Tyagaraja Biography In English Life Story 1767-1847

Tyagaraja Biography In English

• Tyagaraja, also known as Tyagayya and fully known as Kakarla Tyagabrahmam, was a composer and singer of Carnatic music, a form of Indian classical music.
• Tyagaraja and his contemporaries Syama Sastri and Muthuswami Dikshitar are considered the trinity of Carnatic music.
• Tyagaraja composed thousands of devotional works, most in Telugu and in praise of Rama, many of which are still popular today, the most popular being “Nagumomu”.

Birth Details –

Place – Tiruvarur

Date of Birth – 4 May 1767

Nationality -Indian

Family –

Brother – Panchnad Brahmam, Panchapaksha Brahmam

Personal life and background

• Tyagaraja was born as Kakarla Tyagabrahmam in 1767 in a Telugu Vedic Mulkanadu Brahmin family at Tiruvarur in present-day Tiruvarur district of Tamil Nadu.
• They were originally migrants from the village of the same name in Kumbum taluk, Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh. His family belonged to the Smarta tradition and the Bharadwaja gotra.
• Tyagaraja was the third son of his parents, and Panchanada Brahmam and Panchapaksha Brahmam are his elder brothers.
• He was named Tyagabrahmam/Tyagaraja after Tyagaraja, who was the presiding deity of the temple at Tiruvarur, the place of his birth. Tyagaraja’s maternal uncle Giriraj was a poet.
• Giriraj Kavi was a poet and musician. Giriraj was born in Kakarla village of Cumbum taluk in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh. Tyagaraja’s maternal grandfather was named Kalahastaya, but he was often addressed as Veena Kalahastaya as he was a renowned veena player.
• Tyagaraja had learned to play the Veena from Kalahastaya in his childhood. After the death of Kalahastaya, Tyagaraja received the Nardayam, a book on music.
• Tyagaraja died on the day of Pushya Bahula Panchami, 6 January 1847, at the age of 79.
• His last composition before his death was Giripai Nelakonna. He was cremated on the banks of the Kaveri River at Thiruvaiyaru.

Career

• Tyagaraja began his musical training at an early age under the music scholar Sonthi Venkata Ramanaiyya, the latter hearing him sing and being impressed by the child’s prodigy.
• Tyagaraja regarded music as a way to experience the love of God. His compositions focused on expression rather than the technicalities of classical music.
• He also showed a flair for composing music and in his teens, composed his first song, “Namo Namo Raghavaiya”, in Desika Todi Ragam and inscribed it on the walls of the house.
• His works are mainly of devotional (bhakti) or philosophical nature. He also composed works in praise of Krishna, Shiva, Shakti, Ganesha, Muruga, Saraswati and Hanuman.
• Sonthi Venkataramanaya informed the king of Thanjavur of Tyagaraja’s talent. The king sent an invitation with many rich gifts inviting Tyagaraja to attend the royal court.
• However, Tyagaraja was not inclined towards a career at court, and rejected the invitation outright.
• Tyagaraja, who was immersed in devotion to Rama and led a spartan lifestyle, took no steps to systematically codify his vast musical output.

Remembering

• Tyagaraja Aradhana, a commemorative music festival held every year at Thiruvaiyaru in Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu during the months of January to February in honor of Tyagaraja.
• It is a week-long festival of music where various Carnatic musicians from around the world gather at his resting place.
• On Pushya Bahula Panchami, thousands of people and hundreds of Carnatic musicians sing the five Pancharatna creations together to the accompaniment of a large group of accompanists on veena, violin, flute, nadaswaram, mridangam and ghatam.
• A sports complex, the Tyagaraja Sports Complex in New Delhi, was named after him. A crater on the planet Mercury was named after Tyagaraja in 1976.

In popular culture

Movies on Tyagaraja (Biography)

• Apart from references to his works, two films were made on his life, using kirtans as songs.
• V. Nagayya made a biographical epic on Tyagaraja in 1946 titled Tyagayya which is still considered a masterpiece of Telugu cinema.
• In 1981, Bapu-Raman starred J.J. Made Tyagayya with V. Somayajulu. Another attempt is being made by Singatem Srinivasa Rao to depict the life of Tyagaraja.

Raag on Tyagaraja

• The Carnatic masterpiece ‘Sri Ramachandram Bhajami’ composed by Mahesh Mahadeva in the raga ‘Sri Tyagaraja’ and sung by Priyadarshini in the name of Saint Tyagaraja was released at Tyagaraja Samadhi during the 176th Tyagaraja Aradhana Utsav on January 2023.

Other Information –

Date of Death – 6 January 1847

Place – Tiruvarur

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