Anandabharati Aiyangar

Anandabharati Aiyangar (born 1786; died 1846) was a Tamil poet and dramatist.

Personal life

Anandabharati was born in 1786 at Umeiyammalpuram near Thanjavur. He was the son of a wealthy "mirasdar" (landlord) named Srinivasa Aiyangar. At the age of thirteen, he composed a drama named "Nondi" in praise of "Yaneimelazhagar", the patron deity of his village. Soon afterwards, he migrated, along with his father, to Thiruvallur, where he lived for three years. From the age of fifteen, he was successively employed as the "karnam" and "Samprathi" of two different temples in Thanjavur. At the age of twenty-five, he resigned his job and settled down at Tiruvidaimarudur where he spent the rest of his life writing poems. Aiyarappa Tambiran, the "dharmakarta" of the shrine at Tiruvidaimarudur was so pleased at a drama written by him in praise of the presiding diety that he honored him with the gift of a house and garden, and conferred on him the title of "Kavirajaswami". Anandabharati Aiyangar passed away in 1846 at the age of sixty.

Poetic compositions

Some of his famous poetical compositions are "Uttara Ramayana Kirtana", "Desikaprabandham", "Bagavata Dasamaskanda Nadagam","Marudur Venba" and "Muppattirattu".

He also composed hymns in honor of the Saivite shrines at Tiruchirapalli, Tirukadanthai and Thiruvaduthurai.

References

* cite book | title=The Tamil Plutarch, containing a summary account of the lives of poets and poetesses of Southern India and Ceylon | last=Chitty| first=Simon Casie| date=1859| pages=5| publisher=Ripley & Strong| location=Jaffna