How tukkadas can enhance the appeal of a Carnatic concert?

Many legendary musicians structured their kutcheris in such a way that they could accommodate at least four to six tukkadas after the main piece

The classical music concert dais poses a lot of challenges to artistes. They are expected to constantly raise the bar. Singing niravals, kalpanaswaras, or a ragam-tanam-pallavi (RTP) with intricate rhythmic patterns are time-tested ways to showcase one’s creativity.

However, those who come to concert halls for sheer enjoyment look for songs that are simple but linger on in the mind and heart. These are the ‘tukkadas’.

The practice of singing the thevaram, divya prabandham or pasuram, which date back to the 7th and 8th centuries, was popular because bhakti dominated the kutcheris and there was no time constraint. Also, the concerts were not confined to halls. As the concert format evolved, these pieces were pushed to the concluding section.

During the 2013 music season, vocalist Kiranavali Vidyasankar, who loves to delve deep into all aspects of compositions, presented a lec-dem on ‘Traditional Tukkadas’. Her presentation included Tyagaraja’s Divyanama and Utsava Sampradaya keerthanas, Annamacharya’s sankeertana, ashtapadi, tarangam, Dasara pada, javalis, kavadi chindu, and more. Did you know that the kavadi chindu ‘Kannan varugindra neram’ was by Oothukkadu Venkatakavi.

But why did these songs with fine aspects of musicality and lyrical beauty come to be known as ‘Tukkadas’, which means small piece in Hindi?

“A small piece doesn’t mean trivial. Tukkadas are as rich and musical as the main numbers in Thodi, Kalyani or Kamboji,” says vocalist Radha Bhaskar, who along with her mridangam artiste-husband Bhaskar runs Mudhra, an organisation to promote classical music. In 1999, they had organised a Tukkada Festival in which veteran vocalists Bombay Sisters Saroja and Lalitha performed an exclusive tukkada concert. Mudhra revived the idea this year and ran a series of tukkada concerts by young artistes. “The limited concert time today does not offer musicians the opportunity to explore the immense variety of tukkadas. So, we came up with this unique concept,” says Radha.

Popular vocalist duo Ranjani and Gayathri presented a lec-dem on ‘Leveraging the tukkada’ at The Music Academy in 2018 and spoke about how they prepare for this section. Their rendering of viruthams and abhangs are enjoyed by the audiences. They build the sangatis in abhangs gradually, sing the alapana as in khayals in Hindustani music and take the climax to a dramatic finish.