Update for Shivaratri (18th Feb 04)
DIkshitar's Kritis on TyAgesa - The deity at Tiruvarur
TiruvArUr is the birthplace of ShyAma Shastri, TyAarAja and MuttuswAmi DIkshitar.It was as if driven by destiny that three different family groups of diverse backgrounds sought shelter in TiruvArUr during the troubled times of the Century.
Background and Introduction:
SubbarAma DIkshitar in his vAggeyakAra Caritramu mentions that Venkateswara DIkshitar and BhAgIrati of Virinchipuram the parents of RAmaswAmi DIkshitar fled the place due to the horsemen riots. They settled in Tiruvidaimarudur or MadhyArjuna and RAmaswAmi DIkshitar's journeys in life led him to TanjAvUr and MAyUram among other places before reaching TiruvArUr. There is no mention of why and when exactly he made TiruvArUr his home.
Similar is the case with the family of TyAgarAja.It is not clear as to how they happened to settle in TiruvArUr. Interestingly enough, TyAgarAja has no compositions on the deity but refers to the Lord TyAgesa with this epithet in several of his compositions while using the mudra as in the krti "bhaktuni cAritramu vinavE" in begada. In this krit he refers to Rama as "rAjashikhAmaNi yaina tyAgarAja sakhuni marava rAdane hari(bhaktuni cAritramu vinave) " ie "the friend of TyAgarAja the crest jewel of Kings".
Approximately, around the late 1750s, amidst the political uncertainties in Tanjore, ShyAma ShAstri's family moved from TanjAvUr to TiruvArUr with the BangAru KAmAkshi idol. According to traditional sources, the idol was in TiruvArUr for atleast a couple of decades. It must be noted that it was around the same time that RAmaswAmi DIkshitar set to tune the ShivagItimAlika or ShivAshtapadi of Chandrasekharendra Saraswati V one of the AcAryAs of the KAmakoTi PITha. As the one who coordinated the various ritualistic music and dance repertoire RAmaswAmi DIkshitar must have thought it fit to honor KAmAkshi who made TiruvArur Her temporary abode.
SubbarAma DIkshitar also mentions that Amara Simha (1787 - 1798) was pleased with the rAgamAlika , sAmaja gamana that RAmaswami DIkshitar composed on him when he came for a darshana of TyAgesa.He also adds that TyAgesa appeared in a dream of RAmaswAmi DIkshitar and ordained him to arrange for the necessary musical ritualistic repertoire during the festivities and organize the procession that starts and ends with the dvajasthambam. An interesting feature of this story is that this is in concordance with the local traditions associated with the hagiology and the puranic accounts associated with TyAgesa.There are several episodes titled the "TyAgarAja lilas" or "Divine Sport of TyAgraja" which depict various instances that TyAgesa appeared before devotees with directives, judgements and deliverances. Hence , the most obvious reason for the DIkshitars' association with this temple was that this deity was powerful in the eyes of the Mahratta rulers of the times starting from King ShahAji.ShahAji has composed a set of padas titled tyAgesa padas on this deity. He had set aside some land for the continued performance of his opera the Pallaki Seva Prabhandam in the temple.
Interestingly, we can observe that King ShahAji's compositions have had a tremendous influence on the compositions of both RamaswAmi DIkshitar and MuttuswAmi DIkshitar.For instance, the niilotpalaambaa vibhakti kritis of DIkshitar are all in gaulanta ragas or ragas ending with gauLa, i.e., nArAyaNagauLa, rItigauLa, kannadagauLa, kedaragauLa, gaula, MALavagauLa, PUrvagauLa and ChAyAgauLa. ShahAji had used all these except Gaula in his SapthasAgara Sooladi Prabhanda lIla. Again RamaswAmi DIkshitar's gangAtarangiNi daru , mAra tAta tAra has its inspirations in some of the citra prabhandas of Shahaji which are also in the same palindromic genre.Thus the familial association and influence of the works of the mahratta kings and the court.
Secondly, Tiruvarur was a significant center for more than one reason.. Venkatamakhin the revered source of their guru parampara, which they treasured, composed a special ashtapadi of 24 songs on TyAgesa. Not only that, he invokes TyAgesa in the opening verse of his caturdaNDiprakAsika,
caturNAm purushArthAnAm tyAgam yasmAt karotyataH |
tyAgarAja iti khyAtam somAskandamupAsmahe ||
"I worship the somAskanda murti who is revered as TyAgaraja the one who does TyAga or sacrifice the fourth among the purushaarthaas or human endeavors."
Finally, another factor that contributed to this family's attachment to the place was the complex associations that this temple had .It had shrIvidya linkages like durvasa setting up the shrine to the myth of a shrIcakra being embedded in the heart of TyAgaraja, Vaishnava associations like Vishnu's associations with the ajapa naTana, the strong saivite association with from the tEvAra mUvar.We also see a smArta leaning with personages like the somAsi mArar and his yagna .So the temple with its share of complexities in myth and legends. It was this complexity which shaped the background of the kritis of MuttuswAmi DIkshitar.
Hence, growing up in such an atmosphere must have shaped many of his expressions and inspirations. For instance some of his compositions freely mix the metaphysical pinnacles of advaita but at the same time talks about the graded liberation, grace and other concepts unique to Shaivism, a kriti on cuntaramUrtti nAyanAr and his reference to the myth of naminanti atikaL the saivite saint lighting lamps from the waters of the kamalalaya tank and references to dIksha a concept of the tantric tradition.
The Temple and the City:
Tiruvarur is also the land of myriad mythologies and hoary hagiographies. From Saivite Saints to Kings and violent devotees this temple has a hallowed history. The various parts of this temple in Tiruvarur were constructed at various points in time and now integrated into one whole complex. The presiding deity of this temple is Tyagesa whereas the moolavar - the aniconic form is valmIkeshvara the small linga housed in the central shrine. This like cidambaram is one place where the iconic form takes precedence over the aniconic. Niilotpalaambaal is the consort of Tyagesa.The kamalaambaal shrine is in the southeast corner of the temple and is traditionally and ritually unconnected with the main Shrine of Tyagesa. Only in the geya natakas or the operas around the time of Shahaji and other Maratha Rulers, do we find the poetic concept that Kamalambal is in penance for union with her Lord. Architecturally the Kamalambal shrine is dissimilar to the Tyagesa shrine and is essentially a remnant of an ancient temple dedicated to the mother goddess.
It is noteworthy that MuttuswAmi DIkshitar was well-aware of this time-honoured tradition of the aagamas and has never equated Kamalambal with Tyagarajaswami and has only referred to niilotpalaambaal as his consort.
He also mentions the various names of the temple-city as kamalalaya - the lotus city or the city where Lakshmi worshipped or the home of the kamalalaya tank, haa.taka kshetra - the golden city, camatkaara pura, the resplendent city or the city associated with a king camatkara bhupaala , kaliraahitya nagara - the land free of the afflictions of kali .He also makes a reference to the jananat kaivalya - the legend that says that everyone born in this land of tiruvaarur is liberated by virtue of being born there.
Among the most important group of kritis in the Temple complex on Siva are the kritis on Tyagaraja and the Panchalinga krtis on Valmikeshvara the moolavar and four other lingas in the Temple complex and the kritis on niilotpalaambaal Tyagaraja's consort and the kamalamba navavaranams.Other than that there are other kritis on Vinayaka, Durga and other deities attributable to this temple.The following set of kritis grouped as vibhakti krtis in certain publications and a few other miscellaneous kritis are on Tyagesa.
Tyagaraja Vibhakti Kritis:
1.tyAgarAja pAlayAshu mAm - gauLa - dhyAna krti
2.tyAgarAjO virAjate - aTANA -prathamA vibhakti
3.tyAgarAjam bhajare - yadukulakAmboji - dvitiyA vibhakti
4.tyagArAjena samrakshitoham- sAlakabhairavi - tritiyA vibhakti
5.tyAgarAjaya namaste - begada - caturthi vibhakti
6.tyAgarAjAd anyam - darbar - panchamI vibhakti
7.shrI tyAgarAjasya - rudrapriya - saptami
8.tyAgarAje krtyAkrtyam - sAranga - ashtami
9.vIravasanta tyAgarAja - vIravasantam - mangalam
The other kritis on Tyagaraja are :
10.tyAgarAjam bhajeham - nIlAmbari
11.tyAgarAja mahAdvajAroha - shrI
12.tyAgaraja yogavaibhavam - Anandabhairavi
13.kusumAkara shobhita shrIpura geham - kusumAkara
14.tyAgesam bhajare - rudrapriya
Besides this, MuttuswAmi Dikshitar's kritis on this temple and deity are steeped in the rituals - the elaborate vasantotsava beginning from the dvajasthamba dealt with in detail in the kriti tyAgarAja mahAdvajAroha,the esoteric ajapa dance and the unique cultural assocations of the temple like the shuddha maddalam and the pancha mukha vadhyam.
With Inputs from :
Prasad Kalyanasundaram
B.Ganapati Subramanian
