The elapsed melody
ARUNA CHANDARAJU
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The javali is a forgotten genre. These beautiful love poems with their unabashed erotic associations, have been revived by Shreekantham Nagendra Shastry
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Photo: Bhagya Prakash K.
PIONEERING EFFORT Shreekantham Nagendra Shastry: ‘The 10 I have chosen represent a variety of ragas and express all the ashtanayaki bhavas and one dushtanayaki too.’
It is not often that a Carnatic music album comes along to unearth and showcase a disappearing treasure. “Rasaraja Vaibhava” features 10 javalis, none recorded before or even presented in concerts of recent times.
Composed by Mysore Sadashiva Rao, Veena Padmanabhaiah, Pattabhiramaiah and Karur Shivaramaiah, all are dedicated to the Mysore Wadiyars — Shri Mummidi Raja and Shri Chamaraja.
They are rendered by Shreekantham Nagendra Shastry, a musician with impeccable credentials. An accomplished vocalist, scholar, and an authority on javalis, he hails from the legendary Chintalapalli family who were direct disciples of Thyagaraja and the ashtana vidwans for eight centuries at some of India’s greatest royal courts including that of Krishnadevarayaa and the Mysore Maharajas. So your expectations are high. And Shastry lives up to them.
All the javalis are mellifluously rendered with flawless rhythm and right bhava. Generally, all javalis follow madhyama laya (the medium pace), with a few exceptions in vilambita/chowka kalam. This collection is in madhyama. Shastry combines the right laya with a commitment to bhava and produces a melodious collection of songs in the Shringara rasa. From the playful lover to the complaining nayika to light-hearted banter to the woman’s pangs of separation; ; they are rendered convincingly by Shastry.
Javalis are love-theme songs where the content ranges from the light and teasing, through the sensuous to the openly erotic. The javali’s vivacity and emotional content have made it a favourite with dancers too. The padam is often more decorous and dignified while in the more-earthy javali, love is light, provocative, even frivolous and sometimes verging on the lewd. This collection steers clear of the very explicit ones, but what was Shastry’s criteria for selection?“The 10 I have chosen represent a variety of ragas; express all the ashtanayaki bhavas and one dushtanayaki too(!); and are most likely to find public appeal.” The album, sponsored by musician Neela Ramgopal’s Neelambari, begins with Sadashiva Rao’s “Yekkadunnavo” (Atana). This song of a lovelorn woman is preceded by a Paraku or poem in lavish praise of the king, customarily sung when the king enters the durbar. A similar one precedes “Sami Ninne” (Khamas), a delightful and lilting lyric dedicated to the king Chamaraja. “Vaddante Kopama “(Suruti) by Padmanabhaiah has the woman imploring her lover to be more restrained and discreet as her family and society will no longer respect them if they are found out. An unusual javali in terms of having the Nayaka singing the lyric is Pattabhiramaiah’s “Chaalu Nee Vayyaramu” (Dhanyasi) where the man wooing a girl asks her why she entices him with her looks and gestures and still stays away. An amusing finale is provided by the part-English “Oh my lovely Lalana” (Kharaharapriya) where the lover asks his woman why she spurns him, and beseeches her in English: “Sit a while here. Let me convince you.” This was composed to please the Britishers who had become regulars at the Mysore Durbar following Lord Wellesley’s Subsidiary Alliance System.
Of the remaining nine, eight are in Telugu and one in Kannada. This CD is welcome given how javalis are fast-disappearing from the repertoire of classical musicians. The reason could probably be the erotic associations; though composers/connoisseurs say the javali used such situations, emotions and characters as metaphors for the soul’s longing for union with God. Of course, this debate continues to rage.
Rasa Raja Vaibhava comes with a book of notation and explanatory notes which, however, badly needs proper editing and careful proofreading. Shastry, who learnt 365 javalis at the rate of one per day when he was 12, has inherited hundreds of rare manuscripts containing a variety of compositions including javalis, largely lost to present-day music. All of which he plans to gradually unearth and present in records. Even Neela assures us she will support such CDs and also hold music programmes based on them. For connoisseurs of this delicate genre, this means more good news.
For copies call: 98454-15592, 080-26637336.
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