Eka Raga Kritis in Carnatic Music
Ashok Madhav
madhav_pgh@yahoo.com
Creative genius of the many vaggeyakaras (musician-composer) in
Karnatic music is amazing- especially amongst the Trinity
composers like Shyama Sastri, Tyagaraja and Muthuswami Dikshitar.
Notably, Tyagaraja’s greatness as a composer is reflected not
only by the voluminous number of compositions but also many kritis set
in uncommon ragas, several of them are his own creations. Tyagaraja is
one of the vaggeyakaras, whose has composed maximum number of kritis in
rare and uncommon ragas. These are the only kritis in these rare
and uncommon ragas. They are called eka-raga kritis.
These eka-raga kritis of Tyagaraja are the main source for us to
recognize sancharas of these rare ragas. The number of his
eka-raga kritis would be more than 40 or so.
Quite a number of eka raga kritis of Muthuswami Dikshitar are
also set in rather uncommon ragas, which will run into about 20 or so.
Shyama Sastri is credited to have composed a kriti in a new
raga-Chintamani, which was developed extempore during a formal setting
with Bobbili Keshavaiah. His eka raga kritis in Kalgada, Karnataka
Kapi, Manji are well known. This write-up tries to highlight
contributions of some composers and does not intend to be
exhaustive.
Post Trinity composers have also been successful in creating new ragas
and composing kritis in them. Patnam Subramanya Iyer’s popular
kriti- Raghuvamsha sudha in Kadanakutuhalam (Janya of
Shankarabharanam) was his creation and that was a new raga at that
time. A kriti in raga, Sindhu mandari by him is another
eka-raga kriti. Ramanathapuram (Poochi) Srinivasa Iyengar has
created a raga –Suraranjani (janya of Shankarabharanam)
and composed a kriti –Raghunatha nannu. An eka-raga kriti,
Jagatjanani in raga,
Rati-pathipriya comes from the creative mind of
Ghanam Krishnaiyer. Munuganti Venkata Rao Pantulu’s Neeve
gati Bhavanipati in raga
Pravrutti and Patrayani Seetharamaiah’s Iha para sadhaname
in raga
Smruti ranjani are also eka-raga kritis.
A few of Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavatar’s kritis are set
in rare ragas like
Nagabhushani, Valaji, Niroshta, Gaudamalhar,Guharanjani,
Sarangamalhar, Vijayanagari, Hamsagamani, Karna ranjani, Budhamanohari,
Pashupatipriya etc. It is possible that some of these
ragas were known earlier, but Muthiah Bhagavatar gave a definite shape
to these ragas in his kritis. Mysore Vasudevachar’s
kritis in Sunadavinodhini , Budharanjani and Megharanjani
represent eka raga kritis. Pallavi Seshayyar’s composition Entha
ni vina in raga Urmika is an eka raga kriti. Inta
bharamu in
Srimanoranjani is an eka-raga kriti, which was a creation
of N.S.Ramachandran.
Mysore Maharajah, Jayachamaraja Wodeyar has composed kritis in a few
uncommon ragas like Bhogavasantham, Durvanki, Nagadhwani, Nadabrahma
etc. G.N.Balasubramanian created new ragas like Amrutabehag,
Shivashakti, Chandrahasitam, Samakadambari, Chayaranjani, Sarangatarangini
and composed kritis in them.
Normally, a raga with 5 swaras is pleasing to listen. But Balamurali
Krishna has been responsible for creating new ragas like Mahati,
Sumukham, Lavangi etc,with only four swaras. These ragas pose
challenge for a musician and need special skills to render them.
A few compositions of Veena
Shivaramaiah have only three swaras, which are referred to as swayambhu
swaras.
Tanjavur S.Kalyanaraman demonstrated the utility of panchama varja
dwi-madhyama ragas (using both suddha and prati madhyamas) eschewing
panchamam totally. This type of ragas were known several decades
earlier, but Kalyanaraman rekindled interest in them. They are 36
panchama varja dwi-madhyama ragas in all. D.Pattammal is a prolific
composer, who has created a few eka-raga kritis in the above category.
One example is a kriti in raga –Subhasri, which is a janya
of Kanakangi (mela 1) containing both suddha and prati madhyamam
with no panchamam at all. Kritis in Vitabi (janya of
Vanaspati, mela 4) and Rukmambari (janya of Mayamalavagoula,) by
D.Pattammal are eka-raga kritis. A recent
addition to the eka-raga kriti is a composition, Bhajamyaham satatam
in Hamsakalyani by the author himself.
The music literature contains more than 600 eka-raga kritis.