What Dikshitar wrote on Ganesha

On Vinayaka Chaturthi, one always automatically turns to the kriti ‘Siddhi Vinayakam’ (Chamaram/Rupakam). Owing to the reference to worship on the fourth day of the month of Bhadrapada, this song has come to define the festival. In his biography of Muthuswami Dikshitar (National Book Trust, 1968), T.L. Venkatarama Aiyar cites it as an instance of the composer creating pieces ‘in praise of deities for special occasions’. A beautiful song, it surprisingly does not feature in the compilation of Dikshitar kritis provided by his grandnephew Subbarama Dikshitar in his magnum opus, Sangita Sampradaya Pradarsini (Vidya Vilasini Press, 1904).

Does this then become a spurious Dikshitar kriti? We cannot say for sure, for given that Dikshitar travelled far and wide in his lifetime, several of his compositions may have remained with certain disciples and not have come to the notice of his descendant when the task of compiling began. Certainly, there are some magnificent Dikshitar songs that are outside the Pradarsini. Nevertheless, it remains a puzzle as to why they were never included in the composer’s complete corpus of songs.

The Pradarsini is also not very clear about Dikshitar’s songs on Ganesha. In his profile on Dikshitar in the Vaggeyakara Charitramu section of the Pradarsini, Subbarama Dikshitar specifically mentions that the former composed songs on the ‘shodasa (16) Ganapatis presiding at the kshetra’ of Tiruvarur. That would mean 16 compositions on Ganesha in and around the Tiruvarur temple. But the book has only 13 compositions. Of these, ‘Sveta Ganapatim’ (raga Chudamani/Triputa) is not on any temple in Tiruvarur but on Vellai Vinayakar at the entrance of the Thanjavur Fort. But the idol here is not white. According to local lore, the masons who constructed the palace first propitiated a Ganesha idol made of jaggery (vellam) before starting the work. This was the Vella Ganapati, which over time became Vellai Ganapati. As is to be expected of a Ganesha shrine built before the fort, it is near the eastern gate, which was the first entrance to Thanjavur. Thus, the Ganesha was also known as Ellai (frontier) Pillaiyar, which became Vellai Pillaiyar. The deity here is in the company of his consort, Vallabha. Dikshitar clearly mentions this iconographic detail in the song.

Going back to the Shodasa Ganeshas of Tiruvarur, a census is yet to be taken on the number of shrines dedicated to the deity in and around the Tyagesa temple, but it appears that by shodasa, Subbarama Dikshitar did not mean the 16 iconographic representations of the deity as per Agamic traditions. According to common listing, these are Bala, Taruna, Bhakta, Veera, Shakti, Dwija, Siddhi, Ucchishta, Vighna, Kshipra, Herambha, Lakshmi, Maha, Vijaya, Nritta and Urddhva Ganapatis. Of these, only Shakti, Maha and Ucchishta can be seen in the Tiruvarur temple, while the rest are more generic representations.

Of the 12 Dikshitar compositions on Ganapati (excluding ‘Sveta Ganapatim’) not all explicitly mention the kshetra. Only six songs are clearly on sanctums in that town — ‘Vatapi Ganapatim’ (Hamsadhvani/Adi), ‘Shri Mahaganapati’ (Gaula/Triputa), ‘Shri Muladhara’ (Shri/Adi), ‘Panchamatanga Mukha’ (Malahari/Rupakam), ‘Ucchishta Ganapatau’ (Kasiramakriya/Adi) and ‘Shakti Sahita’ (Shankarabharanam/Tisra Eka). The others cannot directly be attributed to Tiruvarur.

Some well-known songs by Dikshitar on the deity fall outside the Pradarsini; in fact, there are 15 such songs. ‘Vallabha Nayakasya’ (Begada/Rupakam) is one that could be on an identical icon in Tiruvarur. ‘Ekadantam’ (Bilahari/Misra Chapu) and ‘Rakta Ganapatim’ (Mohanam/Adi) mention their kshetras as Halasya (Madurai) and Parasurama (Kerala). ‘Karikalabhamukham’ (Saveri/Rupakam) has the deity situated on the banks of the river Cauvery and this has been identified with the Dundi Ganesha shrine at the Tula Ghat in Mayiladuthurai. The rest of the kritis are silent as far as kshetra attributions are concerned. Some are quite unlikely to be genuine Dikshitar kritis going by the faulty alliteration and startlingly ‘modern’ musical structures.

We, therefore, come to the conclusion that Subbarama Dikshitar had probably heard from his forebears that Muthuswami Dikshitar had composed songs on 16 Ganeshas in Tiruvarur. He certainly does not appear to have had all of these in his possession. The latter day additions have only caused needless confusion, given our poor documentation history and inability to check authenticity. Perhaps, we just need to sing these songs without worrying about the details.

The Chennai-based historian writes on music and culture.