ANDAVAN PICHAI COMPOSITIONS/SONGS
Among all deities, Sri. Andavan Pichai felt closest to Lord Muruga, expecially, Bala Murugan. She sang his praises as a fond mother would to a delightful child. One such song composed by Andavan Pichai is ‘Ullam Urugudaiya Muruga,’ made famous by Sri T.M. Sounderarajan, and engraved for eternity on a stone slab in Kalikamba temple in Chennai (Ullam Urugudada Muruga as sung by Andavan Pichai). ‘Kalmari Adiya Karanam yedaiya?” – what is the reason for your lifting the right leg instead of the left and dancing, she asks Lord Shiva. The songs on Devi Sharada poured out of her in the presence of Sringeri Shankaracharya, nine in all, each one a beautiful rendering of poetry, music and rhythm, the alliteration simply flowing.
The Kanchi Kamakshi kirtanais, Sharada Kirtanamala: about 50 in all came together with musical notations in ‘Kirtanamala’ in the year 1961, with forewords by Kanchi Shankaracharya, Sringeri Shankaracharya, and Prof. Sambamurthy.
Subsequently, The Andavan Pichai Bhajan Mandali, started by her daughter, Smt. Kamakshi Kuppuswamy, has been bringing about a set of her songs every year during their annual day. More than 80% of the songs have been composed by Kamakshi Kuppuswamy. Kamakshi Kuppuswamy has taught these songs to the Andavan Pichai Bhajan Mandali for over 26 years. Her daughter, Meera Prakash has copyrighted all the songs and has brought over 250 of them in a collection of 5 CDs along with the book ‘Sri Andavan Pichai Arut Padalgal’ in 2016. Kamkshi Kuppuswamy has a Sangeetha Shironmani from Delhi University, having got her diploma under the tutelage of Prof. V.V. Shadagopan, she got the blessings of her mother Sri Andavan Pichai to bring out the songs, so that many may sing them for generations to come. The melody and appropriate ragas chosen by Kamakshi Kuppuswamy, keeping the mood of the song in mind, have made these songs popular. “Nee Manamirangi Varuvai”, a varnam in raga Latangi, composed by Kamakshi Kuppuswamy for her sambandi, Smt. Kalanidhi Narayanan, has become very popular among dancers. Priyadarshini Govind has made it available on DVD and CD. Many other dancers have started dancing to this varnam. There are four other beautiful varnams in the ragas Kalyani, Sankarabharanam and Vachaspati and Ramapriya choreographed by her great granddaughter, Preeti Vinayak. Other artists who have been rendering some of the songs are, Smt. Sudha Raghunathan who has sung ‘Kalmari adiya kanakasabesa un mel’ in raga Bekada, Sri Maharajapuram V. Santanam who has sung ‘Pahi Pahi Sarade’ in raga Kalyani.
Many artists have been rendering Andavan Pichai’s Kritis over the years. Some of the songs are:
Smt. Sudha Raghunathan has sung ‘Kalmari adiya kanakasabesa un mel’ in Raga kuntalavarali
Sri Maharajapuram V. Santanam has sung ‘Pahi Pahi Sarade’ in Raga Kalyani
Smt. D.K. Pattammal has sung ‘He Kamakshi’ in Raga Yedukula Kambodi
Smt. Vasanta Kokilam has sung ‘Pittan endralum…’ in Raga Bhimplas/Aberi.
It is not doing justice to the divine essence that Mataji’s life was to compress it within a space of a few words. The glory that her life was, a life spent in service and devotion to God, giving her devotees in simple terms the essence of the ‘Truth’ shine through her songs forever. This is evident in the songs on Rajarajeshwari, each song describing the chakra or stage at which the soul is resting, ultimately reaching the Dwadashantam Chakra, where everything is bliss. ‘Anandam yenna solven!”: ‘How do I describe this bliss?’ wherein she mentions having achieved the ultimate state of bliss.