Bhadrachal Ramdasu Biography In English
- Kancharala Gopanna (c. 1620 – 1688), popularly known as Bhakta Ramadasu or Bhadrachal Ramadasu, the Hindu god Rama, was a saint-poet and a composer of Carnatic music.
- Various mythological stories about his life are prevalent in the Telugu tradition. He is famous for building the famous Sita Ramachandraswamy Temple and pilgrimage center on the banks of the Godavari River at Bhadrachalam.
- Ramadasu was a Sri Vaishnava. Ramadasu was the author of Telugu Satakam.
Birth Details –
Place- Nelkondapalli Village, Khammam District, Telangana
Date of Birth – 1620
Nationality -Indian
Family –
Mother – Kamamba
Father- Linganna
Brother – Akkanna
Early Life –
- Kancherla Gopanna (Goparaju), later known as Bhakta Ramadasu, was born in a Telugu-speaking Niyogi Brahmin family to Linganna minister and Kamamba in Nelkondapalli village in Khammam district, Telangana.
- Orphaned as a teenager, he began a penniless life, surviving by singing devotional songs to Rama and collecting rice from door to door.
- His maternal uncles were Madanna and Akkanna brothers. He helped Abul Hasan Qutb Shah (Tana Shah) gain power in 1672 after the death of Tana Shah’s father-in-law, Abdullah Qutb Shah.
- As a reward for their material support during the period of power struggle with Aurangzeb and the Mughal Empire, the brothers were appointed ministers in the court of Tana Shah of the Qutb Shahi dynasty in Golconda Kingdom.
- He helped his orphaned nephew Gopanna. He is said to have learned Telugu, Sanskrit, Persian and Urdu.
Career-
- In 1650, Gopanna traveled to Hyderabad to visit his maternal uncle, who was then serving under Mirza Muhammad Sayyid, a minister in the tax department of the Golconda Sultanate.
- He persuades the minister to give a job to his nephew Gopanna. Mirza Mohammed Sayyid appointed Gopanna to the tax collection department in Bhadrachalam, where a temple dedicated to Rama already existed.
- A different version of his career is found in Ramadasu Charitra, a hagiographic Telugu text.
- There are conflicting stories about his life after becoming Tehsildar and leading the tax collection activities in Bhadrachalam.
- All these stories share a common theme – he collects the Jizya religious tax from the Hindus in the Bhadrachalam region, he rebuilds or builds the famous large Rama temple at Bhadrachalam, partly with donations and partly with the Golconda Sultanate. With the tax collected for his arrest charged with fraud and misappropriation of taxes, he spent 12 years in solitary confinement in Golconda Jail, where he wrote poems for the Hindu god Rama, leading to his release and return to Bhadrachalam.
Compositions
- Ramadasu is one of the Bhakti movement poet-saints of Hinduism, and a respected musician in the Carnatic music tradition.
- His musical postures are different and he is remembered by his name or by his favorite place Bhadrachalam; For example, Ramdas, Bhadrachalvas, Bhadradri, Bhadragiri, Bhadrashil and others.
- He composed the Dasarathi Satakam, a devotional poem in didactic metrical style, whose lines and verses are often sung or shared in the regional Telugu tradition.
- These are in the form of Yakshagana or Harikatha about Ramadasu and his songs. He is among the six authors – Yadavadasu, Singardasu, Krishnadasu, Ayyagiri Veerabhadra Rao, Balaji Dasu and Pentapati Rao.
- Many contain between 100 and 108, but one has 137 songs attributed to Ramadasu.
- Furthermore, a notable feature of Ramadasu’s compositions is his knowledge and use of ragas from both the South Indian schools (20 ragas) and the North Indian schools (17 ragas), thereby unifying the two classical music traditions.
- Stalwart V. Nagaiah produced, directed and essayed Kancherla Gopanna in Ramadasu, which won the National Film Award.
- Of. Raghavendra Rao directed Sri Ramadasu with Nagarjuna as Kancherla Gopanna.
Awards
National Film Awards
other information –
Date of death-1688
Place – Bhadrachalam
Question Related to Bhadrachal Ramdasu
What is the place and date of birth of Bhadrachal Ramdasu?
Bhadrachal Ramadasu was born in 1620 in Nelkondapalli village, Khammam district, Telangana.
What was the name of Bhadrachal Ramdasu’s father and mother?
Bhadrachal Ramadasu’s father’s name was Linganna and mother’s name was Kamamba.
What was the name of Bhadrachal Ramdasu’s brother?
Bhadrachal Ramadasu’s brother’s name was Akkanna.
Which award was given to Bhadrachal Ramdasu?
Bhadrachal Ramadasu was awarded the National Film Award.
When and where did Bhadrachal Ramdasu die?
Bhadrachal Ramadasu died in 1688 at Bhadrachalam.
