Swaraaksharam - The beauty of Carnatic Music!

 Hi All! 

Welcome to my blog Sangeetha Narayanan - Music.

Today I wish to share my casual thoughts on Swaraksharam, which I believe is a beautiful component of Carnatic Music. 

The following is based on my learnings from my Gurus and my learnings by listening to Lec-dems and concerts of artists on the Web. Kindly let me own any feedback in the comments section of my blog post. ☺🙏

Swaraksharam essentially means - Swaram + Aksharam. Swaram (Musical Note) + Aksharam (Alphabet).

It is the coming together of the same Swaram and Aksharam in a phrase of a composition.

For example, taking a popular Krithi of Muthuswami Dikshithar, Maha Ganapathim. In the Pallavi, Mahaganapathim, The first phrase itself is MaPa Ma for which Sahithyam has been set as Maha Ganapathim. So the first letter is a Swaraksharam, with Ma being the same in Swaram and Sahithyam. 

Likewise, in Shri. Papanasam Sivan's Krithi Karpaga Manohara, the first line has the swaram Gapaga which corresponds to saahithyam Karpaga, which almostat Chester with the swaram, producing a Swaraksharam. 

Swaraksharam can be enjoyed by all those who are able to find the notes of songs, i. e. Those who have Swaragnaanam can immediately find that it is a Swaraksharam. 

Swaraksharam has been beautifully employed by various composers to embellish and beautify their krithis.

Some examples are : Paahi Parvatha, Paahimaam Sri Rajarajeshwari, in which the first letter comes as Swaraksharam.

Likewise,  In Nidhi Chaala Sukhamaa,  GDP.. is the swaram and Nidhichaa... is the saahithyam. So, Dha and Dhi (of Nidhi) come together to form a Swaraksharam.

There are 2 types of Swaraksharams : 

1. Suddha Swaraksharam - Where the swaram and saahithyam match exactly - Eg : Nee Sari Saati (kalyani) - NiSari matches with NeeSari which is exactly match without any deviation. So it is called Suddha or pure Swaraksharam. 

2. Soochitha Swaraksharam :

In this type, there is a slight change in the words but the change does'not change the sound of the saahithyam. For example : Saraswathi Namosthuthe - Sari MaPa has the saahithyam Saraswathi. In this the first two letters are Swaraksharams. 1st letter is Suddha Swaraaksharam as it is exactly Sa-Sa in Swaram and Saahithyam. But 2nd letter is Soochitha Swaraksharam, as the swaram Ri is depicted as Ra which slightly changes the letter but it is in the same letter R. A Swaraksharam is a Soochitha Swaraksharam when the change in the letter remains in the same line of letters - Eg. Ri can be converted as Ra, Ri, Re, Ru, Ro, Rou etc. 

Though there are so many krithis with Swaraksharams, I have included the most popular ones as examples so that it would give an easier understanding.

So for today, I would like to share a link of a beautiful composition filled with Swaraksharams, Though there are many compositions, I would like to share this one as it is very nice with both Suddha and Soochitha Swaraksharams. 

It is a Varnam by Shri. Mysore Sadashiva Rao, Intha Chowka in Ragam Kamavardhini/Panthuvaraali.

Link is in the links section.

I would also like to give you a small challenge so that you can understand better. 

It is to find the Swaraksharams in my humble composition Jaya Vinaayaka, in Ragam Sumanesharanjani, given in the links section.

Hope you enjoy Swaraksharams after understanding them from the above post. 

Thank you and see you soon in another post!

Yours truly, 

Sangeetha Narayanan.