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Genesis of Carnatic Music
Dr. Amutha Pandian
Indian music,
South Indian music,
Carnatic music and
Tamil music are
synonyms
In India two kinds of classical music are practised at present –
Carnatic and Hindustani. Hindustani is practised mostly in North
India and it is a known fact that this was born out of an
amalgamation of indigenous music and the music of the Middle
East, brought into India by the Mogul conquerors. Even though there
are books at present to define its characteristics, for a thorough study
of this style of music recourse to the musicology of Carnatic music is
inevitable. No wonder then that when the great maestro Ravi Shankar
was asked for the theory underlying the music that he performs he
said he is only a performing artist and that for a possible theory one
has to look up to South India.
The classical music typical of South India is Carnatic music; the
term ‘Carnatic’ was used by the English who landed in the Malabar
Coast, to denote the music that was practised from Mysore to
Tiruvanandapuram. This South Indian music is Dravidian Music for
the four states of South India- Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh
and Karnataka –that constitute the ancient Dravidian Kingdom, and
Tamil language has been the mother language of antiquity for these
four Dravidian languages. Hence, Indian music, South Indian music,
Carnatic music and Tamil music are synonyms.
In spite of these overt particulars several researchers still argue
that Carnatic music was developed by the Aryans and has nothing to
do with Tamil.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, when Europeans began
to be interested in Indian music and began their research, Sanskrit
works like Bharata Natya Sastra of the second century A.D., and
Sangeetha Ratnakaram of the fifth century served as reference. While
the former is a work on drama giving several details of music, the
latter is replete with myths and legends.
Also popular books on Carnatic music say that Carnatic music
owes its origin to the Vedas. Though Carnatic music is more suited to
recite the Vedas, the Rig Veda was originally chanted with four notes
Ri, Dha, Ga, and Ni and according to tradition certain portions of
the Rig Veda, were chanted with the additional three notes Sa, Ma,
Pa by Ravana, King of Lanka, which later became the Sama Veda.
One popular misconception is about the nomenclature of the Sama
¹Fò ðÂõ™
European gentlemen
who came to India to
gather information
about the antiquity of
India, its ancient arts
and culture were
misled by those who
have a very imperfect
knowledge of it
2
Veda. Fox Strangways, in the Music of Hindustan (p.249–250), says
that drinking of the juice of soma plant is the central point of the
elaborate ritual described in the ninth book of the Rig Veda. Soma
refers to the moon, and the Sama Veda is specially connected with
the worship of ancestors whose abode is believed to be the moon. If
the nomenclature suggests chanting that followed drinking of soma
juice, or chanting that is made to the Moon God, the name must be
‘soma gaanam’ and not ‘sama gaanam’. Ravana, when crushed
underfoot by Lord Siva for his obdurate pride, being conversant with
the four tantras (strategies of rhetoric) – sama (appeasement), bheda
(argument), dhana (charity), danda (punishment) – chanted the
portions of the Rig Veda to the accompaniment of the veena and
appeased Lord Shiva’s wrath. Samam + Veda = Sama Veda, where
‘sama’ is pacifying. There are images in temples in South India, which
depict this. In the temples at Madurai, Aavudayarkoil and many other
places images of Ravana represent him as playing a veena of thousand
strings with his twenty hands.
It is also a matter for regret that many European gentlemen who
came to India to gather information about the antiquity of India, its
ancient arts and culture were misled by those who have a very
imperfect knowledge of it. The result was that the musicologists were
often confounded by the appalling differences between the theories
of music that was promulgated in these works and the music practised
by veterans. Indian and Western musicologist, in the wake of
nineteenth century, found it impossible to form a tangible scientific
theory of the much-appreciated Carnatic music. C. R. Day, Fox Strangways, E. Clements and others failed in their endeavors because
they based their research on Sanskrit works, which were written with
puranic imagination mixing plenty of myths and legends.
Any classical art is formalized, and organized. It fits into a
grammatical framework and is governed by scientific rules. Yet the
musicologists who ground their theories of music on the Sanskrit
works neither define them in clear terms nor agree with each other
in a scientific theory.
For example though most of the details that Sarangadeva gives in
the Sangeetha Ratnakaram are details that explain the South Indian
system, he is unscientific when talking about the intervals between
sruthis, the number of sruthis, modal shift of tonic and the three
grammas. Though Sarangadeva says that alaguu-s(sruthis) must have
¹Fò ðÂõ™
It was Abraham
Pandithar who
declared that while
the theories
promulgated from the
Sanskrit works do not
in anyway suit the
practical music of
South India
3
equal intervals, he also says that the number of sruthis is 22. How
could 12 semitones be divided into 22 in equal proportion with the
ratio of one fourth or one eighth? The zodiac sign (by which the
Tamils formed their Vattappaalai) with12 houses will not be complete
with the 22 alaguus of Sarangadeva. Kural Thiribu (modal shift of
tonic) by which the three graamams (gamut) are made is impossible
in Sarangadever’s system. Sarangadeva mentions the Dhaivatha
Graamam, the Madhyama Graamam and the Gandhara Graamam a
few times. But he says that the Madhyama Graamam was not popular
in his days and that the Gandhara Graamam went away to the celestial
region. This is perhaps because singing Kural Thiribu was not properly
understood. However the way the Tamils sang Kural Thiribu could be
deduced, from the description in the ‘Aaycchiyar Kuravai’ in the
Silappathikaaram. The ‘Aaycchiyar Kuravai’ shows the great felicity
with which the Tamils made Kural Thiribu. It was possible only because
their music was scientific.
It was Abraham Pandithar who declared that while the theories
promulgated from the Sanskrit works do not in anyway suit the
practical music of South India (or Carnatic Music), some of the
details in the Silappathikaaram cognates with the oral tradition of
the Oduvaars of the Thevaram and the music of the Nagaswaram
artists. (Karunamirtha Sagaram,p.)The facts that are undeniable
proofs to conclude that the present Carnatic music is the ancient
music practiced by the Tamils:
1. Details found in the Sanskrit works are not scientific
2. They in no way serve to explain the ancient music preserved in the
oral tradition of the Oduvaars.
3. The music that is spoken of in the Tolkappiam, the Paripadal and
the Silappathikaaram are highly systematized.
4. They explain the classical music that is practiced today.
Through these facts and recent research in history, linguistics and
anthropology one can arrive safely at the following conclusions:
1. During the period of the sangams, Tamil music attained classical
heights.
2. During the sangam maruviya kaalam (transitional period), when
the educated class among the Tamils, known as anthanars, began
¹Fò ðÂõ™
4
translating their knowledge for the Sanskrit scholars some of the
basics principles lost their explanations and relevance.
not by the Sanskrit
speaking Aryans but
the Tamil speaking
Dravidians
3. When the Sanskrit scholars became expert exponents of Tamil
music, they were so keen on reproducing the knowledge in their
own language that Tamil books on music became extinct.
4. Most of the technical terms in music and musicology including
the names of notes and panns were translated into Sanskrit.
5. The Buddhists and the Jains, with a philosophy based on restraint
and asceticism, preached against pleasure, one of the four basic
principles of the philosophy of the life of the Tamils, and
consequently artists were pushed to the fringes of society.
6. With the rejuvenation of Indian Art in the 19th and 20th centuries,
music of the Tamils was renamed Carnatic Music. However, for
the theory of musicology, Sanskrit works were alone referred to.
7. When Indian and Western scholars tried to build a tangible theory
of Carnatic music from the Sanskrit source there were
incongruities because such a theory is inapplicable to the music
practised by traditional musicians till today in the south of India.
Carnatic music was developed many thousands of years before
the authors of Sanskrit works such as the Bharata Natya Sastra (500
A.D.), the Sangeetha Parijatham (600 A.D.), and the Sangeetha
Ratnakara (1200A.D.), not by the Sanskrit speaking Aryans but the
Tamil speaking Dravidians. Details of music in the Tholkappiam,
the great Tamil work of the pre-Christian era on literary theory and
linguistics, presuppose a highly systemized music. If separate panns
are designated to separate landforms it is imperative that a scientific
and systemized music should have been practised in Tamil Nadu even
before the time of the Tholkappiam.
Adiyaarkkunallar, in the Preface to the Silappathikaaram, deplores
the extinction of works on music, and quotes a few works that helped
him in his commentary. The books he refers to are Agattiyam,
Isainunukkam, Indira Kaaliam, Gunanool, Kootanool, Saeyantam,
Seittriyam, Talavahaiyottu Nool, Panchabhaaratheeam,
Panchamarabu, Bharatasenapateeam, Bhaaratham, Perungurugu,
Perunaarei, Mathivaanar Naataka Tamil Nool and Muruval.
Pervungalam or the yazh (Veena) with 1000 strings and other yazhs
with 21, 17, and 14 strings, which are referred to in the above works,
were all extinct even in his own time.
¹Fò ðÂõ™
They completely
changed the names of
some of the ancient
pans (ragas) and also
technical terms
5
According to Hindu Music and Gayan Samaj (Part III, p. 8) Hindu
music as a system was developed long ago. Dr. Tennant says that by
the mere presence of large number of instruments in India, Hindus
might be regarded as considerably proficient in music. W.W. Hunter
in The Indian Empire (p.110-112) and K.B. Deval in Hindu Musical
Scale and the 22 sruthi-s (p 1) are of the opinion that an Indian
musical scale was in existence even before the Brahman period of
2500 B.C. to 1400 B.C. Hindu priests who resided and meditated in
the primeval forests and inaugurated civilization developed it into a
system and science. Because this system is very different from the
arka system developed by acharyas (who first chanted the Vedas in
only one note, and then two and subsequently four) this music must
be the South Indian music.
Hindu Music and the Gayan Samaj speaks of the systems present
in North India and then says “Besides these there is the Southern
Indian system distinct in it, and constituting an important section
of the Indian musical system, termed the Karnataka system” (Quoted
in Karunamirtha Sagaram Part I,Book 1). C.R. Day says that (p.12)
of the two systems practiced in Southern India, Hindustani is practised
mostly by Moghuls, while Carnatic is confined more to the southern
races, and that it may be called the natural music of the south and
that it is more scientific and refined than the Hindustani, and again
(p.13) that because South India was less disturbed by internal
commotions “ the science of music would seem to have been
maintained and cultivated long after the original art had been lost
in the North”(p. 13) . Moreover according to Hindu Music and Gayan
Samaj the Dravidian system is more Vedic than the northern
Hindustani.
As already pointed out, when the Aryans entered South India during
the period of the last sangam, Brahmans learnt Sanskrit, and made
fresh works in both the languages that account for the presence of
Sanskrit words in Tamil. Older writings became obsolete owing to
disuse and other natural causes. Subsequently these Aryans became
experts in South Indian music, which “gave them power and influence
they prized so much” (C .R. Day, p.5) and this led to doubts about
the antiquity of the language and culture of the Tamils. They discarded
all the existing fragments of works of Tamil music, wrote new ones
in Sanskrit and handed them to posterity. They completely changed
the names of some of the ancient pans (ragas) and also technical
terms, giving Sanskrit names with Sanskrit letters as mnemonics for
¹Fò ðÂõ™
Written without
proper comprehension
of the minute details
of Carnatic music
these texts caused
great confusion
regarding the theories
of Carnatic music
6
determining them thus giving them derivative names. They further
classified the pann-s introducing some of the chief Sanskrit ideas
into it. The real harm was done when they handed down through
written texts what they did not understand. Written without proper
comprehension of the minute details of Carnatic music these texts
caused great confusion regarding the theories of Carnatic music.
Pythagoras, the Greek philosopher, though well conversant with
the sruthis used in the South Indian system, being unaccustomed to
tuning an instrument by sounding Sa and Pa as the South Indians
did, was misled by the system in the Sangeetha Ratnakaram, took
with him the measurements 2/3 and ¾ and developed the western
music scale out of it. From that time onwards, there have been
numerous theories as to the number of sruthis in the South Indian
system. As already observed, European musicologists were very often
misled by those who had a very imperfect knowledge of it. For example,
a very great scholar like C.R. Day, often misled by what he read in
the Sangeetha Ratnakaram, says that “sruthi is of 22 kinds also …
Doubts however exist as to whether the intervals of the sruthis were
equal or not . . . In the arrangements of the sruthis, modern usage is
diametrically opposite to the classical one; the latter placing them
before the note to which they respectively belong, while the former
gives position after the notes. The arrangements of the frets of the
veena and other stringed instruments accord with the modern
acceptation of the principle. According to the rule laid down in the
classical treatises, the disposition of the notes is reversed” (C.R. Day.
p.15). He comes to this conclusion after much research. But nobody
told him that the present veena, arranged like the European system
of Equal Temperament, belongs to the ancient South Indian system,
and that the treatise which he refers to does not tell him all the
truth. A detailed study of the four different kinds of yazhs mentioned
in Tamil works reveals that this system of notes according to equal
Temperament was known in very ancient times in the Tamil country.
As modern musicians are ignorant of that system they declare that
ancients did not know the art of having permanent frets for veena;
but had them adjusted from time to time to suit different ragas, and
that the modern system of having permanent frets originated from
the time of Sevappa Naicker of very recent date, having the English
notes of a scale for model.
This ancient system lost its subtlety and became corrupt owing to
incorrect mathematical calculations and computations in the
¹Fò ðÂõ™
Pandithar, through
his extensive
research, provides
enough evidences
7
Sanskrit works. This wrong system, combined with the haphazard
system of Pythagoras, resulted in many books being written on the
subject with contradictory theories. Though some of the theories
written in Sanskrit are as old as 1,000 years, they do not possess any
scientific authenticity and firmness as the oral tradition in vogue at
present in Tamil Nadu that is quiet systematic. Further, in spite of
the scarcity of literature, South Indian music has been preserved and
taught to others by those professional musicians supported for
generations by ancient temples who learnt music by oral transmission
and who became experts in playing instruments, such as the veena,
the flute, the nagaswaram, and the mridangam and in dancing and
singing. In this regard it must be remembered that it was a nonbrahman woman who was not allowed in the temple dominated by
the achariyaars wrote the panns for the Thevaaram hymns when they
were recovered by the great Chola king.
Pandithar, through his extensive research, provides enough
evidences for the following findings in his great work Karnamirtha
sagaram.
1. Carnatic music, which has been practised by the Tamils from the
ancient times, is based on sound scientific principles.
2. The 22-alaguu (sruthi in Sanskrit and microtones in English) system
of Sarangadeva is wrong since modal shift of tonic is impossible
in this system. There must be 24 alaguus.
3. The Tamils determined these alaguus by listening to the
concordance between Sa and Pa. Eventhough the Tamils were
experts in mathematics, they did not use mechanical appliances
in determining the notes due to the practical difficulties in using
them. Instead they believed in developing a high degree of musical
sensibility to distinguish very minute alaguus.
4. Pythagoras, who did not understand this way of determining the
alaguus, calculated Sa - Pa to be 2/3 and Sa - Ma to be ¾ and
based the calculation of notes of western music accordingly on
these measurements.
5. The Mother pann is Chempaalai, now known as Sankaraabharanam.
Though great musicians like Shyama Sastri, Thiyagaraja Swamigal,
Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer and Muthuswamy Dhikshidhar composed
and sang heart-melting hymns, they have not written the grammar
¹Fò ðÂõ™
This stanza alone is
proof enough to
conclude that the
music of the Tamils
was systemized
during the
Sangam age
8
for writing songs to panns. Though they belonged to Tamil Nadu and
their mother tongue was Tamil, Sanskrit charlatanism was so great
those days that they did not compose Tamil songs.The great songs of
the bhakthi cult were overlooked. It was considered improper to sing
the great songs of Arunachala Kavirayar, Muthu Thandavar and
Marimuthapillai in Temples.
Though such great music works in Tamil of the Sangam period are
lost the little that is in the Paripadal of the Sangam age and the
Silapathikaaram of Sangam Maruviya Kaalam (transitional period)
are enough to form tangible theories of Carnatic music.
Some of the stanzas in the Paripadal, written by Nallandhuvanaar,
who lived before the poet Illango and about thousand years before
Adiyaarkunallar, along with its commentary by Parimelazhagar,
provide ample proof to the high standard of the music of the Tamils.
The translation of one of the stanzas of Paripadal 11 goes thus:
‘The music of the beetles that were singing from inside the flowers
adorning the hair of the damsels, in spite of their efforts to drive
them off, resembled the Yazh. This was in the relation of Kural to Ili,
which is Kilai note. This was the pann Marutham that appeared in
the Paalai where Ozhai is Kural. Ozhai is Kilai to Ili as it is fifth to
Kural leftwards. It implies that it is the Yama Yazh appearing in
Vilarippaalai. The beetles sang them harmoniously according to
Thaalam”.(trans.Abraham Pandithar)
This stanza alone is proof enough to conclude that the music of
the Tamils was systemized during the Sangam age. Panns were classified
and thaalams were defined. Relationships between notes were
mathematically derived to the finest level to give maximum joy.
Harmony is scientific and beauty is in harmony. The following is a
translation of the commentary by Parimelazhagar of the nineteenth
song lines 41 to 46 in the Paripadal. These songs are written in praise
of the deity by Nappannanaar and set to music in pann Gaandhaaram
by Maruthanallachuthanar.
“Those who get music out of the divine Brahma Veena, those who
create music with their fingers out of the Kulal (flute) and those
who enjoy the music of the Yazh by producing the Paalai from the Ili
and the Kural neither too loud not too soft but in a middling degree;
Those who make the noise of the murasu(drum) to be in complete
combination with the thaalam (beat) of the music of the Kural in
the Yazh”.
¹Fò ðÂõ™
they contain very
important clues to
the grammar of the
music that the
Tamils practised and
testify to the fact
that Carnatic music
9
The strings vibrated in harmony with the human voice and the
percussion instrument murasu kept strict time in conjunction. There
was orchestral music and the notes of octaves they selected were
always suited to situations.
If a work like the Silappathikaaram, which is primarily an epic of
love and revenge, treats several details of music pertaining to subtle
nuances in spontaneous felicity how intertwined should music and
dance have been in the life of the people? Though the details are
meager, they contain very important clues to the grammar of the
music that the Tamils practised and testify to the fact that Carnatic
music, which has been practised by the Tamils from the ancient
times, is based on sound scientific principles.
However not only are those passages difficult to understand, but
also some of the words used are obsolete. The commentaries (by
Arumpatha-urai-aasiriyar and Adiyaarkunallar) written about ten
centuries after Ilango either overlooked what happened in between
the centuries or failed to explain everything in detail. It is for this
reason that people living after ten centuries from the time of the
commentators find it still more difficult to understand what Ilango
meant. The commentators are also not explicit in many places. In
spite of all this, the little that is in the Silappathikaaram proves
adequate to explain certain features of South Indian music.
Further, the Silappathikaaram says that the musician must posses
a keen ear for the different concordant and discordant relationships
of inai, kilai, pagai and nattpu. They determined alaguus by listening
to the concordance between Sa and Pa.
There is textual proof in the Silappathikaaram for how some of
the basics principles lost their explanations and relevance. The work
mentions two ways or traditions of singing. The names Thondrupadu
marabu and Vampurumarabu (Traditional and modern or neo) suggest
that, in this age, new methods of singing began displacing the
traditional ways. It must also be noted that historians call the age of
the Silappathikaaram ‘Sangam Maruviya Kaalam’ (The age of the
deterioration of the Sangam).
The Silappathikaaram belongs to the age when the land of the
Tamils was assailed by the cultural conquests from the people of the
north, especially of the Sanskrit speaking people. The educated class
among the Tamils known as anthanars began translating their
¹Fò ðÂõ™
If one who knows the
language is often
incapable of
understanding the
idea of an author
how could people
of alien tongues
understand it?
10
knowledge for the Sanskrit scholars. The Brahmins1 of South India,
though they were born in South India and their mother tongue was
Tamil, did not care to write in Tamil. They translated what they
learnt from their own language into Sanskrit.2 For example about
460 years ago, Venkatamahi, son of Govinda Dhikshidhar, the Prime
Minister to the Chola king, arranged together the modes of panns
used in South Indian music but wrote his work in Sanskrit and called
it Chaturdhandhi Prakashika. Though it is about the music of South
India, it is written in a foreign language and so it lacks clarity. The
intentions of Maha Vaidhyanatha Iyer, who composed, in Sanskrit,
Raga Malika for the 72 Melakartas – although he was a good Tamil
scholar and derived the substance was from the Periyapuranam – are
also dubious. Such constant changes, therefore, from one language
to another lead to number of errors and admixtures, so much so that
the original meaning is often lost. If one who knows the language is
often incapable of understanding the idea of an author how could
people of alien tongues understand it?
When the Sanskrit scholars became expert exponents of Tamil
music, they were so keen on reproducing the knowledge in their own
language that Tamil books on music became extinct. Older writings
became obsolete owing to disuse and natural causes. Subsequently,
these Aryans became experts in South Indian music, which “gave
them power and influence they prized so much” (C.R. Day p. 5) and
this led to doubts about the antiquity of the language and culture of
the Tamils. As has been argued earlier, they replaced existing fragments
of works of Tamil music with new ones in Sanskrit. However, they
did not understand the minute details of Carnatic Music and so
these texts caused great confusion regarding the theories of Carnatic
music.
Sanskrit words were gradually introduced into Tamil. Most of the
technical terms in music including the names of notes and pans,
were translated into Sanskrit. Later most of these Tamil terms were
considered Sanskrit derivations. The term Brahma Veena can be quoted
as an example. The Bhirma Melam, a Telugu work written by
Kanagaiyaa Kavi Saathuurigam, records 24 alaguus in Brahma Veena.
The Maelathikaralakhshanam, a Sanskrit work of relatively very recent
times also refers to 24 alaguus. The expressions ‘Rudra Veena’ and
‘Brahmma Veena’ are also found in the work and musicians now
believe that this word originated in Sanskrit. But the presence of the
¹Fò ðÂõ™
11
term ‘brama veena’ in the 41 st to 46 th stanzas in the Paripadal is an
undeniable proof that this nomenclature belonged originally to Tamil.
This attitude must
change
Venkatamahi says that he constructed the 72 Melakartas and he
names the panns are in Sanskrit. But a little research will prove that
all the names are Tamil derivations. The book, Vyasa Kadakam, gives
the names of several pans, such as ‘Kanakangi’, ‘Rathnangi’ and
‘Ganamurthy’, which are Tamil derivations. The ancient Vyasa Muni
would not have written the Vyasa Kadakam for, if so, Bharata in the
fifth century and Sarangadeva in the thirteenth century would have
referred to it. So another Vyasa, who lived after Sarangadeva and
before Venkatamahi, should have been the author of the Vyasa
Kadakam. He started recording the changed names of Tamil panns
and Venkatamahi completed the task. It then became very easy for
the Sanskrit exponents to swear by the Sanskrit works and the fact
that the present Carnatic music is the erstwhile Tamil music was
soon forgotten. This attitude must change. Only then further research
in Tamil Musicology will be intensified which in turn would make
possible the performance of Carnatic music with the minute alaguu
system mentioned in Tamil Literature. It will also then be possible to
retrieve all the 12,000 panns and the seven kinds of thalams mentioned
in Tamil Literature.
Notes:
1. Brahmins were ‘anthanar’ class of the Dravidians. “The Brahman
caste habituated to an intellectual life, and in the exercise of
verbal memory to an astonishing degree”(Slater, Gilbert. The
Dravidian Elements in Indian Culture New Delhi: Asian Educational
Services, p.62), found in the Aryan supremacy and administration,
an opportunity. This fact and intermarriages made some Brahmans
to consider themselves Aryans and superior to the other Dravidians.
Some of them even suffered identity crisis in their enthusiasm to
uphold Sanskrit language along with their necessity to possess the
rich culture of the Tamils.
2. Again what Gilbert Slater says must be quoted here. “..the second
and third stages of Aryan invasion involved a struggle for survival
between languages. That the brawnier but thicker-witted Aryan
should bear the extraordinarily difficult languages of the ‘illspeaking man’ as the Vedas term the Dravidian, was not be
supposed. The Dravidian instead had to learn Sanskrit. The
¹Fò ðÂõ™
12
Brahman caste (Dravidians) habituated to an intellectual life
and trained in the exercise of verbal memory to an astonishing
degree, found here an opportunity … And the Brahmans having
thus taken the initiative in spreading the use of Sanskrit, or
Sanskrit derivatives, among the Dravidian population, others less
eagerly and with greater difficulty followed by degrees just as has
happened with the spread of English in Madras Presidency.” ”
(Slater, p.62)
Books Referred:
Abraham Pandithar. Karnamirtha Sagaram. (Thanjavur:Lawley
Press,1917)
Bharata Muni. Natya Sastra (trans.) Manmohan Gosh. Calcutta
Clements, E. Introduction to the Study of Indian Music (London:
Longman, Green and Co., 1913)
Day, C. R. The Music and Musical Instruments Southern India and
Decccan. (London:Novello,Ewer and Co., and Adam and Charles
Black,1891)
Fox –Strangways. A. H. The Music of Hindustan. (Oxford:Clarenden
Press, 1916 .
Hunter,W.W. The Indian Empire. (London:W.H.Allen and Co.,1878)
Paripadal with Commentry. (Tirunelvely, Saiva Siddanta Publishers,
1964)
Saminatha Iyyar,U.Ve. Silapathikaram with Commentry(tamil,
Chennai,U.Ve. Sa.Nool Nilayam, 1978)