Abstract

The palm-leaf manuscripts of compositions of the Caturdaṇḍī (ālāpa, ṭhāya, gīta, prabandha) and suḷādi forms in the Thanjavur Maharaja Serfoji’s Saraswati Mahal Library contain considerable musical information. These compositions from the 16 th to 18th c. CE appear along with their sargam notations and paint a unique picture of the music of the era from the perspective of the lakṣya (aural/performance) tradition. A few recent studies have focussed on the compositional forms and the musical features seen in these notations. The present study takes up a lesser-known aspect, that of the brief raga descriptions seen in the margins of the manuscripts. A range of examples taken from the manuscripts give insights into what appears to be a unique scheme of describing the ragas.