Nannu Palimpa, Mohanam, Thyagaraja; Balamurali Krishna, MS Gopalakrishnan, TV Gopalakrishnan; 1963

Nannu Palimpa Composer: Thyagaraja Ragam: Mohanam Thalam: Adi Vocal: Balamurali Krishna Violin: MS Gopalakrishnan Mridangam: TV Gopalakrishnan Venue: Madras Music Academy Concert Date : 26 Dec 1963 Concert link: https://www.sangeethamshare.org/sreen... Lyrics and meaning http://thyagaraja-vaibhavam.blogspot.... Other references: this is an excellent write-up on Nannu Palimpa, written by Vishnu Vasudev, which we have referenced to write this description   / equanimity-in-five-notes   This is also a nice write-up which references the kriti and also the life of Walajapet Venkataramana Bhagvatar https://venkataramanabhagavadar.org/H... --------------------------------------------------------------------- About the composition: There is an amazing story behind this composition which showcases the sheer genius of Thyagaraja. Thyagaraja had one daughter, Seethalakshmi, and it was her wedding day. Thyagaraja had a huge number of disciples, so we can only imagine how big the occasion must have been. One of Thyagaraja’s prime disciples was Walajapet Venkataramana Bhagavatar, who himself composed thousands of kritis and eventually setup the Walajapet school Shishya Parampara of Thyagaraja, which was instrumental in notating many of Thyagaraja’s kritis on palm leaf manuscripts. Venkataramana Bhagavatar went to get a gift for the occasion, but he returned very late, and Thyagaraja was anxiously waiting for him to return. From far away, Thyagaraja sees Venkataramana Bhagavatar walking on the street, towards his house, and sees that his disciple has brought friends along with him. The friends are Rama, Lakshmana and Sita! Spontaneously, Thyagaraja composed this kriti, Nannu Palimpa. It turns out that Venkataramana Bhagavathar was actually holding a huge portrait of Rama featuring the "Kodanda Rama" position, with Rama holding his bow. Hence, the reference to Kodadanda Rama in the Charanam. BMK was in his peak form in this concert from 1963, and we highly suggest you listen to the full concert (see the Sangeethapriya link above). In our humble opinion, this is the BEST rendition of Nannu Palimpa! The meaning of the kriti is the following (referenced from Thyagaraja Vaibhavam, see above for the direct link). pallavi nanu pAlimpa naDaci vaccitivO nA prANa 1nAtha O Lord (nAtha) of my Life (prANa) (literally life-breath)! Did You come (vaccitivO) by foot (naDaci) in order to protect (pAlimpa) me (nanu)? anupallavi vanaja nayana mOmunu jUcuTa jIvanamu-ani nenaruna manasu marmamu telisi (nanu) Knowing (telisi) the secret (marmamu) of my mind (manasu) that (ani) beholding (jUcuTa) Your face (mOmunu) with Lotus (vanaja) Eyes (nayana) is my livelihood (jIvanamu) (jIvanamani), O Lord of my Life! did You kindly (nenaruna) come by foot in order to protect me? caraNam sura pati nIla maNi nibha tanuvutO uramuna mutyapu sarula cayamutO karamuna Sara kOdaNDa kAntitO dharaNi tanayatO tyAgarAja-arcita (nanu) With a body (tanuvutO) resembling (nibha) sapphire – indra – Lord (pati) celestials (pati) nIla maNi, with rows (sarula cayamutO) of pearls (mutyapu) on the chest (uramuna), with the splendour (kAntitO) of bow kOdaNDa and arrows (Sara) in Your hands (karamuna), and with sItA – daughter (tanaya) (tanayatO) of Earth (dharaNi), O Lord worshipped (arcita) by this tyAgarAja (tyAgarAjArcita)! O Lord of my Life! did You come by foot in order to protect me?