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| Mukthamal Chatram Orathanad, TN timesofindia.indiatimes.com |
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| Raja Serfoji II Thanjavur. en.wikipedia.org |
Perhaps you may be wondering as to what has Mukthamal chatram of Orathanad got to do with Harikatha kalashepam. Located 25 km from Thanjavur city, this famous chatram (road side inn) built in 1869 by Maharaja Serfoji II of the Thanjavur Dynasty -1674 to 1855; in memory of his wife Mukthamal is a heritage site and efforts are afoot to repair and restore it by the district chatram administration.
The rulers of Maratha dynasty were patrons of arts, music and dance. Raja Serfoji was the one who developed the famous Saraswati mahal library into one of the best in this country, perhaps a rare one in this world.
This popular chatram (choultry) that once fed scores of travelers in the past and acted as a center of learning, has a close link with the growth and development of Harikatha tradition in Thanjavur region in the 1800s. It was one Perianna - Muthukrishna Naidu, a prominent charitable person helped Sri Krishna Bhagavather during his troubled period with poor income. Impressed with his knowledge of Carnatic music and languages, Perianna sent him to Sri Ramachandra Bawa, then a popular expert in classical music and bhajans. Sri Krishna Bhagavatar with a spirit of emulation not only picked up devotional songs and the art of narrating mythological stories but also improved this art form with innovative methods. In the later years he made accompanists an integral part of the Harkatha group and encourage them to perform in sitting posture. The main forformer had to stand all through the performance.
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| Harikatha in Telugu Nadu. hindupad.com/ |
The man who helped Krishna Bhagavathar climb the rungs up was none other than Perianna, brother of Mukthamal, wife of Raja Serfoji II. Being highly knowledgeable Perianna wrote the nirupana for Radha Kalyanam, an important religious subject for performance by the artists. Even in the recent past it was an important theme.
Attracted by her ravishing beauty and amiable nature, Raja Serfoji II fell in love with the sister of Perianna - Mukthamal. The ruler married her through a custom known as kathi kalyanam as the bride happened to be non-Marathi, thus imparting royalty to her by placing the sword near her. On his behalf a sumangali - married woman tied the Mangalayam (mangalsutra). The chatram was built in honor of Mukthamal by Raja Serfoji. She made a special request to him at the time of her death. That chatram was endowed with lots of landed properties to run the inn.
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