Guruji Raghavan attained the lotus feet of Lord Muruga on 17th May 2013
Tiruppugazh, anthology of hymns on Lord Muruga, is a beautiful one and full of bhakti bhavam. It is a pride for Tamil knowing people to have known this. If they are not aware, I would certainly say that they wasted their life.
Those who did not know this, It was composed by Arunagirinathar, I also would advise them to read “kAdhar perumAn”,a book by Balakumran about the life of Arunagiri nathar. Bala's another master piece.
Guruji,truly, was an incarnation of Lord Muruga. Someone who has tuned 503 Tiruppugazh in 110 ragas and being humble throughout the life and while singing, he would intrude you and carry you in the celestial world.
Humble means-A self effacing Guruji- did not want to take credit for tuning the songs and attributed everything to the grace of Senthil Andavan. He also tuned Kandar anubuthi, kandar alangaram, kandhar andhadhi, vel-Mayil-seval vrittam, tiruvaguppu etc.,
Iam really fortunate and blessed by Lord Muruga to have known some songs of Tiruppugazh. There are few songs which have melted my soul ...
Endha thigayilum in malayamArutham
OruruvAgiya tAraga – Darbari kAnadA
Kadiya vEga- kalyAna vasantham
Irumalu rOga- asAveri
Irumalu rOga narrates the diseases a person can have and if you know the meaning of this, you will repent this janmA.
KalyAna vasantham is another beautiful rAgA and this tiruppugazh is on Mylapore temple so it is always close to my heart.
DarbAri kAnadA – if one listens to this, you will cry. The way this rAgA carries this kriti and vice versa and the last part of this kriti ends is “yearning” for murugA.. “will melt the bones”
MalayamArutham is always a joyous rAgA and you can feel murugA dancing in your heart while singing this.
There are two kritis in ranjani rAga – one is rendered in Engan temple, near kodavAsal, a place in beween kumbakonam and TiruvArur route in Tamil Nadu. If one reads this, referring the book, without any mistake, I would recommend him for any PadmA award. Such a complicated “sandam” a group of words set in an array and while rendering it will jerk you with joy and bhakti, a unique character of Tamil language.
Guruji is an epitome of bhakti and the number of disciples he created in his life are awesome. I was really fortunate to have attended Tiruppugazh bhajans in sringEri mutt in Mandaveli. I could feel the divine experience throughout the programme. Effect of Group singing. The discipline of his disciples while rendering the kritis. Moreover the divine experience between the pauses he made while chanting “MurugA”…
I easily relate this to “Flute Mali” and he narrated this during one of his interviews that for the first 10 minutes only, he knew what he was playing and after that it was totally a divine playing. The pauses he made during the playing was a divine experience.
Interesting story about his life:
When Guruji was born, he was affected by polio and all treatments attempted were in vain. An expert in the local system of medicine then came forward and promised to cure him. But he demanded a fee, an odd one at that. Sensing the boy’s devotional nature, the medical practitioner insisted that the child be dedicated to the service of Senthil Velavan. For the parents, no price was too heavy for the health of their dear one and they readily agreed. Besides, to offer oneself for the service of God was indeed a privilege. As the treatment progressed, the boy started showing signs of recovery. He was taken to the temple of Tiruchendur. At the very sight of the temple at a distance, the child started running easily at the vast stretch of slippery sands. He feasted his eyes at the splendour and elegance of Lord Muruga. When he returned after the worship, he got the image of the Lord of Tiruchendur firmly embedded in his mind, the image that was to make profound influence on his life later.
Thiruppugazh and Muruga worship go hand in hand. It is believed that Muruga worship is never complete without a Thiruppugazh rendering. When a description is given about a Muruga temple, quite often the temple is referred as one visited by saint Arunagirinthar. When a music recital is held, invariably a song from Thiruppugazh is included. Muruga devotees and Thiruppugazh have become synonymous and the two are inseparable. Guruji Raghavan and Thiruppugazh are so inalienably linked that it is impossible to think of one without the other. The growth of Thiruppugazh into a new powerful movement and the growth of Sri Raghavan into an enlightened Guru happened almost simultaneously.
One could easily relate Arunagirinathar to Muthuswamy Dikshitar who visited many temples in India and made compositions on the deity of the respective temple, unlike Thyagaraja and Shyama Sastri. But the difference is Arunagiri nathar rendered all his kritis on Lord Muruga only. Oothukkadu on Krishna and Annamacharya of Tirupati Balaji also rendered many kritis. Guruji, a la Arunagirinathar, was a living God among us, another proof the Hinduisim’s existence in our country.
Recipient of Tiruppugazh GAna ratnam by Maha periava and SringEri periavA described guruji as close to his heart, he cherished only the award of attaining the lotus feet of Muruga through Tiruppugazh.
While googling some of the sites, I came across some “this” on Guruji:
When Sri Raghavan sings, the music originates from the soul and flows through his heart. Just as Lord Sri N.V. Vaidyanathan, disciple of Sri Balasubramanian, Mumbai. Sri Vaidyanathan is conducting over five classes at different places in a week in Coimbatore.
To conclude, I read an article on “The Hindu” wherein Mr.N.Gopala sundaram translated the Tiruppugazah hymns into Engllish. Another amazing thing. For me, translating Tiruppugazh into English is the most difficult one. Wonder how he made it. Again shows, if you have the blessings of Lord, you can achieve anything.
I love to learn at least one Tiruppugazh in a week. Owing to my office commitments and timings, I am not in a position to fulfill this. But “irumalu rOga” in asAvEri is one tiruppugazh, I sing daily.
GuruvAi varuvAi aruLvAi guhanE – was the sentence, I always cherish in terms of divinity and also to appreciate the beauty of the language.
Guruji lived a true life. “Tiruppugazh anbargal” created by Guruji will bear the torch of Guruji and enlighten the bhakti in the years to come.
Tiruppugazh, anthology of hymns on Lord Muruga, is a beautiful one and full of bhakti bhavam. It is a pride for Tamil knowing people to have known this. If they are not aware, I would certainly say that they wasted their life.
Those who did not know this, It was composed by Arunagirinathar, I also would advise them to read “kAdhar perumAn”,a book by Balakumran about the life of Arunagiri nathar. Bala's another master piece.
Guruji,truly, was an incarnation of Lord Muruga. Someone who has tuned 503 Tiruppugazh in 110 ragas and being humble throughout the life and while singing, he would intrude you and carry you in the celestial world.
Humble means-A self effacing Guruji- did not want to take credit for tuning the songs and attributed everything to the grace of Senthil Andavan. He also tuned Kandar anubuthi, kandar alangaram, kandhar andhadhi, vel-Mayil-seval vrittam, tiruvaguppu etc.,
Iam really fortunate and blessed by Lord Muruga to have known some songs of Tiruppugazh. There are few songs which have melted my soul ...
Endha thigayilum in malayamArutham
OruruvAgiya tAraga – Darbari kAnadA
Kadiya vEga- kalyAna vasantham
Irumalu rOga- asAveri
Irumalu rOga narrates the diseases a person can have and if you know the meaning of this, you will repent this janmA.
KalyAna vasantham is another beautiful rAgA and this tiruppugazh is on Mylapore temple so it is always close to my heart.
DarbAri kAnadA – if one listens to this, you will cry. The way this rAgA carries this kriti and vice versa and the last part of this kriti ends is “yearning” for murugA.. “will melt the bones”
MalayamArutham is always a joyous rAgA and you can feel murugA dancing in your heart while singing this.
There are two kritis in ranjani rAga – one is rendered in Engan temple, near kodavAsal, a place in beween kumbakonam and TiruvArur route in Tamil Nadu. If one reads this, referring the book, without any mistake, I would recommend him for any PadmA award. Such a complicated “sandam” a group of words set in an array and while rendering it will jerk you with joy and bhakti, a unique character of Tamil language.
Guruji is an epitome of bhakti and the number of disciples he created in his life are awesome. I was really fortunate to have attended Tiruppugazh bhajans in sringEri mutt in Mandaveli. I could feel the divine experience throughout the programme. Effect of Group singing. The discipline of his disciples while rendering the kritis. Moreover the divine experience between the pauses he made while chanting “MurugA”…
I easily relate this to “Flute Mali” and he narrated this during one of his interviews that for the first 10 minutes only, he knew what he was playing and after that it was totally a divine playing. The pauses he made during the playing was a divine experience.
Interesting story about his life:
When Guruji was born, he was affected by polio and all treatments attempted were in vain. An expert in the local system of medicine then came forward and promised to cure him. But he demanded a fee, an odd one at that. Sensing the boy’s devotional nature, the medical practitioner insisted that the child be dedicated to the service of Senthil Velavan. For the parents, no price was too heavy for the health of their dear one and they readily agreed. Besides, to offer oneself for the service of God was indeed a privilege. As the treatment progressed, the boy started showing signs of recovery. He was taken to the temple of Tiruchendur. At the very sight of the temple at a distance, the child started running easily at the vast stretch of slippery sands. He feasted his eyes at the splendour and elegance of Lord Muruga. When he returned after the worship, he got the image of the Lord of Tiruchendur firmly embedded in his mind, the image that was to make profound influence on his life later.
Thiruppugazh and Muruga worship go hand in hand. It is believed that Muruga worship is never complete without a Thiruppugazh rendering. When a description is given about a Muruga temple, quite often the temple is referred as one visited by saint Arunagirinthar. When a music recital is held, invariably a song from Thiruppugazh is included. Muruga devotees and Thiruppugazh have become synonymous and the two are inseparable. Guruji Raghavan and Thiruppugazh are so inalienably linked that it is impossible to think of one without the other. The growth of Thiruppugazh into a new powerful movement and the growth of Sri Raghavan into an enlightened Guru happened almost simultaneously.
One could easily relate Arunagirinathar to Muthuswamy Dikshitar who visited many temples in India and made compositions on the deity of the respective temple, unlike Thyagaraja and Shyama Sastri. But the difference is Arunagiri nathar rendered all his kritis on Lord Muruga only. Oothukkadu on Krishna and Annamacharya of Tirupati Balaji also rendered many kritis. Guruji, a la Arunagirinathar, was a living God among us, another proof the Hinduisim’s existence in our country.
Recipient of Tiruppugazh GAna ratnam by Maha periava and SringEri periavA described guruji as close to his heart, he cherished only the award of attaining the lotus feet of Muruga through Tiruppugazh.
While googling some of the sites, I came across some “this” on Guruji:
When Sri Raghavan sings, the music originates from the soul and flows through his heart. Just as Lord Sri N.V. Vaidyanathan, disciple of Sri Balasubramanian, Mumbai. Sri Vaidyanathan is conducting over five classes at different places in a week in Coimbatore.
To conclude, I read an article on “The Hindu” wherein Mr.N.Gopala sundaram translated the Tiruppugazah hymns into Engllish. Another amazing thing. For me, translating Tiruppugazh into English is the most difficult one. Wonder how he made it. Again shows, if you have the blessings of Lord, you can achieve anything.
I love to learn at least one Tiruppugazh in a week. Owing to my office commitments and timings, I am not in a position to fulfill this. But “irumalu rOga” in asAvEri is one tiruppugazh, I sing daily.
GuruvAi varuvAi aruLvAi guhanE – was the sentence, I always cherish in terms of divinity and also to appreciate the beauty of the language.
Guruji lived a true life. “Tiruppugazh anbargal” created by Guruji will bear the torch of Guruji and enlighten the bhakti in the years to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment