Five soulful Carnatic songs to ease your lockdown loneliness

The COVID-19 lockdown has dramatically altered our daily routine. Though it has freed ourselves of the busy traffic, toxic pollution, terrible noises and hectic lifestyle, the sense of loneliness is depressing. Reading books, surfing the internet and watching TV may help us beat the lockdown blues, but listening to some music will ease the loneliness. Here are five Carnatic songs that will soothe you for a while.

Sharanaagathi endrum sharanaagathi

The deeply spiritual piece of music was sung by Sudha Ragunathan. The song about Ramana Maharishi, a sage of the 20th century, is a never-miss for those who are in a spiritual experiment.

“Sharanaagathi endrum sharanaagathi….I surrender and seek! So apt for today’s situation. And I sang it so many years ago. Going on a rewind mode today! (SIC),” Ragunathan wrote on her Facebook page.

Noolaippadi

Sanjay Subrahmanyan is known for going beyond the realms of Keerthanas. The song, penned by poet Bharathidasan, explains how one must read a book.

In the 80s and 90s, many students in Tamil Nadu knew the poem by heart and used lines from it during elocution competitions. Sanjay rendered this song for the first time in a Sabha in December 2019.

Hey corona! nee yarona?

Among the Carnatic singers, there are a handful of vocalists who take the Tamil Isai (ancient Tamil music) to the masses. The foremost of them is Sirkali Sivachidambaram.

A doctor, Sivachidambaram has given a timely rendition of the song on Coronavirus. It comically makes a dig at the coronavirus and advises how to protect oneself against the virus.

Janani Janani Janani

Sung by Nithyasree Mahadevan and written by Cuddalore Subramaniam, the song is in Revathi raga. The singer begins it by calling Goddess Devi in various names, then praises her and finally seeks her blessings.

The song should not be confused with the film song Janani Janani, from Thaai Mookambikai (1982), that was composed by Ilayaraja and written by Vaali.

Podipunai netri punithavel kaakka

To remain positive amid the pandemic, Sikkil Gurucharan has chosen some verses from Kandha sashti kavasam and Thiruppugazh to this song.

The verse — podipunai netri — from Kandha sashti kavasam seeks blessings from Lord Muruga for the well being of all parts of the body.

“Hoping for these significant verses from Kanda Sashti Kavacham and Arunagirinathar’s Tiruppugazh to make us resilient against the Covid 19 virus and give us strength to battle out the Coronavirus situation (SIC),” he posted on his Facebook page.