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Nata Sankirtana in Brahaddesi Sangeet Mahotsav - 2
By Samarendra Chongtham
One of the reasons why Manipur Nata Sankirtan is much maligned is the similarity of the names of our Ragas and Raginis with that of Hindustani Music. As for example, we have Rag Malav, Malhar, Todi, Dhanshiri, Basant, etc. Similarly, with respect to the Taal of our Pung (drum) also, some of their names are similar with that of Tabla and Pakhwaz, like Ek Taal, Dui Taal, Teen Taal, Chari Taal etc. The similarity ends there. While the Ek-Taal and Teen Taal of Hindustani music are of 12 and 16 beats, our Ek-Taal has one beat, Dui Taal two beats, Teen Taal three beats; Charital, (We call charital and they call choutal) has four beats and so on. It appears that we have adopted the names from other music systems, yet are maintaining a distinct identity of our own.
It's nothing surprising when and how these alien names have crept into our culture, if we look back a little to the history of Manipur and the advent of Vaishnavism in this Kingdom.
When the Manipuris were converted to Vaishnavism during the reign of Meidingu Pamheiba (Garibniwaz Maharaj). Krishna worship was widespread in this kingdom and it had reached its zenith during the reign of Maharaja Bhagyachandra. And when Krishna was introduced in Manipur, his name is not changed, in fact, it cannot be changed. Hence, the name Krishna was retained. But at the time of making Govindji's idol by Maharaja Bhagyachandra, the king made a totally different Krishna - a Manipuri Krishna, not the Krishna of Mathura or Vrindavan. The Tribhanga Bhangi, the costumes including the Dhora, Chura, Nupur, Bansi of Govindjit were all designed drawing inspiration from our indigenous culture and art forms and given a purely Meitei - touch.
Likewise, when the Nata Sankirtan music was composed, we have borrowed the names of the Ragas from others, but not their contents. Being a Vaishnava, the theme of the songs are, no doubt, based on the Lilas of Gouranga and Krishna. But the Raga, Taal, Ras and Bhava are all purely our own, having drawn from our rich traditional music and art forms. This precisely, was what RK Singhajit Singh emphasized and convincingly proved in the Barhaddesi Sangeet Mahotsav at Guwahati.
The roots of our Natasankirtana lies in the rich folk traditions of Manipur like the Lai Haraoba, Pena, Khullang Ishei etc. Because of this distinct ethnic touch and flavor, our music has become so special in the country. RK Singhajit introduced Nata Sankirtana to the distinguished gathering by saying that it's not meant to entertain an audience; it's a ritual and prayer to the lord. To the Vaishnavaite Hindus of Manipur, Sankirtana is the equivalent of a Mahayajna. It forms an inseparable part of Manipuri life-beginning from his birth till his death. Every religious ceremony is preceded by a Nata Sankirtana. This is a vibrant and living art form nurtured and patronized by the whole society for more than four centuries.
Unfortunately, this rare art form and music tradition has not been properly appreciated and given its rightful place. RK Singhajit Singh continued by stating that Rag is the ritualistic commencement and overture of the Nata Sankirtana and all these are pre-set scores. The same Rag is repeatedly and religiously followed without any change, in fact we cannot change it, and it is sacrosanct. Rag forms a very significant and important component when we perform a Sankirtana. During the performance of Rag, a kind of an image is formed in the mind of the singer and a complete form appears in our mental vision. We don't follow the swara system of other forms of music traditions of the country. Besides melody and Rag cannot be imposed on Manipuri Music, these are revelations. After the Rag, the Pung (Mridanga) plays the sanehar. This is the signal that life started pulsating.
The thrust of RK Singhajit's argument is that if you cannot fit a particular music tradition into your own scheme of things, you cannot call other music traditions as inferior. The tragedy lies in looking into our music tradition through a colored-glass and putting under your microscope. An in depth study and strenuous research is needed in order to understand an alien music.
Like other music traditions, we follow our own Ragas strictly. Nata Sankirtana has six Rag Purush and for each Rag there are six Raginis, totaling 36 numbers, each Ragini with an accompanying Vahan which described the imagery of the particular Ragini.
We also don't follow your SAREGAMAPA DHA NI. We have our own indigenous system and depend on three major notes known as GHOR, PANCHOM and DIRGHA with a number of micro-tones in between. Regarding Rasa, the Natyashastra mentions only nine Rasas. To the Manipuris, we have CHOUSASHTI Rasa or sixty-four Rasa in Natasankirtan.
These are, in brief, the gist of what RK Singhajit had said in the seminar before the musicologists, musicians and scholars and he concluded by saying that Natasankirtana is a unique music tradition and a rare art-form nurtured for centuries by a civilized society.
Before I conclude this report on the status of Natasankirtana in Indian Music, it would be appropriate to highlight a very disturbing trend in the field of music today. While a group of eminent artistes and art-enthusiasts are making tireless efforts to project the originality of our music and musical instruments, a few pseudo-scholars and musicians of Manipur are busy trying to demonstrate the impact or influence of Hindustani music on Natasankirtana.
Instead of feeling proud in our own music tradition, the tendency is to equate and draw parallels with Hindustani Music, which has nothing to do with Natasankirtana as conclusively proved in the Brahaddesi Festival under the aegis of the Sangeet Natak Akademi. Not only this, much harm have been done to Manipuri culture in the name of 'fusion-music' of Pena and Violin, Pung and Table, Hindustani Music and Natasankirtana creating sheer 'Confusion Music'. We should all be very careful and vigilant of such innovations and leave them to competent musicologists.
(Courtesy: The Imphal Free Press) |
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