Experiencing Dikshitar
A Half a Day Workshop on
Dikshitar and his Music
‘Experiencing Dikshitar’ is an interactive multimedia lecture demonstration on the life and music of composer Muthuswamy Dikshitar (1775-1835). Dikshitar lived in a turbulent milleau. Although he was a contemporary of Tyagaraja and Syama Sastri his life experiences and consequently his music are very different from theirs. Dikshitar was an integrator; his approach to music extended well beyond the Kaveri delta and the world of Karnatic Music practice as it existed then. This half-a-day workshop on Dikshitar walks participants through five different chapters that tell the story of the man, his inspiration and his music.
Designed and presented by Dr. Kanniks Kannikeswaran, a music composer and scholar with several productions and creations to his credit. He has tirelessly traveled around the world presenting lectures on the life and music of Dikshitar.
This presentation traces the life of Dikshitar in the context of early colonial history. It traces the journey of Dikshitar that covered several places such as Tiruvarur, Manali (near Madras), Varanasi, Tiruttani, Tiruvannamalai, Tiruvarur, Thanjavur, Tiruchi, Madurai and finally Ettaiyapuram where he breathed his last. It also walks the audience through a chronological presentation of his well known kshetra-oriented-compositions and other groups of compositions.
Dikshitar’s music bears fidelity to the tradition associated with the 17th century musicologist Venkatamakhi who adorned the Thanjavur court. This presentation analyzes the Venkatamakhi tradition in detail and walks audiences through the 12 chakras of the Raganga Raga scheme and Dikshitar’s compositions in each one of them.
Much has been speculated about the influence of Northern Indian music on the style of Dikshitar. Skimming through the superficial similarities such as the usage of ragas such as Ramkali, this presentation delivers an insight into the structural similarity between the music of Dikshitar and the older form of Northern Indian Art Music Dhrupad.
The Eternal Pilgrim
The Venkatamakhi parampara
Dikshitar and Dhrupad
Perhaps the most eclectic subset of Dikshitar’s repertoire is the set of 39 compositions that are based on Colonial tunes that came with the East India Company. This presentation takes audiences on an interesting tour through the sources of colonial tunes and the circumstances in which they became Nottusvara Sahityas. It also presents the textual similarities betweeen the Nottusvara Sahityas and some well known kritis.
This short presentation sums up the salient features of the four presentations and presents the pan-Indian picture of Dikshitar - and his quintessential musical idiom that stood apart from the music of other composers of his time in the Thanjavur area.