MUTHUSWAMI-DIKSHITAR

RAMASWAMI DIKSHITAR , BIRTH OF  MUTHUSWAMI  DIKSHITAR  AT THRUVAARUR It is rarely that a phenomenon takes place in the world. An epoch-making event of far-reaching consequence that would change the course of history. The advent of sages, saints, great men of science, sacred men of art, have all heralded new beginnings in their respective realms. In the world of Indian art music, the advent of Shyama Sastri, Thyagaraja and Muthuswami Dikshitar changed the course and perception of music. The harbingers of a new age in classical music, the threesome are reverentially referred to as the Trinity of Carnatic music. Not without reason, the foremost of which was their being born in the same town and being contemporaries. But this was not the only reason. Their pioneering work was such that after their times, Carnatic music was never the same again. -  Looking at their works, one finds a unity of purpose behind them. This unity of purpose is reflected in the fact that the Tri...

2 Manali to Kashi (with Chidambaranath Yogi) ================================== After Muthukrishna Mudaliar's death, his son Venkatakrishna (Chinnayya) Mudaliar continued to play host to the Dikshitars. The Dikshitar family lived in Tiruvottriyur and later at Manali, close to the "Meddai Veedu", the palatial country home of the Mudaliars. (Till the 1980s, this house existed as a ruin). Venkatakrishna Mudaliar was also a dubash, attached to the East India Company and quite influential with his English masters. He introduced Muttuswami and his younger brothers to the bands playing Western music at Fort St. George. Muthuswami listened keenly and assimilated the essentials of that alien music. Later in his life he composed Sanskrit sAhityas in praise of Hindu deities for about thirty-five of those Western tunes including the British national anthem. These are called nOTTu svara sAhityas. Ramaswami Dikshitar who observed the various western instruments being played, was partic...

3 The vINa and back to Manali =========================== One day, Chidambaranatha Yogi and Muttuswami went for a bath in the Ganga. The Yogi asked Muthuswami to descend a few steps and put his hands into the water. When Muttuswami did so, his hands closed upon a vINa. Surprised, the lad turned towards his guru who beckoned him up the steps. Chidambaranatha Yogi informed Muttuswami that this was Ganga Mata's prasad to the lad and that She had blessed him. The unusual feature of this vINa is that its yali faces upwards and has the word 'Rama' inscribed on it in Devanagari script. Providence had directly presented Muttuswami this unique instrument which was to partner him in his renaissance work. Chidambaranatha Yogi further informed the lad that he had attained mantra siddhi, was progressing well spiritually and that he had also attained further maturity in music. The Yogi instructed Muttuswami to return to his parents. The wide world now awaited his services and it was time...

4 Tiruttani and the guruguha vibhakti kritis =================--- Sharing the secret of his inner voice with his parents, Muttuswami expressed his desire to them to visit Tiruttani. Ramaswami Dikshitar and Subbalakshmi blessed their first-born. Before long, Muttuswami was on his way to the hallowed hill shrine of Tiruttani in the company of his brothers. After having darshan of Lord Subrahmanya at the sanctum-sanctorum, Muttuswami took a vow to perform spiritual austerities for a manDala or forty days. Every morning he took his bath at the temple tank downhill and climbed the steps to begin his tapas. His time was thus spent in worship of the Lord and practicing deep meditation. - It was the fortieth day of his stay at Tiruttani. While Muttuswami was repeating the Shadakshari mantra, he heard a voice near him say, "Muttuswami, open your mouth". Muttuswami opened his eyes and saw before him an elderly person whose whole being was suffused with spiritual splendour. The old man...

5 Chennai and Kanchipuram ======================== Before leaving Manali, Muttuswami Dikshitar worshipped at the shrines in and around Madras. -  Tiruvotriyur, which is near Manali is famous for its temple dedicated to Lord Tyagaraja and Goddess Tripurasundari. In this temple, Adi Sankara had consecrated an arddha mEru underneath the pITham of the vaTTapArai amman, at whose shrine human sacrifices were stopped by him. In addition, a shrI cakra was consecrated by him under the feet of the Goddess Tripurasundari and he arranged for regular worship by Nambudiri brahmins. This tradition continues to this day.  Here Dikshitar composed  AdipurIshvaram in Arabhi, in praise of the Lord and Tripurasundari in the raga sAmA on the Goddess. He then visited Triplicane where Lord Krishna gives darshan as Arjuna's charioteer Parthasarathi.  Here, Dikshitar composed  Sri pArthasArathi in shuddha dhanyAsi.  Nearby is the shrine dedicated to Lord Siva as Tiruvateesvara. Di...

6 ==================================--- Sometime during the stay at Kanchipuram, Dikshitar decided to visit his ancestral village. Virinchipuram near Vellore in the North Arcot district is about 70 k.m. away from Kanchipuram. The village and its neighbouring ones were noted for their steadfast upholding of Vedic ideals. The people were scholars in the Vedas and allied shAstrAs. It was to Virinchipuram that Dikshitar's ancestors belonged and it was from this village that his grandfather and father had migrated to Tanjavur about 50 years ago. Muttuswami Dikshitar wanted to see his village and also have darshan of the deities enshrined at the famous temple there.  . It is a small but charming shrine dedicated to Siva as Margasahayeswara. Here, Dikshitar paid his tribute to the Lord by composing mArgasahAyEshwaram in the rAga kAshirAmakriya, maragatavalli in khAmbOji and mArgahindOLa rAga priyE in mArga hindOLam both in praise of the Goddess and pArvati kumAram in nATakurinji on Lord S...

7 Chidambaram =========================================--- One of the most popular and celebrated Siva kShEtras in the country, Chidambaram is the confluence of the varied and significant streams of religion, philosophy and art. Nowhere else do we see such a congregation of yOgIs, philosophers, musicians, dancers, poets, composers and of course the simply devout, offering homage to the Supreme Being through the medium of their calling, as at Chidambaram. For, Lord Nataraja symbolises for all of them the ultimate in their chosen mode of worship. No other place is closely connected with the performing arts as Chidambaram, which for Shaivites is simply 'kOyil'. The Lord Himself is a dancer, a consummate Artiste as represented in the beautiful icon that adorns the citsabhA. Nataraja is variously referred to as sabhAnAyakan (the Lord of the hall of Consciousness), ADalvallAn (the dancing God), naTEshan (the Lord of Dance) or simply sabEshan and by hundreds of other names. The esoter...

8   Vaideeswaram, Mayavaram and the  Abhayamba vibhakti kritis ========================= Crossing the Kollidam river, Muttuswami Dikshitar entered the Tanjavur region. Sirkazhi was the kShEtra on the line. Though Dikshitar might have visited that shrine and offered worship there, no kriti of his is extant on any of the deities at Sirkazhi. In passing, it may be appropriate to point out that his contemporaries Tyagaraja (nIvanTi deivamu ShaDAnanA in tODI) and Shyama Sastri (dayAnidhE mAmava in bEgaDA) have composed on Lord Subramanya at Sirkazhi. . Vaideeswaran Koil on the way to Mayavaram is an important kShEtra and is closely connected with Muttuswami Dikshitar's birth. Lord Siva as Vaidyanatha is supposed to cure man of all his ills. The Goddess is Balambika and Lord Subramanya's name here is Muthukumara. Dikshitar was named after Him.  He refers to this in his song on Goddess Balambika in kalyANI, 'bhajarE rE chitta bAlAmbikAm' (guruguha rUpa muttukumAra jananIm)....

9 Return to Tiruvarur -------- One of the nerve centres of the Chola region, not only of religion and spirituality, but of art and commerce too, Tiruvarur is even today a calm and peaceful town. One can imagine the kind of atmosphere that prevailed about a couple of centuries ago. The big temple complex with its huge sea-like tank, the Kamalalaya, is the nucleus around which life revolves. Not far from the tank and towards the north of it is Vadambokki street, towards the west of which flows the Vadambokki river, a tributary of the Cauvery. The river is the lifeline of this important kShEtra and generously waters the lands of a vast area. A small house stood on Vadambokki street, the house of Ramaswami Dikshitar. This was the house where Muttuswami Dikshitar was born and where he was returning to, after almost 15 years. . The citizens of Tiruvarur known for their piety and religiosity and their reverence for art and artistes, looked forward to welcoming one of their ilk back home. They...

10 Tiruvarur,....  Lord Thyagaraja and Thyagaraja Vibhakti kritis ==========================================-------- Tiruvarur has several names. Chief among them are, srIpuram, kamalApuram, mUlAdhAra kShetra, hATaka kShetra, chamatkArapuram, etc. .  It is said that the Thyagaraja temple is built as Vishnu swarUpA and that in the centre of it is situated the main shrine of Thyagaraja. .  Siva as Lord Thyagaraja is supposed to dance in the heart-lotus of Vishnu. The mahAnArAyaNa upaniShad itself mentions this. . The Thyagaraja temple is a massive complex and is reputed to exist for more than 1500 years, though, until the 9th century, the temple was supposed to be an ordinary brick and mud structure with the various shrines as separate units. . It was after the 9th century that the Cholas started building the mammoth stone edifice and created the intricate and imposing architecture and sculptures that we see now. Later additions were made by the Vijayanagara kings, the Naya...

11 The kamalAmba navAvaraNa kritis, Tyagaraja has two consorts here, Goddess Kamalambika, who is depicted as performing penance in order to attain the Lord and Goddess Nilotpalambika, who is depicted as being married to the Lord. The kamalAmba navAvaraNa kritis can be referred to as the magnum opus of Dikshitar. Since Kamalambika does penance here in order to become one with Siva, She is depicted in the yOgic posture. That Dikshitar chose to dedicate the navAvaraNa kritis to Kamalambika shows not only the deep reverence he had for Her, but also highlights the fact that Tiruvarur being a mukti kShEtra, shrI vidyA, which is the core of the kritis is the Knowledge that leads to the Ultimate Goal of mukti. In this group too, Dikshitar has chosen to compose in the eight Sanskrit declensions. For the ninth kriti pertaining to the ninth and last AvaraNA, he employs all the eight declensions. Besides, this group has a dhyAna kriti as well as a mangaLa kriti. Dikshitar employs the rare rAgA gha...

Part 12.......Tiruvarur..... Kamalamba navavaranam, Neelotpalambika kritis and shodasha ganapati kritis Tyagaraja has two consorts here, Goddess Kamalambika, who is depicted as performing penance in order to attain the Lord and Goddess Nilotpalambika, who is depicted as being married to the Lord. . The kamalAmba navAvaraNa kritis can be referred to as the magnum opus of Dikshitar. Since Kamalambika does penance here in order to become one with Siva, She is depicted in the yOgic posture. That Dikshitar chose to dedicate the navAvaraNa kritis to Kamalambika shows not only the deep reverence he had for Her, but also highlights the fact that Tiruvarur being a mukti kShEtra, shrI vidyA, which is the core of the kritis is the Knowledge that leads to the Ultimate Goal of mukti. In this group too, Dikshitar has chosen to compose in the eight Sanskrit declensions. For the ninth kriti pertaining to the ninth and last AvaraNA, he employs all the eight declensions. Besides, this group has a dhyAna...