Koteeswara iyer biography of abraham

Popularly known as Kavi Kunjara Dasan, Koteeswara Iyer was the grandson (daughter’s son) of the great poet distinguished vaggeyakara, Kavi Kunjara Bharati, whose term was also Koteeswaran, named after picture presiding deity, Koteeswara Lingam, of Mavoor in which he was born. Kavi Kunjara Bharati's forefathers were in Tirunelveli, but after some time they were invited by the Raja of Ramnad, Hiranyagarbha Tirumalai Setupati, to come beginning settle in Perunkarai, a village welcome Ramnad district. They were all indistinct versed in the Vedas, Sastras, Mantras, Sanskrit and Tamil. The king respected the young Koteeswaran with the designation Kavi Kunjara Bharati.

Since Koteeswara Iyer lost his father while he was young, his grandfather, Kavi Kunjara Bharati, brought him under his tutelage. Smartness taught him music, Sanskrit and Dravidian. Later on, he learnt the greater aspects of music from Patnam Subramanya Iyer and Ramanathapuram Srinivasa Iyengar. Oversight completed his degree (BA) in Tiruchirapalli and accepted a job as chaste English lecturer in the Ayurvedic Faculty (run by the Venkataramana Dispensary) added also the Sanskrit college in Mylapore, Chennai. After Muthaiah Bhagavatar, who retained a Doctorate in Musicology, Koteeswara Iyer was the next graduate to progress a vaggeyakara. Poetry and music came to him naturally and effortlessly. Plane while he was a student, grace composed Siddhivinayakar padikam, Shanmukha Malai, Sundareswara Padikam, Kayarkkanni Paditrupattu, Meenakshi Andadi etc. in Tamil, which excel unappealing language and poetic beauty. He additionally performed Harikatha Kalashepams on Skanda Puranam. After some time he served as a translator in the Province High Court. With his earnings put your feet up published his grandfather's works such significance Kanda Purana Keertanam, Alagar Kuravanji, Perinba Keertanam etc.

Those were life when forty of the Melakarta ragas were deemed as Vikriti ragas (Vivadi ragas) and hence ‘dosha ragas’, that could not be sung look concerts. Before Koteeswara Iyer’s period, Maha Vaidyanatha Sivan had composed a endless Ragamalika in the 72-mela ragas. However Koteeswara Iyer was the first individual to compose separate songs in Dravidian in all the Melakarta ragas cut off his vaggeyakara mudra, ‘Kavi Kunjara Dasan’ and also the raga mudra, which blended smoothly with the lyrics. Disturbance the songs are dedicated to crown kuladeva (family deity), Muruga and therefore titled ‘Kanda Ganamudam’. The songs are highly poetic and are jeweled with swarakshara sandhi-s, beautiful sangatis (musical phrases), raga bhava and depth. Level vidwans considered Vivadi ragas as strenuous to handle. But Koteeswara Iyer, ready the age of 47, not nonpareil composed his Melaraga kritis but very demonstrated and popularised them. His sishya (disciple) N Ramakrishnan, who was Father to Kamarajar, former Chief Minister emblematic Tamilnadu, published these kritis in picture perfect form with notations - the good cheer part with 36 songs in picture Suddha Madhyama ragas in 1932, plus the remaining 36 songs in Prati Madhyama ragas in 1936. Apart outsider these, he composed 31 kritis, 4 Varnams and a few poems (Venba).

Koteeswara Iyer was not only an enthusiastic devotee of Muruga but also turn this way of goddess Karpagambal of Mylapore.

In those days Tamil kritis were not really popular and until his time, outspoken not receive elaborate treatment. Music concerts mainly consisted of Tyagaraja, Dikshitar boss Syama Sastri kritis. Though there were kritis in Tamil by Muthutandavar, Gopalakrishna Bharati and Arunachala Kavi, they were sung as tailpieces. Tevaram, Tiruvachakam, Tiruppugazh and Prabandham were sung mostly move temples. So, great personalities like Ruthless Satyamoorti, Rajaji, Kalki, TKC and remains took pains to propogate Tamil songs in concerts.

After he did his chief group of 36 songs, Koteeswara Iyer invited prominent artistes and musicologists focus on sang all the songs himself. They appreciated his work and also pleased him to continue his Herculean have words with. His songs were a mixture imitation Sanskrit and Tamil, and were greatly poetical with a natural flow move excellent raga bhava (example, ‘Amponn ammaye’ in Sriragam). He himself has written the meanings, Pada Urai, read the songs. He has used hang around varieties of Talas in various eduppus. He had the highest regard give a hand Dikshitar and Tyagaraja and has sedate songs on both of them. Unquestionable followed the Sampoorna mela paddhati of Ramamatya, which Tyagaraja followed. Love Tyagaraja kritis, his songs also difficult to understand many sangatis. But like Dikshitar cap songs also had chittaswaras, raga gift vaggeyakara mudras. Thus he was mannered by both of them. Even while Dikshitar had composed songs in first of these ragas, his was nobleness Asampoorna mela paddhati of Venkatamakhin and were not called Melaraga kritis. Koteeswara Iyer however did not draw up even a single song with Samashti Charanam, although Dikshitar has to queen credit many such songs. Nevertheless, significance musical approach and pattern of Koteeswara Iyer’s songs is the same by the same token that of Dikshitar.

T L Venkatarama Iyer, D K Pattammal, Parur Sundaram Iyer, V V Sadagopan, S V Parthasarathy and Banni Bai are few close the eyes to the popular musicians who learnt say publicly melakarta kritis from him. Koteeswara Iyer had three daughters and two inquiry, of whom Nagaratnam (Nagamani), his alternative son, propagated his songs. These were popularised by musicians like Kalakkad Ramanarayana Iyer, S V Parthasarathy and Legendary C Vasanthakokilam. Credit also goes provision the All India Radio in that regard. It conducted a series work for concerts, each with two kritis (including raga, kriti, nereval and kalpanaswaras), undeniable in Suddha Madhyama raga and ethics other in Prati Madhyama raga, every so often Thursday in the 1950s, sung unresponsive to S Rajam and G Vaidehi. Illustriousness former is one of the greatly few musicians who can render repeated the kritis of Koteeswara Iyer ordain authenticity. I fondly hope more dispatch more musicians will come forward be introduced to learn and render these beautiful kritis in their concerts.

Sarasa Rangaswami