The Kohalamatam (KM) is regarded as a fundamental text on Natya, steeped in Indic tradition and ascribed to Kohala muni.
The present edition of KM is based on four manuscripts located at the ORI Kariavattom, Thiruvananthapuram. This text comprises eight chapters titled Sruti, Svara, Raga, Ragavarga, Prabandha, Tala, Vadya and Nritya.
KM also refers to the Vedic origin of svara-s. The saptasvara-s are described as originating from the vaidikasvara-s. KM, to a large extent, appears to have material that it shares with multiple prominent lakshanagrantha-s ranging from around the eighth century CE to about sixteenth century CE. KM is certainly a significant work, as it is one more step in understanding the clusive persona of Kohala, a name that appears in music annals all the way from second century BCE to the eighteenth century CE.
The present edition of this text has been critically edited and translated by (late) Prof. R. Sathyanarayana and a lucid introduction has been supplemented by Dr. Padma Sugavannam.
(Late) Professor R. Sathyanarayana (May 1927 January 2020) was widely recognised in India and outside as an authority on Indian Music and dancing. He was broadbased in several physical sciences, humanistic and indological disciplines. He published many books, including critical editions, translation, commentaries, original works, mono- graphs and research papers on music, dance and other subjects. He had received numerous academic distinctions (including doctoral degrees and fellowships), honours and awards. In 2018; Prof. R. Sathyanarayana was awarded the Padma Sri by the Govt. of India for his outstanding contribution to the field. He was associated with numerous learned bodies in India and abroad.
Prof. Sathyanarayana belonged to the sisya-parampara of the Saint Music Composer Sri Thyagaraja and was a music composer, teacher, public speaker and broadcaster. He travelled frequently to interpret traditional Indian culture in several countries on cultural missions. He was widely acclaimed for his systematic contributions to the interdisciplinal and intradisciplinal bases of modern Indian musicology and danceology.
The Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) serves as a major resource centre for the arts, especially written, oral and visual source materials and it undertakes. research and publication programmes of reference works, glossaries, dictionaries and encyclopedia concerning the arts and the humanities, which enables it to provide a forum for a creative and critical dialogue through publications, performances, exhibitions, multi-media projections, conferences, seminars and workshops etc. The Kalakosa Division works toward identifying primary concepts and texts, fundamental to the Indian world-view, which have permeated all disciplines and dimensions of life, bringing to light primary textual source material hitherto unknown, unpublished or inaccessible both in the original language as also translation, and placing before the present generation, the works of the savants who have been pioneers in giving direction and light for comprehending the artistic traditions through a holistic vision, cross- cultural context, and multi-disciplinary methodology. Around 140 volumes have been published under three significant publication series of the Division, viz., the Kalatattvakosa, the Kalamulasastra, and the Kalasamalocana.
The present volume, the Kohalamatam of Kohalamuni has been critically edited and translated into English by (Late) Prof. R. Sathyanarayana, the erudite scholar of musicology. This is a significant contribution of the IGNCA in the field of musicological studies. Prof. R. Sathyanarayana has been a longtime associate of the IGNCA Kalakosa division and this publication is a befitting tribute to his pious memory. It is with great crudition, precision and commitment that he undertook and completed this assignment. I congratulate the team of Kalakosa Division especially Dr. Sushma Jatoo, erstwhile Head of Kalakosa division and the managing editor of this volume, for her relentless efforts in bringing the output submitted by Prof. Sathyanarayana to this stage of publication.
The present work Kohalamatam is ascribed to the muni Kohala. The name Kohala and its modification such as Kauhala are associated with several learned authors from ancient times. Thus Kauhaliputra is a grammarian quoted in the Taittiriya Pratisâkhya (17.2) and in the commentary thereon (5.39-4B, Tribhasyaratnakara Kauhilaya. It is mentioned in the Bharadvajašiksa. (A catalogue of sanskrit manuscripts in the Punjabi University Library, Vol. II, 1941. App. p.p.) Kauhilaśiksa is a well known work on Vedic phonetics, ascribed to Kauhala. The Mahabharata (Vanaparvan, 134, 136) speaks of the sage Kakola who received his education from the sage. Uddalaka, married his daughter, Sujata and beg from her a sage Aştavakra. Kahola was vanquished by Bandi in a metaphysical discusion on Brahman and hence was incarcerated in a water prison and was rescued by his son. The same epic also mentions the sage Kohala who served as a priest at the serpent sacrifice performed by Janamejaya (Adiparvan, 53). Kohala is mentioned as a poet by Somadeva in his Yasastilaka campů (Kavyamälä eds. 70, Vol. 1st. 239, p. 459) and in the Jain work Mahapuräna as Kuşmandakavi. Märkandeya Kavindra mentions Kohala as an authority on Präkṛta grammar in his Präkṛta Sarvasva. There is also a sthalapurana called Kohala-Gakava Kṣetra-mahima, which is mentioned in the Catalogue of Sanskrit Manuscripts in the Oriental research Institute, Mysore.
Kohala's relevance to the present context arises from the fact that he is a highly respected authority on music, dance and drama. The earliest known such reference which mentions Kohala as a bharataputra (bharataśişya-actor) is the first chapter and as the authority who would write the uttaratantra (sequel) i.c. write whatever is left out by himself, in the last sloka of the last chapter of the Natyaśästram. No such work of Kohala is now available, unless Bharatämuni means that Kohala would write further on the main theme of the Natyaśästram viz., rūpakas. This conjecture is somewhat admissible because Kohala is one of the best authorities on the subject and is the first known authority to deal with uparupakas. This Kohala is not relevant to Kohalamatam deals with only music and dance but not drama.
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