Sopana Sangeetham owes its origin and evolution to the ancient Thottam paattu, Kutthiyotta paattu , Pulluvan paattu and many other ritualistic musical forms. As the famous Malayalam poet Mahakavi Ulloor commented, “Kerala has a highly developed musical style as early as the people of this land”.

In Sopana Sangeetham moods or Bhavas are indispensible. Even the selection of ragas and talas depend on these. Ragas set for songs will be highly compatible with the thematic content and aesthetic aspects of the songs. The beginning will be on Graha Swara and rotating in and around laya in vilambita, one or two swaras and then gradually moving on to the next step as used in Andolita Gamaka in a swinging movement, like the movement of the waves.

Based on usage and prayoga, Sopana Sangeetham admits of two major divisions -- temple music and stage music. In temple music the singer or the performer will be standing in front of the Sopanam to propitiate the Lord or the Deity for obtaining moksha or salvation. But in stage music an actor or a singer is enacting the role of the Lord.

In temple style, people are the devotees whereas in the stage people are Rasikas or art lovers. In the former, God is real and the performer is the devotee whereas in the latter, a person creates the impression of God’s presence amongst the audience. Another fascinating feature found in Sopana Sangeetham is the presence of two or more swaras in addition to the accepted 12 swaras in Karnatic music. These two swaras are referred to as Kairali Gandhara and Kairali Nishada which can be found in folk music of Kerala.

Sthaaya style of singing is another peculiarity of Sopana Sangeetham and octave selection is also based on Bhava and Rasa. Modulation of swaras, specific vibrations given to certain swaras, tempo variations based on bhava are significant qualities of Sopana Sangeetham. Karnatic music prevalent in Kerala has adopted many good qualities of Sopana Sangeetham. However, the style of singing will be crude, blunt by insistance on adhering to ancient traditional style of singing. Nevertheless, with the emergence of Karnatic music and its influence on Sopana, the originality of Sopana Sangeetham is fading gradually. Nowadays original style of Sopana Sangeetham can be heard only in certain temples of Kerala such as Ettumanoor, Ambalapuzha, Kaviyoor, Thiruvalla and a few others. Kathakali music which was presented originally in Sopana Sangeetham style is slowly being shifted to Karnatic style.

Technorati Tags: Music