Introduction

As a beginner level learner of Carnatic I wanted to understand the meaning of all the new songs that I learn, especially the ones written in languages unknown to me. Although I could find great help from web for some of the songs it is also often loaded with personally interpreted meanings presented as authentic. In many cases I could see the same copy in circulation that suffer from lack of clarity. My intention is to clarify the word by word meaning of each song and leave the interpretation to the reader. I plan to provide a general contextual overview where applicable. While it is always a challenge to find the exact word meaning of centuries old kritis it is still worth a try to do justice to the original author of the song. It is natural for singers to forget the literal meaning and focus on the tune and rhythm but for those who also enjoy sahityam it may not be very appealing. I welcome contributions from all who visit this website as long as a reasonable research has been done. I do not intend this space to be a battleground of conflicting ideas but rather a forum for constructive contribution for the benefit of current and future generations of musicians.