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Venkatamakhin
Venkatamakhin (; ) or Venkatamakhi, was an Indian poet, musician, and musicologist of Carnatic music. He is renowned for his '' Chaturdandiprakashika'' in which he explicates the melakarta system of classifying ragas. Venkatamakhin composed geethams and prabandhas, as well as 24 ashtapadis in praise of Lord Thyagaraja of Tiruvarur. Biography Venkatamakhin or Venkateswara Dikshita was the son of the musician, scholar, and priest, Govinda Dikshita, a Kannada Brahmin from Honnali near Shivamogga, who was also a minister of Raghunatha Nayak of Thanjavur. He was instructed in the veena by his father and his brother, Yagnanarayan. He was later schooled in the scholarly aspects of classical music by Tanappacharya. Venkatamakhin was also versed in Sanskrit and equipped with knowledge in varied subjects such as astrology, logic, philosophy, and alankara. Like his father, Venkatamakhin served as a minister to Raghunatha Nayak's successor, Vijayaraghava Nayak (). Seeing as to how ther ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melakarta (asampurna Scheme)
The Asampurna Melakarta (transliterated as Asaṃpūrṇa Mēḷakarta) scheme is the system of 72 ragas (musical scales) originally proposed in the 17th century by Venkatamakhin in his Chaturdanda Prakasikha.Shree Muthuswami Dikshitar Keerthanaigal, by A Sundaram Iyer, Music Book Publishers, Chennai This proposal used scales with notes that do not conform to the sampurna raga system. Skipped notes or repeated notes, etc., were used in some of the ragas. Some of the ragas of any ''Melakarta'' system will use ''Vivadi'' swaras (discordant notes). The original system is supposed to avoid such ill-effects and was followed by the Muthuswami Dikshitar school. The naming of the original system followed Katapayadi system. Muthuswami Dikshitar's compositions use the name of these ragas in the lyrics of the songs and is still referred to by those names even in radio / TV announcements of these songs. Later Govindacharya came up with a more mathematical and regular system of 72 ragas, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chaturdandiprakashika
The ''Chaturdandiprakashika'' (; "The Illuminator of the Four Pillars of Music") is a Sanskrit treatise written by the musicologist Venkatamakhin in the mid-17th century. It introduced a theoretical melakarta system to classify and organise ragas in the Carnatic music tradition of India. In the 20th-century, this system would form the basis of the thaat system that is used in Hindustani classical music today. Some portions of the ''Chaturdandiprakashika'' are now lost. Description In Carnatic music, a mela is a scale of svaras in ascending order in a melodic unit forms the basis and gives birth to ragas. While the concept of melas is said to have been introduced by Vidyaranya in the 14th century, and a number of other musicologists before Venkatamakhin had expounded on the subject, there was a lack of a standard work that systematically classified the ragas of classical music. Vijayaraghava Nayak () commissioned Venkatamakhin to prepare such a treatise which led to the creation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melakarta
Mēḷakartā is a collection of fundamental musical scales ( ragas) in Carnatic music (South Indian classical music). ''Mēḷakartā'' ragas are parent ragas (hence known as ''janaka'' ragas) from which other ragas may be generated. A ''melakarta'' raga is sometimes referred as ''mela'', ''karta'' or ''sampurna'' as well, though the latter term is inaccurate, as a ''sampurna'' raga need not be a ''melakarta'' (take the raga ''Bhairavi,'' for example). In Hindustani music the ''thaat'' is equivalent of ''Melakartā''. There are 10 ''thaats'' in Hindustani music, though the commonly accepted ''melakarta'' scheme has 72 ragas. Rules for ''Mēḷakarta'' ragas Ragas must contain the following characteristics to be considered ''Melakarta''. *They are ''sampurna ragas'' – they contain all seven ''swaras'' (notes) of the octave in both ascending and descending scale''Ragas in Carnatic music'' by Dr. S. Bhagyalekshmy, Pub. 1990, CBH Publications''A practical course in Carnatic musi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chaturdandi Prakasika
The ''Chaturdandiprakashika'' (; "The Illuminator of the Four Pillars of Music") is a Sanskrit treatise written by the musicologist Venkatamakhin in the mid-17th century. It introduced a theoretical melakarta system to classify and organise ragas in the Carnatic music tradition of India. In the 20th-century, this system would form the basis of the thaat system that is used in Hindustani classical music today. Some portions of the ''Chaturdandiprakashika'' are now lost. Description In Carnatic music, a mela is a scale of svaras in ascending order in a melodic unit forms the basis and gives birth to ragas. While the concept of melas is said to have been introduced by Vidyaranya in the 14th century, and a number of other musicologists before Venkatamakhin had expounded on the subject, there was a lack of a standard work that systematically classified the ragas of classical music. Vijayaraghava Nayak () commissioned Venkatamakhin to prepare such a treatise which led to the crea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carnatic Music
Carnatic music, known as or in the Dravidian languages, South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and Sri Lanka. It is one of two main subgenres of Indian classical music that evolved from ancient Hindu Texts and traditions, particularly the Samaveda. The other subgenre being Hindustani music, which emerged as a distinct form because of Persian or Islamic influences from Northern India. The main emphasis in Carnatic music is on vocal music; most compositions are written to be sung, and even when played on instruments, they are meant to be performed in ''gāyaki'' (singing) style. Although there are stylistic differences, the basic elements of (the relative musical pitch), (the musical sound of a single note), (the mode or melodic formulæ), and (the rhythmic cycles) form the foundation of improvisation and composition in both Carnati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Govinda Dikshita
Govinda Dikshita (Dikshitar) was the minister of three successive Nayaks of Thanjavur, who ruled the region of Thanjavur in South India between the 16th and 17th centuries CE. About the scholar Govinda Dikshita was a scholar, philosopher, statesman and musicologist. He was a Kannadiga (native Kannada language speaker) belonging to the Hoysala Karnataka Brahmin community, although he served as a minister in the region of Thanjavur under Achuthappa Nayak and Raghunatha Nayak. He lived in a palatial house in Patteeswaram, the remnants of which are believed to exist. This versatile genius and erudite scholar composed Arivamsa Saracharitram and Sangitha Sudhanidhi(a treatise on music). He is credited with the construction and repair of the Amman shrine of Thenupuriswarar Temple at Patteeswaram. The sculpture of Dikshita and his wife, holding their hands in adoration, are found in the ''mandap'' in front of the Amman shrine. Legend associates him with Tirunageswaram, a village l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swara
Svara or swara (Devanagari: स्वर, generally pronounced as ''swar'') is a Sanskrit word that connotes simultaneously a breath, a vowel, the sound of a musical note corresponding to its name, and the successive steps of the octave or ''saptaka''. More comprehensively, it is the ancient Indian concept about the complete dimension of musical pitch. Most of the time a ''svara'' is identified as both musical note and tone, but a tone is a precise substitute for sur, related to tunefulness. Traditionally, Indians have just seven ''svara''s/notes with short names, e.g. saa, re/ri, ga, ma, pa, dha, ni which Indian musicians collectively designate as ''saptak'' or ''saptaka''. It is one of the reasons why ''svara'' is considered a symbolic expression for the number seven. Origins and history Etymology The word ''swara'' or ''svara'' (Sanskrit: स्वर) is derived from the root ''svr'' which means "to sound". To be precise, the ''svara'' is defined in the Sanskrit ''nirukt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vijayaraghava Nayak
Vijaya Raghava Nayak (also Vijayarāghava Nāyaka, 1590s-1673) was the fourth and last king of Sevappa Nayak's line. He ruled from 1634 to 1673. In 1673, Vijaya Raghava Nayak was defeated in battle by the Madurai Nayak king Chokkanatha Nayak who captured and beheaded him. Personal life Vijaya Raghava Nayak was the eldest son of Raghunatha Nayak. He held the titles "Mannaru Dasa" and "Sahitya Raya". He ascended the throne in 1634 on the death of his father and predecessor. Patronage of art and music Like his father Raghunatha Nayak, Vijaya Raghava Nayak was also a patron of art and music. He composed the Telugu poems ''Raghunāthābhyudayam'' and ''Raghunāthanāyakabhyudayamu'' in praise of his father.''Raghunāthanāyakābhyudayamu and Raghunāthābhyudayamu'', ed. by N. Venkataramanayya and M. Somasekhara Sarma, Madras: Government Oriental Series, 49/Tanjore Saraswathi Mahal Series, 32 (Madras, 1951); abridged in Vijayarāghava Nāyaka of Tanjore, 'Raghunāthābhyudayam', in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late Bronze Age. Sanskrit is the sacred language of Hinduism, the language of classical Hindu philosophy, and of historical texts of Buddhism and Jainism. It was a link language in ancient and medieval South Asia, and upon transmission of Hindu and Buddhist culture to Southeast Asia, East Asia and Central Asia in the early medieval era, it became a language of religion and high culture, and of the political elites in some of these regions. As a result, Sanskrit had a lasting impact on the languages of South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia, especially in their formal and learned vocabularies. Sanskrit generally connotes several Old Indo-Aryan language varieties. The most archaic of these is the Vedic Sanskrit found in the Rig Veda, a colle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raghunatha Nayak
Raghunatha Nayak was the most powerful king of the Thanjavur Nayak Dynasty. He was the third ruler of Thanjavur, southern India, from the Nayak dynasty. He ruled from 1600 to 1634 and is noted for the attainments of Thanjavur in literature, art, and Carnatic music. Early life Raghunatha Nayak was the eldest son of Achuthappa Nayak and was born after intense penance by his father. The '' Raghunathabhyudayam'' and ''Sahityanatyakara'' give a detailed account of his childhood. As a boy, Raghunatha learned the shastras, the art of warfare and administration. He had multiple queens, chiefly Kalavati referred to in the ''Raghunathabhyudayam'' as Pattampurani. Ramabhadramba, who wrote a history of the Thanjavur Nayak dynasty, was one of his concubines. In his early days, Raghunatha won acclaim fighting the Golconda Sultanate. He ascended the throne in 1600, ruled with his father from 1600 to 1614, and as sole monarch from 1614 to 1634. Campaigns and wars In 1614, Sriranga II, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
