Svarajati

Introduction:
Svarajati – As the name suggests, was originally a composition wherein rhythemic
syllables – Jati and svaras figure alternately, or a passage of jatis were as such present in it.
This form had its birth in the 18 th century. The earliest svarajati known till date is in Husēni
rāga – Emāyalādira .
Later, it was composed based on the rule of ‘svara-sāhitya’. They consist of svara-syllables
or the sargam called 'svara' followed by meaningful texts called the 'sāhitya'. For each
sargam syllable there must be a corresponding syllable of the meaningful text. The svarajati
consists of an opening line called pallavi, which serves as the refrain, and many stanzas
called carana-s. Both the pallavī and the carana-s conform to the svara-sahitya rule in their
structure.
Even later, Syāmasāstri,s 3 svarajatis, which was called as the ‘Ratna-traya’ (meaning three
gems), gave a completely different and majestic shape to the svarajati. Let us study in detail
about svarajati given in various books.

The art and science of Carnatic music:

The svara-jati is a longer composition than the suladi or the gitam. It consists of
sections, pallavi and charanams. In the construction of the matu and datu with regard to the
allocation of the sahitya, the svarajati resembles a gitam. The charanam-s appear in groups
of svara-s resembling jati patterns. The svara-passage is rendered first and then the
corresponding sahitya-passage; in each case the pallavi comes as a refrain. The charanams
are of graded lengths. Though svarajati belongs to the abhyasa-gana or compositions
intended for beginners, composers like Syama Sastry and others have given it such a
refined form that it is given the status of a kriti.

Articles on Carnatic music:

Swarajathis:
These appear to have been taught in 10 or 15 of the more popular ragas till recently; but
they are now falling into disuse. They are designed to give the student an insight into various
swara combinations of a particular raga with keeping of time. All the three parts of a
Kirthanam, i.e. Pallavi, Anupallavi and Chasanam are introduced here but without the words
of the composition.

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 Svarajati

Swarajathi and Varnam:

By learning the scales of the three "ragas", namely Mayamalagowlai, Karaharapriya and
Kamavardhani, (commonly known as Panthuvarali) a knowledge of the twelve notes of the
"Sthayi" are acquired. After acquiring these, the student should be taught

(1) How to sing the various "Swarams" at random

(2) To use them in simple combinations
(3) To understand the basic Swarams" of "ragas" and
(4)To learn the recurring combinations of "Swarams" in each "raga".
All this knowledge is acquired through the mastering of Swarajathis.

Swara-jathis:
It will be of great advantage if these Swara-Jathis are classified under three categories.
Under the first only the simplest combinations of Swarams such as sa-re ga-ma, re-ga-ma-
pa, ga-ma-pa-da should be taught. It will be useful if the Swara-Jathis under the second
category correspond to the combinations of Swarams used in "Kirthanams". It goes without
saying therefore, that it will be still more convenient to the teacher and to the taught if under
this category the skeleton "Swarams" of "Kirthamams" themselves are taught. Under the
third and last category the Swara-Jathis should, as far as possible be illustrative of the
various "Sankathees" adopted in "Kirthanams".

It will be helpful if the Swara-Jathis taught under the first category are composed in
Mayamalagowlai, Karaharapriya, Kamavardhani (Panthuvarali), Nattai, Suddhasaveri and
Belahari; those under the second category in Ketharagowlai, Mathyaniavathi, Kambodhi,
Kalyani, Mukhari, Nattaikurinchi and Dhanyasi while those under the third category should
be in Sankarabharanam, Saveri, Poorikalyani, Bairavi, Thodi and other common ragas.

The concept of art music:

Kalpita:
There are many kalpita musical forms in art-music that are learnt by a student and which are
sung in concerts.The textbooks themselves classify musical forms into Abhyāsagāna and

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 Svarajati

Sabhāgāna, namely, into those intended for use in training period and those intended for use
in concert performances.

Svarajati compositions come in different levels. Those of Syāma Sāstri and 'Nī aruḷāyō' of
Ponnayya Piḷḷai are really melodically heavy pieces and would constitute art music pieces
but not others.

Syamasastri:
The Bhairavi swarajati is an unparalleled composition. The age-old accepted raga-
paddati (traditional exposition) is closely followed in an enriched style. The pallavi starts with
the swara nishada of the lower octave and each charana commences in the ascending order
of the sapta-swaras sa ri ga ma pa da and ni, and ends with the tara-sadja. At every stage,
the musical phrases bristle with the essence of raga and bhava.
The raga Bhairavi is an old, time-honoured tune. In fact, its form is found in the slow-swaying
tempo of some folksongs that are sung and played on the nagaswaram from time
immemorial when in a wedding the bridal pair are seated on the decorated swing (oonjal);
these songs are called 'oonjal-pattu'. In Sastry's hands the folk-style is embellished and
transformed into a classical one at the start of the swarajati.

There are some ragas which are not elaborated in the higher octave. Yadukulakambhoji is
one such raga. Shyama Sastry has freely elaborated this raga in his swarajati Amba
Kamakshi. Starting with all majesty in the lower octave with long-drawn swaras, he has dealt
exhaustively with its elaboration; as though he could not restrain his creative exposition, he
has expressed himself liberally in the last charana of this swarajati in the higher octave. He
has taken the liberty of a poet in doing so.

Śhyāmaśāstrī and svarajati:

Śyāma Śāstrī's musical compositions can be appreciated form the points of view of what he
composed and what he did not. To clarify, we see that he has used the Svarajati form which
many of his contemporaries did not handle, while, on the other hand, he did not court meḷa-
based raga-s, contemporary Hindustani raga-s and ārōha-avarōha based raga-s and also
sūlādi/35 tāḷa-s which other composers reveled in. This article will confine itself to discussing
Śyāma Śāstrī's use of the then existing Svarajati form, towards which appears to have had a
selective approach.

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 Svarajati

Saradambal (2007:83-87) has classified the songs of Śyāma Śāstrī chronologically with
regard to their becoming public through printed books - a) songs that appear in books before
1930 (b) those that appear after 1930 (c) those that come to be known only after 1970. Thus
in the first stage we hear of twenty-one compositions out of which there are the well-known
three svarajati songs, one tāna-varnam, 'sāmi nī' in Ānandabhairavi rāga and in ata-tāla and
the remaining kīrtana-s. Svarajati songs would require some special study here. What
however becomes clear is the authenticity of the three svarajati songs being Śyāma Śāstrī's.

Svarajati:
Svarajati form revealed by the three songs, 'kāmākṣi' (bhairavi rāga), 'kāmākṣi'
(yadukulakāmbhōji raga) and 'rāve himagirikumāri' (tōdi rāga) appears to be the first of its
kind in the Karṇaṭaka tradition. It is quite possible that it was Śyāma Śāstrī who fashioned
this form, after making modifications to the earlier svarajati form seen in songs like
'ēmandayānrā' in Husēni raga (Paccimiriyam Ādippayya).

The earlier svarajati had a form not dissimilar to that of the pada-varnam, having a pallavi-
anupallavi-pallavi-caraṇa-pallavi structure. And the anupallavi had appended to it, a svara-
jati-sahitya passage, because of which the form got its name 'svarajati', Further the carana
had a number of lines (kaṇḍika) with again a number of svara-sahitya passages occurring in
the beginning of carana, with the first kaṇḍika serving as the refrain.

The earliest composition known in this format is that of Vīrabhadrayya set in Husēni raga,
with the commencing words, 'sāmi nenaralla'. In the notation of this song given by
V.Raghavan (1946), it is the carana portion that occurs first. Thus it is likely that the 'initial' or
the later pallavi and anupallavi sections were done away with and the caran̄a section
retained with only the first kaṇ̣ḍika refrain.

An adaptation of svarajati also figured in the nirupana dramas composed by Rājā Śarabhōjī,
in the Tanjāvūr court around the time of Śyāma Śāstrī. These songs had only a series of
svara-sāhitya passages without any refrain or sectional organisation (Mahadick 1958:12-16)
Thus in the form developed by Śyāma Śāstrī, in the absence of the svara-jati passage the
name 'svarajati' seems a misnomer. However Subbarama Dīksitar (1904:SLS:50) while
describing the svarajati speaks extensively about the earlier form and devotes a few
sentences to the later modified one. In this context he points to the absence of jati-syllables
but speaks of an under-current of jati pattern in the melodic structure.

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 Svarajati

Whether an undercurrent of jati-pattern exists is in the three songs of Śyāma Śāstrī has to be
objectively investigated. However in the Note-book containing the handwritten notation
(Śyāma Śāstrī-Il 1932), the song 'rāvē himagiri kumāri' in Tōdi rāga, has a third line featuring
jati syllables seen below the svara and sāhitya lines. One could, however, argue that jati-
pattern could be affixed to any svara-based melodic line, be it in tāna-varṇam or in
cittasvaram or in any madhyamakala based music, as for instance, the tānam.

In being attracted to the svarajati form. Śyāma Śāstrī seems to have found the svara-sāhitya
feature most fascinating and challenging. The svara-sāhitya feature in svarajati seems to
present a melodic line projected by sargam syllables, to which music, meaningful text
(sāhitya) is appended. The syllables of sāhitya require to exactly match the duration of the
sargam syllables as will be clear from the following extract from the bhairavi-rāga svarajati.

s , r | n s | r , || , n r | s n | d p ||
ku nda ra da na - ku va la ya na ya

m , , | , , | p , || d , n | , s | , r ||
na - - tal lli ra kṣi n͂cu

There are as many syllables of the sāhitya as there are sargam syllables and if a particular
svara syllable is hrasva then the corresponding sahitya-syllable too is hrasva and so on. It is
this feature that characterises the svara-sāhitya passages, that have been interspersed in
the kīrtana-s like "durusuga' (saveri raga), most likely ushered in by Śyāma Śāstrī himself,

In the svarajati songs even the pallavi section has to be sung with the sargam form first,
followed by the sāhitya, as we learn from the notation in the family notebook. And again
while singing the svara-sāhitya passages, at the conclusion of a svara passage, it is the
svara-form of the pallavi that has to be sung and at the end of the sāhitya version, the refrain
has to be the sāhitya of the pallavi. This practice does not seem to be visible in the
renderings in the last 100 years.

Further in the the kīrtana-s, while singing the svara-sāhitya passage the svara part is seen to
be sung at the end of the anupallavi section while the sahitya part is rendered at the end of
the caraṇam while musically it would be appropriate for the sahitya too follow immediately
after the svara part is sung.

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 Svarajati

Svara-sahitya feature with a not so strict metrical correspondence is seen in the

compositions of Tyagaraja (e.g ., 'jagadanandakaraka, in nata raga) and of Muttusvami
Diksitar (e.g. the ragamalika) too. Svara-sahitya passages in some of the songs of Syama
Sastri, seem to have been added by his disciples later (Sambamurti 1985:91-92). And, in the
svara-sahitya passage figuring in the song 'o jagadamba' (anandabhairavi raga), attributed
to Sangita-svami we observe the following.

p m g r s ṇ s m g r s ṇ s g r ṇ |
va ra si ta gi ri ni la yu ni pri ya pra na yi ni
s g , g , m p d | p m g m p , , , ||
pa ra . sa . kti ma na vi ni vi nu ma. . .

The sāhitya syllable 'ni' in the phrase 'nilayunipriya' should be metrically a long one since it is
followed by a conjunct consonant 'pri', and consequently 'ni' should have been allotted two
akśara time units. However 'ni' is being treated here as a short syllable, with one aksara time
unit. The idea is not to find fault with the disciples or to establish that the teacher was fault-
free and it is also possible that some prosodic exception existed to exempt such seeming
lapses. This is only to point out what musico-lyrical challenges the feature of svara-sāhitya
throws at a composer and that is the reason Śyāma Śāstrī appears to us as a daring
musician/ composer.

Svara/ sargam:
An important aspect of a svarajati is the sargam component, which functions as a text or
lyrics material. To linked to this sargam is the aspect of kala-pramana. Sargam has been
used by padavarnam, tana-varnam, jatisvaram, svarajati, svara-sahitya, cittasvara and
kalpana-svara.

Both bhairavi and todi raga-s had come to be regarded as rakti-raga-s during his time and so
must have been yadukula(erukala)kambhoji too, which were used for his svarajati-s. So it is
the raktiraga-s that he used for the svarajati songs and also bestowed melodically a more
pliable character to the sargam material. This would be endorsed by the way the opening
"ga' and 'ni' are rendered in the third and seventh svara-sahitya passages respectively.
However it is also possible that this manner of rendering was a later development.

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 Svarajati

Thus a study of his svarajati reveal Syama sastri as one who appears to have revolutionised
the music of his times and the innovations that we are looking at, seem to have stemmed
from the musical tradition, from inside, than those imposed from outside.

Role of research in music education:

We shall see this research identifying changes creeping into practice. Changes have
occurred in the mode of rendering the 'Svarajati' compositions of Syama Sastri.

In the mode of rendering which is in vogue today, in the 'pallavi' only the 'sāhityam' text is
rendered and in the 'caraṇam-s' both 'svaram' and 'sahityam' are rendered. A study of the
description of musical forms in the 'Sangita-sampradaya-pradarsini' of Subbarama Diksitar,
combined with the comprehension of svara-syllables serving as the text in songs, led me to
suggest certain modifications. The first was that the 'pallavi' should also be sung in the two
text modes, 'svaram' and 'sahityam'. After singing the 'svaram' text of say, the first 'caraṇam'
passage, one should go to the 'svaram' text of the 'pallavi' and after singing the 'sāhityam' of
the same first 'caraṇam' passage one must sing the 'sāhityam' of the 'pallavi'.

Tanjore as a seat of music during 17th 18th and 19th century:

The various aspects of a rāgs can be grasped from the compositional types performed in
concerts, like varṇa, kīrtana, svarajati, pada, kṛti, jāvaḷi and tillānā, composed in the same
rāga.

Of the attractive dance musical forms popular in the Bharata Nāṭya recitals, svarajati, varṇa
̣ ,
pada, jāvaḷi and tillānā are performed in art musical concerts and they are hence considered
as concert musical forms. Though jatisvara is never treated as a concert piece, yet on
account of its close similarity with svarajati, in point of structure and musical treatment, a
comparative treatment of the two has been attempted.

Svarajati and Jatisvara :

These two compositional types are quite familiar to the students of music and dance. They
emerge as regular dance musical forms in the history of our musio, during the last two
centuries. The names of these two musical compositions as such point out to the presence
of jatis or sollakattus in their musical structure. Svarajati as the name signifies, was originally

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 Svarajati

a composition wherein rhythmic syllables and svaras figure alternately, or a passage of jatis
was as such present in it.

Melattor Virabhadrayya (18th century) appears to be the architect of the varsjati composition.
His Huseni svarajati, is the earliest example of this dance form which bas a passage of
sollakaṭṭus. Later Ś́hyāma Śāstri composed a different type of svarajati in which the jatis do
not find a place. His three svarajatis have now become the standard ones and are frequently
handled in art musical concerts.

A study of the svarajatis available, unfolds three types of this musical form. They are namely
1) The dance svarajati which is a typical dance form having rhythmic syllables or sollakattos in
its musical structure (e.g. E mandayānarā, E mayalādirā and Vīrabhadrayya's svarajati).

2) Those svarajatis which have no sollukatṭu

̣ or jati in their structure and which are used in art
musical concerts. Sri Śyāma Śāstri's three svarajatis in Tōdi, Bhairavi and
Yadukalakāmbodhi ragas respectively. These are not used in dance concerts.

3) Those which belong to the sphere of abhyāsa gāna. These are simpler svarajatis without
jatis, mainly intended to be learnt by students of music and dance as technical pieces. (e.g.
Rāvemaguva in Ānandabhairavi rāga-ādi. Sāmbasivayanave – Khamās – Ādi).

Vīrabhadrayya's Husēni avarajati in ādi tāla is in praise of Lord Varadarāja of Melaṭṭūr, here
referred to as Acyutapuri. The sthala and devatā mudras ocour in anupallavi. It is composed
in beautiful Telugu and deals with the idea of madhurabhakti. Regarding the form of the
composition, the notation available gives the following sequence of the aṅgas, viz., caraṇa,
caraṇasvara, with its sāhitya and its corresponding jati portion, pallavi and anupallavi
followed followed by a short passage of jati.

It is very interesting to note that it is the caraṇa beginning with the sabitya that opens the
composition according to the notation available. It is probable to infer from this that the
practice of starting the svarajati with the caraṇa followed by a sequence of carans svarās,
pallavi and anupallavi existed. There is no svara notation for the few lines of sāhitya
constituting the pallavi and anupallavi, whereas the short jati passage appended to it, has
the svara notation. The whole svarajati, thus consists of two sections viz. the comparatively
short section com-prising pallavi, anupallavi and jati passage the fairly long section
consisting of caraṇs, caraṇa svaras and a concluding jati section.

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 Svarajati

There are eleven svara-sabitya-passages appended to the caraṇa. They grow gradually in
size and complexity. The jati are not present in the eleven caraṇa svaras. Only the sāhitya is
found. The last and the twelfth section is a beautiful passage of jatis and sāhitya and
represents the climax of the svarajati.

The musical treatment of the sāhitya is highly remarkable. The rags bhāva of Huseni is
easily evoked by the frequent emphasis on the jīva svaras of the rāga. The different caraṇas
start on ri, pa, ga, and sa respectively. The frequent occurrence of phrases contributes to the
descriptive treatment of the rags and its excellence. The presence of the beautiful svara
sahitys jati and the rhythmic structure of the dhātu proves this to be a dance form.

On the model of Vīrabhadrayya's svarajati two other compositions which are called by some
as pada varna, were composed later. Both are in Husēni rāga, Rūpaka tāla and are based
on Virabhadrayya's Huseni svarajati. These two compositions have definitely been modelled
on the Husēni avarajati which is in Ādi tālas. A brief treatment of these will serve to establish
this point. 'E mandayanara' :-The svarajati is ascribed to the joint authorship of Melattūr
Venkatarama Sastri and Adiyappayya. It is in praise of Pratapasimha raja of Tanjore. This
svarajati resembles the form, pada varna and comprises two sections. The first consists of
pallavi, anupallavi and svara passage, which is made up of jati and svara. The second half of
the piece comprises the caraṇa followed by & sequence of four ettugada svaras with sahitya.
The pallavi and anupallavi of this svarajati is given below :-

E mandayānarā ! nāsāmi nīkemandayānarā nā sāmi nī

Kēmanda pettenurā nā sami, nīkemandu pettenurā !
KāminI jana citta corā ghanudau Pratapasimha vajira
Premamīraga nannucera pilacite rāvemīnī kidi mera.

There are only four svarasahitya passages appended to the ettugada and none of them
have the solukattu svaras in them.
According to Srl Subbarams Diksitar, the sahitya for these citta svaras was composed by
Melattur Venkatarama Sestri. There is & tradition that this svarajati was very popular in the
bhagavata mela nataka at Melattur.

'E mayalāḍira':'

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 Svarajati

It is another svarsjati in Husēni raga, Rūpaks tāla, having the identical music of 'E
mandayānarā'. Some prefer to call it a padavarna. This svarajati is in praise of Srī Mallārji,
son of Dattāji Apps, who was attached to the Tanjore court," as a minister to SarabbōjI II.
The authorship of this is not decidedly known.

The svarajsti has the following opening words : Ē māyalādira nā sāmi ni Kēmani bōdhincera
nā sāmi

Anupallavi:

Bhūmi velayu Dāttajēndruni patruḍan

Srī Mallārji candra sāmiga vinarā
Nāmīdi prēma emagomaraci yunnāvu

This is followed by the muktayi svara passage with jati and sāhitya. This caraṇa has the
same sahitya of the'E mandayānarā' and is followed by a sequence of four caraṇa svara
sāhitya passages which are again concluded by a return to the caraṇs.

II. Svarajatis without jatis :

The svarajati in Mōhan rāga, Ādi tāla with the opening sāhitya "Mōdi seya mera gādani" by
Virabha-drayya belongs to this category. The absence of jati is a remarkable festare here.
The piece comprises a pallavi and seven svars sāhitya passages. Compared to the Husēni
svarajati, it is a shorter one.

The svarajatis of f Śyāma Śāstrī form a separate class of compositions which do not
resemble the dance svarsjatis. They do not have the muktayi svara section with sāhitya and
jati. They are also not dance musical compositions and figure only in the art musical
concerts.

The svarajati in Tōdi rags is in Ādi tāla with the opening sahitya 'Rāve himagiri kumāri kan͂ci
Kāmāksi'. The one in Bhairavi is in cāpu tāḷa and begins with the sāhitya "Kāmākṣi amba
anudinamu maravakanē". The Yadukula kambodi svarajati is again in cāpu tāḷa with the
beginning words "Kāmākṣi Nī padayugamu".

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 Svarajati

All the three, form a garland of exquisite music to Goddess Kāmāksi, his ista dēvata. These
resemble the kṛti composition in form and sequence of angās and are provided with svaras
sāhitya section. They differ from the kṛti in that they have a number of svara sāhitya
passages, having an entirely different dhatu and all of them with svara and sāhitya should be
sung invariably. The pan͂ca ratna͂s of Tyagaraja, with the exception of the one in Arabhi, may
be found to closely resemble the svarajatis of Śyāma Śāstrī.

The Tōdi svarajati is the smallest of the three, but is full of melodic richness. The music of
the pallavi begins in the mandra sthāyi dhaivata and revolves round the same occasionally
touching the madhya sthāyi ga. The first svara sāhitya passage is beautifully conceived by
the great composer and without resorting to pan͂cama note, the phrases succeed in a highly
attractive manner. The 3rd, 4th and 5th svara sāhitya sections begin in the gāndhāra svara
and bring out the essence of the raga through powerful and appealing phrases. Śyāma
Śāstrī has dexterously interwoven the svarakṣara syllables into the texture of the sāhitya.
(e.g.)

G m P g m G
Ka ma pa li ni nī

The pan͂cama has been used in alps prayōgas which lend & special charm to the musical
treatment. On the whole there are five svara sāhitya sections and the mudra of the
composer ocours in the last khanda. It is interesting to note that the different sections
commence on the raga chāyā svarās namely dha, ga and dha. The pallavi, the first svara
sāhitya section and the mudra section begin on dhaivata, while the 2nd 3rd and 4th sections
on gāndhāras.

This svarajati is one of the masterpieces in the raga and Śyāma Śāstrī has worshipped
Goddess Kāmāksi in this song with some of the finest aspects of Tōdi. The
Yadukulakāmbōdi svarajatiis another marvellous example of Śyāma Śāstrī's intense
devotion to his ista devata and his profound musical talents.

The various sections of the composition commence on respectively the svarās sa, ri, pa, dha
and tāra sa. These are evidently the raga-chāya svarās in the raga: In the last section the
mudra is found. The music of this is mostly in tāra sthāyi. It is to be noted that in his three
svarajatis, & gradual sequence of music is presented carefully. The last section represents
the climax both from the standpoint of sangīta and sāhitya.

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 Svarajati

It appears as if that the composer has purposely adopted the ālapana paddhati, through his
singular musical treatment of this composition. The graham svarās, the notes that can be
conveniently used as a halt, the jīva svaras and the samvādi svaras̄ of these ragas, have
been beautifully illustrated in these pieces. The song is saturated with rāga bhāva and reads
like a commentary on Yadukulakāmboji raga.

The Bhairavi svarajati is perhaps more popular than the other two. It is a veritable raga
crystal and the composer has pictured the raga in its entirety. The initial svaras of the
sections in the piece are so conceived that they succeed regularly in the ascending order of
pitch (e.g.) n s r g m p d n s. The pallavi just like in the other two begins in mandra sthaīl.
The spirit of devotion is expressed even at the outset, in a prominent manner by the most
suitable sancāras in the mandra sthayī.

The next section "nī pavana nilaya" in nisads, which naturally is graced from catusruti dha. In
order not to lose sight of suddha dha as a graha svara in the ascent the composer has
probably resorted to it instead of catuśruti dha.
In short these three constitute a ratna-traya; though named svarajatis, they have their
individualistic characteristics.

The svarajati 'Rama nā moralin͂cera' in Harikambōji rāga ,Rūpaka tāla composed by
Wālajapet Veṅkataramana Bhāgavatar is an excellent piece and the jatis are not present in
it.

Svarajati as a technical form in music:

Simpler svarajatis without jatis and the anga muktayisvara came to be composed later for
the benefit of students of art music and dance. There are pieces learnt after a course in
alankara, gita and jatisvara. Whereas in the jatisvara, the sahitya is absent, it is introduced in
the svarajati. It combines in itself the rhythmic excellence of a jatisvara with the meaning of a
fine sahitya. The musical treatment of the sahitya serves to establish the melodic
individuality of the raga vividly.

The purpose of learning jatisvara and svarajati is to get a good grasp of the rhythm which
would prepare well for the next difficult piece varṇa. Thus there is much logic behind the
graded method of teaching the musical forms.

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 Svarajati

The learning of these two compositions after gita and before the varna stage is very useful.
In the svarajati the sahitya has more words than in the sahitya of a gita. To enable the
student to become familiar with a sahitya consisting of many words rendered to proper music
and in accurate time, isperhaps the motive behind these technical forms.
For instance, the svarajati in Ānandabhairavi raga in Ādi tāla with the opening sahitya 'Rave
maguva' is practiced as a technical piece and not sung in the concerts.

Whereas the singing of svarajatis of Śyāma Śāstrī in concerts of art music is optional, the
dance svarajatis are indispensable items in the bharata natya concerts.

A list of few svarajatis is given below :

S.No Beginning words Rāga Tāḷa Composer

1. Sāmininne Husēni Ādi Vīrabhadrayya

2. Mōdisēyameragadani Mōhana Tisra

-laghu “

3. Sāmininnokōri Shuddha sāveri Khanda-

laghu “

4. Emāyalādirā Husēni Tiśra laghu

“
5. Emandayānarā Melaṭṭūr
“ “ Veṅkataramana
Bhagavatar &
Ādīppayya.

6. Yomasavelagala In praise of Sivaji,

“ “ Author unknown.

7. Ipuḍ̣aina daya Tōdi “ Unknown

8. Sāminipai Ānanda “ In praise of

bhairavi Sivaji.

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 Svarajati

9. Śrl Sulalita Mōhanam Ādi In praise of

Bosalabōdhi (Sallam Tulaja
Svarajati)

10. Ēmaguvabōdhin͂cera Punnāgavarali Ādi In praise of Mallarji

Theory of music
Jati svara and Svarajati:
Jati svaras and svara jatis are learnt by the student aftervhevhas gone through a course of
samanya and lakshana gitas and suladis. These two compositions are similar in construction
and gana kriya. They are more advanced than the gitas, but are not as highly developed as
the varnas. So naturally, they come between these two stages.
These are bright and lively melodies pleasing the moment they are heard. Here for the first
time .we find the division of the composition into pallavi, anupallavi and charanas. The
charanas are many and are in different dhatu. The number of avartas in the charanas
increase gradually from one to two, four, eight and so on. Sometimes the anupallavi is
omitted.

Svarajatis are slightly more advanced since they have sahitya. Usually there will be sahitya
syllables for every svara as in the gitas. The theme of the sahitya will be eitherpraise of God,
narration of the courageous acts of a hero or amorous. Though this belongs to the technical
group, yet it is sometimes used for dance also: Example:- the svarajati in Huseni beginning
with the words "Emayaladira".

Through the services of Syama 'Sastrione of themusical trinity, it attained status as a concert
form. Though originally the sahitya of svarajatis were interspersed with jati syllables, later
these were de. leted by Syama Sastri from his svarajatis in Todi, Bhairavi and Yadukula
kambhoji. These are highly advanced compositions and are often sung in concerts. The
student learns these only after mastering many varnas and kritis. Svarajatis and jatisvaras
give to the student a further knowledge of raga and tala and prepares him for his introduttion
to the next stage Varnas.

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 Svarajati

Svarajati Composers: Syama Sastri, Sobhanadri Svati Tirunal Maharaja, Chinnikrishna

Dasa, Merattur Venkatarama Sastri. Walajapet Krishnaswami Bhagavatar. Pachchimiriam
Adiappiah.

Shyamasastri:
It is believed that Syamasastri was probably the first to compose a new form of Swarajati, a
novel musical genre. Prior to this the Swarajati was primarily a dance form and was close in
structure to the 'Padavarnam'.

Todi - raga Adi tala - Swarajati Pallavi;

"Rave Himagiri Kumari Kanchi Kamakshi Varada manavi vinavamma shubhamimma
mayamma"

Bhairavi - raga, Misrachapu - tala, Swarajati

"Kamakshi anudinamu maravaka ne nipadamule dikkanuchu nammitini, Sri Kamakshi" - //
Kamakshi // I believe and pray every day that your lotus like feet are my recourse Sri Kanchi
Kamakshi.

His kirtanas reflect the exceptional prowess the maestro had in 'Tala' and 'Gati'. Sastri made
his 'kritis' so profound that only scholars who are erudite in music could sing them! Even
those who are adept at singing Tyagaraya 'kritis' could not sing the songs of Sastri. Nothing
to mention about the mediocre. He composed kritis, varnams and svarajatis with the insignia
(ankita mudra). He was probably the first to compose in a new form of the 'Swarajati' in
musical genre. His three famous Swarajatis which are meant to be sung in the concert rather
than danced far sometimes referred to as 'Ratna Traya'. By and large, the tunes

Todi and its exposition:

All composers, great and small, had composed all types of compositions in Todi, each
specialising only in one or two types such as geethams, varṇams, kritis, swarajatis, padams,
jāvaḷis and thillānās. Todi is a favorite raga in operas like " Yaksha Ghānam ", Rama Nātaka
Kirtanas of Arunachala kavirayār, Nandanār Charitram of Gōpalakrihna Bhārati, and
Prahlada Bakthi Vijayam of Theāgaraja.

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 Svarajati

The Trinities had composed many kritis in Todi but Theāgaraja had composed as many as
30kritis in Tōdi alone, the highest by any composer. This denotes the popularity and vast
embracing possibilities of this raga. The other two of the trinities, Sri Muthuswāmi Dīkshitar
and Sri Shyāmā Sāstry had particular speciality in handling this raga even though the
number of kritis composed by them are comparatively small.
According to available records, Sri Muthuswāmi Dīkshitar had composed 9 pieces and Sri
Shyāmā Sāstry three including the swarajati "Rave Hima Giri" which is a matchless
composition bringing out all the melodies of this raga in a graded manner.

A note on the evolution of the jathisvara composition 3

Though jathis as such are not used in later svarajathis, beautiful thīrmanas in three degrees
of speed are utilised while performing these as dance items. Jathisvara came into existence
originally as an item of classical dance concert with profusion of jathis. A replacement of
jathis by the equivalent solfa passages must have led to the jathisvaras

With the emergence of the Bharata Natya concerts, special classical types of compositions
to be utilised in the programme such as alārippu, sabda, jathisvara, sarajathi, padavarna,
pada and tillāna came to be composed. It must be conceded that the highest type of art
music is available in these classical forms of dance music.

The jathisvara resembles the dance piece svarajathi in form but has no words or sahitya.
After the invocatory opening item of the Bharata natya namely the alarippu, which is an
epitome of all the important poses and movements, the jathisvara is rendered. This is a
composition sung mainly to solfa syllables but is found to have a superior rhythmic
excellence than that of the swarajathi. On account of their fine

Journal of theMadras university:

The names of the two musical forms, jathisvara and sarajathi, as such point out to the
employment of rhythmic syllables or sollukattu (Jathi) in their structure.

The history of these two forms may be traced to the sadya and nrtya prabandhas expounded
at great length in Sangīta Ratnākara and other treatises.

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 Svarajati

Maestroes of melattur:
Melattur is not only the birth place of the Bhagāvata Mēla dance drama tradition but also the
native place of great composers of music and dance works. It was here the early varna-s,
swarajati-s. alarippu-s, tillana-s and sabdam-s were composed. A serious study of Melattur"
s contribution to Carnatic music and classical solo dances for Chadur' (Sadir) is long
overdue. While systematic research is yet to begin, some information is available already on
the maestroes of Melattur.

History of india music:

Svarajati
This form had its birth in the 18th century. The earliest composition is the svarajati in Husēni
raga Emāyaladi. This had a passage of jatis in the muktayi part of the Ist half of the
composition. Thus this form started as a dance form.

Later on it was converted into a regular musical form by Syama Sāstri with the deletion of
the passage of jatis. His svarajatis are typical models and he is rightly called the Architect of
this form. In the svarajati, the charanas are of varying length and are set in different dhatus.
There is a plan and order in their musical progression.

The journal of the music academy:

Jatiswaram and Swarajati
As part of the next presentation, Dr. Ritha Rajan, Head of Department, Queen Mary's
College, presented a lec-dem on Jatisvaram and Svarajati. The speaker said both these
forms are originally musical forms for dance and discussed in detail the origin the evolution
and the modification that have occurred in the process, for these two forms.

While speaking about Svarajati, Dr. Ritha, referred to the article on this topic written by Dr.
N. Ramanathan, Head of the Music Department, Madras University, as the main source of
information. She explained the different aspects of this musical form and quoted composers
of Svarajatis and examples (Emandayanara-Huseni etc.) were sung.

Referring to the Svarajatis of Sri Syama Sastri (Bhairavi and Yadukulakambhoji), the
speaker underlined the order and proportion in Swara and Sahitya, the identical rhythmic
structure in Pallavi and melody within the swara sections (Kalushahaarini). Other Svarajatis

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 Svarajati

(Nee Arulayo etc.) were mentioned. The rhythmic combinations of three and five, were
predominantly used by Tyagaraja and Syama sastri.

Speaking on this subject, Prof. S.R. Janakiraman, mentioned Sadaya Ika of the Quartett. Dr.
N. Ramanathan, Dr. Jayasitalakshmi, Dr. V.V. Srivatsa made their observations on this topic.
Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman complimented the speakers of this session.

Research notebook of S.Seetha:

Contains a svarajati in rāgamālika starting with ‘Nā mōhanāṅgi’.

Theory of music:
Contains notation of the svarajati ‘Sāmbaśivāyenavē in rāga Khamas, tāḷa ādi composed by
Chinni Kṛsna Dasa.

A practical course in Karnatic music book 2:

Contains notation of the svarajatis Rāvēmēmaguva, Ānandabhairavi, tāḷa ādi and
Sāmaśivāyenavē in rāga khamas, tāḷa ādi .

Bharata isayum tan͂jai nālvarum:

Svarajati:
Svarajati ia a beautiful composition containing pallavī, anupallavī and caraṇa. It may also
contain muktai svara after the anupallavī and end with sollukattu. They usually have 3 or
more caraṇas comprising of svara and sāhitya. They portray bhakti rasa.

Some of the svarajati compositions of the tanjore quartette are:

1) Gōpāla – Dhanyāsi – Ādi

2) Sāminirammanavē - Atāna – Tisra ēkam
3) Sāmiki jālamela – Tōdi – Tisra ēkam
4) Sarōjāśirō - Yadukulakāmbōji – Rūpakam
5) Sadayāyika – Cakravākam – Ādi
6) Ēmandi yānarā - usēni – Rūpakam

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 Svarajati

7) Nedigi dayavaccēnā - Sahānā - Rūpakam

8) Endha māyakkāriyō - Usēni - Rūpakam
9) Sāmimēl – Cakravākam – Kāmbōdi - Rūpakam
10) Kāṇa āvalānēn – Kāmbōdi - Rūpakam

Sangīta ratnāvaḷi:
Contains notation of the svarajatis:
1) Nīdukala midāri, rāga kalyāṇi, tāḷa ādi
2) Jālamika valadu, rāga mukhāri, tāḷ ādi
3) Ēmāguvēnarā, rāga ārabhi, tāḷa ādi, composed by Tyāgaiyar
4) Sāmbāsiva – rāga khamas, tāḷa ādi
5) Rāravēnu, rāga bilahari, tāḷa ādi

Ś́yāma śāstri:
Contains notation of the 3 svarajati of Ś́yāma śāstri:
1) Kāmākshi anudinamu - Bhairavi - Misra cāpu
2) Rāvē himagiri - Tōdi Ādi
3) Kāmākshi nī - Yadukula kāmbōji - Misra cāpu

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 Svarajati

Conclusion:
Thus are the various views and dimensions of a svarajati. From the level of the beginners to
the advanced students and also for dance perfomances the svarajati has played a prominent
role. We also have svarajatis composed specifically for dance as seen above. Since it mostly
contains sāhityās that provoke bhakti rasa, it would be suitable for dance performances. We
had also discussed about the evolution of svarajati from time to time.

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 Svarajati

Bibliography

S. Title Author Publisher Year Edition

No
1. The art and science Vidya shankar The Music 1983 1
of Carnatic music Academy
2. Articles on Carnatic P.Srinivasa Iyer Daily express 1937 -
music (violinist)
3. The concept of art N.Ramanathan (Already published 2014 -
music in Samakalika
Sangitam)
4. Shyama sastry Vidya shankar National book trust 1970 -

5. Syama sastri and N.Ramanathan Sruti, The Indian 2011 -

svarajati music and dance
society
6. Research book of Dr.S Seetha - 1966 -
S Seetha
7. Role of research in N Ramanathan Sangeeta research 1998 -
music education academy
8. Tanjore as a seat of Dr.S Seetha University of 2001 -
music (During Madras
17th,18th and 19th
cebtury)
9. Theory of music L Isaac - - -

10. Karnatic music – N C Naidoo Lotus publishing ltd 1989 4

Grades 1,2,3

11. A practical course in P.Sambamoorth The Indian music 1948

Karnatic music book y publishing house
2

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 Svarajati

12. The journal of the T.T.Vasu The music 2002 -

music academy academy

13. Syamasastri B.Rajanikanta Tirumala tirupati 2014 1

(Translated by devasthanams
Dr. Poturi
Venkata Subba
Rao
14. Todi and its R.Vedavalli Bulletin of the 1977 2
exposition Institution of
traditional culture
15. Bharata isayum K P Kittappa Isaitturai tamiz 1993 1
tanjai nālvarum palkalaikazagam
16. Adi sangita ratnavali K V Srinivasa M Adi and 1916 -
company
17. A note on the S Sita Reprinted from the 1976 -
evolution of the Journal of the
jathisvara madras university
composition
18. Maestroes of Sruti Magazine Sruti Magazinr - -
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19. Compositions of T.K.Govinda rao Ganamandir - -
Shyama Sastri publications
20. History of Indian P The Indian music 1960 1
music Sambamoorthy publishing house

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