Omanathinkal Kidavo ( ml, ഓമന തിങ്കള്‍ കിടാവോ) is a

lullaby A lullaby (), or cradle song, is a soothing song or piece of music that is usually played for (or sung to) children (for adults see music and sleep). The purposes of lullabies vary. In some societies they are used to pass down cultural knowled ...

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

that was composed by

Irayimman Thampi Iravivarman Thampi, better known as Irayimman Thampi (1782 October 12 - 1856 July 29), was an Indian Carnatic musician, music composer and poet from the Kingdom of Travancore. He was a vocalist in the court of Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma, Swathi ...

on the birth of Maharajah Swathi Thirunal of

Travancore The Kingdom of Travancore ( /ˈtrævənkɔːr/), also known as the Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor, was an Indian kingdom from c. 1729 until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. At ...

. To date, it remains one of the most popular lullabies in the Malayalam language.

History

The lullaby was composed (1813) by Thampi at the request of the then ruler of

, Maharani

Gowri Lakshmi Bayi Maharani Ayilyom Thirunal Gouri Lakshmi Bayi (1791–1815) was the Maharani of the Indian state of Travancore from 1810 till 1813 and Regent from 1813 till her death in 1815 for her son Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma. She was the only Queen of Travan ...

, to put the baby King

Swathi Thirunal ( ml, സ്വാതി തിരുനാള്‍ രാമവർമ്മ) (16 April 1813 – 26 December 1846) was the Maharaja of the Kingdom of Travancore. He is also considered as a brilliant music composer and is credited with over 40 ...

to sleep. His birth was a long-awaited event for the royal family since it faced the threat of being annexed into

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

under the

Doctrine of Lapse The doctrine of lapse was a policy of annexation initiated by the East India Company in the Indian subcontinent about the princely states, and applied until the year 1858, the year after Company rule was succeeded by the British Raj under the ...

for the want of a male heir. The lyrics of the poem reflect this sense of relief when it refers to the baby as a 'treasure from God' and 'the fruit of the tree of fortune'.

Music

Originally composed in the Kurinji

raga A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradit ...

(melodic mode) and set to Adi tala (

metre The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its pref ...

), it is most often performed in the Navaroj or Nilambari ragas. An interesting feature of this lullaby is that it doesn't mention the word sleep in it. The sleep is thus induced by the effect of the raga. The song lends itself well to the expressions of the

navarasa Indian art evolved with an emphasis on inducing special spiritual or philosophical states in the audience, or with representing them symbolically. Rasas in the performing arts The theory of rasas still forms the aesthetic underpinning of al ...

s and is therefore often set to dance.

Lyrics and translation

Lyrics in Malayalam

Transliteration

English translation

The translation by A. H. Fox Strangways in ''The Music of Hindoostan'' is given here: Is this sweet baby The bright crescent's moon, or the charming flower of the lotus, The honey in a flower, or the lustre of the full moon, A pure coral gem, or the pleasant chatter of parrots, A dancing peacock, or a sweet singing bird, A bouncing young deer, or a bright shining swan, A treasure from God, or the pet parrot in the hands of Īśvarī, The tender leaf of the ''kalpa'' tree, or the fruit of my tree of fortune, A golden casket to enclose the jewel of my love, Nectar in my sight, or a light to dispel darkness, The seed of my climbing fame, or a never-fading bright pearl, The brilliance of the sun to dispel all the gloom of misery, The

Vedas upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...

in a casket, or the melodious '' vinā'', The lovely blossom put forth by the stout branch of my tree of enjoyment, A cluster of ''pichāka'' buds, or sugar-candy sweet on the tongue, The fragrance of musk, the best of all good, A breeze laden with the scent of flowers, or the essence of purest gold, A bowl of fresh milk, or of sweet smelling

rose-water Rose water ( fa, گلاب) is a flavoured water made by steeping rose petals in water. It is the Herbal distillate, hydrosol portion of the distillation, distillate of rose petals, a by-product of the production of rose oil for use in perfume. R ...

, The field of all virtue, or an abode of all duty, A cup of thirst-quenching cold water, or a sheltering shade, A never-failing ''mallika'' flower, or my own stored up wealth, The auspicious object of my gaze, or my most precious jewel, A stream of virtuous beauty, or an image of the youthful

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...

, The bright forehead mark of the goddess Lakshmī, Or, by the mercy of

Padmanābha Padmanābha was a 15th-century Indian poet and historian. He has been hailed as the Yug Charan (Charan of the Era) for commemorating Kanhadade's struggle in his famous treatise "Kanhadade Prabandha", written in 1455. This work has been praised a ...

, is it the source of my future happiness, Is it, in this beautiful form, an Avatār of Krishna Himself?

Controversy

The Irayimman Thampi Memorial Trust alleged that the first eight lines of the Oscar nominee Bombay Jayashri's song ' Pi's Lullaby' in the film ''

Life of Pi ''Life of Pi'' is a Canadian philosophical novel by Yann Martel published in 2001. The protagonist is Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel, an Indian boy from Pondicherry, India who explores issues of spirituality and metaphysics from an early age. He s ...

'' were not an original composition but a translation into

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

of the Omanathinkal Kidavo. The song had been nominated in the Original Song category for the Oscar Awards of 2013. Jayashri however maintained that she merely wrote what had come to her heart and denied the allegation against her.

References

{{Malayalam Literature , state=collapsed Indian songs Malayalam-language songs Lullabies Songs about kings Cultural depictions of male royals Malayalam-language poems Kingdom of Travancore