THODAYA MANGALAM — 1
s we sit waiting to witness a In solo dance recitals, the
A dance recital, we hear some
invocatory songs sung just before
the curtain rises. This set of songs
is called the Thodaya mangalam.
The Tamil Lexicon explains that
the first song in an opera is called
'Thodayam'. Though the
etymology of this word is still
uncertain, it is known that the
Tallapakam poets wrote the set of
five Thodaya mangalam songs in
the 15th century and that they
have been in popular usage since
then. The songs are: Jaya'anaki
Ramana in Nata raga, Jampa tala;
Saranu Saranu Surendra Sanmitha
in Arabhi raga, Misrachapu tala;
Murahara Nagadhara (Narayana
they) in Madhyamavathi raga, Adi
tala; Devesa ganadhisa in Saveri
raga Rupaka tala; and Madhava
bhavathu they in Panthuvarali
raga, Adi tala.
This'set of songs can still be heard
at the beginning of the traditional
Bhagavata Mela dance-dramas and
devotional group singing sessions.
All these songs are in praise of
Vishnu and his manifestations. In
the Bhagavata Mela tradition,
however, since Vinayaka is an
essential character who blesses
everyone at the commencement of
the dance-drama, a separate song
on the elephant faced deity is also
sung, after the Thodaya
mangalam.
The composers of the Tanjavur
operas adopted the auspicious
start for their works since they
considered the Yakshaganas and
Bhagavata Melas as natya
prabandhas and it was decreed by
the Indian aestheticians that a
kavya should have an auspicious
start, an auspicious middle and an
auspicious end: MangalaadeenL
Mangala Madhyaani,
Mangalaanthani - cha kavyam
pradhante. The popular Thodaya
mangalam songs sung to mark an
auspicious beginning thus fourid a
fitting slot in their format.
in various time measures, which
rendering of the mangalam at the
beginning of the performance
followed a specific sequence in the
days when Sadir was called
Karnatakani. First the nattuvanar,
the singers and the orchestra
players - known as the melam --
produced the sound of'Om' in
unison. 1 his was called
nielaprapti. There were different
kinds of melam-s: the Nattuva
melam comprised of dancers, all
of the fair sed; the Natya melam
was a group comprising of all male
dancers eg. Bhagavata Mela
dancers or vintage Kuchipudi
players); the Chinna melam was
one in which mukha veena,
mridangam and cymbals were the
only instruments used; and the
Pedda melam, in which the dolu
(yaval). sannayi (nagaswaram) and
cymbals were used. But whatever
the nature of the melam, at the
commencement of the
performance there was melaprapti
as a rule.
Writing in her book
Un derstan din # Bharcaanaty am,
Mrinalim Sarabhai elaborately
explains melaprapti and thodaya
mangaiam as follows:
"It was usual in olden days to
begin a Bharatanatyam
performance with a rhythmic
recital, which was called
melaprapti. The musicians and the
nattuvanar conducted this
introduction and certain special
raga-s and tala-s were prescribed
for it. Beginning with drumming
on the mridangam, the
instruments would be played and
then the nattuvanar would beat
the time with the jalarai (cymbals)
and recite the sollukattu-s
(rhythmic syllables). In between, a
song of invocation called the
thodaya would be sung. This was
followed by more sollukattu-s and
a mangalam. Then the four
fundamental rhythmic syllables
tha, dhi thorn, nom, were recited
ended the preliminary ritual,
before the dancer entered."
What Mrinalini Sarabhai describes
is a thing of the past. With the
revival of Sadir with the
inappropriate nomenclature of
Bharatanatam, the original
Thodaya mangalam has been
discarded. Only some substitutes
and semblances are seen and
heard in modern solo dance
recitals.
Also, today the singing of
mangalam songs is mostly
associated with the conclusion of a
ceremonial function, performance
or recital. Tyagaraja's Nee nama
rupamulaka in raga Sourashtram
has become so popular that it now
occupies the place of end-
mangalam in almost all devotional
group singing sessions, music
concerts and dance recitals. This
immortal song which was the end
mangalam of Tyagaraja's first
opera Prahlada Bhakti Vijayam.
has six one line charana-s and a
common pallavi but nowadays one
rarely hears more than two
charana-s and the pallavi. The
other charana-s. ignored by
almost all the musicians and
dancers contain good poetry and
beautiful images but since the
singing of the end song has
become a mere formality,
audiences start getting up from
their seats even as the words
"pavamana suthudu pattu'
(mispronounced as'suthadu' by
many singers) are heard and the
dancers who exit after the tillana
do not come onto the stage to
stamp their feet till the words
'Rajeeva nay ana' are sung. But
there are exceptions. In a recent
dance festival, junior dancer
Mimi, disciple of K.J. Sarasa not
only did not leave the stage after
the tillana but danced the entire
three line mangalam! This was
indeed commendable.