A New Direction: For Terada Yoshitaka, Rajarathinam Pillai is a mirror that reflects the socio-economic conditions surrounding South Indian musical culture in general and the ambiguous and conflicting relationship between the practitioners of the two musical traditions. , Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
TeaDeath of Terada Yoshitaka, a Japanese scholar of South Indian classical music and the release of his book, TN Rajarattinam Pillai: Charisma, caste rivalry and a conflicted past in South IndiaThis month in Chennai comes at a time when Thiruvavaduthrayi, a small town in Mayiladuthurai district, is fading from the collective memory of Tamils.
A generation of musicians and rasikas from the entire Thanjavur district, who had the opportunity to hear nagaswaram maestro TN Rajarathinam Pillai and his contemporaries, has now faded away. There was a time when no discussion or debate on Carnatic music was complete without a mention of Pillai’s elaborate rendering of ragas. As the music world today is dominated by musicians from the city, Terada’s work serves to bridge the gap between these musicians and the overall Thanjavur, the heartland of Carnatic music.
Even in Thiruvaduthurai, there is nothing to remind the musician or rasika of the great exponent of Nagaswaram. The house that Pillai had built and lived in at Thiruvaduthurai was also demolished a few years ago. Proposal for creation of State Govt. Manimandapam It has been on paper for more than a decade. Pillai’s recordings and photographs survive to tell his story, and Terada compensates for what is not available to the present generation.
This book is not just about Pillai and his music. As the title suggests, it is also about power politics in the field of music between Brahmins and non-Brahmins, especially the Isai Vellala community, to which Pillai belonged. Terada covers almost every aspect of the nagaswaram-thavil music world, including the “arrogant manner” in which Isai Velas treated other communities playing nagaswaram and thavil.
exchange ideas
However, there has always been an exchange of ideas between nagaswaram music and other forms of Carnatic music, and there is a style called nagaswara- Bani In vocal singing, the caste-based conflict between them spilled over into the public sphere and politics. In the past Nagaswaram and Thavil players were not allowed to wear shirts while performing. They were even denied space on the stages of concerts, and would stand during the entire concert or walk with processions of temple deities and marriages.
It was Pillai who rose to the scene like a superhero and changed the fortunes of the Nagaswaram players. He removed his tufts and wore a Western hairdo; dressed for maharajas; and insisted that he would play on the vehicle for the processions as well. More importantly, he changed the short timiri-type, high-pitched nagaswaram to a longer pari-type instrument, which is used by current nagaswaram players and is more suitable for chamber concerts.
As the music world today is dominated by musicians from the city, Terada Yoshitaka’s work serves to bridge the gap between these musicians and Thanjavur as a whole, the heartland of Carnatic music. His book is not only about Rajarathinam Pillai and his music, but also about power politics between Brahmins and non-Brahmins. , Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Terada writes, “Rajarathinam Pillai, as an icon, serves as a mirror that reflects the ambiguous and conflicting socio-economic conditions surrounding South Indian musical culture in general and the practitioners of these two musical traditions.” shows relationships.
Thiruvaduthurai symbolizes many aspects that are part of non-Brahmin identity. Thirumoolar, the Siddhar poet who spoke against Vedic rituals and deities in many of his verses, settled here. The Tiruvaduthurai Math, a Saivite Math, is a non-Brahmin institution. The heads of the mutt include the great Tamil scholar Melakaram Subramania Desikar and Velappa Desikar. The mutt commissioned Thirisirapuram Meenakshisundaram Pillai and his student U.V. Like patronized Tamil scholars. Swaminatha Iyer, known as the Grand Old Man of Tamil.
“The rationale for choosing this particular individual composer for the analysis of South Indian musical culture rests on his unique position in the matrix of the complex relationship between two important musical traditions in South India: periya melam and Carnatic music. Periya melam instrumental music refers to a style that accompanies temple and domestic rituals and festivities, and is characterized by nagaswaram and taavil (accompanying drums), while Carnatic music is a tradition of classical music performed most prominently in concert halls. Terada writes in his introduction to the book.
Terada’s work was originally submitted to the University of Washington in 1992 as a doctoral dissertation. It is jointly published by Rosa Muthiah Research Library (RMRL) and Speaking Tiger.
Terada, who was also Professor Emeritus at the Graduate University School of Advanced Studies, received his MA and PhD in Ethnography from the University of Washington. He also served as a visiting professor in the Semester-at-Sea program of the University of Pittsburgh, New York University, the University of Bonn, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research areas included India, the Philippines, Japan and Asian Americas.
was the editor of Music and Society in South Asia: Perspectives from JapanA collection of essays on South Asian performing arts by Japanese scholars (National Museum of Ethnology, 2008), and his articles on India appear in prestigious international journals and as chapters in books.
range of details
Terada told Thiuvaroor S. Learned Nagaswaram from Lechappa Pilla and his knowledge of his subject is testified by another scholar on Nagaswaram BM Sundaram. “To collect such detailed information about a scholar is extremely laborious, and Terada has done it successfully. I would say that the work is an encyclopedia, which will be useful to future researchers as it is an excellent history of the two musical instruments,” writes Sundaram.
As Terada observes, even though many eminent Isai Vellar nagaswaram musicians have retired or died, the number of nagaswaram and thavil players has increased in the past two decades. However, the attitude of the music halls towards him remains unchanged. Musicians are asked to perform either at the opening ceremony or at the closing ceremony. Often, they are asked to perform on stage without proper concert props and are eliminated when the chief guest arrives. It has been nearly three decades since a player from Nagaswaram was offered an evening slot in major meets. The organizers of the sangeet sabha justified their decision by saying that today’s nagaswaram artists do not match the talent and energy of the artists of yesteryear. But when asked whether all the singers and other instrumentalists have lived up to the standards of what is known as the great master, he has no answer.