The Talas Tisra Ekam (three units) and Chaturasra Ekam (four units) are set for these forty compositions which are the ¾ and 4/4 timings of the Western Music.

Though Muthuswami Dikshitar has composed forty compositions of "Nottuswara sahithya", the notation is available only for thirty-six compositions. The text or sahithya for these compositions are in Sanskrit and Telugu and they are in the form of verses. They do not have the sections of Pallavi, Anupallavai and Charanam, as one finds in the other musical forms of South Indian classical music. These poems or verses are in praise of the different Gods and Goddesses of different holy places, such as Srirangam, Tirupathi, Kanchi, Madurai, etc. It is also interesting to know that the "Mudra" or signature of the composer Muthuswami Dikshitar is given as "Guruguha" in these compositions before we find the mudra in his Kriti-s. It can be said that these compositions are the earliest compositions of Muthuswami Dikshitar before he turned into the greatest composer of "Kriti" forms. From these early creations of Muthuswami Dikshitar, which stand as a forerunner for his later Kriti compositions that are monumental works of this great composer, the attitude and the "style" of Muthuswami Dikshitar can be assessed.

Later when he began to compose Krithis on many different Gods and Goddesses at the different shrines, he adopted many Hindustani Ragas such as Brindavani, Jai Jaivanthi, etc., into the realm of Carnatic music as he always wanted to synthesise the music cultures. He has composed Krithis in the format of Hindustani Drupads and used the language Sanskrit or Devanagari which is the National language of India as his media for his musical from – "Krithi" though he was born in Tamilnadu. He did not use "Tamil" as his media and preferred Sanskrit that reveals that he had a "National" spirit. The team "Nottuswara sahithya" clearly brings out the structure of these compositions as the "English-Note" or "Nottuswara" tune with Sahitya or text.

As these compositions are included in the "Prathamabhyasa PusthaRamu" of Subbarama Dikshitar (grandson of Muthuswami Dikshitar) which was published in 1905 as technical compositions for beginners (Abhyasagana), it is more probable that these compositions were prescribed and practiced by beginners during that period (late 19^th and early 20^th century) as simple melodies with text in the place of "Gitam". In the performing tradition, many Sanskrit verses are converted as "Gitam" with Raga and Tala and are taught to beginners who learn Carnatic music in a systematic manner. One of the famous and popular Sanskrit verses which has been converted into a Gitam, which is in practice even today is "Vara Veen Mrudu Pani" in Raga Mohanam. The range of the Nottuswara sahithya composition is mostly in the middle octave, though low and high notes also figure sparingly like "Gitam" composition. The tempo for these compositions is in medium tempo. These compositions are called as "Jathiswaramulu" in the Telugu paper manuscript that is the first primary source for these compositions. But these compositions have no resemblance to the "Jathiswaram" compositions of today which are performed in Bharatanatyam concerts.

The Telugu manuscript was presented to Charles Philip Brown in Madras in 1820 by Kuppayya and Seshayya under the caption "Jathiswaramulu". Though the primary source calls them as "Jathiswaramulu", the title "Nottuswara sahithya" is a more appropriate term for these compositions. From 1905, after the publication of Subbarama Dikshitar’s "Prathamabhyasa PusthaRamu", these compositions are known only as "Nottuswara sahithya". The Telugu paper manuscript no. D. 2536 is preserved in the Government Oriental Manuscripts Library, Madras. It contains these Sanskriti compositions in Telugu script with English captions for the songs which have the identical melody of European Airs and has only twenty songs in them. The first twelve are in Sanskrit and has the Mudra/signature of the composer as "Guruguha". The last eight compositions are in Telugu. It is interesting to find that Muthuswami Dikshitar uses the same Mudra – (signature) "Guruguha" in his later "Krithi" compositions that are in Sanskrit. A few of the Nottuswara sahithyas are published in A.M. Chinnaswami Mudaliar’s work "Oriental Music in Staff Notation" (1833) but without any caption for the songs. Prof. P. Sambamoorthy has published an article in the Journal of the Music Academy, 1951, and Dr. V. Raghavan has contributed another article on "Nottuswara sahithyam" of Muthuswami Dikshitar in 1977 in the Journal of the Music Academy. Subbarama Dikshitar published "Prathamabhyasa Pusthakamu" in 1905 where he has published thirty-two compositions with swara notation under the title "Nottaswara sahithyam" but with no attribution of the European Titles for the compositions that are composed with identical European tunes.

It can be very well said that these intercultural musical compositions, the Nottuswarahithyas are oriented more towards Abhyasagana or technical compositions for the beginners who learn Carnatic Music. These earlier compositions of Muthuswami Dikshitar also throw light on his mastery in synthesising two different music cultures. He has synthesised in his later excellent "Kriti" compositions also – the use of Hindustani ragas and Hindustani Dhrupad format in his Carnatic music compositions. His cosmopolitan attitude of worshipping the different deities at different shrines is also revealed in his Kriti-s and Nottuswara sahithya-s. The choice of the language, Sanskrit, in his Nottuswarasahithya and Kriti compositions reveals his spirit of national integration.

One can say that Muthuswami Dikshitar’s contribution of the Intercultural Musical Form, the Nottuswara sahithya in the early 19^th century to the World of Music is unsurpassed.

Dr. Durga has got her Ph.D. Ethnomusicology from Western University, USA. She did the Post-Post Doctoral work at Yale University, USA.

Dr.S.A.K.Durga

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