Sarali varisaigal are sequential swara patterns sung in Ragam Mayamalavagowla. They help students get a good grip of shruthi or pitch, talam or rhythm and a good foundation of the different notes. Janta varisaigal are patterns of two notes while the Dhaatu swaras are zigzag patterns that give students greater control over the notes. Later when students attempt kalpana swaras using their imagination, these initial exercises come in handy. So even if you're grumbling and moaning while your teacher is relentless in making you practise these exercises, you'll certainly thank her later! Students of Hindustani music learn these swara patterns in raag Bilawal, which corresponds to raga Shakarabaranam in the Carnatic scale.

Beginning with sarali varisaigal, students learn to sing 14 different patterns in three different speeds. Once they master sarali, they move on to the janta. My teacher often asked me to practise singing the same sarali and janta varisagal in different ragas (sampoorna ragas which had all seven notes) to break the monotony! Practising the dhaatu varisaigal, whether as a vocal or an instrumental exercise, helps students get a firm grip on the placing of the notes at any point. The melstayi and mantra stayi patterns exercises the vocal chords in higher and lower octaves.

Alankaras, the next stage in abhyasagaanam introduces students to the tala scheme of Carnatic music. There are 7 different tala families in the system, each tala having 5 varieties, thereby allowing 35 possible talas in the system. The three kinds of beats in a tala are anudhritam (one beat), dhrutham (two beats) and laghu (3/4/5/7/9 beats).

Geetams and Swarajathis are the next stepping stones on the path of learning Carnatic music. Geethams are basic songs with simple swara patterns and lyrics. I remember the day I Iearnt my first geetam, Shri Gananadha in ragam Malahari. Finally after several weeks of hearing me sing swaras, swaras and more swaras my teacher got tired of seeing my mournful face in class. When he began teaching the song - one which had lyrics I felt I had stepped into the big league-:)There was a renewed surge of energy in my music classes as I waded my way through the geethams, each captivating me with a magic of its own. As you listen to the podcast, please remember to comment on the blog (the good, the bad and the ugly). Happy listening!

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Poetry of the vernacular poets being set to music has been attempted by several composers. Whether it is the vachanas of the Kannada composers such as Basavanna,  the Divya Prabandhangal of the Alwar saints in Tamil, Kabir's dohas, Sangam literature such as verses from Silappadikaram (MS singing Vadavaraya mathaki at her UN concert in 1966), musicians have tried to bring life to several exquisite forms of poetry with their creativity and acumen. My recent album Saranagathi was one such attempt - original music score by a friend/musician in the US who composed the music for 30 verses from Kulasekhara Alwar's Perumal Tirumozhi.

When poetry is being transliterated to musical form, it adds a new dimension to it. The same verses now reach a wider audience. It's like adding that zing to your favourite dish. Many of us have listened to MS rendering Bhaja Govindam - can you now imagine reciting the same verses in staccato fashion? It doesn't matter if you sing off-key, but you're in your comfort zone singing the tune of your childhood. If you try reciting the same verses, you know there's something missing.

I believe the composer has a huge responsibility here. He needs to understand the poetry, the mood of the poet before selecting the raga. One cannot choose a raga like Shuba Pantuvarali when the poet talks about a rainy day, neither can we listen to Sama when Rama goes to war with the lord of Lanka!

Years back, a dancer in the SF Bay Area had asked me to set the music for a few verses penned by a Sanskrit professor in DC. The whole piece was about an immigrant's dilemma in the US. The poem began with the the immigrant pondering as to why he was drawn to the land of opportunity. The questions haunt his mind day and night. I chose raga Mohanam for the introductory verse. The next verse talked about why he continued to live in a land where he was treated as a secondary citizen (Bhagesri as there was an element of despair). As this was a dance program there was a visual element in the mix and was a big hit at the Asian Performing arts festival.

Poetry is all about emotion as is music. When the two meet, there’s magic in the air.

This post is about the song, Sri Chakra Raja Simhasaneshwari praising the mother Goddess. It is a ragamalika composed by Agastyar and the words are in Sanskrit and Tamil. The ragas include Senchurutti, Punnagavarali, Nadanamakriya and Sindhubhairavi. All four ragas are highly emotive in nature and used in light classical compositions. The practice of Sri Chakra involves the worship of the deity in the form of a diagram (nine inter-locking triangles) that represents both Shiva and Shakthi, the yin and yang of human nature.

Here are the lyrics of the song.

Raga-Senchurutti
P: shrI cakrarAja simhAsanEshvari shrI lalitAmbikE bhuvanEshvari
A: Agama vEda kalAmaya rUpiNi akhila carAcara janani nArAyaNi
nAga kankaNa naTarAja manOhari jnAna vidyEshvari rAjarAjEshvari

Raga-Nadanamakriya
C1: palavidamAi unnai pADavum Adavum pADi koNDADum anbar padamalar shUDavum
ulagam muzhudum ena tagamurakkANavum oru nilai taruvAi kanchi kAmEshvari

Raga-Punnagavarali
2: uzhanru tirinda ennai uttamanAgi vaittAi uyariya periyOruDan onriDakkUTTi vaittAi
nizhalenat toDarnda munnUzhk koDumaiyai nInga sheidAi nityakalyANi bhavAni padmEshvari

Raga-Sindhubhairavi
3: tunbappuDatiiliTTut tuyavanAkki vaittAi toDarnda mun mAyam nIkki piranda payanai tandAi
anbai pugaTTi undan Adalaik kANa sheidAi aDaikkalam nIyE amma akhilANDEshvari

Listen to Maharajapuram Santhanam and his sons sing Sri Chakra Raja

The first jugalbandhi pair we can look at is Shankarabharanam, one of the big five ghana raagas in the Carnatic tradition and Bilawal (sung in the late hours of the morning) in the Hindustani tradition. Both  run as SR2G3M1PD2N3 SN3D2PM1G3R2 with their jiva swaras G,M,P,N. Here are two good videos of Shankarabaranam (Vijay Siva) and Bilawal (Ustad Ghulam Hasan Khan Shaggan).  Students of Hindustani music begin their basic training exercises with Bilawal.

One of the oldest temples in the area, Kannika Parameshwari on 8th cross is a landmark in the Malleswaram region of Bangalore. The accompanists for the concert were MS Govindaswamy(violin) and C.Cheluvaraju (mridangam).

Here is the song list for the concert -
1. Vandi suvudhadhi - Nattai - Kanda Chapu - Purandaradasa
2. Shambho mahadeva - Pantuvarali - Rupakam - Tyagaraja - N/S
3. Himagiri tanaye - Shudha Dhanyasi - Adi - Muthiah Bhagavathar - R
4. Ranjani malai - Ranjani/Sriranjani/Megha ranjani/Janaranjani - Adi - Tanjavur Shankara Iyer
5. Ekambresa nayaki - Shanmukhapriya - Adi - Dikshithar - RNS
6. Vachana (enna vaama kshema) - Marva - Eka - Basavanna
7. Kaliyuga varadhan - Brindavana Saranga - Adi - Periyasami Tooran
8. Devaki kanda mukunda - Madhuvanti - Adi - Purandara dasa
9. Sloka - Ragamalalika
10. Tillana - Poornachandrika - Adi - Poochi Srinivasa IyengarThis is your new blog post. Click here and start typing, or drag in elements from the top bar.

This article originally appeared in the Deccan Herald

Batu Caves are a group of limestone caves and one of the most popular tourist destinations in Malaysia. Chitra Srikrishna explores.

‘Just a few more to go, you’re almost here!” My husband encourages me as I gasp for breath on step 200! I can see that our two daughters, already at the top, are impatient to proceed into the caves. We are at the Batu caves just outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Finally, with only one more short stop for catching my breath, I make it over the last step and am at the top.

In front of me is the Cathedral or Temple Cave. The word cavernous takes a whole new meaning as I try to take in the sheer size of the natural cave. There’s a damp, pungent smell inside. Despite the early evening, the corners of the cave are already getting dark.

Long stalactites protruding from the ceiling and stalagmites rising from the ground form bizarre patterns. Out of the corner of my eye I espy a huge bat heading for me straight at great speed. Instinctively I duck and it sails just past my head.

Monkeys with unusually long tails are running across the alcoves chattering like magpies all the time. I feel a little awed and stand staring at the surrealistic scene of a South Indian temple with its pyramidal roof painted in bright colours inside the cave’s Martian landscape.

My reverie is broken by my daughters pulling on my hands. They are anxious to explore further. As dusk hastens they want to make best of the light still coming through the natural openings in the cave’s distant roof. We hurry across to a short flight of stairs at the far end of the cave to get to the main shrine.

The Batu Caves are a group of limestone caves and cave temples and one of the most popular tourist destinations in Malaysia. The name Batu comes from the name of the river that flows past the hill. The caves which are 13 km north of Kuala Lumpur are believed to have been discovered by an Indian trader, K Thamboosamy Pillai in the late 1800s. The main draw of the Batu caves is a shrine of the Hindu God Murugan (Kartikeya or Subramanya). At the base of the caves a giant golden statue of Murugan, holding his weapon the vel (spear), greets visitors. The Batu caves also offer adventure to motivated spelunkers — prior permission is required to explore the Dark Cave (just below the Cathedral Cave), which is otherwise closed to the public.

As we stand in the temple watching a priest complete his rituals, I am struck by the rapid conversation he engages in Tamil with another family. I would have lingered on but my husband shepherds me towards the exit. “It’s going to rain; we need to head back.” Soon enough as we begin our descent down the long flight of steps, the torrential downpour takes us by surprise.

My husband and daughters being more agile quickly get to the bottom of the nearly 300 steps. Ever the careful one, I gingerly put my feet onto every step valiantly holding on to a temperamental umbrella. I remember the cab driver’s words on our way here from the hotel. “It can get slippery on the steps, especially when it rains — be careful!” We quickly clamber into our waiting cab. I remark that there aren’t too many visitors now. “You’re lucky — it’s closing time. You must visit during thaipoosam, hardly any room to stand!” Our driver is in an expansive mood. He tells us that during the Thaipoosam festival in January the atmosphere reaches a frenzy as devotees carry milk offerings for Lord Murugan in containers or kavadis (carriers) on their shoulders and climb the steps watched by a million others.

Some of these carriers are extremely heavy and ornately decorated with peacock feathers and flowers. For the devotees, it’s a sacred mission. I cannot help admire them and the wondrous panorama that the Batu caves offers. If you see me on the Stairmaster machine, you know I’m preparing for my next trek up those 272 steps!