Great Authors

Father of Carnatic Music

Thyagaraja 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

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 Todiragam, 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.