Carnatic Music is one of the best forms of music in the World. The kriti are those musical compositions that still remain the chief vehicle for expressing the beauty and structure of a raga, and has become an indispensable part of Carnatic music. For most of us lay listeners, no amount of ragalaapana (conveying the bhava of a raga using the a, ta, da, ri and na syllables) can match a well-rendered kriti. What is more, even the basic format of a kriti comprising pallavi-anupallavi-charanam has remained unchanged to this day.
Kriti is of different format such as pallavi-samashti charanam, pallavi-multiple charanam, swarajati and so on. The kritis of Dikshitar are replete with references to mythology, astrology and the esoteric science of Sri Vidya. His kritis, especially the major ones such as Kamalambam Bhajare in Kalyani, Sri Krishnam Bhaja Manasa in Todi or Balagopala in Bhairavi encapsulate the raga bhava so well that they are considered by many to be the benchmarks by which other compositions in the same ragas are judged. His kritis are considered as references regarding the usage of rare prayogas. Tyagaraja’s kritis overflow with bhakti towards Sri Rama, and are characterized by a multitude of sangatis (lively cascades of musical variations on a single line of the song). Syama Sastry’s outpourings of devotion towards the Goddess Kamakshi of Kanchi are finely chiseled masterpieces revealing his tremendous grip over tala.
People still render Tyagaraja’s Enduko Peddala in Sankarabharanam, Dikshitar’s Sri Krishnam Bhaja Manasa in Todi and Syama Sastry’s Sankari Sankuru in Saveri. The kritis are presented these days more or less the same way the great saints had composed them. Of course, there are variations and these can be attributed to patanthara (style of singing). There have been attempts by some celebrities in filmdom to pass off kritis of the trinity in ragas other than the ones in which they were composed. Fortunately these experiments remain exactly what they are – experiments, nothing more.
The beauty of Carnatic music is that the kritis have been preserved almost intact from the mid 18th century till the present time, thus validating the idea that classical music is not for an age, but for all time.
