Musical Art Form In Manimegalai

Anusowmyan · Feb 4, 2019

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MANIMEGALAI is an Epic that encompasses within itself many aspects of human life. It is a work that needs no bigger introduction. The title itself speaks volumes of literary merits. Every language has its own beauty. In Tamil literature, the Sangam age is considered or termed as GOLDEN PERIOD which in itself holds a treasure trove of writings.

One such magnum opus of that period of time is MANIMEGALAI. The Tamil language is at its best in every form ranging from style (Eliya nadai) Grammar (Ilakkanam) to thematic narration (Karutthaazham) in this Epic. The message for the human race is abundant and this stands as a testimony for the same. For a fulfilled life, art for life’s sake is necessary and it is clearly depicted in this Epic. There are many art forms, but universal and ancient is Music. Music is a melodious and a sweet sound, but not of harsh noise. Music is entitled to relax humans and energise them mentally. It brings the positive energy there by helps the humans to sustain the pressure of the life. Music is an art form whose medium is sound. Common elements of music are pitch (which governs melody and harmony), rhythm (and its associated concepts tempo, meter, and articulation), dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture.

In India, music has always remained as a principle means of entertainment. Music is considered to be the queen of all arts and is perceived as a harbinger of peace and tranquility. Music of India is one of the oldest unbroken musical traditions in the world. It is said that the origin of this system go back to the Vedas (ancient scripts of the Hindus) and it traces its origin to the very first sound created on the earth. The CHANTS OF VEDAS followed this foremost creation of sound and are believed to be the first music of India.

The earliest written reference of Indian music is found in the great scholar and sage BHARATA’S illustrious book NATYA SHASTRA, a landmark in the written history of fine arts including music. The history of Indian music can be trace back to many centuries. Traditionally, music was a means of communicating prayers for religious purposes and strictly in praise of God and offered to the Lord Only in Temples. Slokas& Bhajans were the initial roots to the traditional musical form. The practice of singing based on notes was popular even from the vedic times where the hymns in SAMA VEDA, a sacred text, were sung as SAMAGANA and not chanted. Music be in any form or style the ultimate effects are soothing, refreshing & rejuvenating. Listening to Music has got many benefits and its a healer of many ailments. Importance of Music and its various forms were put forth in these verses of Manimegalai.

“Vetthiyal podhuviyal endriru thiratthu

Kootthum paattum thookkum thunivum

Panni yaazhk karanamum paadaip paadalum

Thannumaik karuviyum thaazh theenkuzhalum”

The two major forms of Music are Vetthiyal and podhuviyal. The former is sung before the King and the latter is before the general public.

Manimegalai is a poem in 30 cantos written by Koola vanigan Seetthalaich chaatthanaar about the girl child of Madhavi and Kovalan. Many poems of the classical Sangam literature were set to music. Poems are always associated with music because of its rendition style. There are various references to this ancient musical tradition found in the ancient Sangam books such as Ettuthokai and Pattupattu. Sangam literature has five division based on landscapes viz., Kurinji, Marudham, Mullai, Neithal and Paalai.

These five landscapes are associated with a particular mood of the poem and to give colour to these moods, each had a musical mood (pann), a melodic instrument (yaazh) and a percussion instrument (parai). Manimegalai comes under the neithal thinai, which dealt with the incidents around the seashore and the theme of elopement, had the musical mood of sevvazhi, Vilari yaazh as the musical instrument and the navayapambai for the percussion.

The origin of sound and music as stated in Manimegalai :

“kombartth thumbi kuzhalisai kattap

Pongar vandinam nalliyazh cheyya

Varikkuyil paada maamayil aadum

Virapoom pandhar. . . .”

Women in Manimegalai are well trained in presenting musical compositions on festive occasions using many instruments.

“Pan yaazh narambil pannu murai niruppor

Thannumaik karuvik kanneri therivor

Kuzhalodu kantam kolaccheer niruppor

Pazhuniya paadal palarodu magizhvor” (81-84)

The singing in the early hours of the day is termed as Marudhap pann, the evening as Mullaip pann.

“Kandru ninai kural mandru vazhip padara

Yazhor marudhatthu in narambu ularak

Kovalar mullaik kuzhanmer kola”

Music has been used as device to spread messages among the people to create awareness, instill courage, patriotism, and righteousness. Manimegalai is a musical feast with numerous features for the benefit of the mankind.

jayasala42 · Feb 4, 2019

Dear Anusowmyan,
An article with rich content and research acumen.While studying about sangam literature,ettuththigai, Paththup paattu, manimegali, Silappathikaram etc we are proud of how enriched Tamilians were in art field. There are so many works in Tamil, study of PANNs and stringed instruments like Makara yaazh and talk about percussion instruments like PARAI.
I totally agree.

Every individual compartmentalizes musical understanding in two categories.
1.understanding aspects like raga,tala,,composition, manodharma, presentation, style etc.
2.understanding the language it uses, exploring the use of words and their linguistic meaning.
The word 'meaning' is itself derived from the German word 'meinen' or 'to think'The sanskrit word'manas' and its closeness to
'meinen' is significant.

In the world of linguistics,it is only when syllables come together to form words, that acquires cognitive meaning.
But in musical forms,and certainly in carnatic music,just the opposite is true.The syllables themselves have special identities and aesthetic meaning.This unified identity is the aesthetic expression and it can convey more than linguistic
expressions..
We have to reconstitute our thinking that in musical experience, language is important more as a sound.That is , not that, Sahitya can be mispronounced or ignored, but it has to be conceived as a musical form and not a linguistic form.
We can find essentially melodic expressions in the works of the Musical Trinity and not a revealing prose like structure.

Tamil Isai Movement stressed that carnatic Music must have a Tamil Identity.The Music Academy and its prominent members tried to debate this aesthetically by saying that only the music mattered and the words didn't.
The tertiary status assigned to Tamil was the result of the Aryan-Dravidian divide .Some thought that Tamil Isai Movement had more to do with politics than with music.
The weakness of Tamil Isai Argument was the votaries saw the issue as purely as one of discrimination against the mother tongue.They made it clear that they were interested only in meaning,in textually generated emotions.They argued that an emotional response cannot be achieved in a language that was not understood by people..Music, they argued, had only one purpose,that is to convey lyrical meaning.

Notwith standing Kalki and Tiger Varadachariyar supporting the Tamil Isai ,the Movement had little success.The reason was its inability to view Carnatic music without linguistic meaning.Had Tamil Isai Movement looked at Tamil as a purely aesthetic phenomenon it would have resulted in a new chapter.Due to the lack of 'art music' vision,Tamil isai Movement could not create a parallel idea of Carnatic music.It was more about Tamil than about Isai..Though Kalki and others expressed their view that their idea was to revive lost compositions in Tamil and present them in Carnatic concerts, the efforts were not that tangible.
Both the Music Academy and Tamil Isai Movement were trapped in similar mindsets,Result-Tamil Isai was struck in language-pride rhetoric.
The efforts stopped with publishing certain books bringing out the significance of 'panns' etc quoting from Puranaanooru, Silappathikaaram etc etc and nothing was done to bring Tamil into aesthetic field of carnatic music.The books proved to be of academic interest only .
Seeking of a class identity and not an art identity-is the main reason for the failure of Tamil isai movement and is not likely to succeed unless the mindset is totally changed and special efforts are taken to create artistic vision devoid of narrow linguistic outlook.
jayasala 42