Sound of Nadaswaram ~ nagumOmu ganalEni nAjAli telisi

Abheri (ābhēri) is a raga in Carnatic music – it is a Janya raga (derived scale), whose Melakarta raga (parent, also known as janaka) is Kharaharapriya, 22nd in the 72 Melakarta raga system. Bhimpalasi (or Bheempalas) and Dhanashree of Hindustani music sounds close to Abheri. 

I know little or nothing of Carnatic music but hear one song in Abheri often, first heard by me in a Mohanlal movie.   Triplicane is an enchanting land – the place of Emperuman Sri Parthasarathi.

 

Yesterday morning my friend Essel (Lakshmi Narasimhan) who is a well known Carnatic music aficionado messaged me that he heard ‘ābhēri’ – being played so well at the temple – this is photo post on that Nadaswara vidwan Nagaraj of Thiruvallikkeni Sri Parthasarathi swami thirukkovil.  

Kalyani is the daughter of a wealthy NRI Ramachandran Menon who resides in the United States. Kalyani, brought up in Madras by her father's friend Purushothaman Kaimal, falls in love with another man and decides to marry against the wishes of her father. When her boyfriend finds out that she will be disinherited, he ditches her at the altar.   

Vishnu steps into the wealth house, later,  it is revealed that Vishnu is actually an escaped convict from jail who is sentenced to death and the   prison warden is in hot chase. Vishnu's past is shown in flashback and he was a freelance photographer who was married to a woman named Revathy, a mute dancer.  On the last night of Vishnu's stay at the house, he asks Jail Warden, is it possible for him to live, as he started to like life again. The warden does not reply to this question, as he is helpless regarding this. After a happy fortnight, Kalyani's father returns to the US. The final scene shows the warden taking Vishnu to jail, where his execution awaits him, with Kalyani watching him leave. This film ends with Vishnu and Kalyani waving goodbye.  

The movie ‘Chitram’ with Mohanlal as Vishnu was a great hit – the  songs were composed by Kannur Rajan and lyrics penned by Shibu Chakravarthy. MG Sreekumar sang most of the songs in the film. Carnatic music singer Neyyattinkara Vasudevan was a guest singer. The classical Krithis like "Nagumo" and "Swaminatha" featured in the film gained  mass popularity.  This particular song ‘Nagumo ganalEni’, a keerthana of Thiyagaraja  was sung by - Neyyattinkara Vasudevan & M. G. Sreekumar, set in raag – Abheri.    

 

nagumOmu ganalEni nAjAli telisi nanu brOvaga rAdA shrI raghuvara nI

nagarAjadhara nIdu paraivAra lella ogibOdhana jEsE vAralu gArE yiTu  

 

O RAma! Supreme among Raghus! Missing your charming smile-lit face, I languish here. Knowing my mental plight, can't you come and protect me?  

 

With passage of time to understand the bakthi rasam of Thigayya, mere knowledge of Telugu may not be enough, and one may need to know Sanskrit too – and for dullwits like me there are knowledgeable friends like Essel and of course Google !!

 
With regards – S Sampathkumar
22.10.2024.