Amritavarshini

According to legend, when Muthuswami Dikshitar visited Ettayapuram in Tamil Nadu, he was moved by the plight of the people suffering from a severe drought. To alleviate their misery, he composed the kriti Anandamrutakarshini in the raga Amritavarshini. And, as legends would have it, it rained! So Amritavarshini is always associated with rains and the magical powers of music.

The raga has never appealed much to me. But on closer listening, like every other Dikshitar composition, this one too reveals some scintillating phrases.. This orchestrated version by Sreevalsan J Menon is a nice sample to experience the genius of Dikshitar, especially the charanam ‘Shree Nanda Nadi Samrakshini’ from 03:45 onwards.

Now, coming to what drew my attention. Thanks to my mother-in-law who is in town, I’ve been listening to Star Singer competitions on television for the past few weeks. Long forgotten tunes and songs that I haven’t heard in years, have suddenly come alive. One such song was Illayaraja’s ‘Thoongatah Mizhikal Randu’ from Mani Ratnam’s “Agni Natchathiram” which came out in 1988.

After racking my brain for a bit, it dawned me that the maastro composed this in Amritavarshini. What makes this composition all the more stunning is the fact that he blends a classical raga with electronic music. Again, the entry of Yesudas at 01:19 is something. And of course, the ravishing beauty of Amala…

Another Malayalam classic in the raga is ‘Oru Dhalam Mathram’ composed by Raveendran and again sung by Yesudas: