Lech-dems open a window to an era on the lives and works of musicians of the past and to learn more about how music has evolved over the decades.
At the Sangeet Akademi, Reetha Rajan presented an interesting account of Ramanathapuram ‘Poochi’ Srinivasa Iyengar, a noted composer-composer, one of the most famous after Trinity.
An outstanding third-generation musician of the Manambuchavadi disciple tradition of Tyagaraja, he belonged to the Chellur Iyengar community, who are believed to have migrated from Chelluru or Selavanallur in the East Godavari district during the 9th century, mostly to Madurai, Sivaganga. and settled in Ramanathapuram. Born in Pappankulam in Ramanathapuram district to Narayana Iyengar and Lakshmi Ammal, young Srinivas inherited his interest in music from his mother, a fine singer.
Talking about her surname ‘Poochi’, which means insect, Reetha quotes Tamil scholar U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, who said that she got the name because her singing was as melodious as the hum of a bee.
Srinivas matriculated in first class from Ramanathapuram High School. Panditurai Thevar, a schoolboy who later became the zamindar of Palavanatham, recognized his musical abilities and was responsible for his education under Patnam Subramaniam Iyer. Srinivas, an admirer of Maha Vaidyanath Iyer, drew a lot from his raga-alapana and Pallavi singing.
Reetha Rajan with Akshay and Shruti S Bhat. , photo credit: special arrangement
Poochi Iyengar concerts
Srinivasa Iyengar’s concerts usually began with Bhairavi Ata Tal Varnam ‘Viribhoni’, followed by some Kirtans with Antara Gandhara. He often included Muthuswamy Dikshitar’s ‘Nilotpala Nayake’ (Nariritigowala) and ‘Subrahmanya Namaste’ (Kamboji); ‘Nimadi Chalga’ (Anandabhairavi) by the poet Matribhuthayya; and ‘Garuda Gamana’ (Nagaswaravali) and ‘Ni Padmula’ (Bhairavi) by his Guru Patnam Subramaniam Iyer. He usually sang Pallavi, ‘Mandahsa Vadana’ in Sankarabharanam, or ‘Ma Madura Meenakshi’ in Bhairavi. At the end of their performance, they would present some of their compositions and end with a javali and thilana. His favorite ragas were Shanmukhapriya, Shankarbharanam, Kalyani, Kapi, Varali, Begada, Sahana and Hussaini.
Excerpted from the weekly column ‘Karnataka Sangeeta Vidvangal’ by Solamangalam Vaidyanath Bhagavatara Kalki The magazine, Reetha, said that Srinivasa Iyengar kept his performance simple with the melody. He did not encourage the accompanists to dominate, and Tani Avartanam was restricted to a few minutes at the end of the concert.
many disciples
He had many disciples. Prominent among them were Salem Duraisamy Iyengar, Kandanur Srinivasa Iyengar, Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar, Karaikudi Rajamani Iyengar, Kuttalam Srinivasa Iyer, Koteshwara Iyer (who also learned from Patnam Subramaniam Iyer), Ramatapuram Ramanuram Sivaramayar, K. Mayayavaram Sivaramayar, K. Rajamani Iyengar.
Sharing some anecdotes from the book, my musical journey to south india By composer VN Bhatkhande, who had gone to Ramanathapuram to interview Srinivasa Iyengar, Reetha said, “He learned many Hindustani ragas through one of his disciples, Shankar Pandit, who hailed from Gwalior. He also used to sing a bandish, ‘Pyaar De’ in Raga Poorva in his concerts.
from some stories
he read an excerpt from Karnamrut Sagaram, A book by Abraham Panditar, which states that Srinivasa Iyengar sang exactly like his guru. Mysore Vasudevchar in his book, Na Kanda KalavidaruIt is said that Srinivasa Patnam was the first disciple of Subramaniam Iyer and Vasudevachar the last. He writes of how he was inspired to learn from Patnam Iyer after listening to Srinivasa Iyengar’s Sankarabharanam Pallavi ‘Mandahsa Vadana’ at Veena Sheshana’s home in Mysore. Narrating an interesting anecdote, Reetha said that Mysore Vasudevchar sang his composition ‘Janakendra Sutha Priya’ in Megharanjani at the wedding of Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar. When it was Srinivasa Iyengar’s turn to perform, he too sang his own piece, ‘Karunatho Nannu’ in the same raga. Vasudevachar asked him if he could change the raga of his composition, in which Srinivasa Iyengar cited the example of Tyagaraja’s ‘Manasu Swadhin’ and Dikshit’s ‘Akshayalinga Vibho’ in Sankarabharanam and said that the resemblance was a blessing from his guru.
teaching session
In his book, Vasudevachar described Srinivasa Iyengar’s method of teaching as ‘rakshasa sadakam’, as he had seen him teach Begada Ata Tala Varnam to each disciple individually. Similarly, referring to his hunger, he described it as ‘rakshasa sappadu’, as he had eaten a large quantity of food.
Solamangalam V. Radhakrishna Bhagavatara talks about Srinivasa Iyengar’s participation in conducting the first worship at Thiruvayaru in 1906 in ‘An Account of Thiagarajaswamy Aradhana’. Interestingly, at Bangalore Nagaratnamma Ritigovala, Poochi Iyengar’s ‘Sadguru Swamiki’ will begin the worship.
The composer has written tana and pada varnam, kirtan, javalis, thilana, a kavadi chindu in Tamil and a navaratnamalika in nine ragas. He composed in Sanskrit, Telugu and Tamil, and his posture was Srinivasa, although some compositions have no posture.
his works are published Sangeetanubhav Sara Sangamam By Perungulam V. Srinivasa Iyengar, Venkateswara Tana Varnangali Kakinada by CS Krishnaswamy Iyer, sangeeta arrogant (1936), sangeeta kalpadhrum (1947), and The Music Academy’s Rare compositions by Patnam Subramaniam Iyer, Ramnad Srinivasa Iyengar and other composers Edited by Mudikondan Venkataram Iyer (1958), as well as in the books of NC Parthasarathy (1980), Salem Chellam Iyengar (1982), and Rangaramanuja Iyengar. Kriti Mani Malai (Vol. 4).
While ‘Ninnukori’ in Mohanam and ‘Neranammiti’ in Canada are the most popular of their characters, Akshay and Shruti S. Bhat, an alumnus of the Advanced School of Carnatic Music, who, with Reetha Rajan on rendition, sang ‘Raara Sami’, a rarely heard varnam in Anandabhairavi.
There are about 25 famous kirtans, among which ‘Anudinamu’ (Begada), ‘Sadbhaktiyu’ (Anandabhairavi), ‘Samajavarada’ (Shuddha Saveri), ‘Parthasarathy Nannu’ (Madhyamvati), ‘Ni Padmule Gatiyani’ (Navrasa Kannada), ‘Neekela’ Naida’ (Dev Manohari), and ‘Param Pawan Ram’ (Purvakalani) are available with the notation.
Chitteshwar Specialist
Chittaswar poochi woven into the works was characteristic. Whereas the chittaswarams for Thyagaraja’s works were composed later and so are usually in the free-flowing Sarvalagu pattern, Poochi’s chittaswarams are highly employed, Reetha said.
His kirtan chowka kalam, adi taal takes place in 2 buds, viz., ‘Sarguna Palimpa’, ‘Parama Pawan’ and ‘Sri Raghukula Nidhi’ in Hussaini. One of the few composed in praise of George V during his visit to India, ‘Satamu Brovumaiya’ is also set in 2 buds. Quoting ‘Sri Venkatesham Varam’ in a bit, Reetha points out that Poochi Iyengar was also adept at composing masterpieces in Roopka Tala 2 Kalai, which is a challenge, although Papanasam Sivan composed some.
There are seven Javli of the composer available. Also fond of making thilans, the 12 thilans established by him, one in Laxmisa Taal with 108 beats in a chakra in Kapi, and the other in Ragavardhini in Kamavardhini, a cadence of 72 beats, proves his versatility.
Appropriately, Reetha played a recording of ‘Na Dir Dheem’ sung by Lata Mangeshkar in the film. Stranger, Which is based on Sankarabharanam Thillana of Poochi.
Chennai based reviewer
Writes on classical music.