Karaikkal Ammaiyar and the Seven Musical Notes

காரைக்கால் அம்மையாரும் ஏழு சுரங்களும்

Abstract

Karaikkal Ammaiyar is called the 'Mother of South Indian Music.' The honor of sowing the seeds for the development of devotional literature, musical development, and Tamil literary development belongs to Ammaiyar. Though the trio who came after Ammaiyar and sang the Thevaram composed a greater number of songs in terms of quantity, it was Ammaiyar who served as the guide for singing style, verse structure, thematic composition, musical modes (ragas), and other aspects. This distinguished Ammaiyar has sung about the seven musical notes (swaras) in the first Tirupathigam of Tiruvalangkattu Mootha. This article is structured to examine these musical notes.