Navarathri krithis - Sri Bala Tripura Sundari - Tiruvettriyur Pancharatnams

Happy Dasara festival to all! May the divine mother shower her blessings on one and all and give all of us sadbuddhi. Hope the world gets to be a more cleaner, safer, peaceful and greener place to live in. Today being the first day of Navarathri (Suddha Padyami), the Devi is dressed (alankarana) as Sri Bala Tripura Sundari.

Sri Bala Tripura Sundari at Kanaka Durga Temple, Vijayawada -

The great Rama bhakta Sri Thyagaraja visited Bala Tripura Sundari at Tiruvettriyur at his disciple Veena Kuppayyar's behest and composed five songs in her praise (http://www.karnatik.com/article006.shtml). The Tiruvettriyur pancharatnas are (click on link for lyrics)-

1. Kanna Talli Neevu in Saaveri Ragam (http://www.karnatik.com/c2388.shtml)

This song is set in the beautiful Saveri Ragam which is a janya of the 15th melakarta raga Mayamalavagowla. This ragam is rich in bhava and can be sung at both sunrise and sunset and brings out karuna and bhakti rasas. The arohana and avarohana structure of this ragam goes like:

Arohana: S, R1, M1, P, D1, S

Avarohana: S, N3, D1, P, M1, G3, R1, S

It can be observed that the R1 and D1 very close to Sa and Pa (the two fixed notes of the melakarta formulation) respectively and hence are important notes for this ragam. The M1 is given special treatment in this ragam. This is a very popular ragam and has been used by most composers. This particular krithi of Thyagaraja is a very rare krithi and is not sung very often in concerts.
Listen to the late Mysore Doraiswamy Iyengar sing this krithi -

2. Sundari Ninnu Varnimpa in Aarabhi Ragam (http://www.karnatik.com/c2883.shtml)

This krithi too is another rare song of Thyagaraja and is not sung often in concerts. This song is set in the ancient and melodious Aarabhi ragam which is one among the Ghana ragams. This is an auspicious ragam  sung at the beginning of concerts and is associated with vira rasa. This ragam shares the same skeletal arohana and avarohana structure as Saveri, but is derived from a different melakarta - Dheerashankarabharanam which is the 29th melakarta. 

Arohana: S, R2, M1, P, D2, S

Avarohana: S, N3, D2, P, M1, G3, R2, S

Not many gamakas are used in this ragam but it supports a lot of bhrigas. In contrast, the ragam Devagandhari, also derived from Dheerashankarabharanam and having the same arohana-avarohana structure as Aarabhi supports gamakas especially vilamba kala prayogams and differentiating it from Aarabhi.
Listen to Vijaya Murthy sing this krithi -

3. Sundari Nannandharilo Juci in Begada Ragam (http://www.karnatik.com/c2881.shtml)

This rare krithi is set in the unique Begada ragam. Begada is associated with shringara and adbhuta rasas. Although it can be sung at any time of the day, people tend to sing it during late afternoon and evening. This raga is derived form the 29th melakartha Dheerashankarabharanam. The arohana and avarohana structure of this raga is:
Arohana: S, G3, R2, G3, M1, P, D2, P, S
Avarohana: S, N3, D2, P, M1, G3, R2, S
The raga is a vakra ragam in the arohana alone.  However, in the avarohana, the raga accepts either kaisiki or kakali nishadam depending on the situation.
Listen to Jaya Krishnan sing this krithi -

4. Sundari Nee Divya Rupamunu in Kalyani Ragam (http://www.karnatik.com/c2882.shtml)

Kalyani ragam is an important and auspicious ragam and is very popular in Indian music. In the Hindustani music tradition, this ragam is known as Yaman or Kalyan. This scale is aslo present in Western Classical music as the Lydian mode (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lydian_mode) and in Persian music. It is interesting to note that just like Kalyani, Lydian mode too has been around for some time now. In the melakarta scheme it is the 65th melakarta and is known as Mechakalyani. It is the prati-madhyama equivalent of Dheerashankarabharanam. The arohana and avarohana structure for this ragam is-
Arohana: S, R2, G3, M2, P, D2, N3, S
Avarohana:  S, N3, D2, P, M2, G3, R2, S

The ragam is very pleasing to the ear and can be used to convey shanta rasa. It is considered to be one of the major ragams in carnatic music and lends itself to extensive elaboration.

Listen to Mangalampalli 'Bala'muralikrishna sing this krithis with an extensive alapana, kalpanaswarams and thani avarthanam. This song was part of a concert given in 1963 at The Shanmukhananda Hall in Mumbai. He was accompanied by Sri Lalgudi G Jayaraman on the violin and Umayalpuram K Shivaraman on the Mridangam.
Alapana:


Krithi:


Thani:

5. Dharini Telusukonti in Suddha Saaveri Ragam (http://www.karnatik.com/c1448.shtml)

Sudda Saaveri is a popular and pleasing symmetric pentatonic (audava-audava) ragam. Again, it shares the same arohana structure (sa, re, ma, pa, da, Sa) as Saaveri, Aarabhi and Devagandhari among others. The notes of the arohana are exactly same as Aarabhi. This ragam is derived from the 29th melakarta Dheerashankarabharanam. If we drop the Nishadam and Gandharam from Aarabhi we will get Suddha Saaveri. The arohana-avarohana structure is-

Arohana: S, R2, M1, P, D2, S

Avarohana: S,  D2, P, M1, R2, S
Dharini Telusukonti is among the most popular Suddha Saaveri compositions. Infact, it seems to be the most popular among the Tiruvettriyur Pancharatnams. It is also known as Devakriya in the Muthuswami Dikshitar School and  Durga in the Hindustani Music tradition.
Listen to Madurai Mani Iyer sing this krithi with alapna, swarams and thani -


This concludes the musical exploration of songs by Thyagaraja praising Bala Tripura Sundari. I hope to keep adding more songs and raga discussions in the future. I acknowledge and thank the efforts of the wonderful members of Sangeethapriya and Rasikas who have enriched our lives with their contributions.