K. Gayatri and Aishwarya Shankar present a unique jamming session

For a lay concert-goer, the Ragam-Tanam-Pallavi segment is intriguing. Unlike other elements of the performance, such as alapana, rendering songs and kalpanaswaras, a pallavi might be difficult to understand and appreciate until it is explained. In a lively jamming session during the ‘Pallavi Darbar’, organised by Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha and Carnatica, singers K. Gayatri and Aishwarya Shankar along with Nishanth Chandran on the violin and Delhi Sairam on the mridangam revealed the methods to master pallavi singing.

The event was dedicated to one of the pallavi veterans, Suguna Purushothaman. Gayatri remembered how hard work and practice enabled her guru to present even the most complex talas on stage with ease. With Nishanth and Sairam usually accompanying her at concerts, Gayatri acknowledged that presenting a pallavi is a team effort, and that their contribution is crucial.

The singers explained that though theoretically Pallavi is pada-laya-vinyasam, it is the imaginative exploration of a meaningful line of sahityam, having a poorvangam (first part) and uttarangam (the second portion) with arudi karvai (the pause between them), and the sahityam falling precisely in ‘pada garbham’ (the part preceding the arudi karvai). The duo then demonstrated a few sarali varisais with tala, off the beat. Sairam joined them to illustrate a similar technique taught during early mridangam lessons.

Varnams in different nadais

Gayatri discussed and demonstrated how to sing varnams in various nadais, such as tisram, khandam, and sankeernam, by singing the Sahana varnam in various nadais. Alankarams in various nadais — tisra matyam and Adi in eight aksharams, khanda triputa and misra rupakam in nine aksharams, and misra jhampa and chatusra matyam in 10 aksharams — can also be practised. The team went on to present the Viribhoni varnam in Bhairavi, set to Adi tala misra nadai and Khanda ata talam in chatusra nadai demonstrating the check points of 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 edams.

Aishwarya threw light on how other types of sahityams such as shlokas, thillanas or Thiruppugazh are presented as pallavis. She sang a few lines from Aditya Hrudayam shloka in Sankeerna jati triputa, ‘Erumayileri’, Thiruppugazh (Mohanam), and a tillana in Sankarabharanam in chatusra jhampa in misra and khanda nadais. To the question that which nadai the mridangam and violin follow when the singer sings with two distinct nadais or talas in each hand, Sairam and Nishanth said that they go with only one tala since it sounds easier on the ear.

Speaking about anga talas, Gayatri explained sarvangam with 72 aksharam, demonstrated the tala and sang a Simhanandana pallavi ‘Narasimha nandanapriya’. She recalled composing pallavis in talas named after her guru with aksharams based on the katapayadi sankhya (alpha-syllabic number system), during the earlier editions of Pallavi Darbar festival.

Gayatri gave a glimpse of marga tala, a set of five talas that form the first of the 108 talas, and Aishwarya demonstrated the pallavi ‘Panchamukha panchanadheesha’ in Purvikalyani beginning with the tala Shatpitaputrikam, followed by the other four talas, all of which have a number of beats divisible by four, to show how the same sahityam can be seamlessly adapted to different talas.

Speaking about tani avartanam for pallavis, Sairam said that the 128-beat Simhanandana tala may be remembered as eight avartanams of Adi talam (in two kalais), and that the kakapadam is a hint to the end. In Navasandhi tala (a set of nine talas ), Gayatri sang a pallavi line in Mattabharanam tala with 32 aksharas to show how the sahityam may be rendered in multiple talas at the same eduppu. The duo spoke about pallavis in 35 talas, and Aishwarya noted that the Sharabhanandana tala pallavi by Suguna Purushothaman finds a place with notation in Thinniyam Venkatrama Iyer’s book Pallavi Ratnamala, and exhibited a pallavi in sankeerna matyam from the book.

Remembering the guru

Gayatri recalled Suguna Purushothaman and senior musician Suguna Varadachari, singing and presenting pallavis in different talas on the stage together. Inspired by one such concert, Gayatri and Aishwarya presented a Ragam-Tanam-Pallavi in Kamboji composed by Suguna Purushothaman set to tisra triputa in khanda nadai (four counts off the beat) and tisra rupakam in misra nadai (laghu on the beat).

The pallavi ‘Isaiyum layamum inaindhaal idhayam inikkume, inbam perugume’ replete with neraval, kalpanaswaras and trikalam, featured a ragamalika portion as well, and a tani avartanam. The vocalists divided the 35 aksharams of the talas into 20 + 15 and vice versa for different nadais and came up with an idea for the ragamalika portion, choosing Natabhairavi, Mayamalavagowla, and Shulini, which are melakarta ragas numbered 20, 15, and 35 respectively.

While Nishanth remarked on how quickly the talas and nadais in the mridangam changed, Sairam explained how he approached the two talas and the landing place.

Overall, the programme was a commendable effort by the four artistes, who demonstrated, what happens on stage when singing intricate pallavis.

The Chennai-based critic writes on Carnatic music.