Thamizh songs in Carnatic Music—15-- CennikkuLanagar vAsan-- சென்னிக் குளநகர் வாசன்

Thamizh songs in Carnatic Music—15

CennikkuLanagar vAsan-- சென்னிக் குளநகர் வாசன்

Composer: aNNAmalai ReDDiyAr-- அண்ணாமலை ரெட்டியார்

Composition:	cennik kuLa nagar vAsan…
Composer:	aNNAmalai reDDiyAr
mudrA:	aNNAmalai
(signature):
rAgam:	senjcuruTTi (janyam of mELam 28 harikAmbhOji)
ArOhaNam:	D2SR2G3M1PD2N2
AvarOhaNam:	N2D2PM1G3R2SN2D2PD2S
tALam:	tisranaDai
Text: 1. சென்னிக் குளநகர் வாசன் தமிழ் தேறும் அண்ணாமலை தாசன் செப்பும் ஜகமெச்சிய மதுரக்-கவியதனைப்-புயவரையில் புனை தீரன் அயில் வீரன் 2. வண்ண மயில் முருகேசன் குறவள்ளிப் பதம் பணி நேசன் உறை வரமே தரு கழுகாசல பதி கோயிலின் வளம் நான் மறவாதே சொல்வன் மாதே 3. கோபுரத்துத்-தங்கத்-தூவி தேவர் கோபுரத்துக்-கப்பால் மேவி கண்கள் கூசப் ப்ரகாசத்தொளி மாசற்று விலாசத்தோடு குலவும் புவி பலவும் 4. நூபுரத்துதொளி வெடிக்கும் பத நுண்ணிடை மாதர்கள் நடிக்கும் அங்கே நுழைவாரிடுமுழவோசைகள் திசை மாசுணம் இடியோவென நோக்கும்படித்  தாக்கும் 5. சன்னிதியில் துஜத்தம்பம் விண்ணில் தாவி வருகிற கும்பம் எனும் சலராசியை வதிவார் பல கொடி சூடிய முடி மீதிலே தாங்கும் உயர்ந்தோங்கும் 6. உன்னதமாகிய இஞ்சி பொன்னாடும்பர் நகருக்கு மிஞ்சி மிக உயர்வானது பெறலால் அதில் அதி சீதள புயல் சாலவும் உறங்கும் மின்னிக் கரக்கும் 7. அருணகிரி நாவில் பழக்கம் தரும் அந்தத் திருப்புகழ் முழக்கம் பல அடியார் கணம் மொழி போதினில் அமராவதி இமையோர் செவி அடைக்கும் அண்டம் உடைக்கும் 8. கருணை முருகனைப்-போற்றித்-தங்கக் காவடித் தோளின் மேல் ஏற்றிக் கொழும் கனலேறிய மெழுகாய்  வருபவர் எவரும் இஹமே கதி காண்பார் இன்பம் பூண்பார் Lyrics in Roman script 1. chennik kuLanagar vAsan tamizh tERum aNNAmalai dAsan ceppum jagamecciya madurak-kaviyadanaip-puyavaraiyil punai dhIran ayil vIran 2. vaNNa mayil murugEsan kuRavaLLip padam paNi nEsan uRai varamE taru kazhukAcala pati kOyilin vaLam nAn maravAdE solvan mAdE 3. gOpurattut-tangat-tUvi dEvar gOpurattuk-kappAl mEvi kaNgaL kUsap prakAsattoLi mAsaRRu vilAsattODu kulavum puvi palavum 4. nUpurattutoLi veDikkum pada nuNNiDai mAdargaL naDikkum angE nuzhaivAriDumuzhavOsaigaL disai mAsuNam iDiyOvena nOkkumpaDit  tAkkum 5. sannidhiyil dujattambam viNNil tAvi varugiRa kumbham enum calarAsiyai vadivAr pala koDi sUDiya muDi mIdilE tAngum uyar^ndOngum 6. unnatamAghiya inji ponnATumbar nagarukku minji migha uyarvAnadu peralAl adil ati sItaLa puyal sAlavum urangum minnik karakkum 7. aruNagiri nAvil pazhakkam tarum andat tiruppugazh muzhakkam pala aDiyAr kaNam mozhi pOdinil amarAvati imaiyOr sevi aDaikkum aNDam uDaikkum 8. karuNai muruganaip-pORRit-tangak kAvaDit tOLin mEl ERRik kozhum kanalERiya mezhugAi varubavar evarum ihamE gati kANbAr inbam pUNbAr Source for lyrics: Courtesy of Lakshman Ragde of Canada Meaning: Kavadic cindu, by definition, does not follow the typical pallavi, anupallavi, and caraNam format. Let us take each couplet of lines for the meaning. 1. aNNAmalai dAsan, who lives in cennikkuLam and well-versed in Thamizh is penning this sweet poetry and is an expert in doing so. 2. I worship the feet of Murugan who rides the peacock and vaLLi who is the consort of Lord Murugan. I now narrate the merits of the temple at KazhukAcalam (kazhukumalai). 3. The golden crest of the temple tower shines well beyond the immediate area. The tower shines with such a brilliance as to dazzle your eyes all around. 4. There are so many slender-waisted maidens wearing shining anklets entering the temple. The noise made by the drums carried by those entering the temple makes it appear as though there is thunder in all directions. 5. At the main entrance there is the flagpole and the crown of the post stays high in the sky. The flag at the top is also flying in all splendors. 6. The fort is also magnificent and excels the one of the celestials. The cold winds are blocked by the walls of the fort. 7. aruNagirinAthar has sung of the glory of this temple in his Tiruppugazh which is also recited by the devotees in loud deafening voices heard by the celestial city dwellers which reverberate all around. 8. The devotees who come here sing the praise of Lord Murugan and carry the golden kAvaDi on their shoulders. They are so obsessed with devotion like a candle melting in a flame. They expect to obtain the grace of Lord Murugan and are happy to seek the grace. General comments: KAvaDic cindu is a generic name for a group of delightful Thamizh folk songs which were a recent addition (19th century) to Carnatic music. They do not conform to the pallavi, anupallavi, and caraNam pattern but are just strung together in several couplets. aNNAmalai Reddiar (AR) appears to be the one who originated this style. These songs are written for the benefit of those who offer prayers to Lord Murugan carrying a ritualistic kAvaDi (which could be just a rod covered with a saffron cloth, or pots of milk, or any other device thought fit to be carried on the head or shoulders). The kavadic cindus are distinguished by their characteristic lilting rhythms. In general, these describe the beauty of Murugan temples, especially the six fortress temples known as ARupaDaivIDu. Murugan worship was fostered by several devotional songs such as Tiruppugazh (Arunagirinathar), deivamaNimAlai (Ramalinga adigaLAr) and SkandapurANa kIrttanaigaL (Kavi Kunjara Bharathi). KAvaDic cindu was the latest addition to this segment. While singing of kavaDic cindus in concerts is relegated to the tail-end, they are by no means insignificant. They must conform to proper prosody rules, including rhythmic complexities. In this sense they are unique in Carnatic music compositions. The language is sometimes hard to follow even for Thamizh-speaking folks.  In this particular song, AR describes the environs of Kazhugumalai (also known as tenpazhani) Murugan temple near the town of ThirunelvEli.  AR is spellbound when thinking about this temple and describing the commotion that takes place there when devotees gather in thousands to offer prayers. This is the very same temple on whose presiding deity MuttuswAmy Dikshitar composed the famous 'subrahmaNyEna rakshitOham' in the rAgam suddha danyAsi. In recent times, in addition to AR, Papanasam Sivan, KoTIswara Iyer, Subramanya Bharathi and Periasamy Thooran, have composed songs on Murugan, some of them in the kavadic cindu pattern. Thooran's azhagu deivamAka vandu is a heartwarming song. There is another delectable kavadic cindu which starts as, 'vaLLik kaNavan pErai vazhippOkkan sonnAlum uLLam kuLirudaDi…' (in senjcuruTTi rAgam) whose authorship is ascribed to a police constable. Composer’s Bio: Annamalai Reddiar (1862-1891) lived a short but meaningful life. AR was born in Cennikulam in Tirunelveli district. He showed talent in writing poetry even as a young boy. He attained proficiency in Thamizh and music at the TiruvAvaDuturai Adheenam. Not much is known about his personal life. But his reputation rides high even today when the name kAvaDic cindu is mentioned since it is synonymous with AR. AR was a pioneer in introducing kAvaDic cindu and writing a large number of such songs in praise of Lord Murugan. He has also authored TalapurANam and Gomati andAdi. Some kavadic cindu songs of AR that are popular in concert circuits and commercial recordings are: bhUmi meccidum, ennaDi nAn peRRa mangai, maragata vikacita oLi tavazh, sIr vaLar pasum tOgai, pAdi rAttiri vELaiyil, puLLik kalApa mayil, manju nigar kuntaLA (popularized by the late Dr S Ramanathan), and sendil mAnagar. Most of these are set to the rAgam harikAmbhoji although they are sung in other rAgams too like senjcuruTTi, Anandabhairavi, and kAnaDA. Some audio links: Listen to Sudha Ragunathan here Listen to Unnikrishnan here Listen to N J Nandini here Watch a  folk dance here Another rendition here Another group singing here References: 1. http://carnatica.net/composer/annamalaireddiar.htm 2. http://www.saigan.com/heritage/music/garlanda.htm 3. http://forumhub.com/indcmusic/24985.20.38.56.html 4. http://murugan.org/research/jayavidhya.htm 5. http://www.templenet.com/Tamilnadu/m023.html Note: Readers are welcome to reinterpret or offer their comments on the meaning of the song given here. Admittedly, some words in the song are difficult to explain in precise terms.