The Study of a Pada Varṇa – "Entaninedelupudurā"

The Saṅgīta-sampradāya-pradarśini (Subbarāma Dīkṣita, 1904) is a documentation of several musical forms, including varṇa-s. Notations for about forty varṇa-s are available in the text, of which twenty-seven are tāna varṇa-s, twelve are cauka and one is a pada varṇa. While the description for cauka and tāna varṇa is given in the saṅgīta-sampradāya-pradarśini, the same is not explicitly given for pada varṇa. The pada varṇa “Entaninedelupudurā” is composed by Subbarāma Dīkṣita in the rāga Kamās and set to tiśra jāti Ēka tāla. The structural organisation of the varṇa, as understood from the notations, seems to be distinct from that of the other varṇa-s in the text and also from description of varṇa given by Subbarāma Dīkṣita in certain aspects. This paper is a study of the structural organisation in pada varṇa “Entaninedelupudurā”. A study of eḍuppu in the caraṇa section in this varṇa is also included in the paper.