Tyagaraja

Tyagaraja
Background information
Native name త్యాగరాజ
Birth name Kakarla Tyagabrahmam
Born (1767-05-04)4 May 1767
Thiruvarur,[1] Thanjavur Maratha kingdom
Died 6 January 1847(1847-01-06) (aged 79)
Thiruvayaru,[1]
Tanjore district,
Madras Presidency
Genres Carnatic music
Occupation(s) Carnatic composer

Kakarla Tyagabrahmam (4 May 1767 – 6 January 1847) or Saint Tyagaraja, also known as Tyāgayya in Telugu, was one of the greatest composers of Carnatic music or Indian classical music. He was a prolific composer and highly influential in the development of the classical music tradition. Tyagaraja composed thousands of devotional compositions, most in Telugu and in praise of Lord Rama, many of which remain popular today.[2] Of special mention are five of his compositions called the Pancharatna Kritis (English: "five gems"), which are often sung in programs in his honour.

Personal life and background

Saint Tyāgarāja was born in 1767[Note 1] in Thiruvaiyaru,[3] Thanjavur District, Tamil Nadu to Kakarla Ramabrahma and Sitamma in a Telugu Brahmin family. His family belonged to the smarta tradition and Bharadvajasa gotra. Tyagaraja was the third son of his parents, and Panchanada Brahmam and Panchapakesha Brahmam are his older brothers. He was named Tyagabrahmam/Tyagaraja after Tyagaraja, the presiding deity of the temple at tiruvArUr, the place of his birth. Tyagaraja's paternal grandfather was Giriraja Kavi. Giriraja Kavi was a poet and musician. Giriraja was born in Kakarla village, Cumbum taluk in Prakasam district, Andhra Pradesh. He is believed to belong to the Mulakanadu or Niyogi sect. Tyagaraja's maternal grand father was Kalahastayya/Veena kalahastayya. He was a Veena player. Tyagaraja learned playing Veena in his childhood from Kalahastayya. After Kalahastayya's death Tyagaraja found "Naradeeyam", a book related to music.[4][5]

Musical career

Tyāgarāja began his musical training under Sonti Venkata Ramanayya, a music scholar, at an early age. He regarded music as a way to experience God's love. His objective while practicing 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.

Sonti Venkataramanayya informed the king of Thanjavur of 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 kriti, Nidhi Chala Sukhama (English: "Does wealth bring happiness?") on this occasion.[6][7] He spent most of the time in Tiruvaiyaru. But there are records of him visiting Tirumala and Kanchipuram. When he was in Kanchipuram, he met Upanishad Brahmayogin at the Brahmendral Mutt at Kanchipuram.[8]

Tyagaraja, who was totally immersed in his devotion to Rama and led the most spartan way of life without bothering in the least for the comforts of the world, did not take any steps to systematically codify his vast musical output. Rangaramanuja Iyengar, a leading researcher on Carnatic music, in his work Kriti Manimalai, has described the situation prevailing at the time of death of Tyagaraja. It is said that a major portion of his incomparable musical work was lost to the world due to natural and man-made calamities. Usually Tyagaraja used to sing his compositions sitting before deity manifestations of Lord Rama, and his disciples noted down the details of his compositions on palm leaves. After his death, these were in the hands of his disciples, then families descending from the disciples. There was not a definitive edition of Tyagaraja's songs.


The songs he composed were widespread in their popularity. Musical experts such as Kancheepuram Nayana Pillai, Simizhi Sundaram Iyer and Veenai Dhanammal saw the infinite possibilities for imaginative music inherent in his compositions and they systematically notated the songs available to them. Subsequently, indefatigable researchers like K. V. Srinivasa Iyengar and Rangaramanuja Iyengar made an enormous effort to contact various teachers and families who possessed the palm leaves. K. V. Srinivasa Iyengar brought out Adi Sangita Ratnavali and Adi Tyagaraja Hridhayam (in three volumes). Rangaramanuja Iyengar published Kriti Mani Malai in two volumes.

Furthermore, Musiri Subramania Iyer, the doyen of Bhava Sangitam, had a vast collection of books in his library. T. K. Govinda Rao, his disciple, brought out a volume of the songs of Tyagaraja in English and the Devanagari script. T. S. Parthasarathy, a leading scholar on Tyagaraja, published the text and meaning of Tyagaraja's songs. There are also many less comprehensive publications in Telugu.

Out of 24,000 songs said to have been composed by him, about 700 songs remain now but scholars are skeptical about numbers like 24,000 since there is no biographical evidence to support such claims.[9] In addition to nearly 700 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. Tyagaraja also composed a number of simple devotional pieces appropriate for choral singing.[10]

The 20th-century Indian music critic K.V. Ramachandran 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 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 Tyagaraja 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 also pioneered 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,[Note 2] 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 veenas, violins, flutes, nadasvarams, mridangams and ghatams.[11]

The sports complex in New Delhi, Thyagaraj Sports Complex, was named after him. A crater on the planet Mercury is named Tyagaraja.[12]

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 filmmakers in the Telugu film industry. Apart from references to his works, using the kirtanas as songs, two films were made on his life. Chittor V. Nagaiah made a biographical epic on Tyagaraja titled Tyagayya in 1946 which is still treated as a masterpiece of Telugu cinema. In 1981, Bapu – Ramana made Tyagayya with J. V. Somayajulu in the lead role. Another attempt is being made by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao to picturise Tyagaraja's life.

Compositions

The term pancharatna in Sanskrit means five gems: The Pancharatnas are known as the five finest gems of Carnatic music. All the Pancharatnas are set to Adi Talam. So far as Pancharatnas are concerned, a stable text has been handed over by the earlier musicians to the present day. Several musicians have brought out editions of Pancharatnas. However, Veenai Sundaram Iyer's edition is the most detailed and comprehensive. All the compositions of Tyagaraja show the way for the systematic development of the respective ragas. However, in the Pancharatnas, Tyagaraja has given full, exhaustive and complete treatment as to how to systematically and scientifically develop a raga. The two fundamental conditions that must be satisfied for a systematic development of a raga are the arrangement of the solfa swaras in the natural order of Arohanam and Avarohanam of the Ragas so as to satisfy the sound principles of harmony and continuity. Pancharatnas satisfy these scientific principles in an unparalleled manner. The Pancharatnas are composed in perfect sarvalaghu swaras.

Other notable compositions by Tyagaraja include Saamajavaragamana in Hindolam raagam, Aadamodigaladhe in Chaarukesi raagam, Raaju vedale in Hanumatodi raagam, Ninne nammi naanura in Pantuvaraali raagam, and Nagumomu kanaleni in Aabheri raagam.

Gallery

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ His date of birth according to the Hindu lunar year Sarvajit 27th Soma, on Chaitra Sukla Saptami, the 7th day of the bright half of the Hindu month of Chaitra, under the Pushya star.
  2. ↑ Pushya Bahula Panchami – the fifth day of the dark half of the month of Pushya, in the Hindu calendar every year.

References

  1. 1 2 "Thiruvaiyaru Thyagaraja Aradhana".
  2. ↑ Gopal, Madan (1990). K.S. Gautam, ed. India through the ages. Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. p. 233.
  3. ↑ http://thiruvaiyaruthyagarajaaradhana.org/biography.html. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ↑ "Tiruvaiyaru gears up". The Hindu. 6 January 2006.
  5. ↑ "Manaku teliyani mana tyagaraju".
  6. ↑ "The musical triumvirate". The Hindu. 24 January 2011.
  7. ↑ "Atop a hill, a historic temple". The Hindu. 26 February 2013.
  8. ↑ sreenivasaraos.com/tag/upanishad-brahmendra/
  9. ↑ "The bhaktha who craved more bhakthi". The Hindu. 31 January 2013.
  10. ↑ http://www.acharyanet.com/product-category/020-krtis/tyagarajas-bhajana-marga-krtis/
  11. ↑ "Musicians pay homage to saint Thyagaraja". The Hindu. 1 February 2013.
  12. ↑ Retrieved 16 May 2013, from Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory website; http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=861

Further reading

External links

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