Pann
Encyclopedia
Pann is the melolic mode used by the Tamil people
in their music
since the ancient times. The ancient panns over centuries evolved first into a pentatonic scale and later into the seven note Carnatic Solfege
. But from the earliest times, Tamil Music is heptatonic and known as Ezhisai (ஏழிசை).
starting from the earliest known work Tolkappiyam
(500 BCE). Among Sangam literature, Mathuraikkanci
refers to women singing sevvazhi pann to invoke the mercy of God during childbirth. In Tolkappiyam
, the five landscapes
of the Sangam literature had each an associated Pann, each describing the mood of the song associated with that landscape. Among the numerous panns that find mention in the ancient Tamil literature are, Ambal Pann, which is suitable to be played on the flute, sevvazhi pann on the Yazh (lute), Nottiram and Sevvazhi expressing pathos, the captivating Kurinji pann and the invigorating Murudappann.
The Sangam landscape
was classified into five regions to describe the mood of the poem and to describe the intangibles of human emotions. While describing life and romance, the poets employed the background of the natural landscape and used the pann specific to that landscape to provide the mood. The neithal (seaside) landscape, which is employed to convey the grief of separation of lovers had the associated sevvazhi pann expressing pathos. Malaipatukatam
mentions Viraliyar singing Kurinjipann when offering worship to the deities of the mountainous regions. It also refers to Virali singing Marudappann before singing the eulogies of kings. Malaippadukadam also refers to the people trying to overcome their fatigue by singing Marudappann after working in the fields. There is a very interesting reference to Panns and birds/insects in Perumpanarruppatai
. It says that the beetles liked to listen to Kurinjipann played on Vilyazh thinking it to be the voice of its own kith and kin, while they hated to listen to Palaipann played on flute. There are also references to the Panar taking delight in mastering the Naivalam pann.
, written around the fifth century CE, describes music based on logical, systematic and scientific calculations in the arrangements of the dancers on the stage to represent the notes and panns. Cilappatikaram contains several chapters dedicated to music and dance, of which the most famous is the kanal vari which is a duet between the hero Kovalan
and his lady-love Madavi. Cilappatikaram contains musical terminology such as, azhaku and matthirai referring to the musical pitch and the smallest fraction of an audible sound distinguishable by the human ear. From these evolved the scales.
scales
, constitutes the raga
Mohanam
in the Carnatic music
style.
Mullaippann further evolved into Sempaalai, a scale based on seven notes by the addition of two more notes, ma and ni to the pentatonic scale. Sempaalai pann corresponds to the Carnatic raga Harikambhoji
. In ancient Tamil, the seven notes were termed as kural, tuttam, kaikkilai, uzhai, ili, vilari and taaram. The seven basic notes are then developed into twelve swaras corresponding to the twelve houses of the zodiac.
The ancient Tamils also derived new panns by the process of modal shift of tonic and by the process of reallocating the pitch and beat of the notes. Cilappatikaram has an example of this in the chapter Arangetrukadai, where the Pann Mercharupalai is changed to derive a new Pann. By the model shift of the tonic (பண்ணுப்பெயர்த்தல்) the ancient Tamils devised the seven major palais. Using the process of the cycle of fifth (called aaya palai) or the cycle of fourth, five semitones were developed. For example, if the cycle is started with kural (sa), the fifth note will yield iLi (pa), the sa-pa relationship. In the cycle of fourth, kural (sa) will give uzhai (ma), the sa-ma relationship. These five semitones were added to the original seven notes giving 12 notes of the ancient Tamil musical octave. Among the 12 notes, the flats were called kuRai (குறை) and the sharps were called nirai (நிறை).
The seven major palais or parent scales of the music of the ancient Tamils are: Sempalai (corresponding to the present Harikambhoji), Padumalai Palai (Natabhairavi
), Sevvazhi Palai (Hanumatodi
), Arum Palai (Dheerasankarabharanam
), Kodi Palai (Kharaharapriya
), Vilari Palai (Hanumatodi), and Merchem Palai (Mechakalyani).
The four original panns of maruthappann, kurinchippann, sevvazhi and sadari thus evolved into 103 panns with varying characterisations. In all of these PaNs, Uyir SurangaL (Jeevaswarams: Life Notes) exist. The life note of a PaN is embellished according to the notes that appear immediately before and after. This is called Alangaaram (Gamakkam). Taking into consideration all these special notes, PaN Isai is different from Karnatik Music. Karnatik Music as two variations of each of the variables; Ri, Ga, Ma, Dha and Ni. PaN Isai has 4 variations of each of the 5 variable. Plus the 2 constants; Sa and Pa, there are 22 variations of the 7 basic notes. We all should know what twenty-two over seven is. The ancient name for Raagam is Niram. Mehlakkatha was called Thaai Niram and Raagams born from there were call Say Niram. The ancient name for ThaaLam is PaaNi. For example, Roobaga ThaaLam was PaaNi MoonDRoththu. Before Sa, Ri, Ga... Tamils used the 12 Tamil Vowels. Looking at a keyboard, they would've used the 5 KuRil (Short Sounds) for the black keys and the 7 NeDil (Long Sounds) for the white keys.
Some of the panns and their equivalent Carnatic raga
s were:
, Tamil music was dormant for a period of a few centuries. With the advent of the Saivite saints such as ThirumaaNikkavaasagar SwamigaL (100 AD), Sundharamoorthi SwamigaL (900 AD), Thirunavukkarasar
and Thirugnana Sambanthar (7th century CE) who used the ancient panns in their hymns (Tevaram
), Tamil music experienced a revival. Only through these ThirumuRais, hymns by SeerkaaZHi MuthuthaaNDavar, hymn by Maarimuthaa Pillay, AruNagiri Naadhar, Iraamalinga SwamigaL and the hymns of Vaishnavite Alvars
we can still experience the ancient traditions of the Tamil panns. Sambanthar used the following seven panns: nattapaadai, Thakka ragam, Pazhanthakka ragam, Thakkesi, Kurinji, Viyazhak kurinji, and Meharahakkurinji. Thiru MaaNikkavaasagar SwamigaL used MuLai PaNN (Mohgana Raagam) for the majority of his Thiruvaasagam and Thirukohvaiyaar. There are a few of his hymns where he used BowRi, Mehgaraagakkurinji and Kalyaani. Sundharamoorthi SwamigaL wise widely influenced by Thirunyaanasambandhar SwamigaL and Thirunaavukkarasar 'Appar' SwamigaL, who used PaN Koli quite often. In actual, only Thirunaavukkarasar SwamigaL wrote the Dhehvaaram, which made-up the 4th, 5th and 6th ThirumuRaigaL. Thirunyaanasambandhar SwamigaL wrote the ThirukaDaikaapu, which makes up the 1st, 2nd and 3rd ThirumuRaigaL. Thiru Sundharamoorthi SwamigaL wrote the ThirupaaTTu, which makes up the 7th ThirumuRai. Thiru MaaNikkavaasagar's Thiruvaasagam and Thirukkohvaiyaar makes up the 8th ThirumuRai. There 12 ThirumuRais. Thirumoolar's Thirumandhiram is the 11th ThirumuRai and SekkiZHaar's Thiru ThoNDar, or Periya, PuraaNam is the 12th ThirumuRai. The ThirumuRais are the Devotional works of Saivaism and the 14 SaathirangaL (Saathirais) are the philosophical works of Saivaism, with ThiruvaLuvar's ThirkkuRaL accepted as its Vehdhaas.
Tamil people
Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...
in their music
Ancient Tamil music
The ancient Tamil music is the historical predecessor of the music of Tamil Nadu during the Sangam period, which evolved into classical Carnatic music by the 16th century.Many poems of the classical Sangam literature were set to music...
since the ancient times. The ancient panns over centuries evolved first into a pentatonic scale and later into the seven note Carnatic Solfege
Solfege
In music, solfège is a pedagogical solmization technique for the teaching of sight-singing in which each note of the score is sung to a special syllable, called a solfège syllable...
. But from the earliest times, Tamil Music is heptatonic and known as Ezhisai (ஏழிசை).
Panns in literature
There are several references to music and Panns in the ancient pre-Sangam and Sangam literatureSangam literature
Sangam literature refers to a body of classical Tamil literature created between the years c. 600 BCE to 300 CE. This collection contains 2381 poems composed by 473 poets, some 102 of whom remain anonymous The period during which these poems were composed is commonly referred to as the Sangam...
starting from the earliest known work Tolkappiyam
Tolkappiyam
The Tolkāppiyam is a work on the grammar of the Tamil language and the earliest extant work of Tamil literature. It is written in the form of noorpaa or short formulaic compositions and comprises three books - the Ezhuttadikaram, the Solladikaram and the Poruladikaram. Each of these books is...
(500 BCE). Among Sangam literature, Mathuraikkanci
Mathuraikkanci
Mathuraikkanci, is a Tamil poetic work in the Pathinenmaelkanakku anthology of Tamil literature, belonging to the Sangam period corresponding to between 100 BCE – 100 CE. Mathuraikkanci contains 583 lines of poetry in the Achiriyappa meter...
refers to women singing sevvazhi pann to invoke the mercy of God during childbirth. In Tolkappiyam
Tolkappiyam
The Tolkāppiyam is a work on the grammar of the Tamil language and the earliest extant work of Tamil literature. It is written in the form of noorpaa or short formulaic compositions and comprises three books - the Ezhuttadikaram, the Solladikaram and the Poruladikaram. Each of these books is...
, the five landscapes
Sangam landscape
The Sangam landscape is the name given to a poetic device that was characteristic of love poetry in classical Tamil Sangam literature. The core of the device was the categorisation of poems into different tiṇais or modes, depending on the nature, location, mood and type of relationship...
of the Sangam literature had each an associated Pann, each describing the mood of the song associated with that landscape. Among the numerous panns that find mention in the ancient Tamil literature are, Ambal Pann, which is suitable to be played on the flute, sevvazhi pann on the Yazh (lute), Nottiram and Sevvazhi expressing pathos, the captivating Kurinji pann and the invigorating Murudappann.
The Sangam landscape
Sangam landscape
The Sangam landscape is the name given to a poetic device that was characteristic of love poetry in classical Tamil Sangam literature. The core of the device was the categorisation of poems into different tiṇais or modes, depending on the nature, location, mood and type of relationship...
was classified into five regions to describe the mood of the poem and to describe the intangibles of human emotions. While describing life and romance, the poets employed the background of the natural landscape and used the pann specific to that landscape to provide the mood. The neithal (seaside) landscape, which is employed to convey the grief of separation of lovers had the associated sevvazhi pann expressing pathos. Malaipatukatam
Malaipatukatam
Malaipatukatam, is a Tamil poetic work in the Pathinenmaelkanakku anthology of Tamil literature, belonging to the Sangam period corresponding to between 100 BCE – 100 CE. Malaipatukatam contains 583 lines of poetry in the Achiriyappa meter. The poems were written by the poet Perunkosikanaar from...
mentions Viraliyar singing Kurinjipann when offering worship to the deities of the mountainous regions. It also refers to Virali singing Marudappann before singing the eulogies of kings. Malaippadukadam also refers to the people trying to overcome their fatigue by singing Marudappann after working in the fields. There is a very interesting reference to Panns and birds/insects in Perumpanarruppatai
Perumpanarruppatai
Perumpanarruppatai, is a Tamil poetic work in the Pathinenmaelkanakku anthology of Tamil literature, belonging to the Sangam period corresponding to between 100 BCE – 100 CE. Perumpanarruppatai contains 500 lines of poetry in the Achiriyappa meter. The poems were written by the poet Kadiyalur...
. It says that the beetles liked to listen to Kurinjipann played on Vilyazh thinking it to be the voice of its own kith and kin, while they hated to listen to Palaipann played on flute. There are also references to the Panar taking delight in mastering the Naivalam pann.
Evolution of Panns
The post-Sangam period, between the third and the fifth centuries CE, Tamil music evolved to a higher sophistication. CilappatikaramCilappatikaram
Silappatikaram Silappatikaram has been dated to likely belong to the beginning of Christian era, although the author might have built upon a pre-existing folklore to spin this tale. The story involves the three Tamil kingdoms of the ancient era, the Chola, the Pandya and the Chera...
, written around the fifth century CE, describes music based on logical, systematic and scientific calculations in the arrangements of the dancers on the stage to represent the notes and panns. Cilappatikaram contains several chapters dedicated to music and dance, of which the most famous is the kanal vari which is a duet between the hero Kovalan
Kovalan
Kovalan is a central character in the ancient Tamil epic Cilappatikaram.-Plot:Kovalan, the son of a wealthy merchant in Kaveripattinam, married Kannagi, the lovely daughter of another merchant. They lived together happily in the city of Kaveripattinam, until Kovalan met the courtesan Madhavi and...
and his lady-love Madavi. Cilappatikaram contains musical terminology such as, azhaku and matthirai referring to the musical pitch and the smallest fraction of an audible sound distinguishable by the human ear. From these evolved the scales.
Development of scales
One of the first scales employed by the ancient Tamils was the Mullaippann, a pentatonic scale composed of the notes sa ri ga pa da equivalent to C, D, E, G and A in the western notations. These fully harmonicHarmonic
A harmonic of a wave is a component frequency of the signal that is an integer multiple of the fundamental frequency, i.e. if the fundamental frequency is f, the harmonics have frequencies 2f, 3f, 4f, . . . etc. The harmonics have the property that they are all periodic at the fundamental...
scales
Musical scale
In music, a scale is a sequence of musical notes in ascending and descending order. Most commonly, especially in the context of the common practice period, the notes of a scale will belong to a single key, thus providing material for or being used to conveniently represent part or all of a musical...
, constitutes the raga
Raga
A raga is one of the melodic modes used in Indian classical music.It is a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is made...
Mohanam
Mohanam
Mohanam is a rāgam in Carnatic music . It is an audava rāgam . It is a janya rāgam , as it does not have all the seven swaras .The equivalent of Mohanam in Hindustani music is Bhoop Mohanam is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is an audava rāgam (or...
in the Carnatic music
Carnatic music
Carnatic music is a system of music commonly associated with the southern part of the Indian subcontinent, with its area roughly confined to four modern states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu...
style.
Mullaippann further evolved into Sempaalai, a scale based on seven notes by the addition of two more notes, ma and ni to the pentatonic scale. Sempaalai pann corresponds to the Carnatic raga Harikambhoji
Harikambhoji
Harikambhoji is a rāgam in Carnatic music . It is the 28th Melakarta rāgam in the 72 melakarta rāgam system....
. In ancient Tamil, the seven notes were termed as kural, tuttam, kaikkilai, uzhai, ili, vilari and taaram. The seven basic notes are then developed into twelve swaras corresponding to the twelve houses of the zodiac.
The ancient Tamils also derived new panns by the process of modal shift of tonic and by the process of reallocating the pitch and beat of the notes. Cilappatikaram has an example of this in the chapter Arangetrukadai, where the Pann Mercharupalai is changed to derive a new Pann. By the model shift of the tonic (பண்ணுப்பெயர்த்தல்) the ancient Tamils devised the seven major palais. Using the process of the cycle of fifth (called aaya palai) or the cycle of fourth, five semitones were developed. For example, if the cycle is started with kural (sa), the fifth note will yield iLi (pa), the sa-pa relationship. In the cycle of fourth, kural (sa) will give uzhai (ma), the sa-ma relationship. These five semitones were added to the original seven notes giving 12 notes of the ancient Tamil musical octave. Among the 12 notes, the flats were called kuRai (குறை) and the sharps were called nirai (நிறை).
The seven major palais or parent scales of the music of the ancient Tamils are: Sempalai (corresponding to the present Harikambhoji), Padumalai Palai (Natabhairavi
Natabhairavi
Natabhairavi is a rāgam in Carnatic music . It is the 20th melakarta rāgam in the 72 melakarta rāgam system. It corresponds to the minor scale of western music system....
), Sevvazhi Palai (Hanumatodi
Hanumatodi
Hanumatodi, more popularly known as Todi, is a rāgam in Carnatic music . It is the 8th melakarta rāgam in the 72 melakarta rāgam system. This is sung very often in concerts. It is known to be a difficult rāgam to perform in owing to its complexity in prayoga...
), Arum Palai (Dheerasankarabharanam
Dheerasankarabharanam
Dheerashankarābharanam , commonly known as Shankarābharanam, is a rāga in Carnatic music . It is the 29th Melakarta rāga in the 72 melakarta rāga system of Carnatic music....
), Kodi Palai (Kharaharapriya
Kharaharapriya
Kharaharapriya is a rāgam in Carnatic music . It is the 22nd melakarta rāgam in the 72 melakarta rāgam system. Kharaharapriya has a distinct melody and brings out the Karuna rasam, invoking pathos in the listeners...
), Vilari Palai (Hanumatodi), and Merchem Palai (Mechakalyani).
The four original panns of maruthappann, kurinchippann, sevvazhi and sadari thus evolved into 103 panns with varying characterisations. In all of these PaNs, Uyir SurangaL (Jeevaswarams: Life Notes) exist. The life note of a PaN is embellished according to the notes that appear immediately before and after. This is called Alangaaram (Gamakkam). Taking into consideration all these special notes, PaN Isai is different from Karnatik Music. Karnatik Music as two variations of each of the variables; Ri, Ga, Ma, Dha and Ni. PaN Isai has 4 variations of each of the 5 variable. Plus the 2 constants; Sa and Pa, there are 22 variations of the 7 basic notes. We all should know what twenty-two over seven is. The ancient name for Raagam is Niram. Mehlakkatha was called Thaai Niram and Raagams born from there were call Say Niram. The ancient name for ThaaLam is PaaNi. For example, Roobaga ThaaLam was PaaNi MoonDRoththu. Before Sa, Ri, Ga... Tamils used the 12 Tamil Vowels. Looking at a keyboard, they would've used the 5 KuRil (Short Sounds) for the black keys and the 7 NeDil (Long Sounds) for the white keys.
Some of the panns and their equivalent Carnatic raga
Raga
A raga is one of the melodic modes used in Indian classical music.It is a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is made...
s were:
- Panchamam – Ahiri
- Pazham Panchuram - Sankarabharanam
- Meharahkkurinchi - Neelambari
- Pazhanthakka Ragam - Arabhi
- Kurinchi - MalahariMalahariMalahari is a Carnatic raga. This raga is a janya of the 15th Melakarta raga Mayamalavagowla. This raga is known to be a morning raga which brings out a sense of calmness.Raganidhi by P. Subba Rao, Pub...
- Natta Ragam – PanthuvaraaliKamavardaniKamavardani is a rāgam in Carnatic music . It is the 51st Melakarta rāgam in the 72 melakarta rāgam system of Carnatic music. It is also referred by the name Pantuvarali , although purists prefer to designate it as Kamavardani.This rāgam is very popular with musicians who typically sing it in the...
- Inthalam - Nathanamakriya
- Thakkesi - Kambhoji
- Kausikam - Bhairavi
- Nattappadai – Gambhiranaattai
Panns in Saivite hymns
After the Sangam period and during the occupation of the Tamil country by KalabhrasKalabhras
The Kalabhras dynasty ruled over the entire Ancient Tamil country between the 3rd and the 6th century in an era of South Indian history called the Kalabhra interregnum. The Kalabhras displaced the kingdoms of the early Cholas, early Pandayan and Chera dynasties. Information about its origin and...
, Tamil music was dormant for a period of a few centuries. With the advent of the Saivite saints such as ThirumaaNikkavaasagar SwamigaL (100 AD), Sundharamoorthi SwamigaL (900 AD), Thirunavukkarasar
Thirunavukkarasar
Tirunavukkarasar , , also known as Appar was a seventh century Saivite poet-saint of Tamil Nadu, one of the most prominent of the sixty-three Nayanars. He was an older contemporary of Sambandar...
and Thirugnana Sambanthar (7th century CE) who used the ancient panns in their hymns (Tevaram
Tevaram
The Tevaram denotes the first seven volumes of the Tirumurai, the twelve-volume collection of Tamil Saivite devotional poetry. All seven volumes are dedicated to the works of the three most prominent Tamil poets - Campantar , Appar and Cuntarar...
), Tamil music experienced a revival. Only through these ThirumuRais, hymns by SeerkaaZHi MuthuthaaNDavar, hymn by Maarimuthaa Pillay, AruNagiri Naadhar, Iraamalinga SwamigaL and the hymns of Vaishnavite Alvars
Alvars
The alwar or azhwars were Tamil poet saints of south India who lived between the sixth and ninth centuries A.D. and espoused ‘emotional devotion’ or bhakti to Visnu-Krishna in their songs of longing, ecstasy and service. Sri Vaishnava orthodoxy posits the number of alvars as ten, though there are...
we can still experience the ancient traditions of the Tamil panns. Sambanthar used the following seven panns: nattapaadai, Thakka ragam, Pazhanthakka ragam, Thakkesi, Kurinji, Viyazhak kurinji, and Meharahakkurinji. Thiru MaaNikkavaasagar SwamigaL used MuLai PaNN (Mohgana Raagam) for the majority of his Thiruvaasagam and Thirukohvaiyaar. There are a few of his hymns where he used BowRi, Mehgaraagakkurinji and Kalyaani. Sundharamoorthi SwamigaL wise widely influenced by Thirunyaanasambandhar SwamigaL and Thirunaavukkarasar 'Appar' SwamigaL, who used PaN Koli quite often. In actual, only Thirunaavukkarasar SwamigaL wrote the Dhehvaaram, which made-up the 4th, 5th and 6th ThirumuRaigaL. Thirunyaanasambandhar SwamigaL wrote the ThirukaDaikaapu, which makes up the 1st, 2nd and 3rd ThirumuRaigaL. Thiru Sundharamoorthi SwamigaL wrote the ThirupaaTTu, which makes up the 7th ThirumuRai. Thiru MaaNikkavaasagar's Thiruvaasagam and Thirukkohvaiyaar makes up the 8th ThirumuRai. There 12 ThirumuRais. Thirumoolar's Thirumandhiram is the 11th ThirumuRai and SekkiZHaar's Thiru ThoNDar, or Periya, PuraaNam is the 12th ThirumuRai. The ThirumuRais are the Devotional works of Saivaism and the 14 SaathirangaL (Saathirais) are the philosophical works of Saivaism, with ThiruvaLuvar's ThirkkuRaL accepted as its Vehdhaas.