Super by MMI Mama . Kaa vaa vaa Ragam varali 39th Mela janya Adi Talam papanasam Sivan Krithi Humble Reminder of Madurai Mani Iyer who has made this song Famous Invocation. An Yeaning. As a child one would remember listening with fascination to mother’s explanation of how God can be invoked into a Kalasha filled with water, topped with mango leaves and a coconut. Once the invocation is done, the Kalasha is worshipped as the Goddess. ‘God is everywhere’ ‘but when we invoke His or Her presence, divine energy becomes concentrated in an idol or a symbolic representation like a Kalasha’. Likewise an idol carved by the hands of men comes to sit in an altar somewhere and transforms from stone to God. What causes the transformation? Invocation. Just invocation. Human beings have invoked the presence of God from time immemorial using ceremonies of all kinds. But finally it is just a simple call ‘Come’. Addressed to Lord Muruga, the poet-composer Papanasam Sivan says ‘Come and protect me’. He identifies the divinity he invokes by different descriptions but the repeated ‘vA vA’ are the words we hear the most in this song, ‘Come, Come’. Set to the beautiful raga Varali pallavI kA vA vA kanda vA vA Yennai kA vA vElavA (murugA vAkandA vA) pazhanimalaiyuraiyum murugA (vA vA) anupallavI devAdi dEvan maganE vA para dEvi maDiyil amarum guhanE vA vaLLi deivayAnai manavaLA (vA) sharavana bhava parama dayalA (shanmugA) charaNam aapath- iruLara aruloLi tarum appane annaLe ayya vA vA pApa tiraL tarum tApam agala varum pazhani valar karunai mazhayE vA vA tApatraya veyilara nizhal tarum vAntharuve yen kula guruvEe vaa sri padmanAban marugA rAma dAsan vanangum mutaiyA Oh Muruga, who lives in Pazhani malai, come to protect me. Come, O son of Shiva. Come, O Guha (the hidden one), who sits on Parvati’s lap. Come, O husband of Valli and Deivayanai. Come O Sharavana, the supremly kind being. Come, you who bestow light to remove the darkness of danger. Come, you who remove longing and sin, you the shower of kindness, who grew up in Pazhani. Come, you who give shade to protect me from the hot rays of intense longing, you who are the Guru of our community. Come, you who are the nephew of lord Vishnu, the one worshipped by Ramadasa, a gem like being. Raga Jhalavarali is the 39th Mela belonging to the 7th Music Chakra. The prefix ‘Jhala’ is added to the raga name in order to suit the katapayadi formula. It is the 4th in the list of 5 Ghana ragams Nata, Gaula, Arabhi and Sree being the other ghana ragas.Noticeably this is the only Ghana raga with Prati Madhyama. In Mind, Body and Soul Chakra - Chakra 7 is the Divine Chakra lined up with the heart and the throat chakras, enabling the higher spirit energies to work through ones voice and body. Therapeutically Varali is said to be good for Heart and Skin ailments and gastric problems. This raga is mentioned in many of the earlier texts in the names Varadi, Varati,Varali and Varatika and is said to be more than 1300 years old. It is with this name that it is referred in ancient lakshana grandhas like Sangeeta Makarandha and Sangeeta Ratnakara. It is also said that there was a place called as “Varata Desa” and this melody was prevalent there and hence the name Varati / Varali. According to Bharatha’s Natyasastra Varati is recommended in portraying rain, agitation, surprise etc. When it is adorned by dhaivata, it serves contentment, recollecting, concealing one’s feeling. The raga is also used to protray the rasa of Pranaya Viyoga or pangs of separation of lovers. Varali portrays both Karuna and Sringara Rasas. Now coming to the meaning of the term Varali. “Var” in Sanskrit means “to sound” and the term “ali” refers to Bee. So may be the meaning of Varali refers to “Sound/Hum of a Bee “. Varali is also known as Moon. After listening to Varali recordings quite a few times, I think the meaning “Sounds like a Bee” is very apt for the raga. Varali is an asymmetric raga due to the vakra prayoga and a vivadi ragam and the vivadi dosha is avoided by singing the arohana as SGRG which makes it a raga with vakra sampoorna (contains all 7 notes) in arohanam. “pUrNA varALI satatam ghIyatE sagrahAnvitA” The Sloka says that Varali has Purna Arohana-avarohana and can be sung at all times. The Graha Swaram is Shadjam. Its Arohana Avarohana structure is as follows: arohana : S G1 R1 G1 M2 P D1 N3 S avarohana : S N3 D1 P M2 G1 R1 S The notes taken are Shadjam, Suddha Rishabham, Suddha Gandharam, Prati Madhyamam, Panchamam, Suddha Dhaivatam and Kakali Nishadham. The raga has only one vivadi note and that is Suddha Gandharam. Gandharam in the raga is Suddha Gandharam which takes the place of Chathusruti Rishabham with a soft pull while played in veena. Suddha Gandhara which is slightly higher than Chathusruti Rishabham. Gandharam is a pleasant jeeva swaram in the raga. It can also be sounded as a pleading tone . As per Raga Nidhi of T.V.Subbu Rao, the Suddha Gandharam is higher in Arohanam and lower in Avarohanam. The Madhyamam used has a slightly higher frequency than the Prati Madhyamam, and is also called as Chyuta Panchama Madhyamam or Varali Madhyamam as it is popularly known. Varali’s Nishadam is termed as “Chyuta Shadja Nishadam” which is slightly higher than the regular Kakali Nishada. Though all 7 swaras are present in the raga, the notes G, M and N are the most important notes that brings out the raga swarupa. All the three come with their characteristic gamakas. Now watch MMI Mama’s Rendition ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-jhM4n_BhsgM.html
I am too small to comment on the Maestros Rendition Simply Listen and Enjoy ! Kaa vaa vaa Ragam varali 39th Mela janya Adi Talam papanasam Sivan Krithi Humble Reminder of Madurai Mani Iyer who has made this song FamousInvocation. As a child one would remember listening with fascination to mother’s explanation of how God can be invoked into a Kalasha filled with water, topped with mango leaves and a coconut. Once the invocation is done, the Kalasha is worshipped as the Goddess. ‘God is everywhere’ my mother said ‘but when we invoke His or Her presence, divine energy becomes concentrated in an idol or a symbolic representation like a Kalasha’. Likewise an idol carved by the hands of men comes to sit in an altar somewhere and transforms from stone to God. What causes the transformation? Invocation. Just invocation. Human beings have invoked the presence of God from time immemorial using ceremonies of all kinds. But finally it is just a simple call ‘Come’. Addressed to Lord Muruga, the poet-composer Papanasam Sivan says ‘Come and protect me’. He identifies the divinity he invokes by different descriptions but the repeated ‘vA vA’ are the words we hear the most in this song, ‘Come, Come’. Set to the beautiful raga Varali pallavI kA vA vA kanda vA vA Yennai kA vA vElavA (murugA vAkandA vA) pazhanimalaiyuraiyum murugA (vA vA) anupallavI devAdi dEvan maganE vA para dEvi maDiyil amarum guhanE vA vaLLi deivayAnai manavaLA (vA) sharavana bhava parama dayalA (shanmugA) charaNam aapath- iruLara aruloLi tarum appane annaLe ayya vA vA pApa tiraL tarum tApam agala varum pazhani valar karunai mazhayE vA vA tApatraya veyilara nizhal tarum vAntharuve yen kula guruvEe vaa sri padmanAban marugA rAma dAsan vanangum mutaiyA Oh Muruga, who lives in Pazhani malai, come to protect me. Come, O son of Shiva. Come, O Guha (the hidden one), who sits on Parvati’s lap. Come, O husband of Valli and Deivayanai. Come O Sharavana, the supremly kind being. Come, you who bestow light to remove the darkness of danger. Come, you who remove longing and sin, you the shower of kindness, who grew up in Pazhani. Come, you who give shade to protect me from the hot rays of intense longing, you who are the Guru of our community. Come, you who are the nephew of lord Vishnu, the one worshipped by Ramadasa, a gem like being. Raga Jhalavarali is the 39th Mela belonging to the 7th Music Chakra. The prefix ‘Jhala’ is added to the raga name in order to suit the katapayadi formula. It is the 4th in the list of 5 Ghana ragams Nata, Gaula, Arabhi and Sree being the other ghana ragas.Noticeably this is the only Ghana raga with Prati Madhyama. In Mind, Body and Soul Chakra - Chakra 7 is the Divine Chakra lined up with the heart and the throat chakras, enabling the higher spirit energies to work through ones voice and body. Therapeutically Varali is said to be good for Heart and Skin ailments and gastric problems. This raga is mentioned in many of the earlier texts in the names Varadi, Varati,Varali and Varatika and is said to be more than 1300 years old. It is with this name that it is referred in ancient lakshana grandhas like Sangeeta Makarandha and Sangeeta Ratnakara. It is also said that there was a place called as “Varata Desa” and this melody was prevalent there and hence the name Varati / Varali. According to Bharatha’s Natyasastra Varati is recommended in portraying rain, agitation, surprise etc. When it is adorned by dhaivata, it serves contentment, recollecting, concealing one’s feeling. The raga is also used to protray the rasa of Pranaya Viyoga or pangs of separation of lovers. Varali portrays both Karuna and Sringara Rasas. Now coming to the meaning of the term Varali. “Var” in Sanskrit means “to sound” and the term “ali” refers to Bee. So may be the meaning of Varali refers to “Sound/Hum of a Bee “. Varali is also known as Moon. After listening to Varali recordings quite a few times, I think the meaning “Sounds like a Bee” is very apt for the raga. Varali is an asymmetric raga due to the vakra prayoga and a vivadi ragam and the vivadi dosha is avoided by singing the arohana as SGRG which makes it a raga with vakra sampoorna (contains all 7 notes) in arohanam. “pUrNA varALI satatam ghIyatE sagrahAnvitA” The Sloka says that Varali has Purna Arohana-avarohana and can be sung at all times. The Graha Swaram is Shadjam. Its Arohana Avarohana structure is as follows: arohana : S G1 R1 G1 M2 P D1 N3 S avarohana : S N3 D1 P M2 G1 R1 S The notes taken are Shadjam, Suddha Rishabham, Suddha Gandharam, Prati Madhyamam, Panchamam, Suddha Dhaivatam and Kakali Nishadham. The raga has only one vivadi note and that is Suddha Gandharam. Gandharam in the raga is Suddha Gandharam which takes the place of Chathusruti Rishabham with a soft pull while played in veena. Suddha Gandhara which is slightly higher than Chathusruti Rishabham. Gandharam is a pleasant jeeva swaram in the raga. It can also be sounded as a pleading tone . As per Raga Nidhi of T.V.Subbu Rao, the Suddha Gandharam is higher in Arohanam and lower in Avarohanam. The Madhyamam used has a slightly higher frequency than the Prati Madhyamam, and is also called as Chyuta Panchama Madhyamam or Varali Madhyamam as it is popularly known. Varali’s Nishadam is termed as “Chyuta Shadja Nishadam” which is slightly higher than the regular Kakali Nishada. Though all 7 swaras are present in the raga, the notes G, M and N are the most important notes that brings out the raga swarupa. All the three come with their characteristic gamakas.
