A MUSICOLOGICAL STUDY OF HARIDASA SULADI-S. From Thanjavur Maharaja Sarfoji Saraswati Mahal Library (TMSSML) Collections. By Dr. Arati Rao.

In English. Published by Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, Regional Centre, Bengaluru. 2022. Pages xxvi+270. Price Rs. 700.

The study of Suladis is significant in highlighting the seminal contributions of the Haridasas, whose lyrics are steeped in high philosophy and moral teachings. The suladis held an important place in south Indian classical music before musical forms like the kriti and the varna came to dominate. The author, Dr. Arati Rao, states that the evolution of suladis represented a significant landmark in the growth of Carnatic music, yet, today, suladis have almost disappeared from South Indian classical music, and its original melodies are scarcely heard. A thorough study of the notations will certainly help to highlight this important phase in the development of Carnatic music.

Dr. Arati N. Rao, vocalist, vainika, academician and musicologist, holds a doctorate from the University of Mysore. This book is based on the findings of the Suladi Project undertaken by her, and contains ten edited notations of suladi songs from manuscript sources from the IGNCA-RCB microfilm collection. It has the transliteration of the original notations from microfilm, along with the edited notations, methodology of editing, analysis of the structural features and melodic features of the suladis. The suladis have been studied from three perspectives, namely, raga tala and musical form.

In the Preface, Dr. Achal Pandya, Regional Director, IGNCA RCB, says that a critical study of musical notations documented in manuscripts of yore is crucial to understanding the evolution of musical forms, complexity, and elements of performance. An honest attempt has been made in this book to describe the methodology and conflicts if any, in musicological interpretation of the song. The general features of the suladi musical form as seen in the ten notations have been examined in comparison with descriptions in musicological treatises. Dr. Pandya goes on to put the importance of this book in perspective, stating that “such a publication has immense revival value, by bringing back Suladis in performance, in Carnatic pedagogical syllabi and by providing curated notations for the Carnatic teacher looking to expand repertoire.”

In his Foreword, Dr. Sachchidananda Joshi, Member Secretary, IGNCA, New Delhi informs that in the 1990s, IGNCA executed a pioneering project of microfilming a very large number of manuscripts on various subjects related to Indian culture, across libraries in various parts of India. The IGNCA Regional Centre Bengaluru, has an extensive microfilm repository that is easily accessible to researchers. It is interesting to note that Dr. Arati Rao’s project is the first of it’s kind in Indian Music that has been carried out through intensive study of microfilms from this repository. Mr. Joshi has commended Dr. Arati Rao for “carrying out an in-depth study of the musical notations of the songs in the microfilms against the background of musicological treatises of their time.”

This study could inspire music students to take up research and scholarly engagements based on the microfilm cultural repositories.

S. JANAKI