[Advaita-l] Devi kritis for the season

[Raghav Kumar Dwivedula]

'The sharannanavaratri are noted in southern india for (among other things)
the singing of the devi navAvaraNa kritis of the vAggeyakAra muttusvAmI
dIxita (1775-1835 CE). His compositions are in sanskrit and he studied
vedanta in kashi for five years. He was a lAxaNika. He left the body while
on the 'on the banks of cauvery to the singing of  his great devi kriti
'mInAxi me mudam dehi'. It is said that when the lines from this song ,
'mInalocani pAshamocani' (O Goddess, Giver of freedom from bondage....)
were being repeated, he left the body.'

"The great* composer, created an alternative universe in an ancient music
form. He did this not by intuition or immersion alone, but by assiduously
backing these insights up with learning and experience.*

*In an era with extremely limited means of transport, Dikshitar travelled
the length and breadth of the country. He sang the praise of deities in
celebrated temples all over India and penned, in his **kriti** s,
interesting details about these **sthalam** s. His stint in * Kashi, where
he spent close to five years learning the theories of Vedanta * as well as
music, exposed him to the Hindustani system and the dhrupad style of
singing. He also travelled to many important shrines in south India,
including Tiruttani, Kanchipuram, Tiruvarur, Chidambaram and Kumbakonam, to
name just a few.*

*Muttuswami Dikshitar composed songs on a galaxy of deities, often from
different perspectives. Each of his **kriti** s contains mythological
stories about the deities, festivals and temples associated with them and
pertinent philosophical messages and concepts.*

*He composed songs on various forms of the Goddess.*

*Legend has it that in his final moments, he was listening to his disciples
render ‘ **Meenakshi memudam dehi** ’, one of his cornerstone compositions
set to Gamakakriya.*

*The felicity in his writing was clearly powered by a unique combination of
scholarliness and linguistic acumen. Dikshitar was a **lAkshanika** , or
musical grammarian, with each of his **kriti** s presenting a rich, vivid
and nuanced portrayal of the **raga**employed*

On 09-Oct-2016 9:36 pm, "V Subrahmanian via Advaita-l" <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> Devi kritis - nice album for the season:
>
> http://mio.to/album/Mambalam+Sisters/Devi+Krithis+-+
> Mambalam+Sisters+(2006)
> _______________________________________________
> Archives: http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l/
> http://blog.gmane.org/gmane.culture.religion.advaita
>
> To unsubscribe or change your options:
> http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/cgi-bin/listinfo/advaita-l
>
> For assistance, contact:
> listmaster at advaita-vedanta.org
>