Varnas - Page 2

Written by Smt.Harini Raghavan

A Varnam is a musical form which has in it all elements of ‘geetam’, ‘jati swaram’ and ‘swara jati’.  This is a special item which highlights everything important about a raga - known as ‘sancharas of a raga’ .This includes which notes to stress, how to approach a certain note, classical and characteristic phrases of a raga, the scale of a raga and so on.  As a composition coming under the category of ‘abhyasa gana’,(technical composition), Varna takes the first rank in point of importance.  It prepares the students with adequate skills to be able to learn ‘kritis’. Just as swarajathis are stepping stones to ‘Taana Varnas’ Taana Varnas are to kritis and concert forms.  Therefore Varnas are learnt with great care and assiduity by both vocalists and instrumentalists.  Varnas consist of several   important, unique, special and unusual phrases of a raga.  Therefore, it requires great skill, knowledge, technical capacity, creative faculty of a high order and good musicianship to sing and compose a varna.  A composer of a varna should be equipped with a detailed knowledge of ‘lakshanas’ (features) of a raga, and creative faculty of a high order to bring out a piece that is long lasting.  That is the reason why there are only few composers of Varnas and few hundreds of Varnas only, while there are thousands of kritis and hundreds of composers of kritis.

The practice of Varna helps one in the artistic, polished and stylish rendering of pieces.  The long syllables of sahitya make it an ideal type of composition for vocal exercise, while to intrumentalists, it develops finger skills and improves the style and technique of execution.  The swara passages consisting of long and jumbled phrases are good basis for the development of ‘kalpana swaras’ and practicing them in 2 or 3 speeds ensures proper control over rhythm.  It improves ‘Laya Jnanam’. The characteristic pattern of a particular raga is exposed in it’s totality in a Varna.  Varnas are designed to develop voice culture and proper control over the ‘talam’.  The Varnas are considered the most complex type of exercises in carnatic music. Rigorous practice of Varna in 2 or 3 speeds helps in breath control, mastery over laya and swara, developing the ‘ Neraval’ technique and singing ‘Pallavis’ in different ‘gatis’ with extreme ease, during an RTP presentation.