\u201cTyagaraja was a brilliant person and composer, his compositions were extremely down to earth and very communicative. He had a wonderful expression. He had tremendous scholarship, many of the compositions he composed are not merely inspired works, but were also extremely deep, scholarly works.”<\/p>\n
~ Chitravina N. Ravikiran, noted Carnatic musician, quoted in article \u201cUnderstanding Tyagaraja\u201d by Uday Krishnakumar, for the Frontline (Sruti) Magazine, July 1999<\/p>\n
Saint and composer of the 18th<\/sup> and 19th<\/sup> centuries \u2013 Tyagaraja\u2019s name is uttered with great respect in both the devotional and classical music community. One of the greatest figures in Carnatic music, Tyagaraja through his devotional songs not only appeased the gods, he also left behind a legacy that is still followed by the Indian classical musicians.<\/p>\n Birth<\/strong><\/p>\n Tyagaraja, born to a Telugu Brahmin family on the 4th<\/sup> of May 1767, was named after Lord Shiva (Tyagaraja), the main deity in the Tiruvarur temple. He was the third and youngest son to his parents, Kakaria Ramabrahma and Sitamma. It is believed that before his birth his father saw Lord Shiva in his dream, who told him that his wife would be giving birth to a son, who would be proficient in music and literature.<\/p>\n A Musically Spiritual Life<\/strong><\/p>\n Tyagaraja\u2019s family was illustrious in their own right. His paternal and maternal grandfathers were trained musicians. His maternal grandfather, Kalahastayya, gave him Veena playing lessons at an early age. In addition, Tyagaraja received music training from a scholar, named Sonti Venkata Ramanayya. From very early in life, he realized that music could make him feel the love of God. Mytreyi Raghunathan in an editorial in The Hindu (January 2013) mentions that for Tyagaraja \u201cmusic and bhakti were synonymous\u201d.<\/p>\n A devotee of Lord Rama, Tyagaraja dedicated most of his songs to Him. Such was his devotion that he composed his first rendition, \u201cNamo Namo Raghuvayya\u201d, while still an adolescent of 13 years.<\/p>\n There is an incident in Tyagaraja\u2019s life that reveals that his musical aims were only towards his lord and not for gaining accolades or money from public performances. On hearing Tyagaraja\u2019s musical abilities, the king of Thanjavur invited him to perform in the royal court. Tyagaraja declined the offer immediately and composed a song to mark the event \u2013 \u201cNidhi Chala Sukhama\u201d, which means \u201cDoes abundance of wealth bring happiness?\u201d Declining of such a wonderful opportunity annoyed his brother so much that he flung all his Lord Rama idols into the river. Tyagaraja, miserable due to his separation from the lord, wandered into temples singing in the hope that he\u2019d find Him.<\/p>\n The songs became very popular among other devotees. His disciples started noting down his renditions on palm leaves.<\/p>\n Musical Contribution<\/strong><\/p>\n Tyagaraja in his lifetime is believed to have composed about 24,000 devotional songs. Many of the songs although are lost due to poor documentation. Until today, about 700 are known. Each of the songs is considered to be \u201cunique, soulful, and shimmering with divine grace. The flow of lyrics, the treatment of each raga, melody, bhakti gave a haunting charm and mesmerized the listeners in a positive way.\u201d (Mytreyi Raghunathan in the editorial in The Hindu, January 2013).<\/p>\n The genius of Tyagaraja was not just in his mesmerizing renditions. His \u201cmost famous and scholarly contributions\u201d to Indian classical and Carnatic music is conferred to the \u201cGhana Raga Pancharatnam\u201d, one of the \u201cPancharatna Kritis\u201d, which on rough translation means \u2018five gems\u2019. One of the five compositions of the \u2018Ghana Raga Pancharatnam\u201d \u2013 \u201cJagadananda Karaka\u201d, which is in Sanskrit \u2013 mentions 108 names of Lord Rama. The brilliance of the song\u2019s composition is such that \u201cit is thinkable for ordinary mortals of the music world\u201d (Mytreyi Raghunathan in The Hindu editorial, 2013). Tyagaraja composed his songs in Telugu and Sanskrit.<\/p>\n Memorializing Tyagaraja<\/strong><\/p>\n Down the years, Tyagaraja\u2019s compositions have been used regularly for singing kirtanas while praying. In addition, his life and works have inspired film-makers, who have used his compositions for their movie\u2019s musical score or attempted to make movies on his life.<\/p>\n A yearly event is also organized in his memory during January and February in Thiruvaiyaru, where his songs are collectively sung by Carnatic music personalities and aficionados. This week-long music festival is known as Tyagaraja Aradhana.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Also on this day:<\/strong><\/p>\n 1945 \u2013 N. Ram, Indian journalist, was born<\/p>\n 2008 \u2013 Kishan Maharaj, Indian tabla player, died<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cTyagaraja was a brilliant person and composer, his compositions were extremely down to earth and very communicative. He had a wonderful expression. He had tremendous scholarship, many of the compositions he composed are not merely inspired works, but were also extremely deep, scholarly works.” ~ Chitravina N. Ravikiran, noted Carnatic musician, quoted in article \u201cUnderstanding Tyagaraja\u201d by Uday Krishnakumar, for… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history"],"yoast_head":"\n