KOCHI: There is music even otherwise on the history-laden streets of East Fort in Thiruvananthapuram. But there will be an added lilt in the air for five days from April 24 when the Swathi Sangeethotsavam begins, organised by the Swati Sangeeta Sabha to commemorate the 211th birth anniversary of the celebrated poet-monarch.
Just yards away from the Karthika Thirunal Auditorium where the event would be held, the Levy Hall would also hold the Swathi Aradhana. The venues would stage some versatile musicians whose renditions of the works of Swathi Thirunal would fill the classical alleyways around the Padmanabhaswamy temple, where centuries ago the poet-monarch sang thus to the deity he worshipped:
Oh, the one with lovely tresses, What do I do now?
The one with lotus eyes, Sreepadmanabha is yet to come...
The ode was born some 200 years ago on the premises of Kuthiramalika from a man whose birth, life and death were melodious and momentous, musical and magical, and muddled and mysterious — much in that order. Here, he was the feminine soul reaching out to Lord Padmanabha with the impatience of a woman in love. The poem, set to Raga Kurunji with a mystically passionate swing about it withstood the test of time and found presence in several later media of art.
Its enchantment continues as could be found from the umpteen covers of the poem and its dance versions posted online. Through such compositions, Swathi Thirunal remains undoubtedly popular among artists and art lovers in Kerala. His hallmark lyrical poetry, rich in passion and set to enigmatic scales that render the compositions a meditative yet sensuous texture, is finding new ground with not only the younger breed of musicians but even amateurs.
The onset of social media has vastly changed the trajectory of an artist, where one need not wait for stages to showcase one’s talent. This also gives the flexibility for artists to perform what they like and find, and Swathi Thirunal’s compositions are among the most explored in that sense. From rare krtis of the legend uploaded by veterans such as Aswathy Thirunal Rama Varma to dance and music covers by amateur dancers and musicians, YouTube and Instagram flood with compositions of Swathi Thirunal as reels and videos.
Notable among the posts are those based on some of the 65 Sringara padams he wrote, which have views as well in thousands if not lakhs. “Thanks to YouTube and Instagram, Swathi Thirunal has become a household name,” says Vaisakh R, a fresh graduate from the Univesity of Kerala who plans to launch his own YouTube music channel.
But till about a few years ago, Swathi Thirunal’s compositions saw light among the common folk as mellifluous film numbers — like ‘Gopalaka Pahimam Anisham’ and ‘Alasara Parithapam’. Beyond that, he was Travancore’s king who was immersed in music making. Not all was known of him as a ruler who brought modernity in both art and administration that too under the crushing gaze of the British. His inclusivity streak got him not only to patronise artists from far and wide but also to set up schools and health centres. With his name now on the internet trends, the other facets of him are also seeing popular light, says Vaisakh.
“He was a human, unlike his contemporaries who wore divine auras. He wrote for the masses. We can see this in the ‘utsava prabandhams’ he wrote for occasions, the navaratri kritis he wrote for the navaratri festival, his joint work with the Tanjore Quartet (Chinnayya, Ponnayya, Vadivelu and Sadasivam), the navavidha bhakti group of songs, the musical operas on Ajamilaupakhyanam and kuchelaupakhayanam, the Sringara padams reflecting the fluidity of moods, you name it and it’s there. He wrote in Manipravalam, Malayalam, Sanskrit, Telugu, Tamil, Marathi, Hindi... and embraced the entry of western musical instruments such as violin. A similar treatment was given to dance and other forms of art. And all this within the 33 years he was alive. To me, he is more than a Thyagaraja,” says Vaisakh, hinting at his plans to study Swathi Thirunal deeper.
To aid such studies, the University of Kerala is including a whole paper on Swathi Thirunal in its revised syllabus for music, says Dr R Sreedev, faculty at Sri Swati Thirunal College of Music and member of the syllabus revision committee. Eminent Carnatic vocalist Sreevalsan J Menon, whose body of work includes attempts at rare compositions of Swathi Thirunal, feels the evergreen interest in Swathi kritis could be because of the language and emotional connection his works can forge with people. ‘Alasara parithapam’ and ‘Aliveni’ are the most popular of his works that have turned into mostly dance reels. “There are many who send me YouTube links of dance versions of many Swathi kritis I have sung,” he says.
Swathi kritis getting popular over the years have several reasons, says acclaimed singer Aswathi Thirunal Rama Varma. “The pandemic in general brought down several walls. Swathi kritis have a versatility about them. The same person who composed the devotional ‘Jaya Jagadeesha Nanda Kishora’ in Ragam Yamunakalyani has also made the philosophical ‘Karanam Vinakaryam’ in Ragam Kambhoji. Another huge reason is his work towards bringing together all forms of Indian classical music. Some 30-odd Hindustani bandishas are there to his credit. Then, he was a complete artist whose passion for art touched all the aspects — geetam, vadyam nrittam (dance, instruments, music). He reached out to people with simpler versions of tough Sanskrit songs. It was sad he was trapped in the robes of a Maharaja,” he says.
Rama Varma has tried to incorporate that inclusiveness as he tries to include all singers in the festivals he organises. “Internet age is also the reason why Swathi kritis are getting more popular in the West. My disciple Amrita Venkitesh’s tiny students from the US send me videos of the kritis they learn and sing. The AIR has begun uploading the full version of the ‘navaratri concert’ on their YouTube channel for connoisseurs of the West and the Middle East. So it’s a combination of different factors why Swathi is the first choice of young artists, especially dancers,” he adds.
Sreevalsan feels Swathi Thirunal has always got his due at least from the organisers and singers. “There have been government awards in his name. Then there are publications, books and research at the macro and micro level. A reason for his acceptance among the singers could be that his compositions are very concert-worthy. But there are some whose phonetics are tricky, which makes it non so popular among musicians outside Kerala,” he says.
While Swathi might have got traditional reverence from practitioners of the art in Kerala, he was a mystery that many in the Carnatic circle did not wish to indulge in. There were also controversies that marred his acceptance for long among the Carnatic elite and the sabha goers of Chennai and other citadels of the classical system.
Achuthsankar S Nair, head of the department of computational biology and bioinformatics, University of Kerala, who also holds PhD in music and wrote a book Swathi: Born to a mother, remembers the article in the Illustrated Weekly some 40 years ago where he found Veena vidwan Balanchander making a few observations on the veracity of the composer’s works.
“I felt his observations to be contradictory. On the one hand, the gentleman was speaking of how he felt Swathi’s works were not his but of people who were under his patronage like the Tanjore Quartet and on the other, he was claiming Swathi Thirunal was a non-entity. My research into the king spanning decades began there,” Achuthsankar says.
As part of his thesis, the scientist went on to dissect the works of the ruler screening the texts for identity markers. The method spots the writing pattern unique to an individual. He found Swathi Thirunal’s marker in about 250 of his compositions, including those that were under contention.
“There may have been others who chipped in but I considered those compositions which were being touted as doubtful,” he says, adding a work of the monarch has been written down in Western notation and preserved in Cambridge University’s music department and the first book on Carnatic music in history in 1853 had 86 compositions of Swati Thirunal brought out by an ordinary citizen.
“He stood out in his diversity, variety and inclusivity to adapt even Western composers like Mozart and Beethoven in his works. A man with a great love for knowledge who died at a young age, depriving him the advantage of time that his contemporaries got.”
Swathi’s anniversary is now celebrated by even individuals and art groups is a marker of his popularity. The Lalithambika Sangeeta Natya Koodam in Thiruvananthapuram was one such institution that held concerts and recitals to commemorate the anniversary.
In Thrissur, a Monihiyattam performance on Swathi kritis was staged by Kalamandalam dancers and in Kochi, too a similar event was organised.
The Swathi fervour has found ground in the US too with Swathi Sangeeta Sabha in Charlotte. The India Cultural Centre and Temple, Memphis, is installing a life-size statue of the composer alongside other greats such as Annamacharya and Purandaradasa.
“Swathi Thirunal, with his famous trait of inclusivity, will be Kerala’s contribution,” says Vaisakh.