PART-20

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PART-2.......MANALI AND TO KAASI WITH CHITHAMBARANATHA YOGI

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...
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PART-5... THIRUVOTRIYUR, THIRUVALLIKKENI, AND KANCHIPURAM- UPANISHADH BRAMMAM

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...
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PAGE-19....THANJAAVOOR

  19 TANJAVUR ================================================== The later capital of the Cholas and thereafter of the Nayaks and the Marattas, Tanjavur possesses a glorious history. Its hoary past speaks of mammoth temples, the most famous of which is the Brihadeeswara or simply, the Big temple, built by the enlightened Chola Emperor Raja Raja, anna chatrams, palaces, giant granaries and the like. The renowned Saraswati Mahal Library founded by the 19th century Maratta king Saraboji II houses ancient and valuable manuscripts on almost all subjects under the sun. Tributaries of the Cauvery flow just outside Tanjavur and innumerable moats and irrigation channels criss-cross the town. The maNTapAs and chatrams on the banks of these waterways provide ample testimony to the existence of a golden era that spanned several centuries. The arts flourished like in no other region. Kings as benefactors of art were lavish in their encouragement and patronage of artists. The Tanjavur court unde...
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