Smt Vid Padma Murthy, from Banashankari 2nd stage was my first music teacher outside of my mother & father. She conducted her classes in a spare room on the upper floor of her home, and I vividly remember being nervous in class, and in awe of the Tanpura (ತಂಬೂರಿ in Kannada).

My teacher’s method was traditional, so I learned Carnatic the hard-way  janti-swaras, jaatis, kirtanes, and such. Occasionally, on festivals she would teach us songs. It would break the monotony of MayamalavagouLa Ragam and expose us to a new musical ideas.

As tradition dictates, my teacher started with a Ganesh Bhajan in Raga Hamsadhwani - “Gajavadana Beduve” ಗಜವದನ ಬೇಡುವೆ by Sri Purandara Dasa. He was a 15th century poet and composer from Karnataka, and is widely regarded to be the father of Carnatic Classical music.

💙 Personal story - Purandara Dasa’s birthplace is disputed, and one of the possible locations is Thiratahalli in Shimoga District. This is where my mother was born, and Pdi and I were born not too far away.

“About 80% of all Hamsadhwani songs are about Ganesha, and vice-versa”, exclaimed my teacher in a recent class. I’ll add that the remaining 15% are in Raag Bhoop.

This song was written and composed by the father of Carnatic music. That’s the legacy of this song. The melody and song are still very special to me, and needless to say, this composition is imprinted in my memory.

Here’s my rendition of it as I remember it.

Lucky that mother saved my music notes from the era, so here’s a photo of the song written by my teacher in my music book. Hope you enjoyed this song and the story behind it.

Please consider sharing this with someone who might enjoy it.

I’ve been sampling from their catalog recently and I found an interesting melodic pattern that I thought fit the Raag, composition, and the mood well. It’s a popular Hindustani bandish (song), one that every prolific singer has sung. It’s also a quintessential song for anyone that has learned Raag Jog, known for its use of both the Minor and Major Third. Here’s a bootleg recording of the live-session from my phone.

Anisha loves the original and wanted to sing a cover of it for her acapella group. I started playing the guitar and we decided to record our performance. Here’s an impromptu live jam with Anisha on vocals and me playing guitar.

Recorded on Zoom H6 - XY mic.

When singing the Raag, I recognize shades of Bhairav and Darbari, two other raags that I am familiar with, and I’ve also read that it resembles the Raag Nat.

Some of my favorite songs in Charukeshi are :

1. Udaya udaya by ARR

2. Shedding skin by Karsh Kale, Shruti Pathak, Shilpa Rao, Apeksha Dandekar and Monali Thakur. This song starts with Ustad Amir Khan’s composition \“laaj rakho more\” before going its own way.

3. Akele hain chale aaon by Mohd Rafi and composed by the duo of Kalyanji-Anandji.

4. Baiyyan na dharo - by the inimitable Lataji, composed by Madan Mohan. Most melodious of the composers of his era, in my Mom’s opinion.

Here’s my attempt at a mashup of two songs that I love. I love John Lenon’s song Imagine, and I love A Perfect Circle’s cover of it from the Emotive album. The main structure of the song is an alternating Major minor syncopation that forms the layer on which everything else in the song is built. I loved jamming on that structure, and wanted to add vocal performance of a bandish (song) in Charukeshi.

The bandish Saavara Nand is a cover of the original by Smt Sawani Shinde. I learned the raag and the composition by hearing her songs on Youtube. I’m not sure who the composer is. Here’s my version of this.

Thank you!!

She picked this song, and did a fantastic job with the vocals. Her higher range is imposing and has a unique gritty vibe. Truth be told, this song had been an earworm for an entire season after it was released. It’s a great rock song.

Here’s Anisha on vocals, and me on Guitars covering Marz by Yellow Diary.

If you liked the song, please share this page with your friends or on your social media channels. Thank you!!