Posted by Sadish on September 20th 2005
Understanding Thiruvasakam in Oratorio
My favorite music composer Ilayaraaja has released his ‘Thiruvasakam in Oratorio’ a couple of months ago. Last week I was discussing with my friends about this album.
These are some of the comments I received from my friends.
On the music side,
- This is not really a masterpiece from Ilayaraaja and he has done a lot better in his other albums
- The Ooha Ooha chorus is mostly used in the movies, whenever there is a ghost sequence or something, and so when I hear the music, I tend to imagine that
On the lyrics part,
- I do not understand the lyrics so well and so it seems to be beyond my reach.
- I do not feel the Bhakthi rasam (the feeling of spiritualism) in this album as I felt it in his other albums.
Here comes my views on this topic :
Thiruvasakam -
First of all, Thiruvasakam is in no way similar to ‘Kandha Shashti kavasam’ or ‘Subrabhatham’.
by that I mean, Thiruvasakam is not a collection of songs that can be sung by a group of people at the same time.
Thiruvasakam is more on a personal level. It is the way that one individual (Manicka Vasagar) perceives the Almighty.
Manicka Vasagar had tried to explain how the God’s touch transformed his world.
He sang “Naayir kadaiyaai kidantha adiyerku, Thaayir sirantha thayaa vaana thaththuvanae”
(meaning, for an individual like me, who was down below than a dog, the God has shown his mercy !)
if you approach it with this angle, you would get a better understanding.
Oratorio –
Oratorio is a musical composition, that is mostly similar to Opera, but usually composed for Religious theme.
Nobody from the Tamil music industry has ever done it before, and so it may not attract your ears the first time when you are listening to it.
but if you listen to the album a couple of times, then you would get a feel for it.
Lyrics Explained :
For understanding the meaning of thiruvasakam, a little bit better,
http://www.geocities.com/nayanmars/Documents.html is the best resource so far.
Please look under ‘Meanings for some thiruvAsagam (tiruvAcakam) – (manikkavacakar)’ for both Tamil and English translations.
Additional Links :
- What is a Oratoria ? Learn more- http://www.answers.com/Oratorio
- Buy Thiruvasakam CD – TIS – USA
- Get the Transliteration of Thiruvasakam and other old tamil literatures – http://www.geocities.com/nayanmars/
This is a personal weblog of Sadish Bala, an Indian guy, working in USA.
Hi,
My question is not related to Thiruvasagam. Anyway could you let me know about the websites, which gives the lyrics of the sanskrit slokas and its meaning?
Ahh..Well said. I appreciate your comments. That is what exactly I felt. Many people just go by the words what other say.
Nice explanation of Thiruvasagam… there is a phrase in tamil.. “Thiruvasagathirku urugaar oru vasagathirkum urugar”…
Hi,
could you please tell me the websites from which i would be able to get the meaning of Thiruvasakam in English?
Hello:
Excellent interpretation. This echos my views on Ilayaraja’s Thiruvasakam. I really think this is his life’s work. I have always considered Ilayaraja as a mediocre singer, while a great musical genius. However, he has excelled himself and perhaps many other potential singers in his rendition of Thiruvasakam. He makes me feel like Thiruvasakam was meant to be sung by him.
There is soul and spirit in his rendition and manifests his eternal love for almighty. His rendering in reality personifies Manickavasakar’s deep love and longing for the almighty.
You are right on the money when you say that this is not a group prayer. It is an individual’s expression of God.
best regards,
Mark
Dear Sadish Bala,
I read your comments about your friend. when i listen first time I too thought exactly what your friend said, and i expressed the same thing to my friend.(he is a Iyyangar, basically Vishnu follower). But he told me my way of listening the song is wrong and he asked me to come to his home. I went to his home, he played the song and asked me to listen the song with full concentration with closed eyes. While listening the song i couldn’t control my tears for few minutes.
I understood Elaiyaraja’s effort in this album. There are no words to prize him. He has shown Manika vasakar’s real feelings (kadharal) in his music. Now i am doing the same thing to my friends who don’t understand. And your comment about Thiruvasakam is excellent.
I recently got the cd for my birthday and i havent stopped listening to it at work all day. However the shiva maalai was also on this cd that my friend put together for me. Does anyone know where i can get the tamil and english translation for the shiva maalai.