CHENNAI: The genesis of music can be traced back to the Vedic hymns, which is preserved as our precious heritage. The evolution of the seven swaras, is based on the six notes of Sama Vedha — Ni, Sa, Ri, Ga, Ma, Pa. The Upanishads contain many references to music.
Even during the time of Ramayana, the art was in an advanced stage taking an indispensable status as a powerful aid to poetry. It is known that sage Valmiki taught Lava and Kucha (Rama’s two sons) vocal and instrumental music as they sang the glory of their illustrious father. The Mahabaratha also abounds with many references to music. A dark age followed till 7th Century AD which ushered in a revival of religion and fine arts. Religious music became prominent with the advent of the Saivite saints — Sambandar, Appar, Sundarar and Manikavachagar — followed by the Vaishnavite saints.
The voluminous hymns of the saints have come down to us as Thevaram, Thiruvachagam and Divya Prabhandam, which posses the authority of Vedas and Upanishads. Besides these sacred lores, mystiques (siddhars) who have achieved self-realisation have left a rich legacy of songs known as Siddhar padalgal. The songs are set to simple and popular tunes to inculcate moral values among the common folk.
Ashtapadis were originally composed in North Indian ragas and later on introduced in South with Carnatic ragas. The Tharanga keerthans were composed in purely Carnatic ragas, though the original ragas of many of them, have been changed. Sri Narayana Theertha has introduced jati patterns (sol kattu) in some of his songs. Narayana Theertha, known as Govinda Sastry in his boyhood, was initiated into sanyasa ashram during a pilgrimage to South. When he reached Thanjavur, Lord Venkateswara ordered him to compose the beautiful Prabhandas in which he described Krishna’s divine sports under Krishna Leela Tharangini. The two illustrious authors (Sri Jayadeva) and (Narayana Theertha), are God’s chosen messengers who have been sent to this world to revive the art of religious music through their immortal songs, a rich legacy and valuable treasure to mankind.