http://www.dhool.com/sotd2/983.html
- Saravanan writes:
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them; and they were sore afraid
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill towards men.
- Luke 2:8
We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Here is a glorious musical celebration for the occasion:
maNNulagil indRu from punitha anthoniyaar
Sung by Vani Jairam & Chorus
Lyrics by Thanjaivanan
Music by M.S.Viswanathan
Listen
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Born on August 15, 1195 in Lisbon as Fernando de Bulhões to Teresa and Martin de Bulhões, St. Anthony is venerated as a great apostle who wrought many a miracle to show the infinite mercy of the Lord and to bring heretics into His fold. The sermon to the fish on the banks of the river Brenta, the amazing sight of a donkey bowing to the Blessed Sacrament, the reattachment of the amputated foot of a remorseful young man called Leonardo, the celebrated legend of the infant Jesus appearing to the Saint and nestling in his arms, the magical ability of the Saint to appear in 2 different places at the same time… these are the wondrous phenomena associated with St. Anthony. He was renowned as a profound preacher and a true envoy of the Lord. St. Anthony died at the age of 36 on June 13, 1231 at Arcella, near Padua. He was canonized within a year. The Basilica of St. Anthony at Padua is a magnificent edifice built in memory of the Saint. Nearer home, we have the Church of St. Anthony at Uvari in Tamil Nadu, where a wooden statue of the Saint is said to have cured an entire crew of a Portuguese ship from an acute attack of cholera.
* * * *
The life and miracles of St. Anthony found celluloid adaptation by Nanjil Durai as ‘punitha anthoniyaar’ (1977/Jayasri Nanjil Incorporated). Muthuraman played with grace and dignity the title role of the Saint. The movie portrayed the life and times of the Saint, taking some permissible liberties to suit the Tamil milieu. Savitri, Lakshmi, Jayachitra, Srikanth, Major Sundararajan, Nanjil Durai, Pramila, Y. Vijaya, Kumari Padmini, Pandaribai, Chandrakanta, R.S. Manohar, Usilaimani, Thengai Srinivasan Senthamarai and Justin enacted the wondrous vignettes associated with St. Anthony. The movie was scripted by P.T. Sami. Veteran GOR. Nathan handled the cinematography. The movie was produced and directed by Nanjil Durai, who traveled to Vatican and received the blessings of the Pope before embarking upon the project.
M.S. Viswanathan was entrusted with the music. Kannadasan, Thanjaivanan and Nanjil Durai wrote the lyrics. The movie opens with the divine benediction ‘aanandamaandhu aRputhamaandhu’ by Yesudas. L.R. Eswari gets to sing the boisterous ‘yEvaaLai yEmaatrinEn, vetRi poovaadai pOthi nindREn’. TMS sings two stirring solos, ‘thuLLi varum meengaLE’ and ‘annai vEndugiRaal unnai kaapadharku’.
* * * *
The pièce de résistance in the album is the SOTD. The song recounts the incident of the infant Jesus appearing before St. Anthony. In fact, most paintings of St. Anthony depict infant Jesus snuggling in his arms. There are numerous versions of the legend. French writers depict the incident as having taken place at the Castle of Châteauneuf-la-Forêt near Limoges, while Italian writers maintain that it occurred at Camposanpiero near Padua. Apparently, Count Tiso, who had a castle near Padua, had built a chapel and a hermitage for the friars. One night, while St. Anthony was praying in one of the chambers at the hermitage, the room was suddenly lit by a dazzling radiance and Jesus appeared to the mesmerized Saint in the form of a child. The child came smilingly into his arms, blessed him and then disappeared back to the heavens.
Thanjaivanan writes evocative lines portraying the emergence of this vision from the sky:
viNNil thOndRum thaaragaiyellaam dEvadhaiyaagum
veNNilavo dEvan amarum vaaganamaagum
gyanajOthiyE, uyarvaana jOthiyE
thaanagavE ulagail iRangum dharmajOthiyE!
And then come the lines
maNNulagil indRu dEvan iRangi varugiRaan
nalla manithar naduvil kuzhandhai vadivam peRugiRaan
eNNilaadha adhisayangaL seithu kaattavE
oru puNNiyanin madiyinilE pudhalvan aagiRaan
The Mellisai Mannar creates an ethereal opening for the sung with the tolling of the church bells and choral voices. His trusted diva Vani Jairam is the beatific harbinger of divine blessings here. With her mellifluous tones, she raises this pleasing psalm to a song that effortlessly finds a place of pride in the tfm annals of the glorious 70s. It was the time when MSV and Vani came up with one winner after another in quick succession, and this song glitters as a shining illustration of this outstanding collaboration.
- Shri noted the lyrics here: http://www.dhool.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1652
Tags: M.S.Viswanathan , Vani Jayaram