Why the need for "rathnas"?

Almost everybody familiar with Karnataka Sangeetha is aware of Thyagaraja's pancha"rathna" krithis -

1. Jagadanandakaraka in Natta,
2. Dudukugala in Gowla
3. Sadinchane in Arabhi
4. Kanakanaruchira in Varali
5. Endaro Mahanubhavulu in Sri

But these are not his only set of pancha"rathnas". There are a few more kritis of his clubbed together and known as pancha"rathnas". Here they are:

• Pancha"rathna" krithis on the temple at Srirangam

1. Raaju Vedala in Todi
2. Vinaradha Naa Manavi in Devagandhari
3. Oh Rangashayee in Kambhoji
4. Chuthamu Ra Re in Arabhi
5. Karuna Judumayya in Saaranga

• Pancha"rathna" krithis on the temple at Lalgudi

1. Isapahimaam in Kalyani
2. Laltihe in Bhairavi
3. Mahitha Pravriddhe in Kambhoji
4. Gathi Neevani in Todi
5. Deva Sri Tapasteertha in Madhyamavati

• Pancha"rathna" krithis on the temple at Kovur

1. Eevasudha in Shahana
2. Sundareshwara in Shankarabharana
3. Shambho Mahadeva in Pantuvarali
4. Kori Sevimparare in Kharaharapriya
5. Nammi Vacchina in Kalyani

• Pancha"ratha" krithis on the temple at Tiruvotriyur

1. Kanna Talli in Saaveri
2. Sundari Ninnu in Arabhi
3. Sundari Nannindarilo in Begada
4. Sundari Nee Divya in Kalyani
5. Dharini Telusukonti in Shuddha Saaveri

Thyagaraja is not the only composer whose songs have been thus grouped. A set of compositions by Shyama Shastri on Madurai Meenakshi are grouped together and known as Meenakshi Nava"rathnas". These are even more interesting because only 7 of these (8 by some accounts) are available to us today. But still they are not known as Saptha"rathnas"!!!!

1. Meenalochana Brova in Dhanyasi
2. Sarojadala Netri in Shankarabharanam
3. Devi Meenanetri in Shankarabharanam
4. Devi Nee Padasarasa in Kambhoji
5. Marivere Gathi in Ananda Bhairavi
6. Mayamma in Ahiri
7. Nannu Brovu Lalitha in Lalitha

Mutthuswami Dikshithar has not been so lucky. As far as I am aware, none of his compositions are grouped together and named as "rathnas". His compositions have been grouped together in many other ways (this should be a separate blog post), but none of them as "rathnas". Only once, I have seen a reference to Dikshithar's Srirangam pancha"rathnas", but this is also an obscure reference. I list them here anyway.

1. Ranganayakam in Nayaki
2. Rangapura Vihara in Brindavana Saranga
3. Sri Bhargavi in Mangala Kaishiki
4. Sri Ranganathaya Namasthe in Dhanyasi
5. Sri Ranganatham in Purnachandrika (not sure if this is a Dikshithar krithi at all)

And then the one set of "rathnas" which triggered this post are Purandara Dasa's nava"rathnas". The nice thing about these "rathnas" is that pretty much everybody sings them in the same ragas with the same melody, which cannot be said for most other dasa krithis.

1. Jaya jaya in Natta
2. Adidano Ranga in Arabhi
3. Kallu Sakkare in Kalyani
4. Odi Baarayya in Bhairavi
5. Sakala Grahabala in Athana
6. Pogadiralo in Shankarabharana
7. Na Ninna in Kaanada
8. Krishnamurthy in Kambhoji
9. Banda Ne Ne in Shri

But why do we have this need to classify compositions into "rathnas"? And does this mean that the other compositions of these composers are not "rathnas"?

This reminds me of an upanyasa that I had once heard. The speaker had said this, "When I am talking about Rama, I will tell you that Rama's avatara is the best amongst all of Narayana's avataras. But when I am talking about Krishna, I will tell you that Krishna's avatara is the best amongst all of Narayana's avataras". All these compositions are similar too - when you are listening to one of them, that will seem like the best composition of the composer. And so, arent they all "rathnas"?

I also wonder if the composers ever had the intent of grouping their songs as such. And why do we group them into groups of 5 or 9? Maybe a group of 3 is too small or a group of 11 is too large. And would a group of even number of krithis be too odd?

One advantage of grouping the compositions together seems to be that they are made easy for ghoshti gayana or group singing. The melody or the dhaathu gets fixed and all singers adhere to it and so singing them in a group makes it easier.

And why do we use the term "rathna"? Why not "mani" or "manikya" - pancha"mani" krithis or nava"manikya" krithis?

Most of these classifications seem to have happened much after the life of these composers (this is especially true of Purandara Dasa's navarathnas which were probably grouped together in the 20th century). Be that as it may, all these songs are more than worthy of being termed as "rathnas" and all the other non-"rathna" compositions are no less "rathnas" than these.