Lalgudi Jayaraman: Many Facets of The Cosmic Energy Nataraja Pose

At a festival in Scotland바카라�s Edinburgh in 1965, world-renowned musician Yehudi Menuhin gifted Indian instrumentalist Lalgudi Jayaraman with an Italian violin. For, the Carnatic exponent바카라�s finesse in playing the fiddle and mastery in unveiling varied Oriental melody-types had thoroughly impressed the American-born conductor, who would keep asking Lalgudi to play classical ragas from the peninsular part of his Asian country.

The story didn바카라�t end there. In a beautiful sequel that happened not many years thence, New York-born violinist Menuhin visited India, where Lalgudi presented him an idol so representative of Hindustan바카라�s heritage: a Nataraja statue. That is, an ivory-made idol of Shiva in a striking posture. Of a particularly elegant moment from the mythological lord바카라�s famed cosmic dance.

Last week marked the fifth death anniversary of Lalgudi, which is actually the name of a small town along the Cauvery belt (in present-day Tamil Nadu바카라�s Tiruchirapalli district) where Jarayaman was born in 1930. That means the Carnatic violinist was 35 when that autograph moment happened in Britain. (For Menuhin, a Jew who spent most of his life in the United Kingdom, 1965, incidentally, was the 20th anniversary of his concerts [this time on the piano] for the survivors of Nazi concentration camps in a series primarily for the benefit of allied soldiers during World War II.)

Today is World Dance Day, a week after the date of Lalgudi바카라�s death: April 22. Besides being a performer-scholar, this violinist (died in 2013) had a bouquet of Carnatic compositions to his credit. Among them is a genre called 바카라�Pada Varnam바카라�, whose lines largely deal with the heroine바카라�s (often wistful) love for her man and thus lends itself to shringara-centric expressions in Bharatanatyam, the classical dance of the Deccan. They are typically rich in literary content (unlike the thoroughly-structured 바카라�Tana Varnam바카라� in Carnatic), thus providing more scope for thematic interpretations. All the same, the 바카라�Pada Varnam바카라� facilitates rich showcase of varied-speed adavu and nadai (steps are gaits) typical of the south Indian dance.

Lalgudi바카라�s proven expertise in Pada Varnams perhaps explains the reason for his gifting a Nataraja statue to Menuhin, 14 years older. Among the compositions of that category is one in Charukesi ragam. This is one which the revered Carnatic violinist took up as an assignment, accepting a request from top danseuse Chitra Visweswaran, a fellow Chennaiite.

The Bharatanatyam exponent, now 68, used to perform this Pada Varnam, initially with vocal support by her musician husband R. Visweswaran (1944-2007). 바카라�I am partial to the Charukesi varnam especially because it suited my husband바카라�s voice so well,바카라� she is said to have told a national newspaper on the occasion of Lalgudi바카라�s 80th birthday in September 2010. The report also makes clear Chitra바카라�s admiration for 바카라�Lalgudi Mama바카라�, who had also composed another varnam for her to dance. That was in ragam Shanmukhapriya, where she wanted the song to be based on bhakti rasa (the emotion of devotion for god).

바카라�Similarly, the navaragamalika varnam on the nine forms of Devi, Angayarkanni바카라� (and set to as many ragas), is a magnum opus, rich in content and music,바카라� adds the Padma awardee trained under Tiruvudaimarudur-native devadasi T.A. Rajalakshmi who had settled in Calcutta, where Chitra also learned Manipuri and Kathak. 바카라�His compositions blend melody with meaning in a sensitive manner and that makes it easy to translate them into another genre; they spurt the dancer바카라�s creativity.

The write-up, which is a compilation in The Hindu, also features frontline dancers Sudharani Raghupathy praising Lalgudi바카라�s Neelambari-ragam pada varnam (Senthil mevum deva deva) and Priyadarshini Govind selecting a Tilang tillana of the violinist as one of her all-time favourites. Separately, young Carnatic vocalist Vidya Subramanian, a Lalgudi disciple, notes that his Devi-lauding varnam in Devagandhari raga successfully uses certain musical techniques to link various swaras and create an awe-inspiring effect. 바카라�In the popular Valaji varnam, he has varied the eduppu (starting point) of lines to create an element of surprise in the flow of the composition,바카라� adds the musician (who learned under Lalgudi since 1993) in a cultural portal.

As for focusing the Charukesi piece on International Dance Day (on since 1982, in memory of French balletmaster Jean-Georges Noverre [1727-1810]), 바카라�Innam en manam바카라� is arguably the most celebrated of the Lalgudi varnams, having proven to be highly impressive both on Carnatic and Bharatanatyam stages. Starting with 바카라�Innam en manam ariyadavar pola, Irundidal nyayama yadava madhava바카라�, the meaning of the first two lines of the Tamil composition goes thus: Is it just to behave as if you do not know my mind, hey Krishna? The lyricism continues unabated: Is all this drama something you rehearsed before, O King, O lotus-eyed, coloured like a gem? O beautiful lord, won바카라�t you alleviate my grievances?

In June 2013, on the occasion of the release of violinist바카라�s biography aptly titled An Incurable Romantic, U. Srinivas began his Chennai concert with 바카라�Innam en manam바카라�. The mandolin wizard couldn바카라�t but go for a verbal appreciation of the piece by Lalgudi바카라�of whom 바카라�I am the greatest fan바카라�. The varnam has been structured in such a way that each of its phrases brims with the beauty of Charukesi, he said.

What Srinivas (1969-2014) tacitly meant, most likely, was that the Lalgudi notes keep lilting like every cell of a lissom dancer herself.