Pancharatna Kriti - Composition

Composition

The Pancharatna kritis are written in praise of the Hindu deity, Rama. They are set to Adi Tala and each raga represents the mood of the song and the meaning of its lyrics. All the kritis are set in the style of a Ragam Tanam Pallavi (RTP) with the charanas (stanzas) substituting for the kalpana swaras (improvisatory passages) in the pallavi section of the RTP.

The Pancharatna Kritis are:

1. Jagadananda Karaka - Ragam Naata
2. Dudukugala - Ragam Goula
3. Sadhinchane - Ragam Aarabhi
4. Kanakana Ruchira - Ragam Varaali
5. Endaro Mahanubhavulu - Sri Ragam

The melodic forms of these compositions (Naata, Goula, Aarabhi, Varali, Sri) are the five Ghana ragas of Carnatic music also called the ghanapanchaka. These 5 ragas lend themselves for elaborate improvisations. They are so called because they are suited to playing tanam on the veena. Naata and Varaali are the most ancient of the Carnatic ragas and date back to over a thousand years.

A particularly difficult musical challenge has been taken up successfully by Tyagaraja in three of these compositions. The raga Naata has a particularly distinctive use of the dhaivatam note or swara (A in the C scale of western classic notes). Tyagaraja has avoided the 'dhaivatam' completely in the first pancharatna kriti without losing the swarupa, or tune, of the ragam. Similarly gandharam is an accidental note of some beauty in Goula (E in the C scale). Tyagaraja avoids this too, except in one instance, without losing the character of the ragam. Finally, he avoids the accidental dhaivatam in Sri ragam, again a note that is present in some very characteristic sancharas (phrases) of this ragam.