Maargazhi Musings and an awakened Chennai

Chennai Metro is famous for witnessing various forums(dedicated to the arts, music and dance) conducting various concerts/ seminars/workshops on Harikatha, Traditional Bhajans,veedhi bhajans, etc. under the blessed guidance of various experts in the respective fields. This month being Margazhi, bhakthi movement in Chennai has transformed many hitherto lazy mornings into an unexplored busy morning schedules for many art and music loving people. Right from famous Music Academy to Shastra Satsangh, people gather in large numbers for various programmes - be it Vocal, be it Harikatha, Bharathanatyam, Percussion, etc. Some sabhas have the flair for conducting such excellent treats from early morning itself. Such is the religious craze Chennai has been witnessing, thanks to the larger participation of Chennaites through their spontaneous and irresistible outbursts of admiration for these programmes.

Being a leisurely Sunday, why should not we dig deep into one of the enlightened arts formats - HARIKATHA. Lets trace the origins of this growing art seeds for which had been planted at Thanjavur region . Salient features of Harikatha include the performer remaining standing throughout and his/her use of the jalra/chipla, which create rhythmic sounds. The musical forms include saki, dindi, ovi, abhanga, arya, pada, anjanigita, khadga, khandapadya, sisapadya, dvipada, churnika, chindu, nondichindu, temmangu, sloka, viruttam and agaval. Apart from these, the compositions of saints in Marathi, Sanskrit, Tamil and Telugu are also used. Harikatha performers are experts in Bhajans too.

The Harikatha is usually in three parts. The panchapadi is the initial invocation and is followed by the prathamapadi which in turn is succeeded by the nirupanam. Panchapadi is for ensuring right atmosphere and involves use of jalra. The chipla is taken up for the prathamapadi. The songs selected for the prathamapadi usually depend on the main subject – Valli Kalyanam, Srinivasa Kalyanam, Rukmani Kalyanam, to name a few. Nirupanam, the last section, is the script of the main story.

Songs from Marathi, Telugu, Tamil are being taken up during the demonstration. Experts dont forget to quote and sing Gopalakrishna Bharathiar’s songs from Nandan Charithra during Harikatha programmes in Tamil, for, his songs bear very simple poetic lines in Tamil which can easily be easily absorbed into the minds of the audience. Some Bhagavathars use to sing their own kreativ songs to the delite of the listening public.

Harikatha movement@Andhra began with Ajjada Adibhatla Narayana Das. From records we understand that he attended the Harikatha of one Kuppuswami Naidu of Madras in 1883 and was so impressed that he wrote out a performance that very night and performed the art very next day. There are two other forms in this specialised art , viz., Burrakatha and Jankakatha. In Telugu, this format's written text is called Yakshagana. Famous Narayana Das had set up the Sri Sarvaraya School in Vizianagaram to teach the art of Harikatha. There exists a statue for Narayana Das on the Vizag beachfront to recognise the contributions he has made to Harikatha format(Picture attached). He has nurtured this art through his characteristic impassioned language and inimitable skills.

Of the three traditions being followed up In Kerala, one form is purana pravachanam, Harikatha being the second(introduced by Meruswami) and the third and more popular one : Kathaprasanga. Kathaprasanga has all the ingredients of themes, ranging from Romeo & Juliet to Mary Magdalene. KK Vadyar introduced this tradition and he used the popular poems of great lyricists like Kumara Asan, Ulloor Parameswaran and Vallathol.