A musical wizard






The wizard left the stage five years back throwing us all into utter gloom.

The initials LPR is familiar to music lovers all over Kerala. LPR Varma was a music director par excellence who enthralled at least three generations of Malayalis through his great tunes and stage performances in music. A classical musician, belonging to the old school, he was totally ignorant about the tricks of the trade in the commercialization of music. Yet, his tunes are sung by many a music lover sometimes not even knowing as to who composed these tunes.


LPR, the maestro in Carnatic music, who won the national award for music direction in 1969, was born as Kochu Ravi to Mangala Bai Thampuratty of Lakashmipuram Palace and Vasudevan Nampoothirippad of Vadakkanchery Mana in 1926.Lakshmipuram Palace in Changanacherry, in the erstwhile princely state of Travancore is renowned as the birth place of Keralavarma Valiya Koil Thampuran, alternatively known as Kerala Kalidasa. Mahakavi Ulloor S Parameswara Iyer who had his childhood spent at Lakashmipuram Palace has written extensively on it through his essays.

Initiated in earlier childhood into the world of music, LPR was trained under the great stalwarts of Carnatic music like Muthaiyah Bhagavathar, Semmangudy Sreenivasa Iyer and Madura Keshava Bhagavathar. Such training helped him to imbibe the great heritage of Carnatic music with all its charm, vibrancy and tradition.

Writings in musicology by great masters describe the Classical Indian music as essentially creative (manodharma), and not simply as recitative. Therefore, it is said that the classical musician is a born prodigy and not one who is made so. Music is his life-breath from birth. As such it is believed that the accomplished musical faculty is a divine gift. Tantric texts say that the people with great artistic or musical skills have the elements of the Gandharva – the celestial musicians-in them. All these were truly to be observed in LPR who was also gifted with great physical and personal charm.

Starting his musical life at the age of eighteen through All India Radio, LPR electrified innumerable stages in his time spanning over 6 decades. In 1978, he won the award of the Sangeetha Nataka Academy for classical music.

As a music director to various dramas, during the golden age of Malayalam stage, he associated with Vayalar Rama Varma, the redoubtable lyricist of Malayalam cinema. In 1985, he won the State award from the Kerala Government for music direction of dramas.

LPR dazzled in films as music director and the first national award to Malayalam cinema for lyrics came through his music direction. The lyrics start in Malayalam as follows: “ajnjaatha sakheee, aathma sakheee “.

The Malayalam films for which he carried music direction include, Kudumbini, Ollathu Mathi, Sandhyaa Vandanam, Sthree Hrudayam, Thottaa Vaadi, and Sthaanaarthi Saaraamma.

Music lovers in Kerala will always remember his following songs which were written for various dramas.

· Parannu parannu parannu chellaan ------
· Poovanangalkkariyaamoo-----------------
· Maanathe mazhavillinnezhuniram--------
LPR also tried his acting talents with distinction in some Malayalam films. In Anarkali, he was the legendary musician Tansen, whose role he acted with aplomb. In the film Ayitham (Untouchability) he acted as the father of Mohanlal, in the role of a great musician who had later succumbed to the temptations of Bacchus and became wayward. He indeed gave a stellar performance in this role and won much acclaim.

The first national award for a song in Malayalam film was for the one starting, Upasana, Upasana, of which the music direction was by LPR and sung by Jayachandran as his first song.

LPR also had some illustrious students who learned classical music under him. Besides many professional musicians, this list includes noted film personalities like Kaviyoor Ponnamma, Sreelatha and Nedumudi Venu.

LPR was instrumental in introducing many known personalities into the wonderland of music and singing. Adoor Bhasi, the renowned comedian of early Malayalam cinema was introduced to singing by LPR.

Apart from his musical genius, he was remarkable as a great conversationalist. I have many pleasant memories of him on various discussions spanning over two decades.

He was Vallyacchan to my wife Sindhu, having married the elder sister of her mother. Obviously Vallyacchan had a lot of affection for me .Occasionally he has stayed with us in Trivandrum and Eranakulam where I have been working on my banking assignments. I must say that he was most considerate to me for whom music was like Greek or Latin. Despite knowing that he was talking to an ignoramus, he tried to explain various facets of music for my information. I remember the time when he stayed with us and explained to me on Boopaala raga (a morning raga) through his melodious rendering when I felt that the early morning light was just breaking and things were beginning to glow in the early sun light.

He had a wonderful circle of friends from various walks of life. It included many politicians, ministers, musical geniuses, film personalities, businessmen, officials, music lovers and common people. The children always found him young at heart. His wife Maya Rani was his shadow all through his life as they had married pretty young.

In 2002, after attending the marriage of a grand niece, while being surrounded by all the loved ones, his soul flew away to the beautiful world of the Gandharvas where the music never stops.

Besides, Vallyamma, his children, Prem, Raaj, Sobha and Beena carry the fond memories of this wonderfully affable human being in their daily lives. The youngest daughter Beena has been particularly fond of her dad in that she has taken pains to collect all available press clippings and other paraphernalia on the great man and his music.

I too cherish his memories and have with me some compositions of his memorable music in many a 78 RPM record.

I am sure; he is having a josh time in the Gandharva loka as he was having it here.

Dubai, 6th January 2008.

Comments

SHAIJU said…
sir ,
can i get the original song "parannu parannu chellan...." ???
Dear Shaiju,

You may watch this song sung by Thrikkodithanam Satchidanandan in the video clip which could be downloaded from http://www.prettyclip.com/play.php?video_id=TmuY-EQzios&video=parannu%20parannu

I was amazed to find that more than 2 million hits were received for the song in one site only. The singer was an ardent devotee and sishya of Valyachan, LPR Varma.

Should you be requiring the original, I shall try to get it from my cousins. I am now in UAE and need to arrangeto get it. I shall do so with pleasure, if you require it.

Kind regards,
Syam S Nair said…
Song sung by Sachidanandan was entirely different from LPR's original.

Anyone can download the original from the link
http://www.4shared.com/file/47354323/787855e9/Parannu_Parannu_Chellaan.html


Thanks and Regards

Syam S Nair
You are absolutely right, Syam. I appreciate your sending the link which had been asked by many a reader.

Kindest regards,
Syam S Nair said…
Murali Varma,

You've any original recordings of LPR Varma?
Yes, Syam. I may be having a few in 78 RPM records and other recordings which I need to catalog.
Regards,
Dear Mr.Murali Rama Varma,
L.P.R.Songs are endeared by a multitude of listeners.The esteemed Devaragam on the web. has only five songs with them which is unfortunate.Uploading the remaining songs to that site would be a gesture of benediction to many. It seems no one else would be able to do it in the near future.If you could kindly find time to do it, it would be a great service to our tradition.That site is free to all. With Regards.
Dear Remesh Chandran,

Thank you for your post and the advice.I looked up the site Devaragam and noted the contents.I shall take the help of my cousins (LPR's sons) and shall try to upload more of his songs as per your suggestion.

I also wish you all the best in your publishing activities.

kindest regards,
Unknown said…
My father and LPR uncle were friends in music and spent a lot of time together. I remember a lot of times he came to my home and sung these songs with my father(R.R.Nair who worked in Customs). Buddy, LPR was the real "Varma" in look, art, class and feel. Kayalinakkarai...is in my blood.
I still remember his house name was related to music. Swara raga sudha or some thing like that.
Unknown said…
My father and LPR uncle were friends in music and spent a lot of time together. I remember a lot of times he came to my home and sung these songs with my father(R.R.Nair who worked in Customs). Buddy, LPR was the real "Varma" in look, art, class and feel. Kayalinakkarai...is in my blood.
I still remember his house name was related to music. Swara raga sudha or some thing like that.
Unknown said…
My father and LPR uncle were friends in music and spent a lot of time together. I remember a lot of times he came to my home and sung these songs with my father(R.R.Nair who worked in Customs). Buddy, LPR was the real "Varma" in look, art, class and feel. Kayalinakkarai...is in my blood.
I still remember his house name was related to music. Swara raga sudha or some thing like that.
Unknown said…
My father and LPR uncle were friends in music and spent a lot of time together. I remember a lot of times he came to my home and sung these songs with my father(R.R.Nair who worked in Customs). Buddy, LPR was the real "Varma" in look, art, class and feel. Kayalinakkarai...is in my blood.
I still remember his house name was related to music. Swara raga sudha or some thing like that.
Thank you,Cohort 4 datastore. Your post made us happy.I told about your comment to Raj, who is the son of LPR and he was very happy about it. Yes, he had named his house, Swararagasudha. His daughter's house in Tripunithura is also called the same.

kind regards,
DKM said…
sAdaRA-PRaNAmam!

Thank you for sharing your memories of your relative, the late musical genius SRee LPR Varma.

Till I read your accolade, I had not known the fact that he was the composer of the song പറന്നു പറന്നു പറന്നു ചെല്ലാൻ. Thank you for enlightening me!

Here is a humble homage for a role he unknowingly played -- through that song -- in my musical life -- also in my inner emotional life -- in the form of a memory, which was in fact a transformative one in my humble musical journey -- both as a rasika / aasvaadaka and an upAsaka through vaadya-vaadanam.

As a young child, I used to feel an instinctive disatance from south Indian music perhaps because of my aversion to certain rasa-s that were predominant in the singing that I was able to experience until 12 or 13 -- Veeram, haasyam, bhayAnakam, etc. I was very disturbed by temple fireworks also. I must have been a super-sensitive child!! Then one day, perhaps I was 6 years old, my brother came home from college for the summer vacation and started to sing PaRannu paRannu paRannu chellAn -- പറന്നു പറന്നു പറന്നു ചെല്ലാൻ all the time.

That was a magical experience. The pure and lyrical SR^n*gAram of that raagam and its gentle touch of VipRalambham through the use of kOmal nishaad (in the northern system) in the aarOh created so many complex feelings in me. Maybe I had had a birth in northern India in the past? I wonder. Later, I went on to study Hindi on the side along with my regular schooling and learned to love Meera, Soordaas, Kabir, etc.

A short time later, my sister brought into my life the north Indian form of Basant Mukhari (through the HIndi film song O basantee, pavan paagal) and the headmaster in my primary school brought the incredible KaruNa rasam of Shivaran^jini into my emotional life. Gradually, I began to like and adore north Indian music more and more and become enchanted by its predominance of SAntam, SR^n*gAram, adbhutam, and KaruNam. Even today, after 60 years, I am still a devotee of those four rasa-s and keep some emotional distance from south Indian music although in many ways I am a deeply rooted MalayALi and dakshiN bhArateeya!

But it all started with your Valiyacchan's Brindaavanee saaran*g. Do you know many northerners write the name cutely as Bindraavanee saaran*g -- बिन्द्रावनी सारङ्ग ?

My heartfelt PRaNaam to SRee LPR Varma! His music awoke in me what KALidAsa called ഭാവസ്ഥിരാണി ജനനാന്തര സൗഹൃദാനി !

And also thank you for helping me reminisce about an important event in my life and also express my gratitude to your dear departed Valiyacchan!

DKM Kartha
DKM said…
namastE,

I have to come back and add one more very, very surprising realization!

The song in Shivaran^jini that my school headmaster sang was ALSO -- I can't believe it -- composed by your Valiyacchan --
Kaayalinakkare !!!!

So, SRee LPR touched my inner core twice through his musical PRatibhA Sakti!

Now, my sAshTAn(ga PRaNAmam to him! He opened the door for me even before I was ten twice -- into the magical world of north Indian raaga-s and their emotional essence! Till today, March 5, 2020, I did not know that he was the composer of both sogs!

DKM
Dear DKM, Namaste! I must say that I was very thrilled and elated to read your comments. I wished Valyachan was alive to read such heart-rendering feelings. I think of sending your comments to his sons and daughters.

I was delighted to read that the article brought back so many interesting memories to a "rasika / aasvaadaka and an upAsaka", all rolled into one. Please do share such memories because these enrich the readers considerably elevating them to another realm of existence.

The quote from Kalidasa was appropriate as it conveys profound wisdom. Recently, I had read the following in one of the magazines:

രമ്യാണി വീക്ഷ്യ, മധുരാംശ്ച നിശമ്യ ശബ്ദാന്‍ പര്യുല്‍സുകോ, ഭവതി യത് സുഖിതോപി ജന്തു ന ഛേതസാ സ്മരന്തി നൂനമബോധപൂര്‍വം ഭാവസ്ഥിരാണി, ജനനാന്തര സൗഹൃദാനി'


രമ്യമായ വസ്തുക്കള്‍, മധുരങ്ങളായ ശബ്ദങ്ങള്‍ ഇതെല്ലാം കാണുകയും കേള്‍ക്കുകയും ചെയ്യുമ്പോള്‍ സുഖം ആഗ്രഹിക്കുന്ന ജീവികള്‍ക്ക് ഉത്സാഹം ഉണ്ടാകുന്നു. അപ്പോള്‍ അവര്‍ സ്വന്തം ജീവന്‍കൊണ്ട് താനറിയാതെ തന്നെ ജന്മജന്മാന്തരങ്ങളായി കടന്നുവന്നിട്ടുള്ള ഭാവസ്ഥിരതയുള്ള സൗഹൃദങ്ങളെപ്പറ്റി ഓര്‍മിച്ചു പോകുന്നു. അതായത് ജീവിതം ഒരു പ്രവാഹമാണെന്നും ആ പ്രവാഹത്തിന്റെ സ്ഥായീഭാവം ജന്മത്തിലും ജന്മാന്തരത്തിലുമുള്ള ബോധപൂര്‍വവും അബോധപൂര്‍വവുമായ സ്റ്റേഹബന്ധമാണെന്നും.

I consider it fortunate that we have come into contact through some mysterious cosmic reasons.

Kindest regards,
DKM said…
I appreciate your response. Also thanks to telling the late SRee LPR Varma's family about how he played a transformative role in my life.

The quote from KaaLidaasa and its translation was beautiful. KaaLidaasa is KaaLi incarnate for me. His poetic genius is the highest in history after Vaalmeeki and Vyaasa in my view.

Although I am not sure logically about past and future births, that theory has lots of explanatory power. For example, it can explain Mozart's genius in composing music at age 3. But moderns try to find the reason for such superhuman abilities in things such as brain chemistry and random mutations, etc.

Anyway, I will read more from your blogs and try to learn from them and maybe even comment on some of your thoughts and experiences as we seem to have several tendencies in common.

I already know I will have a comment on your entry on Prof. Fritz Staal. One of his articles entered my life in a random way, and that is when (I was 52), I realized that I had never really paid any attention to the fact that my father (who had died that year) was the son of a Nampoothiri vaidika and priest. Staal made me re-think that heritage. About that later.

May the Divine bless your life and family and your creative blogging!

DKM (Mohanachandran)

[Most people call me Mohan-ji or Kartha-ji or Mohanachandran. You are welcome to use any of them. I will turn 72 in May).

DKM said…
Oh, by the way, there was a typo in my original response.

I meant KOmaL nishaad in the avarOh of the raag Brindaavanee saaran*g. The "v" was omitted inadvertently.

DKM

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