PAPER 5

DANCE, POETS AND POETRY,

RELIGIOUS PHILOSOPHY AND INDIAN CLASSICAL DANCE

MODULE 21 REGIONAL POETRY IN SOUTH INDIA POST

INDEPENDENCE COMPOSERS OF BHARATANTYAM

Dance is a visual art and its prime purpose is to communicate a story

or a message to the people. Hence it is very important to covey in a
language which will be understood by the people. All dance forms in
India have their poetry and songs in the indigenous language.
Bharathanatyam is no exception. Bharathanatyam was known as
koothu / कूथु, aadal / आडऱ, etc till the 16th century A.D. The dance
and music were performed in the temple premises and the royal
families witnessed the arts in this background. Temples were the
centres for active finearts. At this point the songs adapted for the
dance were in the indigenous language Tamil to reach the rasikas.

Historical background
From the 15th to 19th century Tamilnadu was ruled by the kings with
different language and culture. This brought in a versatile of songs
and poetry in Telugu, Marathi and Hindi. The Marathas continued
the royal language as Telugu after they succeeded the Nayaks. The
Marathas were also great composers and encouraged all the art
forms like the Nayaks. Tamilnadu saw an unprecedented growth in
the field of fine arts and literature. Koothu which later came to be
known as sadir had songs in the languages like Tamil, Telugu,
Marathi and Sanskrit. Telugu being the court language it gained more
popularity. During this period the Tanjore quartet created the
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Margam format for Sadir. The language used in the songs of the
margam were in Telugu, Tamil and Sanskrit.The dance dramas were
in Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and sometimes Manipravalam /
मणिप्रळालम. Kuravanji natakams were all in Tamil while the songs in
Bagavatha mela natakams were in Telugu. This was because the
Bagavathamela natakams were performed only in their respective
temple premises and the audience in that area was comfortable with
Telugu. Whereas the kuravanji natakams were performed all over
Tamilnadu showcasing to the Tamil audience. Bharathanatyam, the
name coined in post independent India is a medium where any forms
of poetry or songs in varied language can be choreographed
effectively. Hence many genres like Ashtapathi, Tarangam,
Devarnama, etc. took a pride place along with the kavadicindu,
keertanam, padam, tiruppavai, etc. in the margam of
Bharathanatyam.

There are various forms of indigenous poetry starting from Thevaram

/ तेळारम, Thiruvasagam / ततरुळासगम, Thiruppugazh / ततरुप्ऩुगल,
Divyaprabandam / ददव्यप्रबन्धम, Thiruppavai / ततरुप्ऩळाई,
Thiruvempavai / ततरुळेम्ऩळाई, Padam, Javali, Kavadi / काळडी, chindu
/ च दिं ,ु etc. performed in dance. Many poets and composers like
Muthu Thandavar, Marimutha Pillai, Arunachala Kavi, Neelakanta
Sivan, Gopalakrishna Bharathi, Subramanya Bharathi, etc. have
composed songs on various genres and they are used effectively in
the performance of Bharatanatyam.

Kodhai Nacchiyar / कोड़ाई नाच यार and Karaikkal Ammayar / करै कऱ

अम्मयर are said to be the foremost among the women poets who
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were prominent in propagating Bhakti elements of Vaishnavism and
Saivism respectively. There have been many female contemporary
composers some became prominent and many did not come to light.
Many Carnatic musicians, nattuvanars and dancers have penned
lyrics for dance repertoire.

POST INDEPEDENCE COMPOSERS

PAPANASAM SIVAN
Papanasam Sivan was a prominent composer and a singer of Carnatic
music who was born on 26th September 1890 and died on 10th
October 1973. He was a famous composer and was also known as
Tamil Thyagaraja. He has composed songs for Bharatanatyam and
also many songs based on classical Carnatic music for films. He is the
receipine of many prestigious awards. Papanasam Sivan named as
Ramaiya was born at Polagam Village in the district of Thanjavur.
Ramaiya used to be an active participant in the devotional music
sessions at the home of Neelakanda Sivan in Thiruvananthapuram.
Thus, he learned many of the musical compositions of Neelakanda
Sivan and popularized them. He was a regular visitor to the temple
at Papanasam, and he would smear vibhuti on his body and start
singing songs in praise of Shiva. Hence, people began to refer him as
Papanasam Sivan, the name by which he was to become well known
later.
Papanasam Sivan was more interested in the devotional aspect of
music. He has composed many Keertanams based on Bhakti element.
Varnams composed by him depict Madura bakti / मधुर भक्तत. His
mudra is ramadasan / रामदासन. Almost all his compositions are in
eloquent Tamil language, easily understandable which reached the

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masses. These are used frequently in the present day Bharatanatyam
repertoire.

Sri Papanasam Sivan composed more than two thousand songs,

mostly in Tamil. Eight hundred of these were for Tamil films. Around
four hundred of his Carnatic music compositions are sung in music
and dance concerts. Some of the famous compositions used in
Bharatanatyam repertoire are:
Keertanams on Ganesa: Mooladhara Murthy, Gajavadana Karuna
Sadana, Sri Ganesa Charanam.
Keertanams on Muruga: Saravanabhava ennum tirumandiram, Sri
valli devasenapathe, Mayilvahana valli manamohana.
Keertanams on Shiva: Kaana kan kodi vendum, Adum deivam nee,
Idadhu padam thookki aadum, Ananda natamidum paadan.
Keertanams on Ambal: Devi neeye thunai, Ma ramanan Uma
ramanan is a unique composition praising Vishnu and Shiva.
Enna thavam seydanai Yasoda is another composition in praise of
Krishna.
Kosalai pudalvanai panivay maname is a famous Sriramacharita
gitam which is performed by Bharatanatyam dancers.
Pada Varnams like Ni inda mayam, Swami nan undan adimai, Swami
nee manamirangi arul tha, etc.

DANDAYUDHAPANI PILLAI
K. N. Dandayudapani Pillai was born on 14th July 1921 at Karaikal.
He belonged to Isai Vellaalar family of musicians, nattuvanars,
nadhaswaram players, vocalists and dancers. With a wonderful
musical background his passion for music was nurtured from a very

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early age. He always thought that people will appreciate dance
better if the songs for dance were in a language they
understood. During the revival of Bharathanatyam the nattuvanars
followed the traditional padavarnams and padams performed in the
sadir concerts which had Sringararasa as the main emotion. There
were lots of young children showing interest to learn and perform.
To suite them he composed songs with bakti rasa in simple Tamil
language which the student could understand. He has composed
ten padavarnams eleven jatiswarams, three padams, nine
kirtanams, ten tillanas, and jathis in adi tala and rupaka tala .
His composition “annayai maravenadi” a varnam in Abhogi
ragam is specially apt for children.
“Samiyai azaitodi vaa ” in navaragamalika is a beautiful varnam
in which each line of the song has the name of the raga in it.
He has composed a varnam “maa moham thane meeruthe” in
nattakurinji ragam and rupaka talam which is in the form of a
Swarajati .
Some of his unique keerthanams are “arputa chirpiyadi” in
ragamalika which describes the Lord of dance as the sculptor of
the Universe.
Another ragamalika composition “muttamizh cholayile” describes
the dream of a noble lady about the glorious Tamil Nadu.
Yet another song which is different from the usual dance songs
is “ulagam pugazum naattiya kalaye”, a ragamalika composition
set to Adi talam. This song describes the greatness of the art of
dance.
He has composed a song on dasavataram, on Mahatma Gandhi
and on Jesus Christ.

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SUDDHANANDA BHARATI
Dr. Suddhananda Bharati (1897-1990) was born in Sivaganga in South
India. He was a philosopher and poet. His teachings were focused
mainly on the search for God in Self, through the Samayoga practice
he created. He has composed many devotional songs in the form of
Keertanams. Arul purivaay, Ananda natanam adinal, Aaro vandennai
aasai kaatti, Aasai konden, En mugam paar, Eppadi paadinaro,
Karuna Sagarane, Gaana reengaram seyum, etc. are famous among
them in both dance and music concerts.

BALAMURALIKRISHNA
Dr. Mangalampalli Balamurali Krishna was born in 1930 at Andhra
Pradesh. He later settled in Chennai. He is a Carnatic vocalist, multi-
instrumentalist, playback singer, composer and actor. He came under
the tutelage of Parupalli Ramakrishnayya Pantulu who was a shishya
of Tyagaraja. He was well versed in the raga classifications and has
composed a number of songs especially in Telugu and Sanskrit. He
has composed many invocatory songs, Varnams, Kritis and Tillanas
for Bharatanatyam repertoire. He used muraligana / मरु लऱगान as his
mudra.
Some of the famous songs are:
Varnam: Omkara pranava, Amma anandadayini
Kriti: Omkarakaarini
Thillana in raga Brindavani, kadanakudukalam, kundalavarali,
dvijavanti, etc.

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PERIASAMI THOORAN
Periasami Thooran was a Tamil teacher, patriot, poet and a
composer of Carnatic music. Periasami was born to K. A.
Palanivelappa Gounder and Paavaathal on 26th September 1908 at
Manjakattuvalasu, in the Erode district. He was greatly influenced
and inspired by the revolutionaries like Subramaniya Bharathiyar
and Mahatma Gandhi. A prolific writer, he composed over six
hundred songs on national, spiritual and moral issues. A man with
noble ideals, Thooran is an acknowledged poet and composer. Deep
philosophical truths lay hidden in his simple devotional songs.
Musical aesthetics are evident in his compositions. While he was not
a musician, he had profound poetic talents. Sivaramakrishna Iyer
who was a music teacher was his guru who set his songs to music.
His popular compositions used in dance include Gananaathane,
Kaliyuga Varadhan, Muralidhara Gopala, Muruga Muruga, Thottu
Thottu, Thaye Thripurasundhari and a Kavadi chindu azhagu
deivamaga vandu.

N.S. CHIDAMBARAM

He was a Tamil composer whose popular songs include Koovi

azhaittaal, Kandu nee solla and Yaar adinaar ini evar aduvaar are
used in dance concerts. He has also composed varnams such as
Amma jnanam alikkum surya (a daru varnam). His famous kriti
Needan thunai Neelambari is a Ragamalika with eight ragas.

KALKI KRISHNAMURTHY
Kalki Krishnamurthy was a famous novelist of yesteryears. His
compositions in film Meera such as Kaatrinile varum geetam, Kannan
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leelaigal, Vandaadum cholai thanile, Maalai pozhudinile, etc. became
very popular in dance field. Songs such as Kaliyuga deivame,
Poonguyil koovum poocholaiyil orunaal, etc. are still popular in
Bharatanatyam performances.

DAYANANDA SARASWATHI
Swamiji was born as Natarajan in Manjakudi located in Thiruvarur
district of Tamil Nadu on 15th August 1930. An erudite scholar and a
composer many of his songs like Bho sambho, Madura madura
meenakshi, Mahalinga vibho, etc. has been popularised by
Bharatanatyam artists.

MYSORE VASUDEVACHAR
Mysore Vasudevachar (1865 – 1961) was a musician and composer
of Carnatic music compositions who belonged to the direct lineage of
Thyagaraja's disciples. Vasudevachar's compositions numbering over
two hundred are mostly in Telugu and Sanskrit. Some of his most
popular kritis include Brochevarevarura, Mamavatu Sri Saraswati,
Bhajare Re Manasa and Ra Ra Rajeevalochana Rama. He was a
recipient of Padma Bhushan. Mysore Vasudevachar also taught in
Kalakshetra. He became the chief musician in Kalakshetra and helped
in setting the music for ‘Ramayana’ dance drama. He died in 1961 at
the age of 96. S.Rajaram, his grandson worked at Kalakshetra
eventually took charge of the institution. He has also composed
many songs for Bharatanatyam.

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MADURAI T. SRINIVASAN
Madurai T. Srinivasan, a well-known mridangist, who has been
bestowed with many titles and also awarded the "Vaggeyakaarar" by
The Music Academy 2004. He is a composer and writer in Tamil
songs for Vocal music and Bharathanatyam repertoire. He has
composed Alarippu in thirty five talams, Mallaris, Jathiswarams,
Sabdams, Padavarnams, Keerthanams and Thillanas. Some of the
famous compositions being Om enum pranava gananadane, Kanne
en Kanmaniye on Muruga, Ninaitthalum azhaittaalum on Kamakshi,
Annai meenakshi, Karunai deivame karpagame, Agaya malayil oru
avataram, etc. He has composed an asta ragamalika where the gods
names match with the ragas which starts as sakala kalai arulum Sri
Saraswathi.

LALGUDI G. JAYARAMAN
Sri Lalgudi G. Jayaraman is a combination of a lyricist and a musician.
He revolutionized the style of violin playing, in the process inventing
a whole new technique - the prestigious Lalgudi Bani. He is a
composer par excellence and has composed songs in simple Tamil.
He has to his credit several Pada Varnams, Varnams, Kritis,
Jathiswarams and Tillanas, which are a scintillating, blend of raga,
bhava, rhythm and lyrical beauty. Some of his famous padavarnams
being Sendhil nagar mevum in Nilambari, Innum en manam in
Charukesi, Devar munivar in Shanmukhapriya and Angayarkanni
anandam kondale, a Navarasa varnam in Ragamalika.

MADURAI N. KRISHNAN (1928-2005)

He was a musician and composer. He was one of the founder
directors of Bharathalaya Chennai. He has composed many songs for
Bharatalaya students which became popular among other dancers
too. He has composed fifteen varnams among which maye

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mayensodariye is very popular. Twenty five tillanas, many
keertanams, all of which are compiled as Madura Margam and is
available in book, cd and dvd format. He has composed music for
Divyaprabandam and many dance dramas.

UDUPI LAKSHMINARAYANAN
Udupi lakshminarayanan is a vaggeyakara who has penned and
composed many songs and ballets for Bharatanatyam repertoire. He
was born in 1926 into a family of orthodox Sanskrit scholars. He has
composed many songs like Ganapathy stuthi, varnams, padams and
tillanas in Sanskrit has been published as a book titled Udupi
Spoorthi Ranjana. Some of the famous kritis being Siddhi vinayaka
palayamam, Sree saraswathi devi, Amba paavani, Tejomayee, Tunga
theera nivasini, Annapurneswari pahimam and Varnams like
Dayanidhe on Muruga and Devi sritajana paalini on
Mahishasuramardhini.

C. V. CHANDRASEKHAR
Prof. C.V.Chandrasekhar, born in 1932, is a Bharatanatyam dancer,
teacher, academician, dance scholar, musician, composer, and
choreographer. He is the alumini of Kalakshetra. He has composed
songs in Sanskrit and Tamil for margam and number of dance
dramas. He has choreographed a few jathiswarams and tillanas in
rare talas. Famous pada varnams choreographed by him are Samikku
nigar yaradi, Kanavu nan onru kanden.

M.V.NARASIMHACHARI
Exponent of Bharathanatya, Kuchipudi, musician, composer,
mridangist, teacher and many more. He has composed music for
many thematic presentations such as Megasandesam, Bakthiyogam,

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etc. He has also set music for Pallakiseva prabandam of Sahaji and
brought out audio CD.

MADURAI R. MURALIDHARAN
Madurai R. Muralidharan is a dancer, musician, choreographer,
nattuvanar, teacher and a composer. All his songs are in Tamil. He
has composed and choreographed several dance dramas like
Silappadikaram, Kandha Puranam, Nandanar Charitram,
Ramayanam, Thirukkural, Anarkali, Sri Krishnaleela, Buddha,
Nammalwar, Thirumangai Alwar, Thulukka Nacchiyar, Sarvam
Brahma Mayam, Sri Bhaktaprahalada Vijayam, Sivagamiyin Sabadam,
Yajnyaseni and many more. He has choreographed a number of
mallaris, pushpanjali, alarippu, jathiswaram, kouthuvam, keertanam,
padavarnam and thillana varieties for Bharatanatyam margam. His
thematic compositions on Anjaneya, Krishna, Muruga and Shakthi
are very famous and have been choreographed by many
Bharatanatyam teachers. He has released CD’s, DVD’s, and books of
his compositions.

S. VISWESWARAN
A musician and santoor player. He has composed many songs for
Bharathanatyam margam performed by his wife Chitra Visweswaran
and her students. Some of his famous compositions are: Pushpanjali
----ragamalika, Jathiswaram --- ranjani, Tillana ----- rasikapriya,
lalitha. He has also composed songs for many thematic
presentations.

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WOMEN COMPOSERS:
There had been many women composers whose work did not come
to light. Some of the literary works mention about women poetesses
of the yester years. Many of the sadir dancers were adept in
composing songs and dance spontaneously for a situation. We do
not get any of these songs because they were not recorded. For past
fifty years the songs of many women composers have been
recognized and used widely in the dance choreography.

ANDAVAN PICCHAI

Margadavalli / मगाादळल्ऱी also known as Andavan Picchai is a woman

composer born in Mylapore, Madras (1899-1990). She has composed
songs in Tamil, Telugu and Sanskrit. She was an ardent devotee of
Muruga and Devi. Almost all her compositions are in the genre of
Keertanams. Her famous compositions are Ullam urugudayya,
Kaakkavenro, Kalmaari aadiya and Varnam - Nee manamirangi in
Lathangi ragam.

MEENAKSHI SUBRAHMANYAM
Meenakshi Subrahmanyam, has composed number of padams,
keertanams and bhajans for the Bharatanatyam repertoire in Tamil.
She composed for the students of Nrithyodaya which was adapted by
other dancers too. Some of the famous ones are Krishna damodara
nityananda, Ponaal pogattum podi, Senru varuven enru, Ennidame
velavanai, Neelakadal orathile, etc.

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AMBUJAM KRISHNAN
Smt Ambujam Krishna was a musician and gifted poetess. In August
1951, she happened to visit the Samadhi of Tyagaraja at Tiruvayyaru
and while there became inspired to compose songs. Her first kriti
was Unnai allal on Goddess Meenakshi. Most of her compositions
are in simple Tamil. She has also composed songs in several
languages such as Telugu, Kannada, Sanskrit, Hindi and
manipravalam (a combination of two or more languages). Her songs
are noted for their imagination, chaste language, clarity of thought
and inspired spontaneity. She came to Musiri Subramania Iyer who
was much impressed with the lyrical content of the songs and
offered to set them to music. Her mudra is ambuja. Several of her
songs continue to be set to music and have become integral
components of the concert platform. Smt Krishna also composed
Radha Madhavam and Krishna Leela Madhuryam, two operas for
which music was set by K.R. Kedaranathan. Almost six hundred songs
are compiled and released in four volumes titled “Gitamala”..
Famous keertanams used in Bharatanatyam repertoire are: Om
namo Narayana, Gana mazhai pozhiginran, Ododi vanden Kanna,
Ennasolli azhaittal, Nee poi azhaittu vaadi, Chinna china padam
veithu, aadinaye kanna, Azhaga azhaga, etc.

K. LALITHA

Smt. K.Lalitha founder of Saraswathi Gana Nilayam has written many

songs for dance and they are released as seven full length
Bharanatyam dance audio cassettes and CD's as Lalitha Vandanam,
Nrithya Geetham, Bharatha Geetham, Guru Samarpanam,
Naradhana Priya, Krishnam Smarami and Pranamamyaham. Famous
songs being Kanna karmegavanna and nalla sagunam noki chelladi –

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a ragamalika Padavarnam. Lalitha is the mudra she used in the
songs.

RANGANAYAKI JAYARAMAN

Smt. Ranganayaki has also composed a variety of dance songs,

including Pushpanjalis, Jathiswarams, Padavarnams, and Thillanas.
Celebrated dancers and dance teachers have praised her work and
her compositions are being performed regularly by various
institutions all over the world.

DR. PADMA SUBRAMANYAM

Exponent of Bharathanrithyam, musician, research scholar,
musicologist, composer and teacher has contributed many songs for
the margam. Some of her famous choreographic compositions are
Pushpanjali ---- gambeeranattai
Jathiswaram ---- ragamalika, malayamarutham
Varnam — ramapriya (on venkatachalapathi)
Tillana ---- vijayanagari, kannada, harini
Most of her choreographies are based on her music compositions.

RAJEE NARAYANAN
Smt. Rajee Narayan is a dancer musician and a composer. Smt. Rajee
Narayan was born on the 19 August 1931 in Chennai. She has
composed over two hundred songs in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and
Marathi for Bharatanatyam and has published some of them in her
book Nritya Geetamala. Her songs are based on Bhakthi and

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madurabakthi elements and include invocatory songs, Devasthuthi,
Sabdam, Kritis, Padam, Thillana, etc. She has also released a book on
the basics of Carnatic music called Sangeeta Shastra Mala and
Natyashastra Mala, a book explaining the basics of Natyashastra.

SIVAKAMI RAMAMURTHY
She was born in 1930 at Coimbatore. She is a musician and poetess.
She has composed poems on nature and people. She has travelled
widely in India and abroad. She has composed songs on the deities of
the temples she visited which include set of songs on all the deities in
the Meenakshi temple at Houston Texas. Her dance drama on Sri
Ayyapan, Vigyana Kannotam (on science) and Om Sakthi were
composed specially for children and it was well received by the
audience. Sivakami is the mudra she uses for her songs. Some of her
compositions are:
Jathiswaram ------ sriranjani, saraswathi, ragamalika, Sabdam ----
ragamalika, Varnam ---- kalyani (on Meenakshi), karaharapriya (on
Rama), poorvikalyani (on Ganesha), Keertanam ----kedaragowla,
anandabairavi, valaji, Keertanam on Allah ----- sivaranjani, Tillana ----
hindolam, abheri. Mangalam ---- madhyamavathi.
Many composers became famous due to their songs though one or
two which are performed in the Bharatanatyam concerts. They are:
Madhura nagarilo challanamma bonu ----- Chittoor Subramanyam
Pillai.
Mahadeva shiva shambho and Ranjanimala ------ Thanjavur Sankara
Iyer.
Sringara lahari ------ Lingaraj Urs.
Karunai deivame karpagame ------ Madurai Srinivasan.

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Thandai muzhanga ------ Semmanaar koil Shanmugam.
Janani janani --------- Cuddalore Subramanyan
Thrithajam tha jamtharitha — pushpanjali ----- Rajaratinam Pillai
Some composers had written many songs for films but some classical
raga based songs are still used in Bharatanatyam.
Parkadal alai mele and Chinnanchiru pen pole ------- Udumalai
narayana kavi.
Dheena Karunakarane nataraja ------- Papanasam Sivan Vairamuthu is
a poet and song writer in films.His poems have been taken up for
dance choreography.
The growth of any art form depends on the rasikas. The audience of
the present day always wants short songs with simple language. A
blend of old traditional songs and new compositions are popular
among the rasikas. Many dance teachers suggest the topics to the
poets to compose a custom made dance item or dance drama
exclusively for them. In some dance schools the margam items are
not shared to the other dancers. It becomes their signature items.
The present trend of rasikas enjoy dance with instrumental
ensembles for which there is no need for any poetry. There is still
abundance of indigenous poems which have to be researched and
brought to light.

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