The Hindu : Friday Review Chennai / Tribute : Tracing Tirtha's glory
Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 03, 2006
SrI:
Dear SangItha RasikAs & KrishNa BhakthAs :
The slOkams of Sri Krishna Leela TarangiNi were sung in front of the Lord
and approved by AnjanEya , who kept time (TaaLam) . These are divine songs
by the great Saint composed at VarahUr PerumAL Sannidhi . I hope one of
these days , we can focus on Sri NaarAyaNa Theerthar's divine compositions.
V.Sadagopan , Moderator
P.S : Here is anarticle from March 3 , 2006 Version in The Hindu.
> Tracing Tirtha's glory
> T.S. PARTHASARATHY
>
> Hailed as South Indian Jayadeva, Sri Narayana Tirtha's
> Krishna Leela Tharangini blends devotion with melody.
>
>
>
>
> When the sway of the Vijayanagar empire was extended to cover
> the whole of Tamil Nadu, there was large scale migration of scholars and
> musicians, into Thanjavur and Madurai and they were patronised by the
> Nayak rulers there. Most of them were Telugus but there were Kannadigas
> also like Govinda Dikshitar, father of Venkatamakhi.
>
> The South Indian bhajana sampradaya was almost exclusively
> nourished by the works of a few Advaitic scholars and musicians. most of
> who were Telugus and wre sanyasins. They included Narayana Tirtha,
> Bodhendra Swami of Govindapuram, Sridhara Venkatesa (Ayyaval) of
> Tiruvisainallur, Sadasiva Brahmendra and Sadguru Swami, Marudanallur. They
> firmly established the `Nama Siddhanta' tradition in Tamil Nadu.
>
> Narayana Tirtha, author of `Krishna Leela Tarangini,' is hailed
> as the `South Indian Jayadeva' because there are several similarities
> between him and the Oriya poet who wrote the `Gita Govindam.' Both were
> ardent devotees of Krishna.While Jayadeva's work is based on the
> Radha-Krishna episode in the `Brahma Vaivarta Purana,' Narayana Tirtha's
> work is a condensed version of the Dasamaskandha of the `Srimad
> Bhagavatam.' Both the plays are of the `gaya natakam' variety.
>
> There are several theories about Narayana Tirtha's birthplace
> and the year of his birth, but scholars prefer Kaza near Guntur as his
> native village and 1675 as the year of his birth. His family name was
> Tallavajjala. Early in life he mastered Sanskrit, Carnatic music and
> Bharata Sastra. He was ordained as a sanyasin by Sivarama Tirtha to whom
> he pays obeisance in his work.
>
> Led by Divine will
>
>
> It is stated that when Narayana Tirtha was on his way to
> Thanjavur district he was afflicted with a severe stomach ailment and
> prayed to Lord Venkateswara for relief. A divine voice told him to follow
> the first object he saw the next morning. This happened to be a boar,
> which led him to Varahur (Bhupatirajapuram). Tirtha settled down in the
> village and rendered yeoman service to Carnatic music.
>
> His `Krishna Leela Tarangini' is the lengthiest musical play in
> Sanskrit and comprises 12 tarangams, which contain 147 kirtanas, 267
> slokas, 30 gadyams, 30 derus and link passages.
>
> In his introduction, Narayana Tirtha gives a synopsis of the
> story from the birth of Krishna to his marrying eight wives. The composer
> writes a simple but unique style in which all the literary graces such as
> assonance, and rhyming and liquid sounds are blended to create a total
> picture of idea, sound and melody.
>
> He signed his songs as `Vara Narayana Tirtha', `Siva Narayana
> Tirtha' and `Yati Narayana Tirtha'. `Jaya Jaya Gokula Bala' is, perhaps,
> the most popular song from the Tarangini. Its original raga was Kurinji
> but it was later converted into a ragamalika. by Tiruvotriyur Tyagayyar in
> Bhairavi, Atana, Kambhoji, Kalyani and Surati.
>
>
> It is believed that Narayana Tirtha was closely associated with
> the Bhagavata Mela tradition of Melattur. `Krishna Leela Tarangini' is a
> treasure, which deserves to be cherished by litterateurs, musicians and
> dancers.
>
> The Tirupoonthuruthi Festival Committee is conducting the 260th
> aradhana of the saint composer at Tirupoonthuruthi, 13 km from Thanjavur,
> where Narayana Tirtha is said to have attained samadi, for three days
> beginning on March 5.
>
> Musicians will render tharangams on all the days. Unchavriti,
> Namasankirtanam, Harikatha and special puja will also form part of the
> festival.
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