The kriti Tarunamidamma is by the composer Syama Shastri. Shastri was the oldest of the Trimurti, or Trinity, of Carnatic music
along with Tyagaraja and Muttusvami Dikshitar.
Shastri lived a life of 65 years; he was born in 1762 and died in
February of 1827. The community he was
born into was a Tamil-Brahmin community known as auttara vadama. His kin can be traced back to being archakas
in the temple of Goddess Bangaru Kamakshi.
An archaka is a very distinguished person in the community. They are high priests who are responsible for
conducting temple rituals. Although
Shastri’s parents were scholarly and taught him the Telugu and Sanskrit
languages at a young age, they were not, however, interested in music, yet his
mother did instruct his cousin to teach him the basics in music.
When Syama was eighteen, a monk
named Sangitaswami
was staying with the family. He was a
master of dance and music and was quick to find a special gift in Syama. He was granted permission from Syama’s father
and ended up teaching him the art of tala, raga, and swara prastharaas. He encompassed all this information in just a
matter of four months! Syama started composing in Sanskrit first and later
changed to Telugu. He also composed in
Tamil, however this kriti, Tarunamidamma,
is the only one known as of today.
Also, it is the only one of his kritis in Gowli Panthu raga.
Now what exactly does that mean,
you ask? There are thousands of
different types of ragas. Raga is the
term used in Indian music to distinguish the mode and the specific pitches,
melodic features, scale patterns, and ornamentation in the music
tradition. The specific pitches of the
Gowli Panthu in the pallavi are:
r s- n p ,
N , ; S n-s R | rs S ; pm pm- P dm-gr
1 2
3 4 | 5
6 7 8
The approximate pitches of the Annupallavi (keep in mind
there is still improvisation and ornamentation that will cause it to vary:
; p np , s S S S R S |
R- rs nd pm n p N S S
The Caranam:
; sn g R s Srs nd S S | ; P m-pdm g R- g R
S
; p n P -
S S S R R
| ; rs nd pm n p N S S
; S- S s -S s N ; srS , -d pm | ;- rs pm - dp sn - mp dm –
Notice that each letter or group of letters
grouped together in the lines above total to the number 8. That is because the particular tala that this
composer uses is called Adi tala. In Adi
tala, we have an 8 beat cycle. Another important
aspect of this kriti is that most of the cycles of phrases do not begin on the
downbeat of one. All of the phrases
begin on the next tic-mark right after 1 except for the last 4 cycles of the
pallavi and the very last line of the caranam.
Now in this kriti, the performer begins on sa in the first two cycles
and gravitates towards ri as a starting pitch for the remaining part of the
pallavi. The beats 4 and 3, first to be
recognized by theorists as a legitimate basis to build a tala over, are very
important in the anupallavi and caranam.
These are the ‘strong beats’ in
this kriti along with 5 in the pallavi.
The relatively brisk tempo gives the
performer certainly enough time to repeat the text. The pallavi itself has 8 cycles of tala! The anupallavi, consequently, also has 8
cycles. The caranam has 11 cycles and
then the pallavi is repeated.
In the anupallavi and the last two lines
of the caranam, you can feel the performer intensify the text through the notes
of the raga. He slides from low sa to
high sa within one beat of the tala. He then
stays at high sa for the next beat, then ascends to the higher ri, back down a
step to high sa, and finally returns to low ri and low sa. He repeats this sequence a number of times
throughout the cycles. The effect is a
yearning for the Goddess Kamakshi to be his protector. He depends
on her.
Pallavi:
Tarunamidammaa EnnaiRakshikka
; s r , M , ; N , s R | rsS ; ; ; ; ; ; ||
Taru - nam - i dam- maa-- - - - - - -
; s r , M , ; N , s R | rsS ; sn dp - P dm-gr ||
Taru - nam - i dam- maa-- - En- - nai Ra - - kshi
r s- n p , N , ; S n-s R | rs S ; pm pm- P dm-gr ||
- kka Taru - nam - i - dam- maa-- - En- - nai Ra - - kshi
r s- s r , M , ; N , s R | rs S ; ; ; ; ; ; ||
-kka Taru - nam - i dam- maa-- - - - - - -
[FINAL FINISH:
(instantslide from high "s" to low "s")
r s- s r , M , ; N , s R | rs - s r , M , ; N , s R ||
-kka Taru - nam - i dam- maa Taru - nam - i dam
r s- s r , M , ; N , s R | rs S ; ; ; ; ; ; ||
maa- Taru - nam - i dam- maa - - - - - - -
]
Anupallavi:
Karunaanidhiyaagiya Kaamaakshi Rakshikka
; p np , s S S S R R | ; , s r-s n s r- S,r - n S ; ||
Ka ru - naani dhiyaa gi ya Kaa maa-- - - kshi - -
; p np , s S S S R R | ; rs nd pm n p N SS ||
Ka ru - naani dhiyaa gi ya Kaa maa-kshi Ra- - kshikka
; p np , s S S S R S | R- rs nd pm n p N S S ||
Ka ru - naani dhiyaa gi ya - Kaa maa-kshi Ra- - kshikka
; p np , s S S S R S | R- rs nd pm P dm gr - gr || s n
Ka ru - naani dhiyaa gi ya - Kaa maa-kshi Ra- - kshi - - - kka
Charanam:
Kaamita PhalattaiKaimel Taruvaaye Kanpaarttu Rakshippa Eppodum Neeye SomashekhararPadi Sundari Kaumaari Shyaamakrishnan Sodari Shailaraajakumaari
; sr , m P PP D ; | ; M , D m g R- g R S ||
Kaa- -mita Phala ttai- - Kai - mel- Taru vaa - ye
; sr , m pm , p P D ; | ; M , D m g R- g R S ||
Kaa- -mita Phala ttai- - Kai - mel- Taru vaa - ye
; sn g R s sn D S S | ; P m- pdm g R - g R S ||
Kan- paa-rttu Ra- - kshippa - Ye - ppo-- dum- Nee- ye
; sn g R s Srs nd S S | ; P m-pdm g R- g R S ||
Kan- paa-rttu Ra- - kshippa - Ye - ppo-- dum- Nee- ye
; p n P - S S S R R | ; rs nd pm n p N S S ||
So - ma she kha ran Padi - Sun da- ri- Kau-- maa ri
; p n P - S S S R R | ; rs nd pm n p N S S ||
So - ma she kha ran Padi - Sun da- ri- Kau-- maa ri
; S s -S s sN, r s -sd p m | ; - rs pm - dp sn - mp dm - gr ||
Shyaa ma krishna So - - - da- ri - Shai la- raa- ja- ku- maa- - -
S- S s -S s N ; srS , -d pm | ;- rs pm - dp sn - mp dm - gr || sn
ri Shyaa ma krishna So - - - da ri - Shai la- raa- ja- ku- maa- - - ri-
*Note: Some of these lines are repeated in the recording
Speaking of interpretation, the text of Tarunamidamma is as follows:
Pallavi:
Tarunamidammaa EnnaiRakshikka
Anupallavi:
Karunaanidhiyaagiya Kaamaakshi
Rakshikka
Charanam:
Kaamita PhalattaiKaimel Taruvaaye
Kanpaarttu Rakshippa Eppodum Neeye SomashekhararPadi Sundari Kaumaari
Shyaamakrishnan Sodari Shailaraajakumaari
The
translation is as follows:
Pallavi: Mother this is the right moment to protect me.
Anupallavi: O Kamakshi thou art the
treasure house of compassion. Protect me.
Charanam: I have no duty other
than uttering your name. Do I have any other deity for allaying me of my
worries? Now is the time for you condescend and look at me. You incarnated to
develop the universe. O primordial energy source. O mother, tell me who else is
there to support me? I seek your feet like the Chataka
bird seeking the moon. O daughter of Himavan, sister
of Syama Krishna, you always give more boons than
asked for. You are the one who protects me always.
Notice that after the pallavi, the texts get more elaborate and
descriptive. Here, Shastri is
worshipping the Goddess Kamakshi, the goddess of the temple in which his family
are devout archakas. It is said that
Shastri was very pious and would sing his kritis to the goddess.
The text is pretty straightforward; he praises and honors the goddess
and tells her there is no other deity in which he would devote himself to
because She is the one who supports him and calms him of his worries.
Some interesting images are the Chataka bird. He seeks her feet while the Chataka seeks the
moon. In Indian mythology, the Chataka
bird is said to be unable to drink water found on earth so it looks towards the
heavens and the skies, drinking the water falling directly from the skies. It is only said to be found during the rainy
season, as it is a migratory bird.
Himavan, mentioned as well, is the king of the mountains in Indian
mythology. His daughter, Uma, was also
known as Parvati, who was the reincarnation of Sati, the wife of Shiva.
Although Syama Shastri only wrote
about three hundred kritis, he still maintains a permanent position within the Trimurti “due to the quality, depth,
variety, scholarliness, and bhakthi bhava in his compositions.”1 Bhakthi bhava is described as a feeling of
devotion and in Tarunamidammam,
it is easy to feel each trait mentioned above in Shastri’s music.
http://www.carnatica.net/composer/syama1.htm
http://padmum.wordpress.com/2012/01/06/the-legendary-indian-birds-hamsa-chatakas-and-chakoras/
http://www.apamnapat.com/entities/Himavan.html
http://lakshmidevnath.com/images/friday_reviews/composer.pdf
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