Irayimman Thampi

Irayimman Thampi ( 1782–1856)

He was born in Royal family of Travancore as Ravi Varman Thampi to  KeraLa Varma  TamprAn of ShErttalai palace,  and PArvati PiLLa Tangacci, daughter of Makairam Thirunal Ravivarma.. As it was the prevailing custom to name the eldest son by the grandfather’s name, Thampi’s real name was Ravi varman, which later became Iravi varman, and finally Irayimman, as he was affectionately called. Even as a young boy, Thampi’s aptitude towards music and poetry was very deep and, under the royal patronage, he could develop his various talents. He did not have any formal “guru” for music, and his abilities were mostly self-cultivated. He wrote his first poem when he was fourteen and dedicated it to Karthika Thirunal Dharmaraja of Travancore. Since then he occupied an enviable position in the Travancore court. Irayimman Thampi was already thirty one years of age when Swathi Thirunal Maharaja was born.  His most famous lullaby Omanathinkal Kidavo – set in Rāga Neelambari was written for the sake of the ruling Queen RANi gaurI lAkSmI bAi, to put to sleep none other that the newborn Swati Thirunal Maharaja. It is to be noted that there is no mention of the word “sleep” anywhere in this lullaby.This song also praises the birth of much needed male child into the royal dynasty which was slowly getting into the clutches of British.

He was married to the daughter of his maternal uncle and they had a girl child, Kutti Kunju Thankachi who was also a gifted composer and perhaps her father’s only disciple. Thampi had the privilege of enjoying the liberal patronage and protection of four kings Dharmaraja, Balarama Varma, Swathi Thirunal and Uthram Thirunal and two Queens Gouri Parvathy Bai and Gouri Lakshmi Bai . He was very closely associated with Vadivelu of the Thanjavur Quartette and Palghat Parameswara Bhagavathar. Maharaja Swati Tirunal made him the “Aasthana Kavi” and awarded him the `Virasinghala,’ a golden chain that was the highest honour at that time in Travancore.

There existed a healthy competition in composing songs between Swati Thirunal and Thampi, who was affectionately addressed as Thampi Maman by Swati Thirunal. Swathi Thirunal’s famous lyrics ‘Panchabanan thannudei…..’ and Thampi’s “Prananadhanenikku Nalkiya…..” were the results of such competitions

Thampi has composed songs on several gods/goddesses of nearby temples, namely  Lord padmAnabha of Tiruvanantapuram, shrI krSNa (of guruvAyUr temple, ambalapuzha temple, and neyyAttinkara), shiva, dEvi (ARRingal tiruvARaTTu bhagavati, paLLiyaRa bhAgavati, and kollattu cuRRumala shri pArvati).  He has also sung in praise of the queens, vancIshvari RANi gaurI pArvati bAi, and  RANi rukmiNi bAi (sister of Swati Thirunal).

Among the compositions of Thampi, the kriti “karuNa ceyvAn entu sAhasam kriSNA” on Lord  guruvAyUrappan is very popular and frequently heard in concerts.  Though composed originally in “shrI rAgam”, the musician Chembai VaidyanAtha BhAgavathr used to sing it in yadukula kAmbhOji, and it is equally pleasing. Among the many pada varNams Thampi composed, one in punnAgavarALi (“hAsAlOkE dhanya jAtA”) is a rare treasure, but unfortunately, it is not available in complete form due to the absence of ciTTa svarams and svara sAhityams. Thampi  used the mudra “padmanabha” in his compositions. “bhOgIndra shAyinam”  is often attributed to Swati Thirunal due to the presence of the mudra “padmanAbha”, but it was found in a hand-written manuscript of Thampi.  The rAgam was dhanyAsi. In his work, “kErala sangItam”, the author V. Madhavan Nair attributes it to Thampi. Thampi has composed songs in all rasas. His kritis contain numerous and lengthy caraNam lines.  Perhaps, he meant these songs not only to be sung in concert platforms, but as scholarly poems too, to be enjoyed by the readers. He has employed rakti rAgams like kAmbhOji, kalyANi, husEni, dhanyAshi, sAvEri, rItigauLa, mOhanam, bhairavi, madhyamAvati etc, as well as some rare rAgams like mAnji, jingaLa, kakubha, indIsha.  The last two are very rare.  The song “surabAsha hara” by Thampi is in kakubha, perhaps a janyam of mAyamAlavagauLa . The padam “ArODu colvan azhaluLLatellAm” is in indIsha rAgam, which was once a populart rAgam for the tuLLal songs of kuncan nambiaAr.The usage of dvitIyAkSara prAsam (rhyming in the second letter of each line), known as Edhugai in Tamil is found in most of Thampi’s musical and poetical works.

According to T. Lakshmanan Pillai, Irayimman Thampi has to his credit more that 500 compositions. But, only few of those compositions have survived, which include 39 keerthanams, 5 varNams, 23 padams and a few ATTAkkatha songs. Of the 39 keerthanams, 29 are in Sanskrit, and the remaining in malayALam.

While residing in an kizhakkE maDam, an almost-torn down old house, Irayimman Thampi wrotea verse  in maNipravALam, employing  shlESham (double meaning – comparing his old house to the epic bhAgavatam), and submitted it to MaharAjA Swati Thirunal .

Oh King! My house is  very very old (purANam)  just like the Epic bhAgavata purANam; those who glance through it will have immediate detachment (virakti), just like the feeling you get when you read the Epic; but there is one small difference —  my house  has no arttham (monetary value) whereas the epic is deep in arttham.

The King was immensely pleased with this poem, and immediately ordered the renovation of the house, to the fullest satisfaction of Irayimman.

On another occasion, there was a minor love-quarrel between Swati Thirunal and the wife, and it lasted for a few days. Irayimman wrote an appropriate love song, “prAnanAthanenikku nalkiya”  with shrigAra rasam in kAmbhOji for the queen, and requested the her to sung it loudly, when the King was passing through.  On hearing the song, the King understood everything, and there was complete reconciliation. This particular work of Thampi is one of the most beautiful shringAra padams available  in MalayALam. The composer, who penned the monumental toTTil pATTu (cradle lullaby) for Swati Thirunal,  lived long enough  to write a Charama shlOka (elegy) also for Swati Thirunal who died in 1846. Thampi lived  another 16 years and died in the year 1856.

Some of his Kritis (Compositions) are

•           Omanathinkal Kidavo – set in Rāga Neelambari

•           Karuna Cheyvan – set in Rāga Shriragam

•           Somapoma – set in Rāga Saveri

•           Aarodu Cholvene – set in Rāga Nadamakriya

•           Adimalar – set in Rāga Mukhari

•           Ambā gauri girikanyē – stava varNam – Ārabhi

•           Pāhimām giritanayē – sāvērī – miśra cāpu

•           Nityamāśrayē – rītigauḷa – Ādi

•           Kamalādikalām – khāmbhōji

Courtesy: Web

 

Composers continued…

Tallapakam Annamcharya: He was the great patron of Bhajana cult. At a young age he left his family and went to Thirupathi. He learnt Divya Prabandhas and atained proficiency. His compositions are compiled under four heads: Adhyatma Sankeertanalu, Shrungara Sankeertanalu,Shrungaramanjari and Venkatachalamahatmyam. First one tells how one can develop devotion and love towards Lors, second one isabout the love of a lady to Lord, Third talks about how the lady succeeds in attaining her wishes with the help of her friends and the fourth one is about the miracles and incidents happened at Thirumala.According to his grandson Annama has composed around 32000 songs. A little more than 12000 keertanas are available today. Everyday in Thirupathi his compositions are presented before Lord Venkateshwara.Annnama who had received several titles like Dravidagama Sarvabhouma, Sankeertanacharya,Padakavitha margadarshi,etcwas much respected by king of Tungattur.Of the keertanas, 108 have been selected by Thirupathi Devastanam and was given notations by Rallapalli Anantha Krishna Sharma who was the Asthana Vidwan of Thirupathi.Some songs have been set to noted by nedunuri Krishnamurthy. Annama lived till 1503.

Sadashiva Brahmendra: He was born as Sivaramakrishna in 17th century. He went to vedapadashala in Madurai and obtained his higher studies in Tarkashastra (moral philosophy) and Vedanta in Tanjore under the guidance of Sri Ramabhadra Dikshita. He became a sanyasi after getting diksha from Sri Paramshivendra and became Sri Sadashivendra Saraswathi. Bhakti had been in his blood ever since he was born, becoming a sanyasi helped him in getting Sri Rama and Krishna’s darshan. Many of his compositions give a clear visual of his darshan. WIth the pen name Paramahamsa he has given scores of wonderful songs  and numerous books –Yoga Sudhakara, Brahma Tatva Prakashika,Soota samhita,Shiva Manasa pooja,Paramahamsa Charya and much more. WIth his captivating melodious oice, he used to sing various compositions in his ashram.He had many Muslim and Italian followers. He entered samadhi in Nerur. Today on vaishaka shukla panchami day his aradhana is observed.Once Jagadguru Shri Shivabinava Swami of Shringeri observed fast in his Samadhi for 3 days. After the third day thousands of devotees could hear Swamiji and Sadashiva Brahmendra exchanging thoughts on religious matters and other topics of mutual interest.The 45 slokas composed by Swamiji on Brahmendra explains the greatness of his soul.

Chart of composers of various centuries

Century	Composers	Place of birth
12	Jayadeva	Kindubilva, Orissa
	Basavanna	Bagewadi,Karnataka
	Akka Mahadevi	Shimoga,Karnataka
14	Tallapakam Annamacharya	Kadappa,Andhra Pradesh
16	Mira Bai	Mewad
	Narayana Theertha	Tanjore, Tamilnadu
	Purandaradasa	Pandarapur, Maharashtra
	Kanakadasa	Andhra Pradesh
17	Badrachala Ramadasa	Barachal, Andhra Pradesh
	Sadashiva Brahmendra	Madurai
	Venkatamakhin
18	Oothukkadu Venkatasubba Iyer	Tanjore, Tamilnadu
	Shyamasastry	Kanchipuram, Tamilnadu
	Thyagaraja	Thiruvarur,Tamilnadu
	Muthuswamy Dikshitar	Thiruvarur,Tamilnadu
19	Panjushastry
	Ponniah Pillai	Tanjore, Tamilnadu
	Subbarayashastry
	Swati Thirunal	Thiruvankur,Kerala
	Veena Kuppaiyyar	Thiruvarur,Tamilnadu
	Mahavaidyanatha Iyer	Tanjore,Tamilnadu
	Pattanam Subramanya Iyer	Tanjore,Tamilnadu
	Gopalakrishna Bharathi	Tanjore,Tamilnadu
	Nilakanta Shivan	Padmanabhapuram, Tamilnadu
	Mysore Sadashiva Rao	Chittoor,Arcot
	Mysore Vasudevacharya	Coimbatore
	Muthiah Bhagavathar	Harikeshanallur
	Papanasham Shivan	Tanjore,Tamilnadu

 

Lineage :

Tallapakkam Annamacharya:

Disciples: His son Pedde Thirumala Iyengar and grandson Chinna Thirumale Iyengar are called as Tallapakkam composers.

Shyamasastry:

Guru:Pachimiriam Adi Appaya

Disciples: His second son Subbaraya Shastry,his first son Panju Shastry . Annamayya was the third sona nd famous disciple of Panju Shastry.

Thyagaraja:

Guru: Learnt devarnamas,padas from mother Seetamma, roper training from Sonti Venkataramanaiah of Tanjore court

Disciples: Taught astrology to Kumbakonam Aruvamuda Iyengar, Walajapet Potti Joshyar

Disciples in music: Walajapet Venkatramana Bhagavathar,Manambuchavadi Venkata Subbayyar,Umayalpuram Krishna Bhagavathar,Sundara bhagavathar, Tanjore Rama Rao, Veena Kuppaiyar and Subbarayashastry. Thiruvottiyur Thyagayyar was the son and popular disciple of Veena Kuppaiyar.

Muthuwswamy Dikshithar:

Guru: Music was a hereditary boon to him as his father was Ramaswamy Dikshidar the creator of Raga hamsadhwani.

Disciples: four dance masters from Tanjavur: Sivanandam, Ponnayya, Chinnayya and Vadivelu.Dikshitar had a daughter but it was the descendants of his brother Baluswami who have preserved his musical legacy, and his compositions have been popularized due to the efforts of people like Subbarama Dikshitar and Ambi Dikshitar.

Pattanam Subramanya Iyer:

Guru: Uncle Melathur Ganapathi Shastri, Manambuchavadi Venkata Subbaiyyar who was a disciple of Thyagaraja

Disciples: Mysore Vasudevacharya, Bhairavi kempe Gowda

Mahavaidyanatha Iyer:

Guru: Panchnathayyar, his father. Ramaswami SHivan, his elder brother also guided Vaidyanatha. Also learnt from Manambuchavadi Venkata Subbaiyyar

 

 

 

Composers

As there are quite a good number of resources available on the trinity, I am writing what I read about other composers who have contributed generously to  music.

Jayadeva: Jayadeva kavi , the pioneer in bhakti sangeet belongs to 12th century. He was born in Kindubilva in Orissa. Though Jayadeva has written many books like Ratimanjari,Tatvachintamani,Chandraloka, etc his Gita Govinda has been widely popular and has been translated in various language. Gita Govinda, originally written by Jayadeva in Sanskrit consists of twelve chapters broken down into twenty four divisions called Prabandhas. Each Prabandha has eight couplets called Ashtapadas .Hence widely known as Ashtapadi in South India.

Young Jayadeva travelled to places like Mathura, Brindavan and other places where Krishna had travelled and got inspired by the stories of Krishna.On returning to Puri, he relaxed under the shades of a tree an was  in deep thoughts. A brahmin named Devasharma approached Jayadeva and forced him to marry his daughter Padmavathy. When he refused, Devasharma left his daughter with Jayadeva and went away. Left with no choice, Jayadeva took Padmavathy with him. Padmavathy was an excellent dancer who could dance to the tunes of jayadeva. She was inspiration to Jayadeva in writing few ashtapadis.They both were deeply attracted to each other. Jayadeva called himself Padmavathy charana charana chakravarthi.