Carnatic Music - Soul Healer - Part 2

Carnatic Music - Soul Healer - Part 2 

 -- Continuation from the previous post - Carnatic Music - Soul Healer - Part 1
https://divinediyaas.blogspot.com/2019/09/carnatic-music-soul-healer-part-1.html

             In South India, Carnatic Music is considered as Sacred and musicians are highly regarded. It is the oldest form of classical music. Samaveda is the origin for Carnatic Music, one can easily find the references of music in sculptures of Indian temples.

               The picture below, depicts one man playing Mridangam and a woman playing a Yazh, a classic string instrument.

              Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni... The sounds of these swaras will be produced from Vocal, instruments and from STONES. Yes, these swaras will be heard from the Musical stone pillars of some of the temples in South India. Stones play music octaves !!

                  Music from stones - it is a wonders of the world. This magic won't happen anywhere outside India. There are ancient traditional temples in South India where the pillars of which has magical power to sound these 7 swaras. Even today, tourist tap on these pillars to hear the musical sounds. South Indian temple architecture, stone antiquities and workmanship has always been a pride for India, in addition to that, these musical stone pillars in the temple added one more feather to the cap. The logic and scientific reason behind the music from these stone pillars are still mystery to the World !!!

          Now, let's see the marvelous ancient south Indian temples with outstanding architecture and their mysterious musical stone pillars. 

Sthanumalayan Shiva Temple - Suchindram, Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu

               This temple is important for devotees of both Lord Shiva and Vishnu. Sthanu - means Lord Shiva, Mal - mean - Lord Vishnu and Aya - means Brahma, one can see trinity of gods here. It is known for its sculptural wealth, which exhibits the Hindu mythologies and stories about this temple. The interior of the Dravidian style temple complex is skillfully carved with many scenes from Ramayana and Mahabharata Epics. 

Temple Gopuram

Intricate carving in the Temple Gopuram

          Musical pillars of Suchindram is famous across the world.  These pillars are situated at Alankara Mandapam (Alankara complex) of this temple, there are four musical pillars carved out of single stone with the height of 18 feet each. The stones of Alankara Mandapam emits sounds of various musical notes when beat accordingly.  

                                 Musical pillars at Alankara Mandapa              

            Apart from seven swara sound from these pillars, it also produces the sound of Tabla and Chenda instruments. This temple is an architectural wonder of the world, music from stone pillars are amusing millions of tourists visiting this place and the technique behind sound from these pillars are still a mystery. Infinite Knowledge and workmanship of Indian architects are admirable and They are the best in the World !!!

                  

 Vijaya Vittala Temple -  Hampi, Karnataka

                       Vijaya Vittala temple in Hampi is one of the ancient temple of South India. The main deity of this temple is Lord Vishnu. It is the epic center of Hampi's attraction, it is also known for its amazing architecture, grand complex, stone chariots, musical pillars and unmatched craftsmanship. It the most magnificent and grandest temple in Hampi. 

              The notable feature of Vittala temple is the Musical pillars. There are 56 musical pillars situated at large Ranga Mandapa (complex) . They are also called as SaraGeMa pillars, which emits Sa Re Ga Ma swara sounds.

                           

                There are seven thin pillars circulate around one thick pillar at the center. Each of these emits sounds of different musical notes. Each thick pillar gives supports to the ceiling of the Mandapa.

Ranga Mandapa with ceiling

             One can actually hear the music notes, if you tap on them gently. These seven minor pillars emit different musical notes , each note from these pillars produce different sounds , they will also change itself as string and wind instrument while being played / tapped. 

                The reason behind rhythmic sounds from these stone pillars are unknown. Many white invaders and Mughals tried to destroy the richness of the temple and they lit fire for the pillars. But it just reduced the decibel of the music, the sound was not stopped. During British reign, they cut two pillars to see what's there inside, but they only saw an empty pipe in that. 

              

            From time to time, this temple has witnessed many invasion of rulers. Today, this temple is also called as 'Ruins of Hampi', though many invaders tried to destroy the glory of this temple, they couldn't succeed it completely, they destroyed some of the structures and wall, but couldn't ruin more due to its hardness and toughness. That is the strength of this magnificent temple, not only the architecture and craftsmanship, the construction quality was also so strong that it is still standing majestically with pride of Mastery of Indians. 

Nellaiappar Kovil - Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu

                  Nellaiappar kovil is one of the most prominent temple located at Tirunelveli city of Tamil Nadu.  Lord Shiva is named as 'Nellaiappar' in this temple, Nellaiappar means 'Protector of Paddy', in Tamil 'Nel' means Paddy. There is mythological story for this temple, which will be covered in my next post.

           It is known for its countless exotic stone carved sculptures, extensive corridors adorned with towering pillars carrying intricate carvings. The thousand pillar hall is famous for its architectural excellence. This temple represents Tamara Sabha (Copper Hall), one of the famous five halls where Lord Shiva has performed the cosmic dance. It is more than 1300 years old with marvelous architecture and mystifying musical stone pillars dedicated to Lord Shiva, the Cosmic Dancer who keeps the universe vibrating with his rhythmic beats.

              The musical pillars in Mani Mandapam which produces musical swaras with various pitches when struck. Mani Mandapam got its name from a hanging bell in the middle of the mandapam, each huge musical pillar was carved out of single rock comprises of small columns around. This mandpam (hall) is placed before the Main deity hall, it was designed in such way that musical prayer will be performed in front of God and for cultural events. 
                These pillars occur in cluster and set manner such that vibrations are generated from the neighboring pillars, when one pillar is tapped. There is a center thick pillar consisting of 48 small thin pillars carved from one piece of stone.  

There are three types of musical pillars.

Type Sruti - can produce musical swaras , basic seven notes

Type Gana - Produce basic tunes that make carnatic Ragas 

Type Laya - Produce Tala (Rythmic beats) when tapped

Also structurally there are two kinds of music pillars,

Tapping Pillars - music is produced from the stone pillar while tapping on it with fingers

Blowing Pillars - Sound is produced by blowing into the holes of the stone pillars

               The musical stone pillars at this temple is unique, because it was designed in the combination of Sruti and Laya types.  Nobody knows the intelligence of how these were designed to resonate musical frequency. 

Meenakshi Amman Temple - Madurai, Tamil Nadu

                Madurai Meenakshi Amman temple is considered as one of the Wonders of the World, for its gigantic tall Gopuram (Tower), rich sculptures, high walls, artistic ceiling and tales embedded with each of them. There are four entrances for this temple facing four directions , the colorful intricates on the outer Gopurams never failed to impress the first time visitors. 

             It is a vibrant and rich beauty of Dravidian style architecture, with an estimate of around 33,000 sculptures in this temple.

             It takes one separate post to write about the glory of this temple. So, now coming to the topic of musical pillars, there are five musical pillars just outside the hall of 1000 pillars. There is grand hall named as 'Hall of 1000 pillars' (Aayiram Kaal Mandapam in Tamil), it actually contains 985 sculpted pillars.

                These pillars were arranged brilliantly that from whatever angle one looks from within, the pillars looks in rows and rows. 

                 The pillars at the beginning and at the end of the rows are the bigger ones with small pillars surrounding them and the one at the bottom could also be rolled. These are musical stone pillars, which produce musical notes while tapped. It is not allowed to tap on these pillars now, in order to preserve them.

Musical pillar at Meenakshi Amman Temple

Alwar Tirunagiri Temple -  Thoothukudi district, Tamil Nadu

               It is famous Vishnu temple in Tamil Nadu. It was flourished during Pandya dynasty. The main attraction of this temple is its musical pillars, here both tapping and blowing pillars are found. 

            The stone Nagaswaram (Double Reed wind instrument) is one of the interesting feature of this temple. There are many other temples in South India, where you find musical pillars.

            The heritage sites are the excellent examples to show infinite knowledge of Indian, artisans, quality and workmanship. Sculptures of many musicians and music instruments are found on the walls of temples, which shows the wealth of carnatic music from ancient times.

        These striking temples and stupendous architecture evinces that the Carnatic Music was considered highly divine and integral part of our culture. 

---------To be continued in Part 3.

- Aarthi Thiyagarajan

Carnatic Music - Soul healer - Part 1

Carnatic Music - Soul healer - Part 1

            Carnatic Music is a Vocal Music, originated from Devas (Gods), the Mother of all Music. It is believed that Samaveda has laid foundation for Carnatic Music, consisting of hymns from Rig veda. This Classical music is also refered in various Epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata.  It was traditionally taught in Gurukula System, where the student lives with Guru (Teacher) and learn the education. In those ancient days, education includes, Martial Arts, Music, Dance, Weapon arts, Vedas, Morals, Ethics, Traditions, State craft, Governance and much more. In modern times, students visit Gurus daily or weekly to learn Music. 
                        
             In Hinduism, Goddess Saraswati is considered as God of Music, Fine arts, Wisdom and Education. Every day, She will be worshiped before learning and performing. She holds Veena, the classic traditional string instrument in one hand and sacred sanskrit texts in other hand. Saraswati Veena is mainly played in Carnatic Music. 'Carna' means Ear / auditory sense,  'atkam' means beauty, delight to your ears
               

                                                         

            Carnatic music is widely spread in Southern parts of India. Starting from young age, children will peruse this Carnatic music / Karnatak Sangeeth. Even today, we can see little kids learning carnatic music during early morning hours especially in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, Regular morning and evening practice is must for the students. It is a complex music system, such that it takes about 40 years to master this carnatic music. 

         The basics of the Carnatic Music revolves around seven swaras (Notes) Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni. There are different elements in carnatic music , such as 

Sruti - refers to Musical Pitch
Swara - type of Musical sound, that is single note
Raga - set of rules for building a melody, melodic formula 
Tala - fixed time cycle / Rhythmic Cycle
Gamaka - Ornamentation 

             It is based upon complex system of Raga and Tala, the two fundamental elements of Carnatic Music. Raga is basically a melodic frame work and Tala is a Rhythmic time cycle and there are seven notes / Swaras in the scale (Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni). Swara is derived from the sanskrit word 'Svar', which means 'to sound'. In this music system, melody and note sequence is given more importance, that is only single note / mode is sung at a time, where as in the western music different instruments sounding different notes sung at the same time, creating a different feel. 
               This classical music is mode based, there is no special mood to a scale in western music.  The ancient sanskrit texts, Natya Shastra says that In Indian classical music there are 22 Srutis (Musical Pitch) or micro intervals of musical tone and seven swaras.

           There are different and infinite types of Raga's in classical music, each Raga is associated with particular time of the day, invokes specific emotions, mood, and it induces specific sense in  humans. For example, some Raga induces sleep, some Raga makes us to cry, some stirs up old memories. There are sensory aspects to the Raga that makes us, to feel. The gamakas in the notes play a huge role in bringing out the mood of the raga, Indian gamakas (Ornamentation) can never be played on a even pitch keyboard with precise accuracy. There are certain ragas which uses sharp notes than western.

               Each sound, the words we speak, singing, laughing, shouting has different vibration and frequency. The frequency relates to one's mind and brain activity. While singing, Swaras acts as auditary stimulus to the brain and activates nerve centers. 

             In South India, early in the morning, Sri Venkateshwara Suprabatham song by Smt M.S Subbulakshmi will be played at temples and at homes. This music is played to wake up Gods during Brahma Muhurtam time. 

To know more about Brahma Muhurta, Reach to : http://divinediyaas.blogspot.com/2019/08/early-morning-brahma-muhurta.html

       It creates a heavenly feeling while listening to this song. The magic of the song is in the combination of singer's voice, Tune and the sanskrit hyms, it makes us to feel fresh, builds confidence, brain works best during this early morning hours. 

          For auspicious ceremonies and festivals 'Mangala Vadhyam' will be played, 'Mangala - means auspicious , vadhyam - means instrument. 

        Nagaswaram, is one of the most ancient , auspicious and unique instrument of Tamil Nadu. This instrument is a rare combination of music and divinity,  playing Nagaswaram (Mangala Vadhyam) is must for all ceremonies, festivals, Hindu marriages, temple rituals and many, without this music the celebration will be incomplete. This instrument is also played along with a pair of drums called as 'Thavil'.

         Nagaswaram is a classic wind instrument, made of wood. This is the world's most loudest non - brass acoustic instrument. Specific type of wood is used for making this instrument, the age of the wood should be more and old wood is considered as best for making it. 

      Below: Managala Vadhyam played during Hindu Marriage ceremony. It sounds divine. 

       

           There are certain type of ragas played in this instrument according to the time of the day in the temples. Usually Villagers and local people doesn't look at the clocks, they hear the songs and know the time. 

From 4 A.M to Sun Rise - Bhupalam, Bhauli, Malayamarutham, Valaji, Nadanamakriya,  Mayamalavagoula Ragas

From Sunrise - 8 A.M - Bilahari, Kedaram, Jaganmohini, Gaulipantu, Suddha Dhanyasi Ragas 

From 8 A.M to 10 A.M - Dhanyasi, Saveri, Asaveri, Suddha Saveri, Suddha Bangala, Arabhi, Devagandhari, Abhogi, Devamanohari Ragas

From 10 A.M to 12 noon - Sriragan, Darbari, Brindavana sarangi, Manirangu, Madhayamavathi Ragas

From  4 P.M to Sunset - Mandari, Kalyani, Saraswati, Purya Kalyani, Vasanta Ragas

From Sunset to 8 P. M - Sankarabaranam, Aanandabhairavi, Kaanada, Sama, Bhairavi, Todi, Sankarabharanam, Hamsadhwani, Kedaragowla, Shanmukapriya Ragas

         Also at temples, for each activity different ragas are played, starting from waking up the deities - Bhoopalam, Bowli Ragas, while Naivedhyam (Food offering to God) is bought - Taligai Mallari Raga, while taking Arati for the Gods, while the deities start for procession  - Purapattu Mallari Raga etc. This was the tradition followed and it still in practice in South Indian temples, even today. The Vedic Hymns and slokas chanted by priests, music from the classical instruments and single minded focus of devotees creates a divine energy and positive vibe in us and that's the reason why our ancestors insisted us to go to temple everyday. To feel positivity both in body and mind.  

       

            These carnatic Ragas played in the classical instruments creates a deep bond at the subconscious level of the brain. Listening to Indian carnatic music in classical instruments emits healing frequencies and vibrations, that activates our cells and increases brain functions. Each of our cells adopt to certain frequencies that they are exposed to and vibrations activate our cells and open up the space for healing.

            Every cell in our body will be resonating to this music, Carnatic Music is having such power for that. This divine music is born out of spirituality, without utmost concentration, devotion and commitment, one can not complete learning this music. It balances the left and right part of the brain. The gaps created between two swaras (notes) creates a space for healing.

For Example,

Raga Hamasadhvani  - Creates intellectual stability. 

                                      In this raga, the absence of two swaras 'Ma' and 'Dha' creates two vacuum areas for healing. 'Ma' vibrates in heart chakra creates love emotion, 'Dha' induces power. The absence of 'Ma' detach from love, relationships and so gives emotional stability. The absence of 'Dha' gives capacity to detach from the powers and thus makes us to feel grounded and emotionally stable. 

Kedar, Kaanda Ragas creates relaxation in our mind and listening to these ragas are beneficial for headaches.

          

Darbari Raga - is Sedative when heard in night. 

Sahana Raga - Singing / listening to this raga controls anger and brings down the violence within oneself. 

             Ragas / melody tine emits certain type of frequency which helps to connect with the brain frequency. Simple iterative Rythmic tunes like Bhajans are capable of relaxation and resonates in synch with the alpha waves of the brain.  

Asavari Raga - When heard early in the morning, it builds confidence 

Raga Hindolo  - helps in sharpening the memory and improves the concentration.

          So, when the carnatic Music emits certain frequencies it influences our mind and body. Certain type of melodic ragas create different emotions, some music triggers past memories, some will make us cry, some music will soothe anger and some will heal. It is also said that each raga related to particular nerves in the human body, singing or performing a raga with purity in pitch and tala, gives the performer the complete control on the nerve. 

       

                   Music sound is something that we can hear with our ears. It's actually wave of energy that vibrates air molecules that can totally change our neurological activity in our brain. Sound frequency and vibration helps in healing emotionally, physically, mentally and Spiritually. 

       For centuries, Carnatic Music was only orally transmitted without being written down. 

            
          Our ancestors knew the power of Music. Music is a Sound, Sound is Vibration, Vibration cause everything exist. Music can heal, affect the mood and alter your mind frequencies. Our ancestors believed that Music had the power to harmonize one's soul which was not achieved through traditional medicines. In Ancient China, one of the earliest uses of Music was 'To Heal', the Chinese character for medicine is actually derived from the character 'Music'

          In today's world, Music is used in treatments as 'Music Therapy'. As Music stimulates human's brain, it is used to cure ADHD in kids, to improve sleep, to increase focus, memory power, patience and much more. 

       

                Sound energy and sound power is much greater than any other power in the world. The greatest Scientist, Nikola Tesla once said, " If you want to find the secrets of the Universe, think in terms of Energy, Frequency and Vibration" .  OM - the celestial sound, the sound that controls the whole universe, when it ends with Mmmmmm sound , it will also match with the sruti (Pitch). The cosmic flow of sound (Shabda in Sanskrit) is hidden in Carnatic Music, it was well recognized by Ancient Indian sages and thus created several music patterns for chanting Vedic Hymns to achieve the spiritual effect. 

                   The universe is responding to the vibrational attitude that we are emitting. 

         

                                                  ------ To be continued in Part 2

- Aarthi Thiyagarajan