Venkatamakhi, my musical mentor at THE ATTIC

The search for a  lost dance form or repertoire means it is a holistic search for its historical context, the narratives, voices etc. Putting each piece of this jig saw will reveal a better picture. Its a very exciting process but one that needs patience and perseverance.

Any research work unless with un disputable evidence is an intellectual guess. It has to ofcourse have  a methodology and a studied approach. During my work in trying to reconstruct some of the lost dance forms, I had (have) many many challenging moments. One of the most important aspects of the dance reconstruct was the identification and placement of the musical form and structure.

With the music in place, 70% of the dance would be done, i knew. But that wasn't as easy. The periods I was working on was the Nayak period. The 16th, 17th centuries. Now in the history of Indian music there are many systems that have been used from time immemorial. Bharata talks of an important system called the Sankirna Jati which is very similar to the paalai system that has been elaborated in the Sangam and later sangam texts and was in vogue clearly in the Tamil country. Incidentally Mahendra Varma Pallava had the title "Sankirna jati Mahendra Varma". This must mean that he was adapt in this system of music. According to me, the deciphering of the most important musical epigraph at Kudimiyanmalai (Pudukottai district) has to be done with the help of this system elaborated in the Natya sastra, although someone like Weidess has done phenomenal work on the inscription already. With much respect to him and his contribution this will throw a clearly light.

Coming back to my work, the challenge in understanding one important aspect of music which is the raga system (scale) was its contemporary evolution into the clearer 72 mela system and its earlier more lucid form that led to Venkhatamakhi's  seminal work called Caturdandi prakashika.

Dandi means stick or a holder. In this case he speaks of the four (catur) directional forms in music that are primary and significant of his times. They are Aaalaapa, Thaaya, Gita and Prabandha.
Aaalapa  as the name suggests is a rendition of the scale in akaaram. There are several sections in an aalaapam like the ayittam, eduppu, mukthaya etc.
Then is the thaayam which is very similar or the precursor to what is sung as Tanam today. It is set in talam and has to use the " ta nam ta ta nam ta" syllables.
Gita is the poetic section where there is a specified tala to the poem and it uses many varieties of lyrical meters and talas. Example is a gita in Jhumpada tala
Then comes prabhanda which is also a lyrical section. It has a lucid poetic free form. Its sections include the Suladi  etc and has a structure of a composition like varying tempos of vilamba, madhyama (slow, medium) etc.

If I had to reconstruct the dances the music had to reflect the sensibilities of this system and its early and later forms as this alone will allow me to see the shape and form of the movements in the dance. A detailed study of Caturdanti Prakashika allowed me to comprehend its similarities with its earlier counter parts like Sangita ratnakara, Sangita Kalanidhi etc, its contemporary works like Sangita Sudha and later works like Raga Lakshanam of Shahaji.

The division of ragams into desi (regional) and margi (pan national) is quite different from the Janani and Janya raga system. Many of the ragas we assume as suddha or rakti (mainstream) ragas now were grouped under the Desi or regional varieties.
Then the prayogams and raga lakshanam vary vastly from what we have imbibed today in our karnatic music concert singing format.
Someone like Venkatamakhi who is considered the landmark of the present system of music we follow was assimilating from many of his earlier sources. Which meant, I had to see those as well. For example for the reconstruction of a particular dance music, I had to seek the tribal lineage of Maharastrian medieval folk traditional music to correlate to the text and its descriptions of the music and dance.

I gave grief no end to the musical stalwarts who agreed to work with me by dumping on them large portions of information on what was done, how, what was allowed, what not etc. All this, many a times am sure left them wondering what they had agreed to from a crazy person like me. But their genius and comprehension of the importance of what I was seeking, combined with divine grace, gave me music that will transport both a connoisseur of karnatic music and a commoner alike in a time capsule to the bygone eras when music was free flowing and far from the present day concert (music and dance) format. It will reflect the complexities of the historic periods, the political assimilations and spiritual intercourse in all its glory!

R.Nithya and R.Vidya (very talented singers who are also my dear friends)  worked very hard at learning the various genres from these composers and accepting all my crazy research reflections, they know and feel the value of what musically awaits us at THE ATTIC.

Many times, I indulge in the feeling that Venkatamakhi is watching over us. He is perhaps...
Join us at FROM THE ATTIC to feel the magic.

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Dr.Swarnamalya Ganesh
Venkatamakhi, my musically mentor at  THE ATTIC

GYANAM (?!?) A Funny SIVAGYANAM at THE ATTIC

This is an experience I must share with my friends, readers, aspiring researchers and everyone. During my doctoral work one of the most important places of work for me was the Saraswati Mahal library, tanjavur. I still go there at least once in two months for all my continued work. It is a haven     for researchers. However, I always warn my friends and students that it's a place for precious primary sources and hence will be a tedious process. One must be familiar with the very elaborate cataloguing systems first. Learning to read through a catalogue is an art in itself. The TSSML has over 32000 manuscripts. That's right! The various subjects are catalogued and divided into languages, sections, type of manuscript, volumes etc. And then, there is the old catalogue and the newer eons that are in tandem with the GOML ( government oriental manuscript library) etc. So, if one needs to refer any work, they have to know where exactly it is, it's catalogue number etc to begin with. Then there is the issue of finding the right person to help you approach the section. I was lucky in the sense that as my initial work was a methodic understanding of my primary sources, the TSSML realised quite early that I was there as a serious scholar. I had to pour over several manuscript versions of even some published treatises in order to read the original of a reinterpretation, or the colophon.

Here is where my story begins. As I had written in one of my earlier blogs, TSSML became a home
away from home for me for over six years. Half a month there, every month meant I knew everyone by face and name. I would go in the morning at 9am and work till 5.30 when the clerk would ever so politely neck me out, only to return the next day. Many visitors to the gallery either presumed I had taken  permanent employment with  TSSML ir that there was a shooting going on there,

While everyone was always eager to find an opportunity to talk to me or converse with me, all I
wanted was to be left in peace as I wanted to work, un disturbed. But I could never avoid an occasional hi, an enquiry about my next film, the experience of having stood next to prabhudeva or something like that. I would usually give a very annotated answer and quickly return to the business
at hand. Thankfully, the pundits at TSSML were awesome, helpful and knew the gravity of my work and would give me the needed space.

While I began to believe all was going just fine as for my reference and notes taking at TSSML was
concerned, God decided to play a trick on me. Well that's the best reasonI can come up with for what am about to explain. All my references I would usually write down in a notebook, date wise. But
when I discovered an un copied, unnoticed most valuable Telugu manuscript of the dance repertoire  that I was searching for, I was elated! Overwhelmed, I ran to Big temple that evening, sat in a corner and studied the colophon that I had copied down and read it a hundred times. I was stunned at what
destiny had dropped on my lap!  The most treasured document that was the key to unlock my quest to  find all the preciousness that I later found at THE ATTIC.

The next day, I sat at my desk at TSSML and realised that it was a large manuscript and I was going
to need every page of it. Therefore a Notes taking wouldn't help. I wanted to microfilm the  manuscript and take a copy so that I can append it as pat of my work and will be useful for dance historians in the future, I thought. TSSML being a government library, has the posting of an AO (administrative  officer). I had to submit to him a request letter asking for the micro filming. The Telugu pandit who was helping me told me that it would be best if I spoke to the AO and handed over the letter In person for speedy process. I remember vividly the first day I walked up to his desk. A stalky, dark man, in white and white pants and shirt, chewing paan he gave me a toothy smile (laugh, gurgle if you may) at and said "Good afternoon maadaaam ! Pluleesh sit down" the Telugu pandit who came along and was sitting beside me for courtesy was a very clever man, he excused himself and slipped away. I, being the protagonist of this whole story, of course had to sit through from lunch break till the day's bell rang at 5 announcing the closure of the library. From that day on, everyday I would make a special morning prayer to Brihadeeswara that I should escape the sight of this AO,  lest my day would be spent at his desk answering questions that he would torrent at me. The torture of the experience is truly inexplicable but I am here going to give you a sample of a few question and answers. I urge you to imagine this with a generous interspersing of hearty, loud laughter ( something like heeeheeeeheee), completely tamizhaised English, a need to speak ONLY in English no matter how torturously hideous the grammar is,  constant shaking of the legs, cups of lukewarm tea and mosquito bites.

AO: maaadaaam, good morning. What, research aaa? Sit down sot down. So, what is this Mozhi
movie story all about?
Me: ( looking at my watch) hmmm what do u mean story sir, please watch the film.
AO: oh hoo!  I have no times to wa(r)tch all this movies and all. Tell me maaadaaam, how was you
working with Maniratnam ?
Me: it was good. So when will I get my requests for micro film approved sir?
AO: it's ok maaadaaam. What salary film stars get? I heard vijay gettings five crores. Ish it true aaa?!!!!!

Me: don't know sir. U have to ask vijay that.
AO: heheheheeh so how much do you get madam? At least say me that noooo!!!

Me: smiling and sipping the damn tea
AO: two years ago I arrange one dance program in Hyderabad, their dance super madam.

Me: ( relief that he is back to a subject) oh really! Whose dance sir?
AO: don't know name and all but they do spitting and all on stage and dance, very nice maaadaaam.

Me: spitting !!!
AO: yes yes bharadanatyam boring for me...but  madam this is like that korattti dance nooo....like that and all...

Me: sir,.. My request
AO: of course madam tomorw itself I will try and do it.


2009,2010,2011 and 2012 came and went with hundreds of such dreadful encounters but the
microfilm request approval never  did. May be it was that AO's ticket to stall me and have inane chatters, maybe it was his way of showing me that no matter if I was a known face, he was in power there. I would have submitted atleast seven request letters in those years. But not without spending
hours hand coping the manuscript. By the beginning of 2012, I had fully hand written the entire palm leaf manuscript by myself. No more micro film needed. I appended my own hand written copy along with my doctoral work.

Thanks to AO sivagyanam (yes, that was his name) I was able to hand write and therefore thoroughly assimilate every word of the valuable manuscript that I had discovered as my most important source.

Thank to sivagyanam, when I look back today I realise he was the much needed comic interlude amidst long, tedious hours of pouring over palm leaves and paper treatises( even without lunch
breaks).
So, researchers who visit MSS libraries must be prepared not only with catalogue sieving skills but also for the onslaught of sivagyanam -s.

God bless him and good news, he is no more the AO at TSSML. See I told you, God was playing a trick on me. It is truly SIVA GYANAM!



Dr.Swarnamalya Ganesh
Gyanam at THE ATTIC
www.fromtheattic.in

Staring into the depth of the faces at the Attic

In South India one cannot ever talk of sculptures or paintings without speaking of the Cholas! They are the holy grail of South Indian fine arts. No doubt. But often we will hear modern scholars eulogize chola art by comparing them to the later works of art like that of the Nayaks or Marattas. The truth is Chola art is incomparable. Which not only means they are extremely fine and beautiful but also that arts of other periods can't be looked at from the same prism. 

The one thing I have often heard about Nayak art is how it has very garish colors and disproportionate structuring. While I am not a fine art student, I would always think there is more to the understanding of these paintings than just calling them poor cousins of their Chola counterparts etc. The Nayaks ruled the South of India for over a 150 years. They have left an identifiable mark in temple renovation, construction and specially frescoes. One look at the bright colors, large figures and the strokes one will be able to say they are "Nayak" frescoes. Therefore they must have had a method and an idealogy. 

The art of painting during the Cholas period was highly evolved. They had a great sense of proportion, symmetry, color and aesthetics. If the Nayaks painted over them on the inner walls of the Tanjore Big temple, they surely noticed these and yet had a reason to do what they did. So, an artiste/ painter who saw such marvellous works didn't paint over them to spoil the originals. If that was their mindset, one of destruction or discontinuation of past glory and tradition they would have done many changes to the structure of the temple in a more obvious way and place. Instead they only added pieces of structures to  accentuate the original's awe. 
So then what drove them to draw over? 

To answer this I kept looking at the paintings of the Nayaks. As if a deep, penetrating stare will give me the answers. When you do stare at them, the way I did, you will find the characters almost staring back at you. In the art of painting there is a technique called caricaturing. The modern understanding of caricature is that they are exaggerated for an element of humor. But the elemental quality of caricature is to evoke a life like portrait image using simplistic or exaggerated ways. With larger eyes and mouths, louder colors and motifs and out of proportion images the Nayaks perhaps were trying to say something? A caricature always is to convey. It was for the immediate audiences and consumption. It was a socio-political statement. It is a next step in evolution of painting technique were the characters even when not real, were portraits of humans of their times. Even the images of Gods and Goddesses perhaps drawn with a striking resemblance to human beings. 

This would also explain the use of natural characteristics in actual sizes like the big nose, eyes, stalky hands, legs etc. Portrayal of acquired characteristics like finer lines, a paunch (that is reflected in the Nayak sculpture at madurai temple of the King himself in middle age. See my earlier blog for this reference). And the depiction of real colors, costumes, textures, hair styles, moustaches, beards etc reveal their evolution into depicting real people on their paintings. This was a few steps before the picture portrait era and a few more steps before the photograph era. Every Nayak painting was a  a weighty portrait. It was to convey to the people of the immediate context about important people, characters, features around them. Hence they needed the spaces that were in use in the temples etc. And therefore perhaps the painting over the Cholas at Tanjore temple with  the exaggerated features and proportions perhaps. 

The other important aspect is  the thicker lines or outer sketches that are starkly different to the other finer Ajanta or Cholas paintings. The pen as a brush or stylus for lines was adapted from the persian term "kalam". This concept of an inked pen to draw outlines filled with colors was employed from a persian influence both on cloth and walls. Just like painting on wet walls or damp walls was the fresco style of the Cholas, the Nayaks perhaps had the pen stylus painting. It was called "Kalamkaari" and was greatly patronized by the Vijayanagara Kings and therefore adapted by their feudatories, the Nayaks.  You will be surprised to know that Achuytappa Nayaka gave away villages near Tanjore to Kalamkari artistes as he realised the water (cauvery) in that rock bed had natural Alum (color fixing agent) in the water!! Kalamkari was traditionally used to also say/ convey stories, legends and myth.

Maybe the Nayaks who made these exaggerated frescoes had many stories and incidents to depict through their paintings (mythological and contemporary). The fact that these caricature like paintings may have been drawn with life like closeness and resemblance to actual people means, we are holding an entire visual documentation (like modern photos) into an era that we believe had not actually evolved to that stage. Their paintings of dancers and musicians means we are staring into the actual faces of our predecessors perhaps. WOW! 

This revelation allows me to take a closer look. And what do I see into the depths of those big eyes, fluttering pallus, bright fans, big maustaches and long breads....that's what you will find out at FROM THE ATTIC

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Dr.Swarnamalya Ganesh
Staring into the depth of the faces at the Attic