One song at a time - 50.Manasilunaroo

Our festivals and music are highly interlinked. One cannot miss the festival music, even if you want to. For, the nearby temple will be blaring out the songs from those tinny loudspeakers. Ganesh Chaturthi is one festival where you get to hear songs in most parts of India. In Hyderabad, along with Ganesh Chaturthi, we have the Mahakali jatra time. The Mahakali festival itself stretches over more than a month. During this time every small Mahakali temple will celebrate and you get to hear songs day in and day out. Especially during the weekend, as the festival will be celebrated on Sundays. Added to these loud speakers, you also have the 'potha raju' and the famous live 'teen maar' of Hyderabad. All I have to do is type, 'dha dhanakur dhan' and the rhythm will immediately start playing in any true Hyderabadi's mind. So embedded is this 'teen maar' in our mind. ( I have not analyzed it but I have a feeling that 'teen maar' probably is equivalent to the tisra nadai in classical music. ). Live music, recorded music, dancing, are all part of many festivals and jatras.

It is music time during the Navaratri pooja at my house. It is during Navaratri that potential singers get a chance to display their singing skills in as many houses as possible. This attachment with music is not surprising given that the most important day of Navaratri is the 'Saraswathi Pooja' day. Afterall she is the one who gives us knowledge and our artistic success depends on her benevolence.  Navaratri, to many, means the 'golu' (dolls arrangement), sundal and song. I always look forward to people coming to my house and singing. And many a times they have surprised me by singing some rare krithis. My friend Bala's wife, Sharanya, sang a rare Dikshitar krithi in Mangala Kaishiki ragam, 'Sree Bhargavi', superbly. It was during one such Navarathri that I heard the lovely Sahana Divyanama Sankeertana krithi of Tyagaraja, "Sree Rama Sree Rama", as also a lovely Marathi bhajan on Krishna. Some sing as soon as they are asked to and some sing reluctantly. Some sing well, some not so well, but it doesn't matter. For it is not a concert that they are singing and you are reviewing. They are just sharing the joy of singing. It is during Navaratri that you get an idea as to how deep Carnatic music has permeated into our lives. 

Given that we are in midst of Navarathri, let us take up a song which invokes the spirit of singing during the Navaratri time. There are many songs in different languages for this occasion but I like this song the most. Composed by Dakshinamurthy Swamy, this is a excellent ragamalika, sung by Jesudas and Janaki at their peak. A song about Navaratri and Saraswati. What more can you ask for? I have always held that Dakshinamurthy Swami is one of the greatest when it comes to composing a ragamalika and he proves that in this song again. Each raga is lovingly dealt with. I am not going to give you the component ragas but ask you to listen to the song and let me know the ragams. Let's now listen to 'manasilunaru ushasandhyay'