Gopalakrishna Bharathi
Encyclopedia
Gopalakrishna Bharati (1811–1896) was a Tamil
poet and a composer of Carnatic music
. He wrote a katAkALatcEpam , NantanAr Carittiram (Nandanar Charitram), two other works in this genre, and many independent kritis.
Bharati was a contemporary of Tyagaraja
whom he is said to have met, and who asked him whether he had composed anything in the rAga AbhOgi; Bharati subsequently composed one of his most popular kritis in rUpaka tALa, CapApatikku. The great Tamil literary figure, U. V. Swaminatha Iyer
wrote two sources for Bharati's life: a biography of the composer and his own autobiography, which contains references to Bharati, who was his guru in music.
in today's Tamil Nadu, south India. His father was Ramaswami Bharati, a musician. Gopalakrishna learnt Advaita and yoga SAstra from a guru in Mayavaram. Though he never took the vows of a renunciate, he led an ascetic life, and never married. Hailing from family of music exponents, Gopalakrishna showed inclination towards music even at a very young age. He had a commendable ability to grasp and reproduce complex music. He also listened to a number of the leading Carnatic vocalists of Thanjavur district.
s on the principles of advaita. Gopalakrishna Bharathi's kritis, portraying several musical facades, were extremely well received by the public and were sung in a number of concerts during his lifetime. This prompted several musicians to approach Gopalakrishna Bharathi. The musicians would express his vision for a new kirtana and Bharathi would always oblige and compose a song to fit the musician's requirement.
Gopalakrishna Bharati used the mudra
(signature) Gopalakrishna in his compositions. These include famous kritis like varukalAmO (rAga mAnji), varuvArO (sAma) and ennEramum (rAga dEvagAndhAri).
NantanAr Carittiram is a katAkALatcEpam, a genre of religious story-telling with music that was popular in Tamil Nadu in the 19th and early 20th centuries before the advent of film, especially the talkies. Nandan Caritiram was based on the story of a paraiyAr (dalit or 'untouchable'), Nandanar
known also as TirunAlaippOvAr NayanAr. A great devotee of Siva
, he yearned to visit Chidambaram the greatest of Siva temples. He greatly feared that caste prejudice would prevent him from entering the temple, but his devotion overcame this obstacle, and he obtained his desire, becoming physically merged with Siva in a blaze of light. Bharati's version of NantanAr Carittiram is a masterly development of the story narrated in Sekkizhar's Periya PurANam. He included many forms of Tamil regional music, and is praised for his ability to capture dialect and popular expression. The eminent Tamil literary scholar, Meenakshisundaram Pillai, however, criticised him for grammatical lapses.
, took up select pieces for interpretation as abhinaya. The album of the film version starring the singer M. M. Dandapani Desikar
as Nandanar (with music direction by Papanasam Sivan) remains popular.
The story of Nandanar, as Bharati developed it, had considerable resonance with the Nationalist movement in India. Nandanar was an untouchable (dalit), and M. K. Gandhi, among others, saw his story as expressing the plight and aspirations of India's dalits. Others argue that Nandanar, with his burning desire to see Shiva
at Chidambaram
, captured the mood and paralleled the aspirations of Indian nationalists yearning for independence from Britain.
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
poet and a composer of Carnatic music
Carnatic music
Carnatic music is a system of music commonly associated with the southern part of the Indian subcontinent, with its area roughly confined to four modern states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu...
. He wrote a katAkALatcEpam , NantanAr Carittiram (Nandanar Charitram), two other works in this genre, and many independent kritis.
Bharati was a contemporary of Tyagaraja
Tyagaraja
Kakarla Tyagabrahmam , colloquially known as Tyāgarājar and Tyagayya was one of the greatest composers of Carnatic music or classical South Indian music. He, along with his contemporaries Muthuswami Dikshitar and Shyama Shastry, forms the Trinity of Carnatic music...
whom he is said to have met, and who asked him whether he had composed anything in the rAga AbhOgi; Bharati subsequently composed one of his most popular kritis in rUpaka tALa, CapApatikku. The great Tamil literary figure, U. V. Swaminatha Iyer
U. V. Swaminatha Iyer
U. V. Swaminatha Iyer , 1855–1942 C.E., was a Tamil scholar and researcher who was instrumental in bringing many long-forgotten works of classical Tamil literature to light...
wrote two sources for Bharati's life: a biography of the composer and his own autobiography, which contains references to Bharati, who was his guru in music.
Early life
Gopalakrishna Bharati was born at Narimanam, near NagapattinamNagapattinam
Nagapattinam is a town in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Nagapattinam District. It is a prominent seaport on the east coast of India and an important centre of trade and commerce.The town of Nagapattinam dates back to the Sangam period...
in today's Tamil Nadu, south India. His father was Ramaswami Bharati, a musician. Gopalakrishna learnt Advaita and yoga SAstra from a guru in Mayavaram. Though he never took the vows of a renunciate, he led an ascetic life, and never married. Hailing from family of music exponents, Gopalakrishna showed inclination towards music even at a very young age. He had a commendable ability to grasp and reproduce complex music. He also listened to a number of the leading Carnatic vocalists of Thanjavur district.
Compositions
Gopalakrishna Bharathi composed several kritiKriti
-Structure:Kritis typically contain three parts#Pallavi. This is the equivalent of a refrain in Western music.#Anupallavi. The second verse, which is sometimes optional....
s on the principles of advaita. Gopalakrishna Bharathi's kritis, portraying several musical facades, were extremely well received by the public and were sung in a number of concerts during his lifetime. This prompted several musicians to approach Gopalakrishna Bharathi. The musicians would express his vision for a new kirtana and Bharathi would always oblige and compose a song to fit the musician's requirement.
Gopalakrishna Bharati used the mudra
Mudra (music)
Mudra is the unique signature of a Carnatic music composer, which is woven into some or all of their respective compositions. Not all composers have mudras, and they do not necessarily relate to the composer's name....
(signature) Gopalakrishna in his compositions. These include famous kritis like varukalAmO (rAga mAnji), varuvArO (sAma) and ennEramum (rAga dEvagAndhAri).
NantanAr Carittiram is a katAkALatcEpam, a genre of religious story-telling with music that was popular in Tamil Nadu in the 19th and early 20th centuries before the advent of film, especially the talkies. Nandan Caritiram was based on the story of a paraiyAr (dalit or 'untouchable'), Nandanar
Nandanar
Nandanar was a Nayanar saint born in South India who became a great devotee of Lord Shiva.Nandanar was born in a village called Adhanurin a poor family. He was born at the cruel time where untouchability was being practised, as he belonged to Paraiyar community, which was considered as an...
known also as TirunAlaippOvAr NayanAr. A great devotee of Siva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
, he yearned to visit Chidambaram the greatest of Siva temples. He greatly feared that caste prejudice would prevent him from entering the temple, but his devotion overcame this obstacle, and he obtained his desire, becoming physically merged with Siva in a blaze of light. Bharati's version of NantanAr Carittiram is a masterly development of the story narrated in Sekkizhar's Periya PurANam. He included many forms of Tamil regional music, and is praised for his ability to capture dialect and popular expression. The eminent Tamil literary scholar, Meenakshisundaram Pillai, however, criticised him for grammatical lapses.
| Composition | Raga Raga A raga is one of the melodic modes used in Indian classical music.It is a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is made... | Tala Tala Tala may refer to:* Samoan tālā, the monetary unit of Samoa* Tala , a DC Comics supervillainess of the Phantom Stranger* Tala , the goddess of stars in Tagalog mythology* Tala , a rhythmic pattern in Indian classical music... | Type | Language | Other Info | Audio Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| eppo varuvAro | Jonpuri | Adi Adi Adi may refer to:Peoples and places:*Banu Adi, a clan of the Quraish tribe of Mecca*Adi people, a tribe living in Arunachal Pradesh, India**Adi language, the Tibeto-Burman language spoken by the Adi... |
Kriti Kriti -Structure:Kritis typically contain three parts#Pallavi. This is the equivalent of a refrain in Western music.#Anupallavi. The second verse, which is sometimes optional.... |
Tamil Tamil language Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore... |
' | |
| guruvaruLum tiruvaruLum | Abhogi Abhogi Abhogi is a raga in Carnatic music and has been adapted to Hindustani music. It is a pentatonic scale, an audava or owdava raga. It is a derived scale , as it does not have all the seven swaras... |
Khanda Chapu | Kriti Kriti -Structure:Kritis typically contain three parts#Pallavi. This is the equivalent of a refrain in Western music.#Anupallavi. The second verse, which is sometimes optional.... |
Tamil Tamil language Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore... |
' | |
| sabhApatikku vEre daivam samAnamAgumA | Abhogi Abhogi Abhogi is a raga in Carnatic music and has been adapted to Hindustani music. It is a pentatonic scale, an audava or owdava raga. It is a derived scale , as it does not have all the seven swaras... |
Rupaka | Kriti Kriti -Structure:Kritis typically contain three parts#Pallavi. This is the equivalent of a refrain in Western music.#Anupallavi. The second verse, which is sometimes optional.... |
Tamil Tamil language Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore... |
Performance history
Nandan Caritiram, as performed by Bharati, proved very popular and he published it in his lifetime. The highly regarded Thanjavur Krishna Bhagavatar, who developed the art of katAkALatcEpam by introducing elements from Marathi performance practice and elements of dance, made it one of his masterpieces. Many adaptations appeared, including stage plays and three film versions. Individual songs of Gopalakrishna Bharati became popular with Carnatic musicians. Later, Bharata Natyam dancers, including T. BalasaraswatiBalasaraswati
Balasaraswati was a celebrated Indian dancer, and her rendering of Bharatanatyam, a classical dance style, made this style of dancing of south India well known in different parts of India, as also many parts of the world....
, took up select pieces for interpretation as abhinaya. The album of the film version starring the singer M. M. Dandapani Desikar
Dandapani Desikar
M M Dandapani Desikar was a Carnatic vocalist, actor and composer.Dandapani Desikar was born in Tiruchengattangudi, near Nannilam in Madras Presidency. He got training from Manicka Desikar and Kumbakonam Rajamanickam Pillai. He was the son of Muthiah Desikar. He gave his first performance in...
as Nandanar (with music direction by Papanasam Sivan) remains popular.
The story of Nandanar, as Bharati developed it, had considerable resonance with the Nationalist movement in India. Nandanar was an untouchable (dalit), and M. K. Gandhi, among others, saw his story as expressing the plight and aspirations of India's dalits. Others argue that Nandanar, with his burning desire to see Shiva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
at Chidambaram
Chidambaram
Chidambaram is a fast growing industrial city in Eastern part of Tamil Nadu and the taluk headquarters of the Cuddalore district. It is located in 58 km from Pondicherry, 60 km from Karaikal, and 240 km south of Chennai by rail...
, captured the mood and paralleled the aspirations of Indian nationalists yearning for independence from Britain.
External links
- Carnatica.net
- Carnatic Music Krithi Audio Archive: http://www.ecse.rpi.edu/Homepages/shivkuma/music/index.html
- Carnatic music notation for few Tamil, Telugu, English songs at VK's website: http://www.keylessonline.com/
- Palem Gopalakrishna Carnatic music section with notations for Telugu songs: http://gpalem.web.officelive.com/music.html
- Carnatic music notation page links at Musically Urs's website: http://www.angelfire.com/musicals/musically_urs/notation_link.html
- Shri Gopalakrishna Bharathi's Nandanar Charithram is captured in an excellent video by Bala Devi Chandrashekar as shown on http://www.spnapa.org. The full episode is being telecast on Sankara Tv . Simply outstanding.