Irayimman Thampi (1782-1856)

March 21, 2021

Irayimman Thampi (1782-1856)

Life and times of a poet extraordinaire…

You can only understand the magic of Thampi’s works if you spend a while and listen to lovely renditions of his poetry in the mellifluous voices of KS Chitra and Sreevalsan Menon. As you let the lullaby Omanathinkal Kidavo caress your mind and take you to your childhood with the memories of your mother or an aunt humming that very song to put you to sleep, the notes of Karuna Cheyvan enthu will make you recall one or more of those trips with your family for a wedding or otherwise to Guruvayur. And as you linger longingly on the memories of a liaison in your youth, you might recall the sensuous poem Prananathan enikku Nalkiya, or perhaps, as you slip into a forlorn mood, you might recall Thampi’s Arodu cholvene Azhalullathellam, a tune wallowing in sadness, with a tear or two at the corner of your eye.

Some years ago, we talked about this great poet’s signature poem, the lullaby written to herald the birth of Swati Thirunal. Though we had a hurried glimpse of the poet and his times there, he surely merits a more detailed writeup. Interestingly, this uncle of the Swati Thirunal was already thirty-one years of age when the king was born, but outlived him for a decade.

Before we get to know more about him, we should understand the structure of the royal households in Travancore, which were quite different from those in Malabar. The royal consort or consorts were titled as Ammachis and bestowed with palatial homes called Ammaveedu’s as well as vast tracts of lands to live a comfortable life, though living a fully shielded life, away from the royal palace. Thampi was born to Aandiyirakathu Puthumana Ammaveedu Parvathi Thankachi and Cherthala Naduvil Kovil Kelaru Kerala Varman Thampuran (Ummini Thampi was a member of this household) in 1782. Parvathi was the daughter of Makayiram Thirunal Ravi Varma (younger brother of Dharma Raja). Thampi was named after his grandfather, and though formally named Ravi Varman Thampi, was always known by the shortened version Irayimman Thampi.

It was in Kizhake madom that he grew up, and his early tutorship after his father, was under Moothad Shankaran Elayathu covering areas such as grammar, linguistics and Sanskrit literature. One blessed with poetic skills, a poem written when Thampi was 14, pleased Karthika Thirunal who playfully titled him Sastri Thampi and he was soon bestowed with a position in the royal palace, which stretched through a long career until his death while serving four kings and two queens who followed. Through the period he served under Dharmaraja, Balarama Varma, Swathi Thirunal and Uthram Thirunal as well as two queens, Gouri Parvathy Bai and Gouri Lakshmi Bai, he excelled in creating a vast volume of Carnatic, semi-Carnatic, folk and manipravalam poetry which now enriches the treasure trove of Malayalam literature.

While he was not always credited as the primary creative genius in the palace, he was always considered as the main part of that golden era in Travancore when music and dance rose to a high position and spread to the masses. We will get to a precis about his compositions a little later, most of which will just look like a dreary long list to readers who are plain music listeners, so I think it will be more appropriate to talk about how his life intertwined with the various royal patrons, especially Swati Thirunal and how their association resulted in Travancore becoming a destination for many great musicians from afar, to the court of Travancore.

RV Poduval explains that devotional music was initially formalized thus - Saivite hymns with the Tevaram and Tiruvachakam styles, and the Vaishnavite hymns of Nalayiraparbandham and Tiruvaymoli in their specific styles during the 6^th-9^th centuries. From this evolved th Sopana sangeetham which we covered earlier. The combinations of Pan (Janaka ragas) and Thiran created tunes which were popular then. In the 14^th and 15^th centuries, the influence of Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda was huge and many padams were introduced. This is the time when we see the development of music around Krishnattam (another topic which we had covered earlier). After this Ramanattam developed in Kottarakkara and this morphed into the Kathakali we know today. Attakatha is the poetic composition used for these classical dances, especially Kathakali.

Tunchath Ezhutatchan, from the 16^th-17^th century is credited with ushering the modern usages of Malayalam by fusing Manipravalam and Pattu variations into a single language pattern of the modern Malayalam. It was supposedly following Ezhuthachhan that the outburst of the dance drama Kathakali resulted in many poetic Attakatha creations, as we will soon see.

Let us step back a bit and see how the music scene in Travancore developed until the time of Swati Thirunal. Virakerala Varama of Kottarakara modeled his musical compositions around the Ashtapati and following him was Dharmaraja Karthika Thirunal who authored many Kathakali compositions and who we saw was on the throne as Thampi was born. During this period the Prince Aswati Thirunal was also considered a notable composer, so also the great Unnayi Variyar. Iriyamman Thampi grew up with these legendary composers and surely picked up a lot. One biographer mentions that he was quite close to Vadivelu Nattuvanar of the Tanjore quartet and Palghat Parameswara Iyer during the Swati Thirunal epoch.

Kunchan Nambiar, a great tullal (Ottanthullal) poet and satirist well known to Malayalees was one of the early geniuses who drifted in search of patronage from Palghat to Travancore in the early decades of the 18^th century, to serve under Marthanda Varma and later the Dharma Raja at Travancore. After his retirement and demise in the 1770’s, there was a lull in the poetry department. European influence was being felt, many versions of Keralolpathi were being released in Malabar, so also works by Christian missionaries. English was being taught and the concept of formal education was starting to reach the masses - changing from the early gurukulam method which was available only to the upper classes. All of this was happening in Travancore as well, just as the young prince Swati Thirunal came to the throne. But as well all know, Thampi shot to fame during the birth of the prince, with his most popular composition, the lullaby Omana Thinkal Kidavo, which we explored a few years ago.

Poduval sums up the brilliance of Thampi in simple words - Swathi Thirunaļ Rama Varma Maharaja, the great musician and composer, was the father of modern music in the state and whose reign may aptly be called the Augustan age in Travancore. Not only were local musicians and composers encouraged and patronized by His Highness; but talented singers from outside the state, particularly from Tanjore and Palghat, were invited to his court and liberally helped.

One of the greatest of Travancore musicians who adorned his court was Irayimman Thampi whose compositions evince a rich musical tradition and possess melody of priceless merit. There is a variety, richness and depth in the sweet concord of his sounds. All the musical material that could be assimilated by a genius into a mature art, he vitalized in his own way, and he had no imitators in rhythmic and melodic organization. What gives a remarkable impressiveness to his high standard is his delicate ornaments and choice of rhythmic words indicative of a slow pace in singing and a noble stream of melody. Though he did not possess much musical scholarship and erudition, he was a past-master in the perfect fusion of untranslatable emotion with every beauty of musical design and tone. His in short is a classic example of what flawless musical form can be.

Even though a senior in age, the uncle Thampi and the nephew Swati Thirunal formed a great bond throughout their life and collaborated often, not only with music composition, but also with Thampi providing poetry and music for the Mohiniyatam events and dances by the many court dancers. This was the time when the Tanjavur Quartet arrived at Travancore, so also other Carnatic exponents such as Sharadkala Govinda Marar, Maliyakkal Krishna Marar, Palghat Parameswara Iyer, Meruswami and so on – a collection of geniuses who together with an equally gifted and brilliant patron Swati Thirunal provided Thampi with the impetus to excel, and excel he did, going on to create a large number of excellent works, purportedly numbering to around 500. He was one of the Asthana vidwans (scholar poets) had been awarded a virashringala, one of the highest palace honors of that time.

That they had a special relationship unlike the others is clear. Thampi was quite close to Swati Thirunal and could afford to take more liberties than the other virtuosos in the royal court and we can see an example in the incident where Thampi once used a short poem with dual meaning verse to explain his predicament to his patron Swati Thirunal, in a subtle way, showing his genius at wordplay.

mahIpatE bhAgavatOpamANam, mahA purANam bhavanam madIyam ….

nOkkunnavaRkkokke viraktiyuNTAm, arttha”n”aLillennoru bhEdamuNTu …

Meaning: Oh King! My house is very very old (purANam) just like the Epic bhAgavata purANam; those who glance through it will have immediate detachment (virakti), just like the feeling you get when you read the Epic; but there is one small difference - my house has no artham (monetary value) whereas the epic is deep in artham (meaning). The King immensely pleased with this poem, approved the renovation of Tampi’s house!

We are also given to understand that Swati Turunal would show his compositions first to Thampi and seek his opinion about them, and we have also heard rumors of his personal friendship and involvement in the affairs of the heart concerning Swati Thirunal, such as the case of the song Prananathan Enikku Nalki composed by Thampi for Swati Thirunal.

Let’s now take a look at the involvement of Thampi in the area of Attakatha’s. As some of you may be aware, the first of the Attakathas, were the eight plays dealing with the Ramayana, known as Ramanattam, composed by the prince of Kottorakkara around the mid-sixteenth century. Though their texts are still available, only three of them, Sita Swayamvaram, Bali Vadham and Thorana Yudham are enacted these days. The next Attakatha composer was the Raja of Kottayam (Malabar) who wrote four plays, Baka Vadham, Kirmira Vadham, Kalyana Saugandhikam and Kalakeya Vadham in the late seventeenth century. Those were days when Kathakali had not attained a set pattern even in the matter of dress and make-up of the actors. The brilliant Nala Caritam composed by Unnayi Variyar was followed by the three plays of Irayimman Thampi, namely Kichaka Vadham Uttara Swayamvaram, and Dakshayagam, all deservedly popular for their fine music and literary merit.

Most of Thampi’s compositions are in Sanskrit, but he also used Manipravalam judiciously which combined the best of Malayalam and Sanskrit. Sometimes he used rare ragas such as Manji, Jhingala and Kakubha. Because he had the same mudra i.e., Padmanabha used also by Swati Thirunal, many of his compositions are sometimes mistaken to be Swati Thirunal’s, such as Seve Syanandur esha and Bhogindrashayinam. Veena maestro Balachander was one who felt that Thampi was the composer of many of the songs attributed to Swati Thirunal, since Padmanabha was actually Thampi’s mudra. I will get to that story another day, as to how it came about and how it resulted in a complex and needless polemic which destroyed Balachander’s career and also sullied Swati Thirunal’s legacy for a while.

Thampi’s everlasting contribution was of course Omana Thinkal Kidavo, a lullaby created when Swati Thirunal was born, just in time to ward off a British takeover of Travancore. Uncle Irayimman Thampi, the learned poet of the family was entrusted the task of creating a royal lullaby which he did in inimitable fashion, in the tradition at that time, in Manipravalam (mixture of Sanskrit and Malayalam) the Malayalam poetic fashion, rather than pure Sanskrit. Paravathi Bayi could hum this song for her son, unfortunately, only for two years for she passed away in 1815. But the song left its mark on the young boy who rose to become a musical prodigy.

The people of Kerala agree that it is the most beautiful and melodious composition of the times to date and is more a people’s lullaby rather than just the royal lullaby. As you hear it today, it continues to strike the same tender chord in one’s mind and the feelings are testimony to the clarity, purity and brilliance of the composition. Avid listeners would have noted that the lullaby does not ever mention anything about sleep! Unlike other poems which simply provide superlatives of the human, this composition compares the young regent to various lovely aspects of nature and goodness.

As one review extoled the piece - Generations of children have been lulled asleep by its soothing notes. Sung by generations over centuries the strains of this lullaby have been dyed into the warp and woof of the Malayalee’s cultural repertoire. Evoking intense nostalgia for a bygone phase of one’s life filled with tender affections and motherly care, the lullaby also thrills one with a sense of dejavu.

Prananathan enikku nalki - is a padam from the pen of Thampi, a work of love with ample doses of sensuous text. As the story goes, Swati Thirunal and his consort had a lover’s tiff, following which they did not talk to each other for some time. Sugandhavalli, the consort finally decided to ask Irayimman Thampi for ideas to break the ice, and of course the learned man who knew his nephew very well, provided her the poem to explain her ecstasy and joy from the union between the two on an earlier occasion. As the story continues, she danced to it and well, that broke not only the ice, but brought them together again.

While many would place Omana Thinkal on the highest pedestal, in my opinion Thampi’s most noteworthy gift to us is the simple composition, the keerthanam - Karuna Cheyvan enthu thamasam Krishna. Originally composed in Sriraga, it is nowadays sung in Yadukula Khamboji. Legend has it that it was a favorite of Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar and the story goes that he once suffered major problems with his voice which no doctor could remedy. In despair, he prayed to Guruvayurappan, the deity invoked in this song, after which he not only recovered his voice, but recovered it with a new clarity and brilliance.

VRP Nayar tells us that Thampi wrote this devotional song in praise of the Lord of Guruvayur at a time when there were no quick means of transport to Guruvayur from Travancore (one had to go by boat to a port near Vanchi or Chettuwa and then by cart), that sacred shrine was physically and also mentally far from the poet’s place of residence, that too at a time when the King Swathi Thirunal had not traveled beyond Alappuzha!

Nayar adds - The term Raagamaalika is quite common in the domain of classical Carnatic music: it is all about rendering in different raagas the same text or its different sections. Thampi has gone farthest in experimentation of ragamaalikas as well by setting different sections of the same song not only in different ragas but also to suit different taalas and has, indeed, met with commendable success as in the case of the wrestling scene (mallayuddham) in Kichaka vadham.

From the presently available Thampi collection we find some 33 kirtanas, 5 varnas, 22 padas all in the Carnatic format, the three attakathas - Kichaka Vadham, Uttara Swayamvaram and Dakshayagam. For his attakathas, Thampi used ragas mainly used only in Kerala such as Kakana Kurinji, Indisa, Maradhanasi and Samatha malahari. He also worked with Kanthara, Padi and gopika vasantham, all rare ragas. Also, among his compositions can be found many lullabies or cradle/thottil songs. Thampi has to his credit a kriti in Tamil ‘kanchamizhiyaala koncham un mele’ in ‘Devagaandhari’ raga set to Chempata taala. The famous ‘kummi’song, ‘Veeravirada kumara vibho,’ which remains an inevitable part of Thiruvathira to this day, was penned for the women folk of the palace by Thampi.

He also did a Navarathri Prabandha (on the festival of 1835), a musical work in four cantos describing the Navarathri festival and associated processions. The description of the procession of Saraswathi Devi being started from Padmanabhapuram and ending at Navarathri Mandapam at East Fort in Trivandrum form the theme of the prabandham. Each canto starts with a poem followed by songs in Panthuvarali, Yadukulakambhoji, Nadanamakriya and Punnagavarali respectively.

According to SV Iyer, Thampi was the only composer other than Swati Thirunal to compose Varnas in Travancore – The ones on Amba Gauri as well as the varna on the Attingal goddess are considered to be fine pieces. The rest are in praise of Swati Thirunal. It is said that his passages on Ekalochanam in Uttara swayamvaram puts any dance artist’s ability to severe test - by forcing him to look with one eye in one direction and the other in another, showing anger in one and sorrow in the other, but at the same time keeping both feelings subservient to love!! I can’t imagine the Kathakali artist’s situation!

Ayyappa Panikkar sums it all up very well - Thampi has an unerring ear, and for sheer verbal felicity, his attakkathas have few rivals. He was a master of words and melody. The famous dandaka (long stanza) in Keechakavadham reveals Tampi 's exquisite artistry with words; it describes in graphic and dramatic terms the response of Draupadi to the queen who had asked her to go to Keechaka's palace with his food.

Thampi was married to Kalipilla Tangachi, the daughter of his maternal uncle and among their seven children, their daughter Lakshmi Kutty Pillai Thankachi proved to be a gifted composer and perhaps her father’s only disciple. Kutty Kunju Thankachi (1820–1914) as she was popularly known, continued her father's artistic and poetic legacy. She composed a number of beautiful compositions on various deities besides some Attakathas and musical narratives like Thiruvathirapattu.

Sharat Sundar Rajeev who writes often on Travancore matters tells us that Indira Bayi Thankachi, the last Durbar Dancer to the Travancore royals was a member of this illustrious family. Her father Narasimhan Thampi had started the first Swati Thirunal music school even before the Swati academy of today was founded. ‘Chitramezhuthu’ Kizhakkaemadhom Padmanabhan Thampi was the son of Kutty Kunju Thankachi and Kunjunni Thampan.

Perhaps time to heat to youtube and listen to a few of his lovely compositions (see links below)

References

Music in Travancore – RV Poduval

Iriyamman Thampiyude Attakahtahkal – Kerala Sahitya Academy

Iryiamman Thampi and his royal lullaby – PP Narayanaswami

Malayalam Poetry— A Kaleidoscopic View - G. Sreedharan

Iryiamman Thampi – Dr S Venkitasubramonia Iyer (Glimpses of Indian Music)

Contributions of Travancore to Carnatic music - S. Bhagyalekshmy

Iryiamman Thampi – VRP Nayar

Tracing the life of an artist of yore – Sharat Sundar Rajeev (Hindu May 6^th 2014)

This is the house where Irayimman Thampi was born – Reshmi Radhakrishnan

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