S. Hari Kumar Sivan makes an impressive choice of this Patnam Subramania Iyer kriti, ‘Dhanyadevudo’ in Raag Malayamarutham and peppers it with the versatility of his 7-stringed violin. It is set to Adi talam and has a distinctive lilt to it. He gives a commendable performance of this masterpiece of a composition as the opening piece to his recital at the Darbar festival 2007.

Accompanying him on the mridangam is Neyveli Venkatesh and on the ghatam is RN Prakash. They give a pleasing support to Sivan with laudable wholesomeness, enhancing the recital with an energetic flow.

Sivan dips to the lower-most octave while performing the brief alapana, setting a beautiful ambience for the composition. The attache of swaras that he keeps bringing to this song in his improvisations is effortless. The magic of his uniquely built electric violin keeps the tempo of the concert elated with its ability to traverse extreme octaves, creating a groove of sorts.

Malayamarutam is an upanga janya of the 16th melakarta Chakravaka. It is a sadava raga. The swaras present in this raga are sadja, suddha risabha, antara gandhara, panchama, chatusruti dhaivata, kaisiki niṣadav. It’s arohanavii and avarohana are

S R1 G3 P D2 N2 Ṡ - Ṡ N2 D2 P G3 R1 S.

In Western music notation, if C is taken as the base or tonic note, then the scale is

C C# E G A A# C – C A# A G E C# C

Malayamarutam is a rakti ragaa or a raga which pleases instantaneously.

Risabha, gandhara, dhaivata are ragachaya swaras. Other than ṣadja, gandhara and dhaivata are nyasa swaras. G-D are vadi-samvad swaras (consonant notes).

It can portray rasas like karuna (compassion) very effectively, just as it can convey the feeling of devotion or bhakti bhava.

Musicians
S. Hari Kumar Sivan (7 string violin)
Neyveli Venkatesh (mridangam)
RN Prakash (ghatam)

Raag Malayamarutam, kriti composed by Patnam Subramania Iyer (1845-1902) in Adi talam