KARNĀTIK​

VARIOUS FORMS OF ​ MUSIC

GĪTAM
PART ­ I

Karnātik​
Welcome to the lecture series on ​ music.
Karnātik​
In this session we will deal about another ​ Gītam​
music form, The ​ .
The objectives of this session are;
→ Introduction to ​
Gītam
→ Explanation of the 1​
st​
Śrī Gaṇanātha
Gītam ­ ​

Introduction
The term ​
Gīta literally means a ‘song’ but in music it signifies a particular type of
composition. ​
Gītam is the technical music form taught to the students after teaching the
Svara​ Saraļi varisa, janta varisa, Alankārās​
exercises like ​ etc.
Gītās​
are of two types,
1. Sāmānya Gītam
2. Lak​
ṣ​
ana Gītam

Sāmānya Gitās​
We will be discussing about the ​ in this session.
Sādhāra​
Sāmānya Gitās are called by the other names as ​ ṇ​
a Gītās, Lak​
ṣ​
ya Gītās ​
and
Sancāri Gītās. They are the simple melodic extension of the ​
rāgā in which they are
composed. Their tempo is medium and also uniform. In ​
Gītās the number of ​
svaras
present in an ​
āvarta is equal to the number ​ āvarta​
aksharakālās forming the ​ . The ​
dīrgha
svaras are reckoned as two svaras. Thus ​
Gītās are compositions with one ​
Svara for each
Ēkāk​
count. They are in ​ ṣ​
ara kāla ​ Tāļā​
(one word per beat of the ​ )
 The theme of the ​
Sāhitya is praise of God and quaint syllables like ‘​
a iya, ti iya, a
Sāhitya​
iyam, vā iya’ are found interspersed in the ​ . These are introduced for
ornamentation only. These quaint syllables called the ​
gītalańkāra phrases lend a
characteristic beauty to the ​ Gitās​
Sāhitya of ​ . These are continuous compositions without
Pallavi, Anupallavi​
sections such as ​ Chara​
and ​ ṇ​
a​
.

These compositions are sung without repetition from beginning to end. Some ​
Gītās
khandikās​
have two sections (​ ) and some have three. Some ​
Gītās are concluded by
repeating a section of the opening part. There are no ​
sangatīs and the flow of music is
natural. Neither intricate combinations nor terse ​
sanchārās are found in its music. But the
rāgā​
structure of the ​ is well brought out.
There are ​ Sanskrit​
Gītās in ​ Kannaḍ​
,​ a, Tamil ​
​ and Telugu. ​
The ​
Sāhitya of few ​
Gītās are
well known ​
Sanskrit ​
ślōkās cleverly set to music. There are ​
Gītās in rare time measures
also. ​
Ghana rāga Gītās are those that are in ​
Ghana Rāgās such as ​
Nātai, Gaula, Ārabhi,
Sri Rāga ​
and Varāli​Ghana rāga ​
.​ is rāgā whose melodic individuality is easily revealed
in a composition.
During the pre­​ Gītās​
Thyāgarāja period, composers took a delight in composing ​ .
Pai​
Purandara Dāsa and ​ ḍ​
āla Gurumūrti Śāstri are the most prolific composers of this
type of composition. ​
Gītās were composed in order to introduce the different ​
Tāļās in
combination with lyrics. ​
Purandara Dāsa’s introductory ​
Gītās in praise of ​
Vigneswara,
Mahēswara​ Vishnu​
and ​ Pillāri​
are sometimes refers to collectively as ​ Gītās​
​ .
Pai​
ḍ​
āla Gurumūrti Śāstri was a prolific composer of ​ Purandara Dāsa​
Gītās after ​ . He
is referred to as ​ Gīta)​​
Veyi Gīta (1000 ​ Pai​
ḍ​
āla Gurumūrti Śāstri. After him no
noteworthy composer has attempted ​ Gītās​
sancāri ​ Rāmamātya​
.​ , the author of ​
Svaramēla
kalānidhi​ Gītās​
has also composed ​ .
Among the several ​
Gītās composed by these composers, only few of them are being
Gītās​
taught and sung today. Now we shall discuss 8 such ​ .
 GĪTAM – 1
GAṆANĀTHA KAZHAL TOZHUDĒN

Rāgam – Māyāmāḷavagouḷai ​rōhana​

Ā – s r​ g​
1​ 2 m​ p d​
​ 1​ 1​n​ 2​ṡ
Tāḷam ­ Rūpaka Avarōhana​
​ ­ ṡ n​
2​d​
1​p m​ g​
1​ s
2 r1 ​

s r | g , m , || p d | p m g , ||
ga ṇa | nā ­ thā ­ || ka zha | to zh dē ­ ||
l u n
m g | r , s , || m , | g m , p ||
a ḍi | yēn ­ nān ­ || dē ­ | va nā ­ ḍu ||
r m
d p | d n ṡ , || n d | p d n , ||
tu di | pu ri yum ­ || ka ri | m kh nē ­ ||
u a
ṡ ṡ | n d p d || n n | ṡ n d , ||
ta mi | zhi sai va ra || da yei | pu ri vāy ­ ||
ṡ n | ṙ ṡ ṙ , || ṡ n | d p n d ||
ha ran | ma ga nē ­ || ē du | ku rai ni na ||
p m | d p m g || p m | g r s ṇ ||
da ruḷ | va rin ye na || kk du | ta ḍi va ru ||
i
(Gaṇa)

Explanation for Gītam – 1​

­​
GAṆANĀTHA KAZHAL TOZHUDĒN

This ​
gītam is in the ​ Māyāmāḷavagouḷai. ​
Rāgam ​ This ​ mē​
Rāgam is the 15th ​ ḷ​
akarta
raga under ​ mē​
Venkatamakhi’s ​ ḷ​
akarta system. Its ​ n​
Ārōha​ n​
avarōha​
a­​ a structure is as
svaras​
follows (see ​ Karnātik​
in ​ music for details on below notation and terms)

n​
Ārōha​a​
: s r​g​
1​ m​
3​ p d​
1​ n​
1​ ṡ​
​
3​ Avarōhana​
­​ :​
ṡ​
n​d​
3​ p m​
1​ g​
1​ r​
3​ s
1​

The notes in this ​

Rāgam are ​ Rishabam​
Suddha ​ , ​ Gāndharam​
Antara ​ , ​
Suddha
Madhyamam​
,​
Suddha ​
Dhaivatham and ​ nishāda​
Kākali ​ mē​
. As it is a ​ ḷ​ Rāgam​
akarta ​ , by
definition it is a ​
sampūrna ​
Rāgam (has all seven notes in ascending and descending
scale). This ​
Gītam is given as the first ​
Gītam as it is in praise of Lord ​
Ganesha and is in
Rāgam Māyāmā​
the ​ ḷ​
avagou​
ḷ​
ai​
.
This ​ Ganesha​
Gītam is in praise of the deity Lord ​ .​
Ganesha is widely revered as the
remover of obstacles and more generally as the Lord of beginnings and the Lord of
Obstacles, patron of arts and sciences, and the ​
Devā of intellect and wisdom. He is
honored at the beginning of rituals and ceremonies and invoked as the Patron of Letters
during writing sessions. Since ​
Gitās are the first lyrical form taught to students, the
Sāhitya in praise of Lord ​
Ganesha is suitable and auspicious to be introduced. Hence the
Ganesha Gītam​ Gītam​
is taught as the first ​ for the students.

Sāhitya
Gaṇa nātha Kazhal tozhudēn
Aḍiyēn nān
Dēvar nāḍum tudi puriyum Kari mukhanē
Tamizhisai vara dayai purivāy
Haran maganē ēdu kurai ninadharuḷ varin
Yenakkidu tadivaru
Word meaning

Gaṇa nātha ​ n​
Ga​
– Oh the lord of ​ s
ā​
Kazhal​
­ your feet
Tozhudēn​
­ worship
Aḍiyēn nān​
­ I’m your ​
servant
Dēvar ​
– The celestial ​
Dēvās
Nā​
ḍ​
um ​
– come in search of you
Tudi puriyum ​
– praise you
Kari mukhanē ​
– elephant faced one
Tamizhisai vara ​ Tamil​
– To gain knowledge of ​ music
Dayai purivāy ​
– show mercy up on me
Haran ­ ​
Lord ​
Siva
Maganē ​
– The son
Ēdu kurai ​
– where is sorrow?
Ninadharu​
ḷ​
varin ​
– when your grace is there
Yenakkidu Tadivarum​
– I will gain knowledge.
Meaning

This ​ Po​
Gītam is composed by ​ ṇ​
nayya Pillai (1804–1864) who was one among the
Tanjāvur Quartet. ​
Tanjāvur Quartet were four brothers who lived during the early 19th
Bharatanā​
century and contributed to the development of the Indian classical dance ​ ṭ​
yam
and ​
Karnātik music. The brothers ​ Po​
Chinnayya Pillai (1802–1856), ​ ṇ​
nayya Pillai
(1804–1864), ​ Va​
Sivanāndam Pillai (1808–1863) and ​ ḍ​
ivēlu Pillai (1810–1845) were
employed in the courts of the ​
Marāthā King ​ Tanjāvur​
Serfoji II at ​ Po​
.​ ṇ​
nayya Pillai ​
was
Gītās​
the first to compose ​ ​amil.​
in T
In this ​ Ganesha​
gītam the composer surrenders completely to Lord ​ . He says, Lord
Ganās​
Ganesha is the lord of the ​ , and he worships his feet. He says, “I’m a servant to
you my Lord”. The ​
Dēvās (celestial lords), come in search of this Elephant faced Lord
and praise him. The composer requests the Lord to show his grace on him to gain
knowledge in Tamil music.
Siva​
The composer calls him, “Oh! The son of Lord ​ , when your grace is upon me,
where is the place for sorrows?”
Yenakkidu​
​ ​
tadivaru

In this ​
gītam the composer expresses complete devotion towards the Lord
Ganesha and feels confident that difficulties can never be around with the blessings of
the Lord.
The ​
Svara framework of this ​
gītam commences gradually from s and then
Rāgam​
progresses involving all the characteristic phrases of the ​ . The ​
jīva Svaras of
Māyāmāḷavagouḷai are well emphasized through ​ Janṭa​
dīrgha and ​ Janṭa prayōgās such
.​
‘ṡnṙṡ’ Simple ​
as ​ ‘ṡndp ndpm dpmg pmgr’ are found towards the
Svara patterns such as ​
gītam​
end of the ​ . They add beauty to the song and bring out the ​
Svara prayōgās within
Rāgam​
the ​ . The range of the ​
gītam extends up to the higher octave ​ Rishabam​
Svara ṙ (​ ).
gītam​
This ​ āvartanas​
has only 12 ​ .

gītam​
This is a short ​ , with simple ​
Svara passages. With this ​
gītam the student
becomes quite familiar with the ​
rāgā ​ Māyāmā​
swarūpam of ​ ḷ​
avagou​
ḷ​
ai​
. The rendering of
Sāhitya​ Svaras​
to the tune of the ​ will also be practiced here by the student.

​ītās​
We can thus see that the G are the advanced musical forms that make use of
Svara​
many of the ​ Sāhitya​
exercise patterns combined with ​ Gītā​
. The above discussed ​ is
one such example.
gītam.​
Now let us discuss another such ​

Ī​
G​TAM – 2
ŚRĪGAṆANĀTHA
Rāgā– Malahari (15) Ārōhaṇam – s r​ m​
1​ p d​
1​ ṡ
1​
Tāḷa – Chatuśrajāti Rūpakam Avarōhaṇam ­ ṡ d​p m​
1​ 1​g​ r​
2 ​ s
1​
Pallavi
m p | d ṡ ṡ ṙ || ṙ ṡ | d p m p ||
śrī . | ga ṇa nā tha || sin dū | . ra var ṇa ||
r m | p d m p || d p | m g r s ||
ka ru | ṇā sā ga ra || ka ri | va da . na ||
s r | m , g r || s r | g r s , ||
lam . | bō . da ra || la ku | mi ka ra . ||
r m | p d m p || d p | m g r s ||
am . | bā . su ta || a ma | ra vi nu ta ||
s r | m , g r || s r | g r s , ||
lam . | bō ­ da ra || la ku | mi ka ra . ||

Charanam 1
 m p | d ṡ ṡ ṙ || ṙ ṡ | d p m p ||
sid dha | chā . ra ṇa || ga ṇa | se . vi ta ||
r m | p d m p || d p | m g r s ||
sid dhi | vi nā ya ka || tē . | na mō na mō ||
(lam)

Charanam 2
m p | d ṡ ṡ ṙ || ṙ ṡ | d p m p ||
sa ka | la vi dyā . || . dhi | pū ­ ji ta ||
r m | p d m p || d p | m g r s ||
sa r | vō . thta ma || tē . | na mō na mō ||
(lam)

Explanation for Gītam I​

­​
ŚRĪ GAṆANĀTHA

This is the second ​

Gītam and is composed by ​
Purandara Dāsa in the ​
Kannada
Chaturasra Jāti Rūpaka Tā​
language. It is set to ​ ḷ​ āvartana​
am which has 6 counts in one ​ ,
Drutam​
with one ​ laghu​
and one ​ (0 I​)
4​

This ​ Rāgam Malahari​

Gītam is composed in the ​ . It is a ​
Janya ​
rāgā derived from the
15​
th
mē​
​ ḷ​
akarta​ Māyāmā​
, ​ ḷ​
avagou​
ḷ​
ai. ​
The notes in this scale are ​
'Suddha Rishabam,
Suddha Madhyamam, Suddha Dhaivatham​ Ārōhana​
in ​ ​
and ​
additional ​
Antara
Gāndharam​
in​
​ ​
avarōhana.
Ārōhana: S r m p d ​
ṡ​ ­​
­ Avarōhana​
​ṡ​
dpmgrs
It is an ​ rāgā​
upānga ​ , meaning a ​
Janya ​
rāgā that takes notes only that are present in
their respective parent ​
rāgā. This is the first ​
Janya rāgā in which students of music begin
Gītās​
to learn the ​ .​
Malahari literally means that which removes dirt. It is a ​
rāgā ascribed
Malahari cleanses the mind of all evil thoughts. ​
to the rainy season. ​ This ​
Gītam is also in
Ganesha​
praise of the deity Lord ​ .
gītam​
Let us discuss the meaning of this ​ in the next session. Thank you!