The title must surely have raised eyebrows and perhaps even resulted in a mild shock for some. What is the connection between a gross human tragedy and one of the most sublime of art forms?
The Indian Ocean tsunami that occured in December 2004 is not the first nor will it be the last to strike our country. The issue of 27th December of ‘The Hindu’ carried the news of the tragedy as also an editorial, which apart from other things, mentioned that there were previous tsunamis that had occurred in 1941 and in 1881 in India. Subsequently we came to know that the tsunami of 1941 occurred on 26th June with its epicenter in Andaman Islands and that of 1881 occurred on December 31st with its epicenter in Indonesia. Highly interesting from the point of view of astrology, for, it reveals that the tsunami occurs once every sixty years or thereabouts in our country. The sixty year cycle is the common denominator for the movements of both Jupiter and Saturn, the two most important planets of the solar system at least as far as astrology is concerned.
Now on to the strange, nevertheless fascinating connection between tsunami and Carnatic music.
Considering the sixty year circle of the tsunami, and knowing that it occurred in 1881, we can safely infer that there was a tsunami sixty years before that, in the 1820s, say between 1820 and 1825. The Trinity of Carnatic music (Shyama Sastri, Thyagaraja and Muthuswami Dikshitar) were alive then. The most affected state of India in the 2004 tsunami was Tamilnadu. We now know that in the 1881 and 1941 tsunamis too, Tamilnadu was the worst affected. In 2004, in Tamilnadu, the Nagapattinam region which is part of the Cauvery delta region as also a coastal area was the worst affected. It devastated the region and at least seven thousand people were killed.
Take the two compositions written in praise of the Nagapattinam deities by Thyagaraja and Muthuswami Dikshitar, two of the Carnatic music trinity. Dikshitar in his Soundararajam Ashraye in the raga Brindavana Saranga written in praise of Lord Soundararaja Perumal says in a line, ‘ambudhi garva nigraham’ which means He (the Lord) quelled the pride of the sea. In his Saveri raga song on Goddess Neelayatakshi in the Siva Kayarohanesa temple, Thyagaraja says, ‘vaaridhi madhi gavinchi ee, vasudaku taaraanenchi ninnu, saareku ganitala vanchi yundu, dheeratanamugalugu ninnu podagaanchi’ which means, when the sea with pride threatened to overrun the earth, you assumed a heroic form, on seeing which, the sea became submissive and desisted from destroying the earth.
Sanskrit scholar and a past secretary of the Music Academy, Chennai, Dr. V. Raghavan has written in his thesis on Thyagaraja, ‘The Spiritual Heritage of Thyagaraja’ that he, Dr. Raghavan, tried to verify whether there was any mention of the pride of the sea being quelled by the divinities in the sthala puranas (stories about the origin of the temple and details of the Gods and Goddesses and their exploits) of these two temples but did not succeed. The tsunami obviously did not find a place in the sthala puranas.
The logical inference is that Thyagaraja and Dikshitar must have heard about this tragedy and visited Nagapattinam. For Dikshitar, Nagapattinam is very near Tiruvarur where he lived. News of such a colossal tragedy must have moved both Thyagaraja and Dikshitar who proceeded to Nagapattinam. They must have been briefed by the local people about the tragedy. They also would have seen that unlike Dwaraka which was swallowed by the sea, Nagapattinam was, despite being devastated, not destroyed completely and that many people were alive. They must also have seen that people were given refuge and food in the two big temples. This happened even after the 2004 tsunami. Very surprising, given the pathetic, self-centered nature of our times. Thousands were accommodated and fed for three or four days.
I have logically inferred that Thyagaraja and Dikshitar were referring to the tsunami in their songs. Shyama Sastri’s visit to Nagapattinam must have predated the tsunami for we don’t find a mention of any such incident in his song ‘Neelayatakshi’.
There is another connection of the tsunami with Carnatic music. The coastal areas of Kerala were more affected than other areas in the 1941 tsunami. Among the villages that were washed away in Central Kerala was a small village called Mundayi. Yes, it was the native place of Palakkad Rama Bhagavatar (1888-1957), the eminent vocalist. But Rama Bhagavatar had already migrated to Palakkad town years before the 1941 tsunami. His house in Mundayi was washed away.
At least now we must learn to respect our traditional knowledge and disciplines and benefit from them. If any research minded institution can, it should try to find out the exact date and year of 1820s tsunami. It is not impossible. It was the British rule then and the Madras Archives must be having details of the event. Astrological tools can be utilized to predict the event of the next tsunami which is sure to strike in the 2060s in India. Of course, most of us may not be alive at that time.
The two great composes could not prevent the tragedy, but at least they empathised with the people who suffered and each dedicated a song to the worst affected region. We, mere mortals can surely empathise with people who suffer from such tragedies by respecting our traditional disciplines that can help mitigate the sufferings of the people. Whether music lovers or astrology buffs, we owe this to our less fortunate brethren.
The Indian Ocean tsunami that occured in December 2004 is not the first nor will it be the last to strike our country. The issue of 27th December of ‘The Hindu’ carried the news of the tragedy as also an editorial, which apart from other things, mentioned that there were previous tsunamis that had occurred in 1941 and in 1881 in India. Subsequently we came to know that the tsunami of 1941 occurred on 26th June with its epicenter in Andaman Islands and that of 1881 occurred on December 31st with its epicenter in Indonesia. Highly interesting from the point of view of astrology, for, it reveals that the tsunami occurs once every sixty years or thereabouts in our country. The sixty year cycle is the common denominator for the movements of both Jupiter and Saturn, the two most important planets of the solar system at least as far as astrology is concerned.
Now on to the strange, nevertheless fascinating connection between tsunami and Carnatic music.
Considering the sixty year circle of the tsunami, and knowing that it occurred in 1881, we can safely infer that there was a tsunami sixty years before that, in the 1820s, say between 1820 and 1825. The Trinity of Carnatic music (Shyama Sastri, Thyagaraja and Muthuswami Dikshitar) were alive then. The most affected state of India in the 2004 tsunami was Tamilnadu. We now know that in the 1881 and 1941 tsunamis too, Tamilnadu was the worst affected. In 2004, in Tamilnadu, the Nagapattinam region which is part of the Cauvery delta region as also a coastal area was the worst affected. It devastated the region and at least seven thousand people were killed.
Take the two compositions written in praise of the Nagapattinam deities by Thyagaraja and Muthuswami Dikshitar, two of the Carnatic music trinity. Dikshitar in his Soundararajam Ashraye in the raga Brindavana Saranga written in praise of Lord Soundararaja Perumal says in a line, ‘ambudhi garva nigraham’ which means He (the Lord) quelled the pride of the sea. In his Saveri raga song on Goddess Neelayatakshi in the Siva Kayarohanesa temple, Thyagaraja says, ‘vaaridhi madhi gavinchi ee, vasudaku taaraanenchi ninnu, saareku ganitala vanchi yundu, dheeratanamugalugu ninnu podagaanchi’ which means, when the sea with pride threatened to overrun the earth, you assumed a heroic form, on seeing which, the sea became submissive and desisted from destroying the earth.
Sanskrit scholar and a past secretary of the Music Academy, Chennai, Dr. V. Raghavan has written in his thesis on Thyagaraja, ‘The Spiritual Heritage of Thyagaraja’ that he, Dr. Raghavan, tried to verify whether there was any mention of the pride of the sea being quelled by the divinities in the sthala puranas (stories about the origin of the temple and details of the Gods and Goddesses and their exploits) of these two temples but did not succeed. The tsunami obviously did not find a place in the sthala puranas.
The logical inference is that Thyagaraja and Dikshitar must have heard about this tragedy and visited Nagapattinam. For Dikshitar, Nagapattinam is very near Tiruvarur where he lived. News of such a colossal tragedy must have moved both Thyagaraja and Dikshitar who proceeded to Nagapattinam. They must have been briefed by the local people about the tragedy. They also would have seen that unlike Dwaraka which was swallowed by the sea, Nagapattinam was, despite being devastated, not destroyed completely and that many people were alive. They must also have seen that people were given refuge and food in the two big temples. This happened even after the 2004 tsunami. Very surprising, given the pathetic, self-centered nature of our times. Thousands were accommodated and fed for three or four days.
I have logically inferred that Thyagaraja and Dikshitar were referring to the tsunami in their songs. Shyama Sastri’s visit to Nagapattinam must have predated the tsunami for we don’t find a mention of any such incident in his song ‘Neelayatakshi’.
There is another connection of the tsunami with Carnatic music. The coastal areas of Kerala were more affected than other areas in the 1941 tsunami. Among the villages that were washed away in Central Kerala was a small village called Mundayi. Yes, it was the native place of Palakkad Rama Bhagavatar (1888-1957), the eminent vocalist. But Rama Bhagavatar had already migrated to Palakkad town years before the 1941 tsunami. His house in Mundayi was washed away.
At least now we must learn to respect our traditional knowledge and disciplines and benefit from them. If any research minded institution can, it should try to find out the exact date and year of 1820s tsunami. It is not impossible. It was the British rule then and the Madras Archives must be having details of the event. Astrological tools can be utilized to predict the event of the next tsunami which is sure to strike in the 2060s in India. Of course, most of us may not be alive at that time.
The two great composes could not prevent the tragedy, but at least they empathised with the people who suffered and each dedicated a song to the worst affected region. We, mere mortals can surely empathise with people who suffer from such tragedies by respecting our traditional disciplines that can help mitigate the sufferings of the people. Whether music lovers or astrology buffs, we owe this to our less fortunate brethren.
