Tyagaraja

Tyāgarāja (Telugu : త్యాగరాజ, Tamil: தியாகராஜா) ( May 2, 1767 - January 6, 1847) (also commonly transcribed as Thyagaraja) was one of the greatest composers of Carnatic music or classical South Indian music. His full name is Kakarla Tyaga Brahmam.He, along with his contemporaries Muthuswami Dikshitar and Shyama Shastry, forms the Trinity of Carnatic music. He was a prolific composer and highly influential in the development of the South Indian classical music tradition. Tyagaraja composed hundreds of devotional compositions, most of them in praise of Lord Rama. His compositions remain very popular even today. Of special mention are five of his compositions called the Pancharatna Krithis(English: 'five gems'), which are often sung in programs in his honour.

Personal life and background

Tyagaraja was born in 1759 in Tiruvarur, a small town in the Thanjavur district of Old Madras State, now Tamil Nadu, to Kakarla Ramabrahmam and Sitamma in a Telugu Brahmin family of the Mulukanadu subsect.^[1] He was named Tyagaraja, after Lord Tyagaraja, the presiding deity of the temple at Tiruvarur. Tyagaraja was born at his maternal grandfather, Giriraja Kavi's house. Giriraja Kavi was a poet-composer in the court of the king of Thanjavur.

Tyagaraja was married at a young age to Parvatamma, who died shortly afterwards. He then married Kamalamba and they had a daughter named Sitalakshmi. Tyagaraja died on January 6, 1847.^[2]

Musical career

Tyagaraja began his musical training under Sonti Venkataramanayya, a noted music scholar, at an early age. He regarded music as a way to experience God's love. His objective while practising music was purely devotional, as opposed to focusing on the technicalities of classical music. He also showed a flair for composing music, and, in his teens, composed his first song Namo Namo Raghavayya in the Desika Todi ragam, and inscribed it on the walls of the house.

A few years later, Sonti Venkataramanayya invited Tyagaraja to perform at his house in Thanjavur. On that occasion, Tyagaraja sang Endaro Mahaanubhavulu, the fifth of the Pancharatna Krithis. Pleased with Tyagaraja's composition, Sonti Venkataramanayya informed the King of Thanajavur about Tyagaraja's genius. The king sent an invitation, along with many rich gifts, inviting Tyagaraja to attend the royal court. Tyagaraja, however was not inclined towards a career at the court, and rejected the invitation outright, composing another gem of a kriti, Nidhi Chala Sukhama (English: "Does wealth bring happiness?") on this occasion. Angered at Tyagaraja's rejection of the royal offer, his brother threw the statues of Rama, Tyagaraja used in his prayers into the nearby Kaveri river. Tyagaraja, unable to bear the separation with his Lord, went on pilgrimages to all the major temples in South India and composed many songs in praise of the deities of those temples.

In addition to nearly 600 compositions (kritis), Tyagaraja composed two musical plays in Telugu, the Prahalada Bhakti Vijayam and the Nauka Charitam. Prahlada Bhakti Vijayam is in five acts with 45 kritis set in 28 ragas and 138 verses, in different metres in Telugu. Nauka Charitam is a shorter play in one act with 21 kritis set in 13 ragas and 43 verses. The latter is the most popular of Tyagaraja's operas, and is a creation of the composer's own imagination and has no basis in the Bhagavata Purana.

Often overlooked is the fact that Tyagaraja's works are some of the best and most beautiful literary expressions in Telugu language. Valmiki composed the Ramayana, the story of Rama, with 24,000 verses and incidentally Tyagaraja also composed 24,000 kritis in praise of the lord.

K.V. Ramachandran, a well-known 20th-century Indian music critic, wrote: "Thyagaraja is an indefatigable interpreter of the past...but if with one eye he looks backward, with the other he looks forward as well. Like Prajapati, he creates his own media and adores his Rama not alone with jewel-words newly fashioned, but also with jewel-[like]-music newly created. It is this facet of Thyagaraja that distinguishes him from his illustrious contemporaries." In other words, while Tyagaraja's contemporaries were primarily concerned with bringing to audiences the music of the past, Tyagaraja did the same, whilst pioneering new musical concepts at the same time.

Remembrance

Tyagaraja Aradhana, the commemorative music festival is held every year at Thiruvaiyaru in the months of January to February in Tyagaraja's honour. This is a week-long festival of music where various Carnatic musicians from all over the world converge at his resting place. On the Pushya Bahula Panchami^[3], thousands of people and hundreds of Carnatic musicians sing the five Pancharatna Kritis in unison, with the accompaniment of a large bank of accompanists on violins, flutes, nagasvarams, mridangams and ghatams.

Popular culture

Films on Tyagaraja (Biographical)

As the most famous composer of Telugu kritis or (kirtanas), Tyagaraja who is fondly remembered as Tyagayya, has caught the imagination of various film makers in the Telugu film industry. Apart from references to his works, using the kirtanas as songs; two films were made on his life. The legendary Chittor V. Nagaiah made a biographical epic on Tyagaraja titled "Tyagayya" in 1946 which is still treated as a masterpiece of Telugu cinema. Nagayya's rendition of "Endaro Mahanubhavulu" and its picturisation is treated as a matchless classic even today. Later, Bapu - Ramana made Tyagayya in 1981 with J. V. Somayajulu in the lead role. Another attempt is being made by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao to picturise the life of Tyagaraja.

Tyagaraja's compositions

Ahiri

See also

• Carnatic Music
• Syama Sastry
• Muthuswamy Dikshitar
• Annamaya
• Mulukanadu community
• Nava rasas
• List of Carnatic composers

References

• Saint Tyagaraja's Nauka Charitam, A Dance Drama, choreographed by Radha, Doordarshan Archives, New Delhi 2003
• The Spiritual Heritage of Tyagaraja, C. Ramanujachari with Introduction by Dr V.Raghavan, Ramakrishna Math, Chennai
• Tyagaraja Kritigal (in Malayalam) by Prof P.R. Kumara Kerala Varma, Dept of Cultural Publications, Govt of Kerala, Trivandrum, 2000
• Tyagaraja Kirtanalu (in Telugu) by Smt Dwaraka Parthasarathy and Sri N.C. Parthasarathy, Tagore Publishing House, Kachiguda, Hyderabad, 1995(Balasaraswati Book Depot, Kurnool)
• Ramachandran, K.V., 'The Melakarta: A Critique,' The (Madras) Music Academy Platinum Jubilee Commemoration Volume, Vol. I, 1930-1940 (Original publication in the Journal of the Music Academy in 1938)

External links

• Website Dedicated to Tyagaraja
• Tribute website for Tyagaraja
• http://musicinfoguide.blogspot.com/2007/07/biography-of-sri-thyagaraja-swami.html