Thamizh Songs in Carnatic Music—9-- எக்காலத்திலும்—ekkAlattilum

 Thamizh Songs in Carnatic Music—9

எக்காலத்திலும்—ekkAlattilum

rAgam: nATTakkurinji (நாட்டைக்குறிஞ்சி)  tALam: rUpakam (ரூபகம்)

Composer:  Ramaswamy Sivan

   

I shall never forget…..

Composition: ekkAlattilum……

Composer:     rAmaswAmy sivan

mudrA:          

(signature):    guhadAsan

rAgam:           nATTaikkurinji (janyam of mELam 28, harikAmbhoji)

ArOhaNam:     SR2G3M1N2D2N2PD2N2S

AvarOhaNam: SN2D2M1G3M1PG3R2S

tALam:            rUpakam

பல்லவி: 

எக்காலத்திலும் மறவேனே இனி நான்   (எக்காலத்திலும்)                                 

அனுபல்லவி:      

அக்காலத்தில் மைக்காலனை மடிய உதைத்த அடிமலரினை      (எக்காலத்திலும்)

சரணம்1:     

விடையையும் கொன்றைத் தொடையையும் மதி

சடையையும் மழுப் படையையும் தோ

லுடையையு மணியிடையையும் விழிக்

கடையையும் நலமடையவே நான்                                       (எக்காலத்திலும்)

சரணம்2:     

புரத்தையும் அதனுரத்தையும் சுட்ட

தரத்தையும் ஐந்து சிரத்தையும் தச

கரத்தையும் செய்யும் வரத்தையும் பஞ்சா

க்ஷரத்தையும் சிதம்பரத்தையும் நான்     (எக்காலத்திலும்)

சரணம்3:     

ஈசனைப் ப்ரகாசனை குஹதாசனைக் காக்கும்

நேசனை அன்பர் பூசனை செய் விஸ்வாசனைத் தில்லை

வாசனை நடராசனை நான்                                    (எக்காலத்திலும்)

Lyrics in Roman script           

Pallavi:                        

ekkAlattilum maRavEnE ini nAn        (ekkAlattilum)

                         

Anupallavi:     

akkAlattil maikkAlanai maDiya udaitta aDi malarinai    (ekkAlattilum)

CaraNam1:    

viDaiyaiyum konRait toDaiyaiyum madi

saDaiyaiyum mazhup paDaiyaiyum tOl

uDaiyaiyu maNiyiDaiyaiyum vizhik

kaDaiyaiyum nala maDaiyavE nAn                        (ekkAlattilum)

CaraNam2:    

purattaiyum adanurattaiyum suTTa

tarattaiyum aindu sirattaiyum dasa

karattaiyum seyyum varattaiyum panjA

ksharattaiyum cidambarattaiyum nAn                     (ekkAlattilum)

CaraNam3:    

Isanaip prakAsanai guhadAsanaik kAkkum

nEsanai anbar pUsanai sey viswAsanait tillai

vAsanai naTarAsanai nAn                                          (ekkAlattilum)

Meaning:

P:   I shall not forget you at any time.

           

A:  You annihilated Yaman (kAlan), the Lord of death, way back with your foot. I shall not forget your foot (which is like a flower).

C1: I shall not forget the bull (nandi) that you ride, the garland of (yellow) konRai        flowers that adorn your locks of hair wherein you sport the moon, the axe that         you wield in your hand, the tiger hide that you wear, your waist adorned with          jewels, and the corner of your eye in order to gain your kindness.

C2:      I shall never forget the three worlds (tiripuram), their strengths, and the manner in which you destroyed them, the five faces (or five functions), and ten hands of     yours, your boons, the five-letter name of yours (na-ma-si-vA-ya), and the city of        Cidambaram.

C3:      I shall not forget you the effulgent Lord, a friend who protects guhadAsan (me),     one whom the devotees worship, and one who dwells in tillai (cidambaram), the        one and only natarAjan.

General Comments:

This song, a favorite of the DKP-DKJ (DK Pattammal-DK Jayaraman) school, is fully alliterative with a galloping play of words (akin to a rushing rapids) centered on Lord SivA. It also contains a couple of references to mythology regarding the valiant acts of Lord SivA.  One of them relates to the burning of Tiripuram (the three cities held by the demons) and the other protecting the 16-year old devotee Markandeyan from the jaws of death (Yaman).

This song describes the various features and attributes of Lord Siva. In one sense it draws inspiration from and is reminiscent of Sundaramurthy Nayanar’s famous tEvAram song sung about the Lord in a town called TirumazhapADi near TiruvaiyAru.

            ponnAr mEniyanE! pulittOlai araikkasaittu

            minnAr sencaDaimEl miLir konRaiyaNindavanE

            mannE mAmaNiyE mazhapADiyuL mANikkamE!

            annE unnaiyallAl ini yArai ninaikkEnE?

We need to reconcile some mythology here to understand some terms in this song.  The words, “tOluDai”, and “mazhuppaDai” refer to the encounter of Siva with the sages of dArukA vanam (forest) when the sages got annoyed at the manner in which He, in the guise of a mendicant, cast a spell on the young wives of the sages. They used their powers to send a tiger, a globe of fire, an axe, and a demon named Muyalakan to attack Siva. He killed the tiger and used its hide as his dress (tOludai) and captured the axe and the ball of fire in his hands, and trampled the demon under his right foot.  

The words “puram” and “suTTa taram” refer to Siva’s destruction of the three cities built by the three demon brothers (tArakAkshan, kamalAkshan, and vidiyunmAli) when they started inflicting untold miseries on the denizens of the cities and the dEvAs.

There is also a reference to “aindu nirattaiyum” (it could as well be “sirattaiyum”) and “dasakarattaiyum” which refer to five faces or heads (and their functions) of Siva and the ten hands with separate functions. These two features are less well understood.

The song is marked by different alliterative sounds in each of the three caranams. It addresses Nataraja of Cidambaram in particular. Unlike some other songs, there is no demand, by the composer, for salvation or alleviation of suffering.  It just expresses undiluted devotion and admiration.

Composer’s Bio:

Ramaswamy Sivan (1839-1897) was the older brother of Maha Vaidyanatha Sivan (1844-1893) and they constituted a pair who wrote the lyrics and tuned them to music. Of the two, Ramaswamy Sivan was the prolific composer while Maha was the performer as well as composer. Together they were known as Vaiyacheri Brothers. It is difficult to separate one from the other on matters relating to music. They used the signature “guhadasan” which literally means “servant of Lord Murugan”.

They learnt music from Anai-Ayya Brothers and from Manambuchavadi Venkatasubbaiyer (a direct disciple of Saint Thyagaraja). They were patronized by royalty and Adheenam (religious foundation) heads. Ramaswamy Sivan composed “Periya Purana Keertanaigal” which was published by the Tiruvavaduturai Adheenam.

Some of Ramaswamy Sivan’s other songs which were/are rendered by musicians in concerts are: nIyE manamagizhvODu (kalyANi), inimEl Ayinum (darbAr), Ananda naTEsA (tODi), muttukkumArayyanE (sankarAbharaNam), pAhimAm srI rAjarAjEswari (janaranjani), naTanam seyyum pAdanar (kEdAra gauLai), and kadaikkaN vaittennai (bEgaDai).

Audio clip:

D K PattammAL sings                                                 http://www.mediafire.com/download/fqeghheuuxdb5ld/04-Ekkalathilum-Natakuranji-RSivan.mp3

DK Jayaraman sings here                    

 http://www.mediafire.com/download/13ob397aam7due5/10-EkkAlathillum-nAttaikurinji.mp3

K V N sings here

RamARavi sings here

Listen to Charumathi Ramachandran here

Listen to Sumitra Vasudev here: https://www.mediafire.com/?8ncf9dok6cg1ebq