Among many beautiful varnams Sri Balamurali has composed, the Tōḍi varṇam stands out as a special one. You may have noticed that in the popular Tōḍi varṇam Ērānāpai’s chittaswarams, the note pa is omitted. The uniqueness of Śri Balamurali’s Tōḍi varṇam is that the entire varṇam is devoid of pa. Also, notice how the composer enhances the beauty of this varṇam by using swarāksharam in the caraṇam:
“nī garima gani nī darini jēritini sadā sāma nigama mōdini”.
Composed as a pada varṇam, here it is being sung as a Tāna varṇam.
