Javali-s: Jewels Of The Dance Repertoire
I: Nineteenth Century Composers
J avali, the rhapsody for revelry
in music and dance recitals, is a
product of the 19th century. It was
born in Travancore and brought
up in Mysore. It attained its
fullness in Madras and travelled
far and wide to other parts of
South India. The maharajahs of
Travancore, Mysore and
Vizianagaram were its chief
patrons. The rajahs of other States
had also encouraged its growth.
What does the word javali mean?
Who gave this name to this new
type of composition?
The well-known scholar Dr. V.
Raghavan, in his preface to the
collection of javali-s edited by T.
Brinda said: "Curiously, for a
type which had come up in times
so near to us, the javali is really
obscure. Its very name is
intriguing. Kittel's Kannada
Dictionary notes javali as a kind of
lewd poetry. Maharashtra scholars
assure us that it is not a Marathi
word. The Tamil Lexicon (p.3874)
mentions javali as derived from
the Urdu jhwali, but no authority
is cited. Persian and Urdu scholars
are not able to confirm this."
Captain C.R. Day, a British army
officer who served in India in the
19th century, gave an account of
javali-s in his informative book,
The Music and Musical
Instruments of Southern India and
the Deccan (originally published in
1891). In his clarification: "Javali-s
are songs of light and pleasing
nature, such as love songs, cradle
songs, etc .... They are of two
kinds — ordinary ballads and
songs of a more or less indelicate
nature, sung during the
performance of a peculiar dance
called Karwar." Captain Day
further said: "These songs are of
comparatively recent introduction,
being first sung by the Kanarese
musicians of the court of Surapuri,
a petty state near the celebrated
Hampi ruins." Day is rather all
inclusive in his definition.
Moreover, the validity of his
statement can be accepted or
dismissed only after further
research, since almost all the early
javali-s were only in Telugu and
that too in the deep south of the
erstwhile Madras presidency.
Is there a satisfactory etymological
explanation to the words javada,
javadi and javali? According to
Dr. Raghavan, the word does not
occur among numerous Desi
(country or folk) music terms
found in music works. But he was
clearly mistaken. Pramado
dhimatampi: even geniuses err.
Javada is a Desi musical word and
can be found in most authoritative
works of musicology. In the
tradition of Venkatamakhi, every
lakshya geetam, according to
Subbarama Dikshitar, will have a
dhruvam, anteri and a javada.
Sangita Kalanidhi Rallapalli
Ananthakrishna Sarma, who
edited the reprint of Subbarama
Dikshitars Sangita Sampradaya
Pradarsini purposefully explained
in a footnote that javada is a
native word and it means half of a
geetam. Vadivelu, as a student of
Muthuswami Dikshitar, must have
JAVALI COMPOSERS OF T H E 19TH CENTURY
Composer
Swati Tirunal
Chinniah
Tacchur Singaiacharyulu
Pat mini Subrahmanya Iyer
Dharniavavam Rama-
krishnamacharyulu
Dasu Sriraniulu
Karur Devudayya &
Dakshinamurthy
T. Pattabhiramayya
Dhanmipuri Subbaraya Iyer
Karur Sivararniah
Muthuramalinga Sethupati
Bangalore Chandrasekharayya
been familiar with the word javada
in the lakshya geetam-s he learnt
and he might have given the name
javali to half a padam. In Telugu,
javadam or javalam means a
falcon, a colt and a filly. Javali, the
dazzling little piece, flies like a
falcon and speeds like a colt or a
filly.
If a chronological list of all the
known javali composers would be
made and their life sketches be
prepared with pertinent details, we
could reconstruct a reasonable
history of this rapturous music and
dance form. At the present stage
of our knowledge regarding this
matter, we can count at least a
dozen 19th century vaggeyakaras
who had composed javali-s (see
box). They were all poet-
composers, heirs to the glorious
heritage of Carnatic music left
behind by the great musical
Trinity. There were more in later
times.
Swati Tirunal Then known as
Kulasekhara the Maharajah of
Travancore was not only multi-
lingual but also a man of varied
cultural interests. He was an
expert in nritya. geeta and vadya
collectively called
Mudra Period
Padmanabha 1813-1847
Brihadeeswara 1803- ?
Singaranuta &
Rajagopala 1834-1892
Venkatesa 1845-1902
N.A. 1858-1912
N.A. 1864-1908
Garbhapuri 1861-1901
Talavana 1863-?
Dharmapuri 1864- ?
N.A.
Muthuramalinga ? -1873
Balachandra &
Balasudhakara —
'ThouryatrikanY. He used to play
the stringed instrument called
swarabat and Tanjavur Subbarao,
his English and Marathi teacher in
his childhood and the Dewan of
Travancore for some time, used to
accompany him on another
swarabat. In 1834 Dasi
Manikkammal of Tanjavur sang
Hindustani and Carnatic songs in
the Travancore court. In 1836
Lakshmana Das and two other
musicians from Gwalior visited
Travancore court. The Maharajah
was thus open-minded and eclectic
in his approach.
It is generally acknowledged that
Swati Tirunal composed jatiswara-s,
both tana and chauka varna-s,
kriti-s, pada-s and ragamalika-s in
strict classical Carnatic style and
later also composed dhrupad-s,
khayal-s, tappa-s and thumri-s in
Hindustani style. He had an
abiding interest in achieving a
synthesis of the Northern and
Southern music styles. And it was
Swati Tirunal, in the appreciative
Company of Vadivelu and
Chinniah, who composed the first
prototype of javali — Itu
sahasamulu in the raga Saindhavi.
An analysis of this solitary
surviving Travancore javali shows
the peculiarities of the transitory
literary form in its proto-stage. It
has a one line pallavi and a one
line anupallavi. As in pada-s, this
has also three charana-s but these
charana-s contain each not the
usual four lines but only three
short lines. The nayika is a kanya
and gnatha yauvana' (a virgin
conscious of her youth). She is not
averse to the daring advances of
the nayaka but advises him to wait
till she is fully ripe and meanwhile
have his affairs with others. She
utters these words even though
she is innocent of contact with any
other men. As in the majority of
later javali-s, the nayaka is a
'satha or a crafty and deceitful
person.
According to T. Sankaran,
grandson of Veena Dhanammal,
there were no javali-s attributed to
the Travancore court in the
repertoire of his family known for
its expert singing of javali-s.
Dhanammal however, knew and
performed a kriti or two of Swati
Tirunal.
Chinniah The eldest of the descendents needs careful
Tanjavur Quartet, Chinniah was examination, and a critically
also at Swati Tirunal's court like edited compilation of their works
Vadivelu, but for a shorter showing absolute regard for
duration. Palace records of chronology is overdue.
Travancore indicate that
Kanakamala, an accomplished
disciple of Chinniah's, was also at
the court. It is possible that while
there, she danced a javali
composed either by Chinniah or
by Swati Tirunal himself.
Chinniah has been credited with
the authorship of several javali-s,
though there is no accurate count
of such compositions of his. His
descendant Isai Perarignar K.P.
Kittappa Pillai had edited 22
javali-s said to be Chinniah's and
this collection has been published
in a book form. The first and the
last javali-s in this collection are
addressed to Lord Brihadeeswara
and the rest are dedicated to the
Maharaja of Mysore Chamaraja
Wodeyar who, though born and
also adopted by the previous king
in 1865, came of age only in 1881;
he ruled from that year till 1894. If
Chinniah did indeed compose He was the disciple of Annaswami
these javali-s attributed to him, he Sastril 1827-1900) who was the
would have to have been in his grandson of Syama Sastri (1763-
late seventies when he did so, but 1827). Professor P. Sambamoorthy
he actually died in his mid-sixties. in his History of Indian Music
It is noteworthy too that, while writes about this vaggeyakara as
Chinniah is believed to have been follows: "This versatile musical
at the court of the earlier genius took up residence in
maharaja, Krishnaraja Wodeyar Madras in the latter part of the
(1797-1868), no javali of that 19th century. Madras as a seat of
period has surfaced. On the other music turns a new chapter from
hand the javali Dani bhodcma in his time. His proficiency in
Surati, which Kittappa has Sanskrit and Telugu, his intimate
claimed was composed by knowledge of the theory and
Chinniah, has been credited to history of music, his extensive
Ponniah in another book, Ponniah repertoire and scholarship, his
Manimalal compositions in common and rare
raga-s, all these helped him to
become the chief figure in the
There is room for doubt whether
Chinniah, Ponniah or their other musical life of Madras... during
the latter part of the 19th century.
brothers of the Tanjavur Quartet
composed any works in the javali Ably assisted by his younger
brother Chinna Singaracharyulu,
form at all. Historians of that era
do not include javali-s among their he published a series of graded
textbooks on music in Telugu.
works. In an account of Hindu
musicians, Tacchur The brothers lived at No.3
Singaracharyulu, who had great Thambu Nayakuni Lane near the
respect for the Tanjavur Quartet, present 'Soundarya Mahal' | onj
only said: "Ponniah, Chinniah and Govindappa Nayakuni Street,
Vadivelu... made swara-s (sic), George Town. The concerts that
salaam jati-s, varna-s, tillana-s and they organised in the Rama
Mandiram in connection with the
ragamalika-s all of which are sung
throughout India" He did not Rama Navami festival every year
were attended by thousands of
mention javali-s. The repertoire of
the Tanjavur Quartet and their people. Every new musician who
came to Madras and who wanted
to make a name had first to go and perform
before the Tacchur brothers and get their
appreciation. They trained a number of
disciples."
The Tacchur brothers were patronised by the
maharajas of Vizianagaram and Mysore and
their books were dedicated to
them by the grateful authors who deserve
our homage for preserving many precious
musical works besides javali-s.
Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer Also known as
Subrahmanyayya, he
was the prasishya of Tyagaraja, or a disciple
of a direct disciple of
the great saint-bard His father was Bharatam
Vaidyanadhayya and his grandfather,
Bharatam Panchanada Sastri. His maternal
uncle and first music guru was Melattur
Ganapati Sastri of the BhagavataMela
tradition. Subrahmanya Iyer shifted his
residence from Tiruvaiyaru to
Chennapatnam ( Madras) to teach
music to Papa and Radha, daughters of
Salem Meenakshi, a devadasi He also
trained the celebrated javali singers
Lakshminarayani and Rangayya Ammal
who were popularly known as the Yenadi
Sisters. He lived in Krishnappa Nayakuni
Agraharam in Peddanayakuni Peta which
is in George Town of today. He was
honoured by the maharajas of
Vizianagaram, Mysore and Travancore
for his eminent place in the musical
world and his brilliant compositions. His
javali-s are elegant.
Dharmavaram Ramakrishnama-
charyulu and Mahakavi Dasu Sril'amulu
These were two great Telugu poet-pundits.
Both were lawyers as well.
Ramakrishnama- charyulu was well-known
as the
father of modern Telugu classical plays for
the stage. He composed music to his verses
and songs and taught them to his troupe of
actors. He composed very good javali-s.
Dasu Sriramulu was a giant in the literary
world of his times and had profound
knowledge of the theory of dance.
Sanf!.itarasa Taranf!.iniand Abhinaya
Darpanam are among his works. He
composed many swarajati-s, kriti-s and
javali-s. His javali-s were most popular in
East and West Godavari districts.
Karur Chinna Devudu In collaboration
with his cousin Dakshinamurth~ he
composed javali-s under the Garbhapuri
mudra. The former provided the dhatu (tune)
and he the matu
( lyrics). Chinna Devudu's father Narasayya
was an accomplished veena player and his
grandfather known as Ramayana Sastri was a
court musician of Mysore. While music was
Chinna Devudu's paternal heritage, he
inherited his affinity to dance from his
mother's side: his maternal grandfather was
the Yakshagana composer Matrubhutayya
who composed Parijathapaharanam
Matrubhu- tayya visited the courts of
Kalahasti and Venkatagiri and composed
pada-s and salaam jatt-s on those rulers.
During the time of Pedda Venkatadri ( 1745-
1785), Matrubhutayya sojourned at Kalahasti
and composed a salaam jati Ra! ra! damera
timmendra kumara satakoti Manmadhakara.
Pedavenkatadri hamvira in Mohanam. With
slight very recent modifications, this is
danced nowadays as Krishna Sabdam by
Kuchipudi dancers. The heritage
of his maternal grandfather was helpful to
Chinna Devudu who
was a prasishya of Tyagaraja and a disciple
of Nemam Subrahmanyayya. The
Garbhapuri javalt-s remain to be salvaged,
edited and published
Thatithopu PattabhiramaRao Better
known as Tiruppanandal Pattabhiramayya,
he was one of the most popular javalikarta-s.
His native place is known as
Thatakeswaram and Talavanam, hence his
mudra Talavanalola. Pattabhiramayya
started his career as a petty clerk in taluk
offices
but, when his fame as a beautiful javali
composer reached the court of Mysore,
Maharaja Chamaraja Wodeyar (1808-1894)
invited him and settled him in a job with
substantial remuneration. Pattabhiramayya
lived in Madras also and had many
deserving disciples from the song-and-dance
families. Among them: Lalithang~ mother
of M.L Vasanthakumari; Jayammal, mother
of Balasaraswati; Mylapore Gowri Ammal;
and the second generation of Yenadi Sisters
45
named Meenakshi Amma Pattabhiramayya, Subbaraya Iyer started his
Balamma. The text of : life as a clerk in the taluk office at Hosur but
javali-s of this daring C( soon
in English! For instance Nee matahl after he inherited his father's fortune. he
yemayanura in Poorvikalyani has a resigned his job and spent his time on the
translated text: "What has become of thy pleasures of music. He was closely
promise. my friend'! Tell." Notably. associated with the famous stage artist
Pattabhiramayya and most of the then Balamani and later spent years in the
javali compose had had English company of Veena Dhanammal. He
education of some sort. composed some javali-s for Dhanammal
especially and they reflect their symbiotic
relationship. Subbaraya Iyer was patronised
by the maharajas of Vizianagaram and
Dharmapuri SubbBl'aya Iyer Mysore. The mudra of his javali-s is
Dharmapuri
Sivaramayya He was another javalikarta of
the 19th century
who hailed from Karur. His years of birth
and demise are not
"/
known. He was an English educated man.
He composed traditionaljavali-s and some
manipravala (mixed dialect) works also. He
attempted, in Kharahapriya raga, the rare
!8! feat of composing a javali using both
Telugu and English words. The javali runs
like this.
0! my lovely lalana! Elaney
pommanti
I These 12 known composers and several
Yemoyanianti-Kammee nmnu
-
/tuvanti step- is it fit to take ? Sit a
while here- Let me
convince you
Evarivaddanu don't be anRry
Also known as Subbarao. he was another Sivaramuni padamu/u padu ,
famous javalikarta. He learnt music from his
Karur Sivaramayya was possibly a junior
maternal uncle and father-in-Iaw
contemporary of
Chandramouleeswara Iyer who
was an expert in pallavi-singing and
swaraprastara He was encouraged by hls A Javali By Pattabhiramayya
father Tahasil Venkatarao
to learn Telugu literary classics. Like his Poorvikalyani -Adi (misra laghu}
fellow javalikarta
Parallel javali In English
Pattabhiramayya who also composed
javali-s in English text. The manipravala
javali-s have los their colonial relevance
but deservt: to be preserved in archives
for academic purpose.
M uthuramalinga Sethupathi I Ruler of
the Ramanathapuram Samasthanam in
Pandyan countf) he w~ a composer as
well as a great connoisseur and patron
of fine arts. He was the author of several
devotional works and also a volume
entitled Sarasa Sallaba Malai His
compositions included kriti-s,
padavarna-s. tillana-s, bhajan-s, pada-s
~ well as javali-s, in Tamil and Telugu.
Bangalore Chandrasekharayya Also
known as Kolar Chandrasekharayya, he
was another javalikarta of the last
century. He used the mudra-s
Balachandra and Balasudhakara. His
javali-s are among those known as
Mysore javali-s.
other vaggeyakaras whose works still
survive but whose identities are not known
were the persons that popularised the
javali~s especially composed for singing
and dancing by nattuvanars and devadasis
of several families and schools. The names
of the choreographers and dance masters
are available from the raw material
gathered from 19th century music books.
(Part II will be published in Issue 241

Original javali in Telugu
.Nee maata leymaayenura samj balkara
.Ememo bodinchi nammemavu ;eysey vura .ChakkaniSami valay-
chekkjli nakki-rava
Mukkera nee kitcheynani takulachey sokkinchjna
Maatimaatikimari maatallada pilchuchu Paateelu ney pampeynani
thaatotamu jesina (Nee)
.What has become of thy promise, tell my dear friend .What! Does thou forget
your inducing and honeyed wo!'ds
Why clln't you be gentleman ? Kissing the beautiful cheek Promising diamond
jewels proved to be
false in the end (What) Now and then beseeching me for the conjugal
embrace
Of my getting ruby ear-rings proving
to be false in the end (What) Having thus enchanted me, lulled into security
Promising the gold bangles Taalavana
lola Hallo (What)

.alamu jesi kalaseyuru rathnaala jumi jeela jata pamp-:ynani

Taalavana 101a ala 46