A pancharatna kriti (Telugu: పంచరత్న కృతి, Sanskrit: पंचरत्न कृति, Tamil: பஞ்சரத்ன கீர்த்தனைகள், Kannada:ಪಂಚರತ್ನ ಕೃತಿ, Malayalam: പഞ്ചരത്ന കൃതി Sanskrit pancha - five & ratna - gem) is one of a set of five kritis (songs) in Carnatic classical music, composed by the 19th century Indian composer, Tyagaraja. Four of the five pancharatna kritis are composed in Telugu language, and one in Sanskrit.
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Tyagaraja lived in the late 18th century and early 19th century in Tiruvayyaru in Tanjore district in Tamil Nadu.[1] His compositions are considered to be some of the finest in Carnatic music. These five kritis are in Telugu set to music in five ragas: Naata, Goula, Arabhi, Varaali and Sri.
The Pancharatna kritis are written in praise of the Hindu deity, Rama. They are set to Adi Tala and each raga represents the mood of the song and the meaning of its lyrics. All the kritis are set in the style of a Ragam Tanam Pallavi (RTP) with the charanas (stanzas) substituting for the kalpana swaras (improvisatory passages) in the pallavi section of the RTP.
The Pancharatna Kritis are:
The melodic forms of these compositions (Naata, Goula, Aarabhi, Varali, Sri) are the five Ghana ragas of Carnatic music also called the ghanapanchaka. These 5 ragas lend themselves for elaborate improvisations.[2] They are so called because they are suited to playing tanam on the veena. Naata and Varaali are the most ancient of the Carnatic ragas and date back to over a thousand years.
A particularly difficult musical challenge has been taken up successfully by Tyagaraja in three of these compositions. The raga Naata has a particularly distinctive use of the dhaivatam note or swara (A in the C scale of western classic notes). Tyagaraja has avoided the 'dhaivatam' completely in the first pancharatna kriti without losing the swarupa, or tune, of the ragam. Similarly gandharam is an accidental note of some beauty in Goula (E in the C scale). Tyagaraja avoids this too, except in one instance, without losing the character of the ragam. Finally, he avoids the accidental dhaivatam in Sri ragam, again a note that is present in some very characteristic sancharas (phrases) of this ragam.
In this song, Tyagaraja praises Ramachandra, one of the incarnations of the main god, Vishnu. He eulogizes Ramachandra as one who is the cause of all bliss in the universe. This is the only pancharatna kriti that was composed in Sanskrit. All the other kritis were composed in Telugu, which was used in the court of the Maratha king Sarabhoji who ruled this area in the 18th century.
In this second pancharatna kriti, Tyagaraja lists all the errors he has committed in his life and asks who but Rama would redeem such a sinner. Among the sins described include: just wandering around as though being satisfied with a full meal, giving sermons to people who are really not interested in listening or who are too incompetent to understand, self-styling oneself as a great person, and mistaking the dross for the real thing. Interestingly he lists four categories of people before whom he has tried to pass off as a great man; the ignorant, the riff-raff, the shudras or low caste folk and women. In a play on words, he bemoans those who crave for wives and progeny.
This pancharathna kriti has been to Arabhi. This kriti has been carved out in a language full of liberty, teasing tone, metaphor and simile without having a surfeit of adjectives - all the while arresting the attention of the singers. In this krithi, Thyagaraja appeared to be telling the greatness of the lord in a lucid manner most enthusiastically. The style adopted in this kriti is very sweet in comparison to the other four.
This is the least sung or played of the five pancharatna kritis, but it is considered by some to be the most haunting and beautiful. It consists of the story of Duryodhana and Dushasana’s analogies to the Ramayana. This composition is rarely taught, and even rarely heard in concerts, owing to a widespread superstition that it leads to a rift between the student and the teacher.
Endaro Mahaanubhaavulu is a song written by Tyagaraja and is believed to be one of the early kritis of Tyagaraja. The song is a dedication to all the great maestros and performers. Tyagaraja enumerates clearly as who he deems as 'Mahanubhavalu' in the kriti itself which list includes saints Narada, Saunaka, among others. In this poem, Tyagaraja describes the greatness of devotees through the ages. The belief in Kerala is that Tyagaraja composed the kriti extempore in his spontaneous joy on hearing the spiritual and musically fantastic singing of Marar. But the version of the Walajapet disciples would have it that the kriti was already composed, and the disciples had learnt it before the arrival of Marar. This according to P. T. Narendra Menon was the legendary meeting between two great musicians. Since the kriti 'Endharo mahanubhavalu' is said to have been composed by Tyagaraja at a young age, it is possible that after hearing Marar sing and in appreciation of the greatness of Marar, Tyagaraja could have asked his disciples to sing the kriti, written by him earlier.
Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna and M. S. Subbulakshmi are among the hundreds of great Indian classical vocalists that have brought these kritis closer to the modern world.