Vaidyanatha Iyer stopped playing Veena after his son took up performing. Once when Sabesa Iyer was playing before Swamigal, Vaidyanatha Iyer was so carried away, that he shouted unconsciously, ‘Sabash en Appane’ ( Well done, my father). Swamigal smiled at him and said, ‘You should not praise your own son in the stage and in public. Your son will be honored only if he receives praises from others. You can only enjoy and appreciate his talent in your heart’. Iyer prostrated to Swamigal and promised to conduct himself as per his advice.

One other musician who frequented the mutt was Nagaraja Rao playing the flute. He was usually accompanied by Semmangudi Naryanaswamy Iyer on the violin, Sakkottai Rangu Iyengar in Murdangam and Umayalpuram Sundaram Iyer on the Ghatam. The group was very dynamic and Swamigal would sit through their concerts and encourage the musicians with his appreciative comments during key moments.

The famous story teller of the day Thirupazhanam Panchapakesa Shastrigal lived in Kumbakonam and performed in the mutt often. Even during those days when there were no loud speakers, thousands of people would gather to watch and enjoy his stories.

He was usually supported on the mrudangam by Azhaganambi pillai and later by Kodandarama Iyer. He was given vocal support by Nallur Viswanatha Iyer, Madhiri Mangalam Natesa Iyer and also the sweet voiced Kunju alias Soushtrar. He consulted and took the aid of stalwarts of the day and choreographed the life story of Sankara
Bhagawathpadal. He requested Swamigal’s audience to perform this play and was granted audience. Shastrigal split the entire story in seven parts and performed on seven days. To listen to this new piece, thousands of fans gathered both locally and from other places. Swamigal honored him by staying through the whole performance each day. He also honored the artists duly.

There were other artists of the times who considered it their privilege to perform at the mutt in the august presence of our Swamigal. They included the famous Shoolamangalam Vaidyanatha Bhagawathar, Tanjore Panchapakesa Bhagawathar, Palghat Anantharama Bhagawathar, Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagawathar, Kallidaikurichi Vedantha Bhagawathar, Manudi Chidambara Bhagawathar and Srirangam Sadagopachariar. We have to include in this eminent list, the young prodigy
Shoolamangalam Soundararaja Bhagawathar. MahaVidwan Thiruvaiyaru Lakshmanachariar was well known for his discourses on Gita. He gave a discourse in the presence of Swamigal and obtained honors and gifts for his performance. Harikatha was said to have originated from Maharashtra and one Bhagawathar from this place traveled to Kumbakonam with his group to perform before Swamigal. He was the Peetathipathi ( religious head) of the Morgamkar mutt, disciple of Samardha Ramdas, the famous guru of Shivaji. He stayed at the mutt and did three katha kalakshebams in Marathi. In spite of
the language difference, a huge crowd gathered and enjoyed the stories.

An elderly gentleman, well versed in almost all of Sri Sama Shastrigal’s compositions, who hailed from the Madhwa community once visited the mutt and sang in his melodious voice hymns on Devi. Swamigal was very pleased to hear his singing and requested him to stay in the mutt for fifteen days and sing these compositions during puja in the sannidhi of Sri Chandramouleeswarar. Swamigal was partial towards Sri Sama Shastrigal’s compositions.

Krishna Iyengar, an artist from Madurai had visited the mutt and was eager to show his talents to Swamigal. His Holiness requested him to perform without any accompaniments. The singer sang Byakadai raga for an hour and enthralled Swamigal.

Later it was found that this gentleman was well known for singing this raga and was popularly known as Byakadai Krishna Iyengar. Other famous musicians of the era including Konairajapuram Vaidyanatha Iyer, Waladi Krishna Iyer, Mysore Pidaram Krishnappa, Veena Seshanna, Veena Subbana used to come to the mutt to get the opportunity to show their talents to Swamigal and obtain his darshan. Thiruvidaimaruthur Sakaram Rayar was known for his mastery of the unique instrument Gottu Vadyam. He frequently visited Kumbakonam mutt and offered his performance to Swamigal and was honored. Pandit Vishnu Dikambar from
Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, Bombay was a very famous Hindustani musician of the time.

He came to the mutt along with his large group to obtain darshan of Swamigal. He performed bhajans in North Indian style. Swamigal was enthralled by the devotion in the bhajans and appreciated and praised the singers.

It was not an accepted practice for our Swamigal’s sannyashrama dharma to sit and listen to women artists, especially when they are alone. Hence, there were not many opportunities for female artists to perform at the mutt. However, Veena Dhanammal and Bangalore Nagarathinam Ammal have obtained special permissions and performed concerts at the mutt. Swamigal would ask them to offer their talent to the Almighty and
sing during puja. As Swamigal would be sitting and performing the puja at the time, these artists also had the unique opportunity to sing in the presence of Swamigal. Similarly, there are few other female artists have been fortunate enough to perform at the mutt.

Smt.Pattama and Smt.M.S.Subbulakshmi have had the honor of offering their music to our Swamigal and obtaining his blessings. Swamigal was also partial towards the compositions of Vedanayakam Pillai. He praised and honored Papanasam Sivan for singing Tamil compositions. He honored Sivan during his 60th birthday with the title ‘Siva Punyagana Mani’ and honored Tamil music also.

The veena music of Karakudi brothers accompanied by Dakshinamurthi Pillai can be compared to heavenly music. They have also played before Swamigal and obtained his blessings. Once, when our Swamigal was traveling in Chettinadu, Dakshinamurthi Pillai poured his devotion on Swamigal and composed songs. He placed them before Swamigal and requested him to cast his glance on them just once - he didn’t have to read them. Swamigal praised Pillai’s devotion and pure heart which did not seek fame to everyone gathered there and honored Pillai. Another veena musician from Mysore, Venkatagiriappa had performed a few concerts in the mutt. Swamigal once honored him with the title ‘Vainika Sikamani’ and gave him double shawl and double earrings(Thoda).

Swamigal wanted to engage a musician who was resident at the mutt. He called for a young musician Srivanjiyam Ramachandra Iyer and appointed him as the official musician of the mutt and also honored him with the title ‘Asthana Keerthanamani’.

The senior musician both in age and in talent was the singer / composer from Mysore – Vasudevachariar. He was capable of composing lyrics in both Kannada as well as Sanskrit. He had very scholarly in music and had researched musical and mythological works. Once when he visited Kancheepuram, he shared his research and findings with Swamigal and also sang his own compositions. Swamigal was said to have appreciated his scholarship and music. He was heard to have told other devotees that Mysore
Vasudevachariar was probably the best musician of the past century(19th century).

The special instrument in Carnatic music is the nadaswaram which is appreciated by the common people, but a very hard instrument to handle. This instrument in a smaller size is called Thimiri and Pari when it is of medium size. Thimiri and Pari are still played in some temples. The nadaswaram that is being played in the mutt has been there for a long time and is around 15 inches long. In the last century ( 19th century), a famous artist names Subramaniam played this thimiri at the mutt. In those days, thimiri was accompanied by the mrudangam. The older people have said that when thimiri was played in front of the mutt during puja times, the common people traveling on the road would gather around in great numbers and listen to it. During our Swamigal’s time, the
child prodigy Narayanan used to play thimiri in the mutt. He passed away early and later Kumbakonam Kandaswamy and his sons Kumararathnam and Chinnayya played the nadaswaram at the mutt.

In the year 1934, when Swamigal visited Kasi there was a conference on Hindustani music. They had invited mutt’s nadaswaram artists also to the conference. The artists obtained Swamigal’s permission and played a few rare Hindustani ragas in the nadaswaram and surprised the Hindustani artists. It is to be noted that all nadaswara vidwans have been encouraged by our Swamigal during his time. Six families of nadaswaram artists have been supported for more than 50 years by the mutt.