Music from the Royal Kuthiramalika Palace

The Kuthiramalika Palace

The invitation  for the Swathi Sangeethotsav 2015  from Prince Rama Varma stared at me from my laptop,  and I tried brushing it off like I do with all the normal invites which needs me to stroll off the beaten track. But a voice quipped.. "Don’t you want to go?" … again I brushed it away.. Trivandrum by train alone..to me it meant rats, running over me, roaches scurrying, and smelly toilets..well not my cuppatea.    It persisted.. "I bet you do".. No I don’t..The voice taunted me..Oh well I would love to go, but the reunion round the corner,(I was the team leader for the school reunion which was scheduled  the very next week) my team would not hear of it. It would sound insane.. When I used to see the travelogue..”Ten things to do before you die”.. I would tell myself..what would it be? Well prioritizing is a hard task, but one thing I wanted to do was..attend Prince Varma’s concert in the 200 year old Kuthiramalika palace..But now with the invite staring at me from my laptop in Kannur, I was not sure... Then I found a personal note from the Prince himself.. “Watch me on home turf.”

 I put the case up with my hubby,.one more of my idiosyncrasies, he had better things to deal with or so he thinks..well, no help there. I picked up the phone and rung Dr Geetha, who spares two days  a year for the Swathi Festival., and another two days for the Navarathri fest. I asked her to book the tickets for me, a day later, . She came home to hand over the ticket to me. When asked about the fest she said that once you go, nothing can pull you back from attending it the next year. She and Dr. Kumudham, who is the Prince’s aunt, would go the previous day so that they could hear  Sanjay Subrahmanyam, a popular Carnatic vocalist who always kick starts the fest.

That done, I felt the ethereal world of Mahraj Swathithirunal and his beautiful compositions  revolving around me..I felt as if I was in the middle of the Milky way..  the  twinkling stars being his compositions.  In my mind’s eye, the oil lamps flickered in the Kuthiramalika palace and the old bearded man was  refilling the lamps with a air of accustomed familiarity.. The school reunion and it’s demands were dealt with, with a spring in my step and of course Aliveni( one of my top fav Swathi compositions) on my lips. Would he(Rama Varma) sing Aliveni? should I send him a request? Nope… shall wait and see.

A brief sketch on the fest.  The Swathithirunal Sangeethotsav  is a music fest being conducted by the  Travancore Trust, in the courtyard of the Kuthiramalika palace, known as Mansion of Horses,  built by Swathithirunal himself. The name Kuthiramalika stems from the  one hundred and twenty two carved horses which serve as brackets supporting the roof.  The fest is not

ticketed. The scion of the Travancore Royal family, Prince Rama Varma, a musician himself, is on the helm now, and he makes sure that rare compositions are unearthed and sung. It starts on the first week of January, an auspicious start for a new  year.

Now ,about the Maharaj himself…...Long Long ago, that is, two hundred and two yrs back,  he was born to Queen Gowri  Lakshmi   and Raj Raja Varma of Changanasseri  Palace.  He was born  when the star sign swathi was ruling.. hence Swathi Thirunal..His coronation happened, when   he was already reigning supreme, in his mother’s womb. Hence was endowed with  the title Garbha Sreeman.  The famous lullaby,” omana thingal kidavoo” was composed for the newborn  by Iriyamman thampi who was a close relative.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPOLSSOfUGY 

 He reigned under the regency of first his mother and then his aunt Gowri Parvathy Bayi. When he turned sixteen , he  ruled with full powers till his death in 1846..a short span of thirty three years. But much water did gush under the bridge during his rule, as it was an eventful  thirty six years.  I felt I should write a bit about his musical prowess, but then what scrolled before me swept me off my feet..

Two hundred years back,  events were chronicled with diligence by the British, so a clear picture of the life of Maharaj is left  on a platter. Even then, some claim that the Maharaj never existed!!  He was born into a turbulent scenario, the British leaving no stone unturned  to find ways and means to annexe the state.

 "A brilliant lad" ..is what historians make of him..and his family took keen interest in his studies which he lapped up with  ease..  He had an affinity for languages and that can be seen in his  multi lingual compositions. Col Welsh, on a visit to the palace, was dumbfounded when he came face to face with the brilliant prowess this lad had.  The intricacies of geometry was found in our Vedas..he informed Col Welsh and stated that the word Geometry came from the Sanskrit word Jyamithi, along with hexagon,  heptagon, etc. Col Welsh stated that this boy would be one of the best sovereigns of the finest state in India.

Wiki states that he had a well defined code of laws,  introduced English education,  installed the first Govt Printing Press,  the first manuscript library, and his keen interest in the stars and the sun and it’s ways made him start the first observatory.

Recently, I had read a post about Mulakkaram or breast tax. A tax exhorted  by the Travancore Rulers, from Dalit  ladies who chose to cover their breasts. I wondered if Swathi thirunal  had done anything about it, and  gingerly  googled… ahhh….relieved…yes,  he had.  A  reformist , Ayya Vaikundar,  had put forth pleas and agitations, for equal rights.( and it is believed that  later, Maharaj himself became his follower),  he had  to repeal the  act and several others which were forced upon the Dalits. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swathi_Thirunal_Rama_Varma

His keen passion in the arts has left us a treasure chest of compositions for every Malayali to flaunt..but how many of us know him?.  Just a glance at the other great musicians , be it Carnatic or Hindustani,  stick to their chosen genre, language, and  chosen deity on whom their compositions revolve.  I am tempted to draw columns , as in school, and write down  a comparitive study between the composers of yore.  The compositions of olden time musicians are propagated  through  their disciples or shishya parampara.  But Swathi thirunnal Maharaj was a ruling King, and so we can very well imagine  the oppressive time he would have had, as Prince Varma, his worthy descendant puts it,” he was born at a wrong time and place”.  Being a ruling King, he  was able to import musicians from all over India…. Not only did he listen to them, he himself composed music in Sanskrit, Telugu, Malayalam, Mani pravalam,braj bhasha and Kannada.   He composed Swarajathis, Jathiswarams, Varnams, Thana varnams, Keerthanams, Ragamalikas, Thillanas, Padams, and Javalis in the Carnatic style, and,  Dhrupads, Khayals, thumris, Bhajans,  Horis, Tappas, and Taranas in Hindustani style.

Cannot help pondering on how talents are bestowed on mankind, how is t doled out and what would be the criteria? Previous karma?  

Have strayed from music, but you have to know the man… 

So in the present..8.30 p.m and I boarded  the train..a three tier compartment,  the count down had started. Immediately, the girl next to me wanted to go to sleep, that means I have to lie down too..I thought of the  unfortunate ones who are stuck in bed for various reasons, and stopped cribbing to myself….. the train chugged me to sleep.  Nights  are not still in trains… snores of varied tones and  decibels and durations rent the air. Mobile ring tones pierced the  snores and grunts.. hungry babies cried for the breast, and old ladies were assisted to the loo… cockroaches heard my prayers and hid themselves for a night…no two nights.. rats were not to be seen, guess they needed  a lil bit of peace and quiet .

It was Monday, so chances of me going for a tour of the palace did not materialize as it was closed on Mondays.

 So at the venue by six and the first three rows were all taken..I couldn't believe I was there.  The evening sun had mellowed and the golden rays  splashed benevolently on the  majestic  laterite structure.  The lamps were being lit and my favorite character, the old man with the beard, moved slowly from one lamp to the other. The coconut  leaf streamers were  dancing in the slight breeze..mandha maruthann ( lazy breeze) as Swathitirunal  Mharaj  puts it. the wide corridors reminded me of Nagaavalli in the movie Manichitrathazhu..the likes of her must have danced their way through these very corridors. 

I watched the crowd, an eclectic blend of  The East and the West, the North and the South. Most of them were happily clicking pictures. Some were busy catching up on the year gone by, some makiing new acquaintances, some waiting with an air of always have been here look, some scanning  for the people who were missing this year, maybe..  I asked somebody whether it was alright to take pictures..pat came the reply.”with Varmaji, anything is okay, no restrictions” in this age of cut throat  copyright issues, and rules and norms, Prince Varma’s music and his lessons and discourses all come right through to you..like the  river..Oh no!! look at the Cauvery issue..I think it is like mandha maruthan ( soft breeze) again..not bargained..and  not curtailed..

An air of apprehension and impatience hung in the air..There he is, Ashwathi Thirunal Rama Varma,  a direct descendant of The Maharaja.. a worthy descendant or  is  he the Maharaja himself..reborn? to spread the work he had started and left midway? Simple and unassuming he greets us with folded hands and we relaxed and then it was magic….. His devoted student Amrutha Venkatesh, follows his footsteps and gave the Prince and his accompanists a befitting introduction, with splashes of humor strewn throughout.. He started with a pada varnam in Kamas..Enchantment.  a delight , a play of swaraksharas, where the note and the syllable in the sahithya  coincides. There he is…a bit about the song.. A beautiful metaphor of the chakora bird lamenting for the moon, and leaves the question..what good does a  mere reflection of the moon in a bejewelled mirror do for the bird?    Poets from the renowned Kalidasa  to the contemporary poets use this  to depict someone yearning for something which cannot be attained.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJodQUD_Zyo

The melodious strains offering us a journey to heaven…a free ride..in a golden chariot..soaring high..away from the big bad world..the chains of responsibilities let go off me for a song..with conditions apply, like Cinderella…

The team on stage.. all great artists in their own right.. brilliant and vibrant.. giving, taking and sharing..The rapport the Prince shares with his accompanists on stage,you cannot see elsewhere.

There comes Aliveni.

.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtLXsK9ttU8

All good things must come to an end..and my train is waiting… a pic with the Prince and off to the station. I bid a mental goodbye to the old man who was nowhere to be seen..  There was time to grab dinner from the railway refreshment stall..oily vadas, fried hours earlier, soggy and soaked in oil, and dosas which resembled a cosy quilt were our only options. I settled for tea and a rustic cake which I dipped in the hot tea. Was certainly not in a mood to complain..with my heart intoxicated and dull from the mandha maruthan… hunger pangs lost its persuasiveness and knew it did not stand a chance to win today. The station literally stank.. Swachh Bharath campaigns has not made the necessary impact.  The capital city ..where tourists .would step down  from the train to God’s own country..would have to step into the city with  their noses covered and breath held tight. The pilgrims to the sacred Shabarimala Shrine were  sleeping on the bare platform, waiting for the connecting trains, and we groped our way through them, careful not to step on them. The train arrived and our seat was near the end ..means near the stink.. How was I to bear this?.. A voice quipped in…” Switch tracks”… Lo and behold.. Aliveni..endhu cheyvu.. andharyanini maanini… no stink, no snores, no grunts.. Bliss.