The story of the Ramayana through Carnatic Krithis - Part 1
It is during the months of April and May that classical music concerts (Hindustani and Carnatic) happen in various parts of Bengaluru every year to celebrate Ramanavami. This year (2020), because of the Corona virus situation, all these concerts had to be cancelled. I, like many others, ended up listening to whatever was available online or in my personal collection. I have always been a big fan of Carnatic music although I have not had any training, and I used the lockdown period to develop that interest into a project. Which I am now pleased to present to you - “ The story of the Ramayana through Carnatic krithis ”. There are many versions of the Ramayana – the most famous of them being the Valmiki Ramayana, the Kamban Ramavataram, the Tulsidas Ramacharitmanas, Eknath’s Bhavarth Ramayan and Ezhuthachan’s Adhyathmaramayanam. Different composers have used one or the other of these as the basis for their compositions. For example, Thygaraja Swamy used the Valmiki Ramayan...