Tyāgarāja

Thyāgarāja ( _te. శ్రీ త్యాగరాజ స్వామి; May 4, 1767 - January 6, 1847) was a composer of Carnatic music, who along with his contemporaries Muthuswami Dikshitar and Syama Sastri forms the trinity of Carnatic Music composers. He was a prolific artist and highly influential in the development of the South Indian classical music tradition. Tyagaraja composed hundreds of devotional songs, most of them in praise of the Hindu god Rama. His compositions are very popular even today. Five of his compositions called the 'five gems' ("Pancharatna Krithis"), are often sung in programs in honour of Tyagaraja.

Life

Thyagaraja was born to Kakarla Ramabrahmam and his wife Seethamma in the small town of Thiruvarur in the Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu on May 4, 1767. [According to another tradition, the year of his birth was 1749. In the Hindu lunar year Sarvajit 27th Soma, on Chaitra Sukla Sapthami, the 7th day of the bright half of the Hindu month of "Chaitra", under the "Pushya nakshatram" star.]

He was named Thyagaraja, after Lord Thyagaraja, the presiding deity of the temple at Thiruvarur. His maternal grandfather, Giriraja Kavi, at whose house in Tiruvarur Tyagaraja was born, was a poet-composer in the court of the king of Thanjavur. There is a composition by Thyagaraja which seems to be a pun on himself and Lord Ganesha. The first line says 'giriraja suta tanaya'. This can mean himself as he is the son of Giriraja's daughter. It can also mean Lord Ganesha as he is the son of the daughter of Giriraja (King of the mountains - Himavanta). The family was a pious Telugu-speaking smartha brahmin family of the Mulukanadu subsect. It is assumed that they must have migrated from Vijayanagara empire then, in present day Andhra Pradesh, and had settled in Thiruvaiyaru.

Tyagaraja was married at a young age to a lady named Parvatamma, who died shortly afterwards. Tyagaraja then married Kamalamba and they had a daughter named Seethalakshmi. Tyagaraja died on January 6, 1847. [On "Pushya Bahula Panchami", the fifth day of the dark half of the month of "Pushya", in the Hindu lunar year "Prabhaava".]

Musical career

Tyagaraja started his musical training under Sonti Venkataramanayya, a noted scholar of music, at an early age. Tyagaraja regarded music as a way to experience the love of God. His objective while performing music was purely devotional rather than to display his mastery over technicalities of music. He also showed a flair for composing music and while in his teens composed his first song Namo Namo Raghavaya in Desikatodi 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 song, Sonti Venkataramanayya told the king of Thanajavur about the genius of Tyagaraja. The king sent an invitation, accompanied with many rich gifts, inviting Tyagaraja to attend the royal court. Tyagaraja, however was not inclined for a career at the court. He rejected the invitation outright, composing another gem of a kriti, "Nidhi Chala Sukhama" (does wealth bring happiness?) on this occasion. Angered at his rejection of the royal offer, Tyagaraja's brother threw the statues of Rama Tyagaraja used in his prayers into the nearby river Kaveri. 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 songs (kritis), Tyagaraja composed two musical plays (dramas) in Telugu, the "Prahalada Bhakti Vijayam" and the "Nauca Charitam". "Prahlada Bhakti Vijayam" is in five acts with 45 "kritis" set in 28 ragas and 138 verses, in different metres in Telugu. "Nauca Charitam" is a shorter play in one act with 21 "kritis" set in 13 "ragas" and 43 verses. It is the most popular of Tyagaraja's operas, and is a creation of the composer's own imagination and has no basis in the Bhagavatam.

Often overlooked is the fact that Tyagaraja's works are some of the best and most beautiful literary expressions in Telugu language.

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

Remembrance and celebration

"Tyagaraja Aaradhana", the commemorative music festival is held every year at Thiruvaiyaru in the months of January to February in honour of Tyagaraja. This is a weeklong festival of music where various Carnatic musicians from all over the world converge at his Samadhi. On the Pushya Bahula Panchami ["Pushya Bahula Panchami" - the fifth day of the dark half of the month of "Pushya", in the Hindu calendar every year.] , thousands of people and hundreds of musicians sing the five Pancharatna Kritis in unison, with the accompaniment of a large orchestra of violins, flutes, nagaswarams, mridangams and ghatams.

ee also

*Carnatic Music
*Syama Sastry
*Muthuswamy Dikshitar
*Mulukanadu community
*Nava rasas

References

* Saint Tyagaraja's Nauca 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)

Notes

External links

* [http://tributes.sangeethapriya.org/thyagaraja A website dedicated to Sadguru Saint tyAgarAja swAmi]
* [http://www.musicindiaonline.com/music/carnatic_vocal/s/composer.8/ kritis from musicindiaonline.com ]
* [http://www.aradhana.org/ Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana]
* [http://www.thyagarajafestival.com/ Annual Tyagaraja Aradhana at Salt Lake City, Utah]
* [http://www.tyagaraja-chicago.org/ Annual Tyagaraja Aradhana at Chicago]
* [http://www.srithiyagarajatemple.org/thyagaraja.asp One of the Great Music Trinities in carnatic music]
* [http://www.saintthyagarajar.com Everything about Saint Thyagarajar]
* [http://www.karnatik.com/co1006.shtml Lyrics of all Thyagaraja Compositions]