HYDERABAD: Dr Pappu Venugopala Rao, an adjudicator of doctoral dissertations in dance, music and literature was recently in the city for the launch of his book A Bunch Of Javalis. An academic council member at the Kalakshetra foundation in Chennai, Dr Rao talks about Javali, a musical art form that is an integral part of carnatic music and classical dance forms. The Javali is a quick composition that lasts around one to four minutes which is believed to have originated in the late 19th century. Inherited from the Devdasi tradition, it is erotic in nature and is best known for its attractive music and colloquial language. Says Dr Rao, “Through this book I have attempted to preserve the dying form and prevent it from going into oblivion. The music in a Javali is more important than the lyrics and a composer can change a note in a way which is not possible in the traditional Ragas.” Javali is more or less similar to the Padams and constitutes basically love songs which are catchy. Bhavas or feelings such as that of infidelity, jealousy and separation in love are important while performing the Javalis. The characters are clearly defined and the simple lyrics help the viewers to understand the character through the performance. Javalis use light ragas like Khamas and Behag, and are mostly composed in Telugu.The book contains 51 Javalis transliterated and translated into English from Telugu. It gives a detailed word to word meaning and summary of each Javali and has Telugu and Tamil text appended to it. “Though 700 to 800 Javalis are available, only 10 to 15 of them are popular. I want to bring back the Javalis into circulation as it is a fading form with only a few musicians singing it in the recent times,” opines the prolific doctor who is also a secretary at the Music Academy in Chennai. The book comes along with an audio CD containing 10 Javalis sung by eminent musicians. Initially a part of Bharatanatyam, the Javali has slowly made its way into other dance forms like Kuchipudi and Kathakali. It is generally a recital about an unfaithful hero or heroine and has themes mainly based on shringara or love. Sung during the second half or the concluding part of a performance, the Javali is known to be a simple composition that is easily understood by everyone.There is much debate on the etymology and meaning of the word Javali where some scholars believe it to have originated from a Kannada word while others from the Telugu language. Scholars also have a divided opinion on the origin and evolution of the Javali but most of them believe that Padams with erotic content gave way to Javalis over the ages.Through his book Dr Venugopala Rao hopes to restore the Javalis to its rightful place both in the field of dance and music. He expects that the notations in his book would help serve choreographers and musicians in their compositions who in turn can take the art to a new level.
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