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:
DK Jayaraman sings here
http://www.mediafire.com/download/13ob397aam7due5/10-EkkAlathillum-nAttaikurinji.mp3
K V N sings here
Listen to Charumathi Ramachandran here
Listen to Sumitra Vasudev here: https://www.mediafire.com/?8ncf9dok6cg1ebq
K V N sings here
Listen to Charumathi Ramachandran here
Listen to Sumitra Vasudev here: https://www.mediafire.com/?8ncf9dok6cg1ebq
