Modified Version of Article Published in Samskara Keralam (Culture Dept, Govt of Kerala) in 1990.

This article was edited by late Prof S Guptan Nair.

Valsala Shasthriar :
Composer of Carnatic Music on Jesus Christ
Achuthsankar S Nair

Carnatic music in its present form is generally accepted to have evolved due to the contributions of the trinity of Carnatic music. Saint Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Deekshithar and Shyama Shasthri. All these great men belong to Tamil Nadu (through Tyagaraja originally doesnt). During the period when the trinities reigned in Tamil Nadu, Kerala also had her versatile genius, Maharaja Swathi Thirunal, who is a composer par excellence. He has an astonishing variety of compositions to his credit, including Hindusthani ones. However Keralas contribution to Carnatic music in the form of composers does not either being or end with Swathi Thirunal. Aswathi Thirunal. Irayimman Thampi, Mahakavi Kuttamath, K.C Kesava Pillai are all well known composers who have made valuable contributions at different levels. It is however doubtful whether another saint, a genius from Thiruvananthapuram, Valsala Shastriar is remembered in this context. Known more as a Christian missionary, social reformer and poet, the classical gems created by this great man still remains mostly unearthed. By the second half of the 19th century, the Christian community in Kerala had clearly adopted a different cultural outlook due to Western influence from the British counterparts. This reflected in the architecture of the churches to the way prayer meeting were held. Naturally, the songs rendered in the churches during prayer meeting also underwent this transformation. Today though some raga name are sometime mentioned, 1

Church music doesnt retain any sort of pure South Indian music elements. It is in this context that the work of Valsala Shasthriar assumes its uniqueness. Born Thirupuram, near Thiruvananthapuram, Valsala Shasthriar (18471916) was a poet, music composer, singer, missionary and social reformer. His actual name was Mosa Valsalam. He was christened Valsala Shasthri by the Metropolitan of Malabar in 1883 after listening to his music & discourse. He made sermon tours through the villages of Travancore and Cochin. He has to his credit a large number of literary and musical works. A few of them were published during his life time itself. They include

Gitamajari-Garland of songs (1903) and Dhyanamalika-Meditation Songs (1916). Later

on The collected works of Valsala Shasthriar was brought out by Mr. John, his grandson, in 1958. An authentic life history has been recently published by the Valsala Shasthriar Memorial Committee, Thirvananthapuram, in 1986. These are the available sources of information about Valsala Shasthriar and copies of the works published in 1908 and 1916 were provided to the author by Dr.(Miss) Pushpita John, former Head of the Dept. of Education and Dean, Faculty of Education, University of Kerala. The purpose of this article is to bring to light the compositions presented in Gita Manjari- the garland of songs. Many of the compositions testify Valsala Shasthriars indepth knowledge of Carnatic music. Some of them have the Chitta Swaras attached to them. Only a person having real expertise in classical music can produce such compositions. Like those in the compositions of Deekshithar and Swathi Thirunal, some seem to be even composed for dance performances. Kaithukki Parane in Saveri-Rupakam, Ananda Kirtaname in DhanyasiRupakam and Paadam Santhatham in Shankarabharam Rupakam contain this embellishment.

The first composition is presented as a Chithrapadyam a matrix of letters arranged meticulously to generate the poem (Neethithakaya in Thodi). The swara notations are unfortunately not included. Even some of the raga and tala specifications seem to be confusing. Bandhu varadi is possibly Pantu varali. In some compositions, raga is specified as English. These compositions are probably set to Shankarabharanam and meant to be sung in the Western style. This, in the authors opinion, is an indication that only songs specified as English are meant to be sung in the Western style and the others are pure Carnatic classical compositions. Unfortunately, a few of the songs which are being practiced now in churches do not follow the original form that was probably envisaged by the composer. There are a few songs with raga mentioned as Hindustani. Anantha pithavinu, Aadi Thalam and Devajaatha, Aadi Thalam are instances. The author has tried setting these to Hindustani ragas Amir Kalyani and Vrindavana Saranga. They are excellent pieces. A few of the composition from Githa Manjari are given below to provide a glimpse of Shasthriars genius. A let of work remains to be done to unearth & popularize these unique gems. Some Compositions from Geetha Manjari:

 Achuthsankar S Nair 1990, 2007: Anyone is free reuse this article without alteration in any form, , provided this notice is retained.