What is a Neraval ?

Neraval or sahitya prastara is when the artist takes a composed line from krithi and sings this line over and over, with fresh music each time. Since neraval is sung with percussion support, the artist has to keep track of the tala (rhythmic cycle) being used and ensure that the main words of the line occur in the correct position with respect to the tala.

Neraval is the main aspect of the pallavi section of the ragam-tanam-pallavi piece.

The basic purpose of neraval is the elaboration of a line or a selection of lines so as to bring out the underlying musical and lyrical beauty in it. It is the innate emotional content of the lyrics that makes neraval singing an area of expertise.

Here is an example of a neraval(for the line "jAtarUpa nibhacEla" in Deva Deva Kalayamithe krithi set in Mayamalava Gowla raagam composed by Swathi Thirunal.

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