K.A.Viswanathan
When nearly 75 musicians from all over Mumbai with their instruments like, Mrudangam, Veena, Violin, Gatam besides vocal artists rendered in unison the Pancharatna Kritis (five gems) of Saint Thyagaraja, joined by nearly 1000 music lovers from the audience, the entire Shanmukhananda Chandrasekharendra Saraswati auditorium was reverberated with the tunes composed by the music Saint in the ragas Nattai, Gowlai, Arabhi, Varali and Sri to mark the 172ndh aaradhana (Samadhi) of the saint.
Thyagaraja was a prolific composer and highly influential in the development of the classical music tradition. He composed thousands of devotional compositions, most in praise of Lord Rama, many of which remain popular today. The five gems are Jagadananda Karaka, Duduku gala, Sadhinchane, Kanakana Ruchira and Endaro Mahanubhavulu. All these songs are set in Adi Talam, where each ragam represents the mood of the song and the meaning of its lyrics.
Sri Thyagaraja, along with Muthuswami Dikshitar and Syama Sastri are considered even today as the ‘Trinity’ of Carnatic Music. Out of 22,400 songs said to have been composed, which is supposed to be equal to the number of slokas in Valmiki’s Ramayana, only about 725 kritis have been recorded now. The masterpiece "Jagadanandakaraka" composed of 108 names describing Lord Rama's attributes. Even as a boy, Thyagaraja composed his first song on Rama, Namo Namo Raghavaya when he was only 13 years old.
