A brief explanation on thanjavur and contributions of maratha scholar king 'maharajah serfoji ll' for our new pageviewer's :)
thanjavur is called the eden of the south. it deserves that name. its fertility is unbounded. it is the land in which hindu culture has made great centres of social and cultural life. great river flew through it, great cities adorn it. its temples are amongst the sacred and architecturally superb ones. it was the seat of the cholas,nayakas, and ultimately the maratha dynasties. Rajah serfoji ll of the maratha dynasty ascended the throne in the year 1798 A.D and ruled until 1832 A.D.
serfoji rajah invited learned scholars and distinguished poets from different parts of india to adorn his court. saraswathi mahal library is the living monuments for the glory of serfoji. he dedicated his life to make the library a treasure house of ancient manuscripts on all aspects of literature and art. many manuscripts are still being added. the library possesses about 4000 volumes of old books in english, greek, french, and italian printed in 18th century and acquired by raja serfoji ll. the books bear the autograph of the king along with the year of acquisition. these books deals with anatomy, botany, and marine biology besides towns, costumes, birds, and animals. the library contains also rare collections of miniature printings, pictures of puranic episodes etc. when he went on a pilgrimage to banaras he brought very valuable manuscripts that could not be brought over here. as a fitting tribute to the great patron and scholar the library has been named as maharajah serfoji's saraswathi mahal library, thanjavur.rajah serfoji's philanthrophical activities for the uplifting his subjects gained him a warm corner in the hearts of the south indians.
rajah serfoji's reign witnessed revival on literature,education, music, dance, medicine, and infact his period was the golden era in the history of thanjavur.he loved foreign languages.at the same time he did not neglect his native languages and received the best hindu education under eminents pandits of the orthodox hindu school. this kind of education made him strive for the harmonious blending of both eastern and western cultures and this effort of his manifested in his various activities in the field of music, medicines etc.
he was a scholar of english, french, german, sanskrit, tamil and marathi. his several works in indian languages such as sanskrit, tamil, and marathi reveal that he was a great scholar. he wrote hundreds of songs in sanskrit and all are set to music and dance and recitals. he is the author of several dance pieces of alarippu, jatiswara, sabadam and padam. he has composed numberless kavuthuvam,slokavarnam and prabhandas all adopted to bharathanatyam, sollukattu,swaras jathis and sathiyas with their respective notations in indian swaras are given for every items with merticulous care.perhaps his collections on bharathanatya dances are the largest in the whole of india. nowhere in india in one single place can be seen such a huge collections of sampradaya natyam. such rare types of dances like jakkini, perani, dharupad, desi navadadam and kuravai were in vogue and we have evidence of their being practiced at his court. these type of dances have now become obsolete. he was also praised by lord valentia who visited him in the year 1804 as capable of composing tunes in english. his orchestra comprised of several native and english instruments richly ornamented with diamonds and pearls. his band consist of both european and indian musical instruments called tanjore band. he composed songs on several indian languages capable of orchestration in western musical instruments. indian tunes and ragas were set to european staff notation fit to be used on his orchestra. they are recorded in several of his music books bharathanatya was then at his peak and several prodigies whose compositions are now considered the best that south india has every produced flourished at his court. tamilnadu is the cradle of bharathanatyam. the traditional bhagavathamela, the oldest type of drama of the south received support at his hand. to the artists of bhagavathamela of the villages of saliamangalam, thepperumanallur, needamangalam, serfoji rajah gave gifts of land and cash. to many of his chatram bhagavata melas were attached and provisions were made for them in the chatram.
he patronised poets and scholars at regular intervals he used to call for vidwat sadas and delighted in hearing extensive poetry, panegrice and discussions on tharka sastra and subjects on music and dance. swati thirunal maharajah of travancore kept contact with serfoji even before he came to the throne and exchanged scholars, musicians, and even their personal compositions. saint tyagaraja swamigal, syama sastrigal, muthuswami dikshitar, the musical trinity were the contemporaries of rajah serfoji ll.
AS A MARK OF RESPECT TO THE BIBILIOPHILE AND BIBILIOLATER SERFOJI MAHARAJAH ll, We HAVE NAMED OUR MUSEUM and facebook PAGE AS " Maharajah Serfoji 2 memorial hall museum, sadar mahal palace Thanjavur "
serfoji rajah invited learned scholars and distinguished poets from different parts of india to adorn his court. saraswathi mahal library is the living monuments for the glory of serfoji. he dedicated his life to make the library a treasure house of ancient manuscripts on all aspects of literature and art. many manuscripts are still being added. the library possesses about 4000 volumes of old books in english, greek, french, and italian printed in 18th century and acquired by raja serfoji ll. the books bear the autograph of the king along with the year of acquisition. these books deals with anatomy, botany, and marine biology besides towns, costumes, birds, and animals. the library contains also rare collections of miniature printings, pictures of puranic episodes etc. when he went on a pilgrimage to banaras he brought very valuable manuscripts that could not be brought over here. as a fitting tribute to the great patron and scholar the library has been named as maharajah serfoji's saraswathi mahal library, thanjavur.rajah serfoji's philanthrophical activities for the uplifting his subjects gained him a warm corner in the hearts of the south indians.
rajah serfoji's reign witnessed revival on literature,education, music, dance, medicine, and infact his period was the golden era in the history of thanjavur.he loved foreign languages.at the same time he did not neglect his native languages and received the best hindu education under eminents pandits of the orthodox hindu school. this kind of education made him strive for the harmonious blending of both eastern and western cultures and this effort of his manifested in his various activities in the field of music, medicines etc.
he was a scholar of english, french, german, sanskrit, tamil and marathi. his several works in indian languages such as sanskrit, tamil, and marathi reveal that he was a great scholar. he wrote hundreds of songs in sanskrit and all are set to music and dance and recitals. he is the author of several dance pieces of alarippu, jatiswara, sabadam and padam. he has composed numberless kavuthuvam,slokavarnam and prabhandas all adopted to bharathanatyam, sollukattu,swaras jathis and sathiyas with their respective notations in indian swaras are given for every items with merticulous care.perhaps his collections on bharathanatya dances are the largest in the whole of india. nowhere in india in one single place can be seen such a huge collections of sampradaya natyam. such rare types of dances like jakkini, perani, dharupad, desi navadadam and kuravai were in vogue and we have evidence of their being practiced at his court. these type of dances have now become obsolete. he was also praised by lord valentia who visited him in the year 1804 as capable of composing tunes in english. his orchestra comprised of several native and english instruments richly ornamented with diamonds and pearls. his band consist of both european and indian musical instruments called tanjore band. he composed songs on several indian languages capable of orchestration in western musical instruments. indian tunes and ragas were set to european staff notation fit to be used on his orchestra. they are recorded in several of his music books bharathanatya was then at his peak and several prodigies whose compositions are now considered the best that south india has every produced flourished at his court. tamilnadu is the cradle of bharathanatyam. the traditional bhagavathamela, the oldest type of drama of the south received support at his hand. to the artists of bhagavathamela of the villages of saliamangalam, thepperumanallur, needamangalam, serfoji rajah gave gifts of land and cash. to many of his chatram bhagavata melas were attached and provisions were made for them in the chatram.
he patronised poets and scholars at regular intervals he used to call for vidwat sadas and delighted in hearing extensive poetry, panegrice and discussions on tharka sastra and subjects on music and dance. swati thirunal maharajah of travancore kept contact with serfoji even before he came to the throne and exchanged scholars, musicians, and even their personal compositions. saint tyagaraja swamigal, syama sastrigal, muthuswami dikshitar, the musical trinity were the contemporaries of rajah serfoji ll.
AS A MARK OF RESPECT TO THE BIBILIOPHILE AND BIBILIOLATER SERFOJI MAHARAJAH ll, We HAVE NAMED OUR MUSEUM and facebook PAGE AS " Maharajah Serfoji 2 memorial hall museum, sadar mahal palace Thanjavur "
Comments
Post a Comment