Pravacana

PRAVACHAN or PRAVACHANAM

Pravachan is a form of Hindu religious discourse, which are lectures on scriptures. A Pravachan Pandit becomes a spiritual interpreter of these Scriptures.

Pravachans are usually on a religious theme, usually the life of a saint or a story from one of India’s epics. These discourses, seem to have a soothing effect on people's anxious nerves and serve as a security fallback for them. Pravachans can sometimes get very immotional. People who listen to Pravachans have become more tolerant of their brethren, a sense of giving has been inculcated in them.

In the olden days Pravanchan pundits were often well versed in the Sanskrit language and educated and well trained in Veda Sastras and Vedanta. It is easier to listen to some pandit or purohit who is conducting a pravachan to understand some of the scriptures. Basically the Pandit elaborates on the significance of the sloka or scripture he reads and gives several bhavas and angles to look at a single verse.

Pravachan, Harikatha, Kalakshepa, Upanyasam, Villupattu are all similar in the sense they all interpretations and story telling on religious theme, yet they are different in their own styles.

South India has a long tradition of religious discourse. Religious scholars such as oduvars who were knowledgeable in religious scriptures used to render discourses in Temples and monasteries. Villuppttu, in which folk stories were told accompanied by a stringed intrument resembling a bow was also popular in Tamil Nadu. A form of Kalakshepa, in which the story teller, usually proficient in Carnatic music, interspaced the main story with music, dance and sub-stories, was also prevalent. Harikatha is a composite art form comprising of story telling, poetry, music, drama, dance, and philosophy. Harikatha involves the narration of a story, intermingled with various songs relating to the story.

Pravachan on the other hand interprets slokas and scriptures and does not involve that much singing. A Pravachan can take place for several days to interpret a single line from a sloka. Paruthiyur Krishna Sastri’s ‘Rasanishyandini' is an example of a detailed Ramayana explanatory work.

The period from 1870 to 1940 could be described as the golden age of the art of Pravachan, Harikatha, Kathakalakshepam and Upanyasa, not only in Tamilnadu but also in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. The Kathakalakshepam style of Thanjavur Krishna Bagavathar (1841-1903) became the standard for all other great Bagavathars in this field for the next 50 years. Krishna Bagavathar was a disciple of saint Thiagaraja. Soolamangalam Vaidyanatha Bagavathar (1866-1943), Mangudi Chidambara Bagavathar (1880-1938), Chitrakavi Sivarama Bagavathar (1869-1951), Soolamangalam Soundararaja Bagavathar (1890-1925), C Saraswathi Bai (1894-1974), N S Krishna Bagavathar (1892-1984) were all inspired by the style and technique of Thanjavur Krishna Bagavathar.

Kalakkad Muthuswami Sastrigal, Sengalipuram Muthanna Sastri, Samartha Ramadas Swamigal, Paruthiyur Krishna Sastri, Sengalipuram Anantarama Dikshitar, were the pravachan experts of olden times. Mannargudi Sambasiva Bhagavatar, Tanjavur T.N. Subramanya Bhagavatar and T.S. Balakrishna Sastrigal were Harikatha experts.

In Later years Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Vivekananda gave excellent Pravachans. Then it was Keeran, Krubananda Variyar, Krishnapremy gave captive lectures.

In the recent years Swami Dayananda Saraswati[1], Baba Ramdev, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Mata Amritanandamayi, Aniruddha Bapu, Asaram Bapu are few of the many spiritual gurus who draw huge crowds.

Of late Prema Pandurang, Jaya Raw, Vishaka Hari are popular. They cut across age, caste, creed etc with her soul-inspiring discourses. They are also even able to reach the western audiences.