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Sri Thyagarajar

Kakarla Tyagabrahmam, colloquially known as Tyāgarāja (Tamil : தியாகராஜா) (Telugu : త్యాగరాజ) ( May 4, 1767 - January 6, 1847) and Tyagayya was one of the greatest composers of Carnatic music or classical South Indian music. 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 thousands 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.

Tyagaraja was born in 1767 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. 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 

• Click here to more about Sri Thyagaraja Swamigal 
  
• Personal life and backgroun of Sri Thyagaraja Swamigal
  
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• Pancharathna Kriths for Free Download MP3 by Maharajapuram Santhanam and Nithyasree Mahadavan 
  
• Tyagaraja's Compositions for Free Download Books
• Compositions of Thyagaraja Swamigal  A  1 - 10
  
• Compositions of Thyagaraja Swamigal  A  11 - 20
  
• Compositions of Thyagaraja Swamigal  A  21 - 27
  
• Compositions of Thyagaraja Swamigal  B  1 - 10
  
• Compositions of Thyagaraja Swamigal  B  11 - 21
  
• Compositions of Thyagaraja Swamigal  C  1 - 10
  

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Sri Syama Sastri

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Musical Background: Syama Sastri did not come from a family of musicians, but was taught some music by his uncle. Despite being groomed to be a priest, he had plenty of interest and talent in music. He was taught by an ascetic, Sangeeta Swami, about the intricacies of raga and tala.

Region:  Syama Sastri was born in Tiruvarur, Tanjavur district, but lived in Tanjavur. He did not travel much.

Contribution:
Compositions: Syama Sastri is credited with about 300 songs, of which only about 60 - 70 are available today. He composed a group of nine kritis known asNavaratnamalika (garland of nine gems) in praise of Goddess Meenakshi of Madurai temple. He has composed three peerless Swarajatis, collectively known as the Ratnatrayam. He has also composed a few Varnams, not to mention other compositions in rare ragas, like Chintamani (his own discovery), Kalagada etc. His favourite raga seems to be Anandabhairavi, in which he has excelled himself.

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• The Navartnam Alika Compositions
  
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Sri Muthuswami Dikshitar

Muthuswami Dikshitar (Tamil: முத்துஸ்வாமி தீக்ஷிதர்; March 24, 1775 – October 21, 1835) is a South Indian poet and composer. His compositions are noted for their integration of North Indian (Hindustani) musical themes and for gamakas reflecting veena playing styles. He also composed a body of about forty songs known as nottuswara sAhitya, on western tunes. He is also known by his signature name of Guruguha.

He is considered to be part of the trinity of cotemporaneous composers, along with Thyagaraja(1767-1847), and Syama Shastri (1762-1827), though unlike the Telugu compositions of the others, his compositions were predominantly in Sanskrit.


Early life and background

Muthuswami Dikshitar was born in Tiruvarur (of Thanjavur district in what is now the state of Tamil Nadu) to a Tamil Iyer Brahmin couple Ramaswami Dikshitar and Subbamma, as the eldest son. According to the account of Subbarama Dikshitar, Muttuswami Dikshitar was born in themanmatha year, in the month of Panguni under the asterism Krittikaa. He was named after the temple deity, Muttukumaraswamy; legend has it that he was born after his parents prayed for a child in the temple of Vaitheeswaran Temple. He also had two younger brothers Baluswami, Chinnaswami and a sister Balambal.

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• Muthuswami Dikshitar - Kritis - Free Download PDF File. Total of 484 kritis arranged in alphabetical Order.

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Sri Purandaradasa

Inscriptional evidence suggests Purandara Dasa was born in 1484 AD in kshemapura, nearTirthahalli, Shivamogga district, Karnataka state. According to other opinions, his native town was Purandaraghatta in Karnataka, or Purandaragad near Pune, but the latter is considered a historical mistake - connecting his "pen name" (his ankita) with a location that mainly served as a military encampment in the 15th and 16th century, and where neither could Kannada have been popular nor would any commercial activity have flourished. The only son of Varadappa Nayaka, a wealthy merchant, and Leelavati, he was named Srinivasa Nayaka, after the Lord of the Seven Hills. He received a good education in accordance with family traditions and acquired proficiency in Kannada, Sanskrit, and sacred music. At age 16 he married Saraswatibai, said by tradition to have been a pious young girl. He lost his parents at age 20, thereby inheriting his father's business of gemstones and pawning. He prospered and became known as "navakoti narayana" (abundantly rich man).

 According to popular belief, he was led to devote himself to musical composition by a miraculous incident which made the heretofore greedy and miserly merchant realize the worthlessness of his attachment to worldly possessions. A Brahmin man wanted to perform the sacred thread ceremony (upanayana) for his son and came to Srinivasa's wife for money. She gave him her nose ring to sell, and the man sold the nose ring to Srinivasa himself. The miserly Srinavasa lent the man his money. Meanwhile, his wife was worried about what to say to her husband, so she prayed to her favorite deity, who gave her a nose ring just like the one she had just given away. When Srinivasa hurried home, anxious to know if the nose ring was hers, he was bewildered seeing her wear the same one! She confessed what had happened, and he was converted to belief in the virtue of a charitable life. 30 years of age, he gave away all his wealth to charity and together with his family left his house to lead the life of a wandering minstrel to proselytise religion. In his very first song composition, he laments his wasted life of indulgence. It begins with the words 'Ana lae kara' in the Shuddha Savaeri raga, set to Triputa tala.

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Saint Namdev

Saint Namdev, a contemporary saint-poet of Saint Dnyaneshwar, is considered a prominent religious poet of Maharashtra. He was one the earliest writers who wrote in the Marathi language. He is the foremost proponent of the Bhagwad-Dharma who reached beyond Maharashtra, right into Punjab. He also wrote some hymns in Hindi and Punjabi. His depth of devotion and talent in delivering Kirtan was of such a high standard that it is said even the Lord Pandurang swayed to his tune. Despite being a proponent of the Warkari sect, Saint Namdev established religious unity across the country.

Saint Namdeo was born in the year 1270 in the village of Narasi-Bamani, now located in the Hingoli District in Maharashtra. He was born to a tailor named Damasheti Relekar and his wife Gonai. Yadusheth, his ancestor in the seventh generation, was a devotee of Bhagawad-Dharma. Soon after his birth, his family moved to Pandharpur, where the prominent temple of Lord Vitthal (also called Vithoba) is located. Saint Namdev’s spent the better part of his life, spanning eighty years, at Pandharpur. His parents were devotees of Vithoba.

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Oottukkadu Venkata Kavi

Ootthukkadu Venkata Kavi (Telugu: ఊత్తుక్కాడు వెంకట కవి,Tamil: ஊத்துக்காடு வேங்கட கவி, Sanskrit: वूत्तुकाडु वेंकट कवि) (c.1700 - 1765 CE) was a composer of Carnatic music. He lived in South India in the present-day state of Tamil Nadu. Also known by the name Oothukkadu Venkatasubba Iyer, he is attributed to over 400 compositions. These were handed down from generation to generation by the descendants of the composer's brother's family. Venkata Kavi's compositions reveal that he was a complete master of the science and art of music in all senses of the term – melody, rhythm or lyrics and was eloquent in Sanskrit and Tamil. He was proficient in a variety of musical forms such as the kriti, tillana and kavadichindu. He used talas and themes that not many other Carnatic composers have preferred to handle. His compositions are a blend of tremendous scholarship on a variety of subjects and inspired expression. Several pieces also reveal his humility, reverence for the great personalities before his times and the high state of bliss that he probably experienced almost ceaselessly. His works scarcely contain autobiographical notes and show that he had reached tremendous spiritual and philosophical heights. His works also reveal the proximity he felt towards God and show his deep devotion.

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Annamacharya

Sri Tallapaka Annamacharya (Telugu: శ్రీ తాళ్ళపాక అన్నమాచార్య) (or Annamayya) (May 9, 1408 – February 23, 1503) was the official songmaster of theTirumala Venkateswara Temple, and a Telugu composer who composed thousands of keertana songs, many of which were in praise of Lord Sri Venkateswara Swami. The musical form of the keertana songs that he composed have strongly influenced the structure of Carnatic music compositions,which are still popular among Carnatic music concert artists. Sri Annamacharya is remembered for his saintly life, and is honoured as a great Bhakta/devotee of Bhagwaan Govinda by devotees and saintly singers.

He is widely regarded as the Pada-kavita Pitaamaha (grand old man of song-writing) of the Telugu language.

Personal life
Annamacharya was born on Vaisakha Suddha Pournami in the year Sarwadhari (May 9, 1408) in Tallapaka, a village in current day Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh, India. His wife, Thimmakka,had written Subhadra Kalyanam, and is considered the first female poet in Telugu literature. Their son, Pedda Tirumalacharya, and grandson, Tallapaka Chinnayya, were also composers and poets. The Tallapaka compositions are considered to have dominated and influenced the structure of Carnatic music compositions.Annamacharya lived for 94 years until Phalguna Bahula Dwadasi (12th day after full moon) in the year Dhundhubhi (February 23, 1503).

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Sansthan Shree Sant Eknath Maharaj

Eknath (1533–1599) was a prominent Marathi scholar and religious poet. He is called a "sant" (saint) in the Marathi tradition as are most other religious poets. In the development of Marathi literature, Sant Eknath is seen as a bridge between the towering predecessors Dnyaneshwar and Naamdev and the equally noble successors Tukaram and Ramdas.

Eknath was born sometime around 1530 AD in an illustrious Brahmin family of Pratisthan (Paithan today). They were said to be the Kulkarnis of the village, but their name is not known. Sant Bhanudas, who brought back the sacred image of Lord Pandurang, from Vijaynagar to Pandharpur, was Eknath’s great grandfather.

Eknath was born under the star sign of ‘Mula’ in the sagittarius constellation, traditionally considered a bad omen for the parents of the child. The omen was borne out for Eknath’s father Suryanarayan and mother Rukmini died shortly after his birth and Eknath was brought up by his grandparents, Chakrapani and Saraswatibai. As an orphan, Eknath had to the suffer taunts of other children. He began avoiding their company and found refuge as a child in prayer and other devotional practices.

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