Artificial Intelligence (AI) has invaded even the Carnatic live performance stage — really ‘All-Invasive’ — , one may say. Just days after ChatGPT made its debut as a pallavi composer at Pallavi Darbar 2025, although the highlight swung again to custom.
Under the auspices of Carnatica and Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha, , disciples of vocalist-violinist Delhi P. Sunder Rajan revisited and reimagined pallavis, crafted by past masters and their guru. The occasion came about at Srinivasa Sastri Hall.
Shruthi Shankar Kumar, R.P. Shravan, Padmashree Srinivasan and Dhanya Rudrapatnam not solely rendered a curated array of pallavis with aptitude, but additionally articulated their structural and aesthetic insights with endearing readability. A reminder, maybe, that in Carnatic music, timelessness and evolution are however two sides of the identical coin.
Nine compositions
The programme titled ‘Pallavi Memoirs’ noticed the quartet current 9 picks, with Chidambaram G. Badrinath on the violin and R. Akshay Ram on the mridangam offering enthusiastic assist. Of these, 4 had been composed by T.R. Subramaniam, a pioneering one by M. Balamuralikrishna and 4 by Sunder Rajan. Given the main target was on the pallavi construction, the normal trikalam and tisram demonstrated had been related and manodharma was saved minimal.
Known for his creative, populist approaches to pallavi, TRS introduced a contemporary vitality to the shape. BMK, then again, enriched the rhythmic canvas along with his Mukhi pallavis, opening up new exploratory prospects inside the Carnatic idiom. The principal pallavi, composed by Sunder Rajan, was actually a inventive growth of BMK’s Mukhi idea.
Derivatives of talas
Though it got here later within the recital, the conceptual excessive level deserves early consideration right here. As a tribute to the maestro on his ninety fifth birthday, the group provided a quick presentation of BMK’s well-known Panchamukhi Adi tala pallavi in Kalyani ‘Sangeetha laya jnaanamu, sakala sowbhagyamu’. BMK devised the Mukhi talas — Trimukhi, Panchamukhi, Saptamukhi, and Navamukhi — by making use of totally different gatis (rhythmic subdivisions) to the 2 elements of a Suladi tala: sa-shabda (with sound) and ni-shabda (with out sound). In these talas, solely the sa-shabda kriyas (e.g., beats 1, 5, and 7 in Adi tala) undertake a nadai aside from chatusram, whereas the remainder of the cycle retains its base construction. The tala derives its title from the nadai utilized to those audible beats: tisram (Trimukhi), khandam (Panchamukhi), misram (Saptamukhi), and sankeernam (Navamukhi).
Inspired by the idea, Sunder Rajan composed a Gati-traya Bahumukhi pallavi (that includes three gatis and a number of rhythmic dimensions) in Charukesi, set to Misra Triputa tala. Following a succinct raga alapana by Dhanya, mirrored on the violin by Badrinath, Shravan rendered the tanam. The intricate pallavi ‘Eesanai mahesanai ninai, trinethranai pavithranai jaga(deesanai)’ was executed with poise by the disciples. Its vibrant rhythmic material included tisra (first beat), khanda (eighth) and misra (tenth) gatis within the sa-shabda sections, representing the confluence of the three gatis . A brief burst of kalpanaswaras adopted, with Akshay Ram capping the piece with a crisp, energetic tani avartanam.
Earlier, the recital opened with three consecutive pallavis by TRS. The first in Pantuvarali ‘Sambho mahadeva vibho paahi prabho, santatam swayambho’ was set to Misra Triputa. The uttarangam featured a Gopuccha yati — a tapering sequence of syllables resembling the form of a cow’s tail — starting with ‘santatam’ (seven counts), adopted by ‘swayambho’ (6), and persevering with into the purvangam with ‘sambho’ (5) and ‘maha’ (4).
R.P. Shravan, Shruthi Shankar Kumar, Dhanya Rudrapatnam and Padmashree Srinivasan acting at Pallavi darbar at Srinivasa Sastri Hall, Luz, Mylapore.
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RAGU R
Interesting addition
A Bilahari sketch by Shruthi preceded the following pallavi ‘Raghukula tilakudai velasina ramachandrude’ set to Khanda Triputa. The embedded trikalam in every of the primary three phrases — in a 4:2:1 ratio — was aesthetically executed, as was the tisram. The inverse ratio singing (1:2:4) was an fascinating addition.
The Kiravani pallavi, ‘Vallee deva senapathe namo namasthe’ had a tanam prelude by Padmashree. Set to Khanda Triputa, this pallavi featured a receding mathematical sample within the purvangam: ‘vallee’ – 4,4 counts; ‘deva’ – 3,3; and ‘senapathe’ – 2,2. In the uttarangam, namo – 1,4; namasthe – 1,4; and 1,4 (the ultimate 4 transitioning into the purvangam). After trikalam in chatusra and tisra nadai-s, pratilomam was carried out from the arudhi — an unusual however intriguing alternative. The swara garland, moreover Kiravani, included Valaji (Dhanya), Abheri (Shruthi), Shanmukhapriya (Shravan), Mohanakalyani (Padmashree) and Vasanthi (Badrinath).
The subsequent three introduced had been these of Sunder Rajan. The Saveri pallavi in 2-kalai Adi tala ‘Kumara (3 syllables) gurupara (4) karthike(ya) (5) ninadhupadhamalar (7) panivome (5)‘ showcased elegant ascending and descending patterns. The purvangam built up as 1 matra X 3 syllables, 2X4, and 3X5, while the uttarangam traced a descending sequence — 3X7, 2X5, and finally 1X3 (returning to ‘Kumara’).
‘Venkataramana sankataharana tirupati’ in Lathangi and set to Khanda Jhampa, had the purvangam in Tisra nadai (3X5) and uttarangam in Khanda nadai (5X3), and was well-executed together with trikalam in Chatusra tisram and pratilomam. The swarakshara pallavi in Khamas ‘Saamagaana lola nin paadhame gathi mahadeva sadasiva nidham panindhen’, set to Adi tala in Khanda nadai, was introduced in 4 speeds — keezh, chatusra-tisram, samam and mel.
The concluding quantity — a Surutti pallavi in Sankeerna Jhampa tala (Tisra nadai) ‘Velan sivabalan varagunaseelan vallee lolan’, composed by TRS, was structured in Srotovaha yati, the ascending counterpart to Gopuccha yati, evoking the picture of a river that begins as a trickle and regularly widens. The quartet carried out Chatusram to this Tisra nadai pallavi with assurance.
