PART-16..PULIVALAM, KIVALUR, NAAGAI, VEDARANYAM

Part 16 ---

Around Tiruvarur, Pulivalam, Kivalur, Nagapattinam, Vedaranyam, demise of his parents
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ich Muttuswami Dikshitar visited and sang of. Pulivalam is a VaiShNava kShEtra which is revered as a local Tirupati. Here, Dikshitar composed a song in Manipravalam, a mixture of Sanskrit, Tamizh and Telugu. vEnkaTAcalapatE in kApi (now called karNATaka kApi) is a masterpiece both in sAhitya and sangIta and it is heartening that the original music of this piece is preserved intact without being corrupted to the Hindustani version of the rAgA. shrI vEnkaTagirIsham AlOkayE in suruTTi was also composed here. The varALi peice shEShAcala nAyakam also has a reference to Pulivalam.

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At Kivalur on the Tiruvarur-Nagapattinam road there is a shiva kShEtra where the Lord is known as Akshayalinga Swami (kEDiliappar in Tamizh). This is associated with a miracle in Dikshitar's life. It is said that Dikshitar composed the shankarAbharaNam piece akShayalinga vibhO in praise of the Kivalur deity and went to the temple to offer it to Him. It was noon time and the services were over. The priest was preparing to close the inner shrine. Dikshitar requested the priest to keep the doors of the Lord's shrine open a little while so that he could sing the piece he had composed and worship the Lord, as otherwise he would have to wait until evening. The priest was unmoved and told Dikshitar that the heavens would not fall if he came later to offer the song. The Lord was not going to run away. So saying, the priest closed the doors. The disappointed Dikshitar nevertheless sat down and began singing the composition. The priest was surprised at the doggedness of Dikshitar and with an amused but irritated countenance watched the composer offer the sublime shankarAbharaNam song to the accompaniment of his own vINA. A few others who were within hearing distance came near to listen to what was by now beginning to captivate them. It is said that no sooner had Muttuswami Dikshitar completed the song than the doors of the inner sanctum opened by themselves revealing the majestic Lord and of course proving to the world that His grace was always available to Dikshitar. The stunned priest fell at the composer's feet and begged his pardon. The other listeners followed suit. News of the incident spread in no time and people gathered to revere the pilgrim who had honoured their village not only with his visit but by his inimitable composition. Kivalur is a charming little village tucked away in the south-eastern corner of Tamilnadu with lush green fields carpeting the whole region. The Akshayalinga temple stands tall and proud at having secured from one of the greatest art composers of all time, a matchless gem, a work of timeless literary and musical quality. 

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Further on the road to Nagapattinam is the shrine of Sikkal dedicated to Lord Subramanya. The youthful beauty of Singaravadivelan, as the name itself suggests, elicited from His disciple-devotee the composition shringAra shaktyAyudha in the rAgA ramAmanOhari.

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Muttuswami Dikshitar then proceeded to Nagapattinam on the sea coast. Nagapattinam is an ancient trading port and is also a pilgrim centre. The Kayarohanesa temple is dedicated to Siva and to the Goddess who is known as Neelayatakshi.

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Muttuswami Dikshitar composed the dEvagAndhAram song kAyArOhaNEsham in praise of the Lord and amba nIlAyatAkShi in nIlAmbari as an offering to the Devi.

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Nilayatakshi is one of the three deities who has elicited compositions from all three members of the Music Trinity, Shyama Sastri, Tyagaraja and Muttuswami Dikshitar (The other two are Goddess Kamakshi of Kanchipuram and Goddess Dharmasamvardhini of Tiruvaiyyaru. In addition, Lord Varadaraja of Kanchi shares this distinction). 

Soundararaja Perumal is the name of Vishnu at the Vaishnava shrine in Nagapattinam. Dikshitar dedicated the brindAvani song soundararAjam AshrayE at this shrine.

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From Nagapattinam Dikshitar visited Vedaranyam, further south on the coast. Vedaranyam is reputed to be the place where Siva and Parvati gave darshan of their wedding ceremony to Sage Agastya. As the purANA tells us, Agastya was asked by Siva to go to the south to balance the earth as the whole universe had gathered at Kailasa for the divine wedding. Siva promised the sage that he could witness the marriage from the south. Dikshitar has not mentioned the name of the kShEtra in his bauli kriti srI pArvati paramEshvarou vandE. But the kriti is on the Divine Couple and the composer mentions Agastya as having worshipped them (lOpAmudrEsha archita charaNou - Lopamudra was Agastya's wife). Therefore this kriti can be attributed to Vedaranyam.

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Dikshitar was already past forty now. He had married off his only child, a daughter, to a boy at Trichy. His parents were old now and the pious, caring son that he was, Dikshitar took care of them well. It was 1817. Ramaswami Dikshitar was past eighty. On the Sivaratri day of that year Ramaswami Dikshitar left this earth leaving behind his compositions and his illustrious son. A few months later Subbulakshmi, ever the faithful wife, joined her husband. The brothers were shattered at this loss. An important era in their lives had come to an end.

After the demise of Ramaswami Dikshitar, whatever little maintenance was provided by the Tanjavur king was stopped. Times of real distress began. The wolf was at the door. Apart from some land that was gifted to Ramaswami Dikshitar, the family had nothing to fall back upon. But who would till the land and raise crops? The composer was absolutely uninterested in such occupations. The other two brothers also knew no other work. Music was what they knew, and in the absence of any inclination on the part of Dikshitar for composing in praise of kings or zamindars, the art was of no pecuniary benefit to them. Added to this was the imposition of a yearly tax on landowners.

(This may have been a British ruling. Ever since 1799, when Sarabhoji was pensioned off, it was agreed that the English East India Company would handle the administration of Tanjore and would also be responsible for the collection of kisht (tax) on the fasal (cultivation). The King was to get 1/5th of the total amount so collected as his pension. It is likely that the family of Dikshitar were asked to pay tax, after an assessment of the quality of land they held and the produce that could be expected - Editor.) 

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When not even a grain was produced how could Dikshitar pay tax on the land? When this dilemma stared him in the face he decided to donate the land to someone. After some thought Dikshitar decided upon a pious brahmin who was his teacher when he was young. The brahmin teacher who deserved the gift both because of his piety and his privation was extremely grateful to his former pupil. Dikshitar felt a great burden lifted from his shoulders.

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A saga of such supreme sacrifice in the face of personal adversity to oneself, and especially when Dikshitar did not know where his next meal was going to come from, is very rare.

 In the entire history of humanity we come across but a handful of such noble souls. It is this spirit of sacrifice that the Ruler of Dikshitar's Tiruvarur, Lord Tyagaraja, symbolises through His Name. It is this spirit of sacrifice and renunciation that has lent to Dikshitar's story and his works the immortality that time cannot obliterate.

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continued  in PART-17

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