Annamacharya

Sri Tallapaka Annamacharya
Background information
Also known as	Annamayya
Born	(1408-05-09)May 9, 1408
Died	February 23, 1503(1503-02-23) (aged 94)
Genres	Carnatic music
Occupations	Saint, Poet
Instruments	Tambura
Website	www.annamayya.org

Sri Tallapaka Annamacharya (Telugu: శ్రీ తాళ్ళపాక అన్నమాచార్య) (or Annamayya) (May 9, 1408 – February 23, 1503) is Saint composer of the 15th century is the earliest known musician of India to compose songs called “sankirtanas” in praise of Lord Venkateswara, the deity of Seven Hills in Tirumala, India where unbroken worship is being offered for over 12 centuries.^[1] The musical form of the keertana songs that he composed have strongly influenced the structure of Carnatic music compositions,^[2] which are still popular among Carnatic music concert artists.^[3] Sri Annamacharya is remembered for his saintly life, and is honoured as a great Bhakta/devotee of Bhagwaan Govinda by devotees and saintly singers.^[4]

He is believed to have been the reincarnation of the precious sword of lord Vishnu ( Nandakam ). He is widely regarded as the Andhra Pada kavitā Pitāmaha (grand old man of Telugu song-writing).^[1]

Personal life [edit]

Annamacharya was born on Vaishakha Shuddha Pournami in the year Sarwadhari (May 9, 1408) in Tallapaka, a village in current day Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh, India.^[5] He was born into a Telugu Nandavarika Niyogi Brahmin family.^[6] His wife, Timmakka,^[7] had written Subhadra Kalyanam, and is considered the first female poet in Telugu literature. Their son, Pedda Tirumalacharya, and grandson, Tallapaka Chinnayya, were also composers and poets. The Tallapaka compositions are considered to have dominated and influenced the structure of Carnatic music compositions.^[2] Annamacharya lived for 95 years until Phalguna Bahula Dwadashi (12th day after full moon) in the year Dhundhubhi (February 23, 1503).

10-story tall statue of Sri Tallapaka Annamacharya located at the entrance of Tallapaka.

Literary career [edit]

Annamacharya is said to have composed as many as 36,000 sankeertanas (songs) on Bhagwaan Govinda Venkateswara,^[8] of which only about 12,000 are available today.

Annamacharya considered his compositions as floral offerings to Bhagwaan Govinda. In the poems, he praises Venkateswara, describes his love for him, argues and quarrels with the Lord, confesses the devotee's failures and apprehensions, and surrenders himself to Venkateshwara. His songs are classified into the Adhyaatma (spiritual) and Sringaara (romantic) sankeertanas genres. His songs in the "Sringaara" genre worship Bhagwaan Venkateswara by describing his amorous and romantic adventures of Venkateswara and Alamel Manga, while others describe the Bhakti of his devotees.

In his later keertanas, he espouses subjects such as morality, dharma and righteousness. He was one of the first few who opposed the social stigma towards the untouchable castes in his era,^[9] with his sankeertanas explaining that the relationship between God and human is the same irrespective of the latters' color, caste and financial status, in beautiful yet powerful usage of words in his songs "Brahmam Okkate Parabrahmam Okkate..." and "E Kulajudainanemi Evvadainanemi..."

His choice of words gives a mellifluous tone to his songs, charming the listener. His prodigious literary career earned him a place among the all-time greats of Telugu literature.^[10]

According to legend, Annamacharya met up with Purandara Dasa and both of them composed music and lyrics.^[4] They met when Annamacharya had invited Purandara Dasa to join him in singing praise.^[4]

While enjoying popularity in his own days, his compositions were forgotten for over three centuries for some inexplicable reason. Mentioned in 1849^[11] they were later found engraved on copper plates, hidden for centuries inside the Sri Venkateswara temple at Tirumala, just opposite the Hundi, concealed in a very small room. An English translation of 150 of these verses was published in 2005.^[12]

Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, also known as TTD, has been endeavouring to preserve the rich heritage of his compositions. In the year 1950, The State Government of Andhra Pradesh created a committee and appointed Dr M Balamuralikrishna as its head. He set music to over 800 compositions of Sri Annamyya and are still popular among the devotees. He has been the Asthana Gayaka of the Tirumala temple at Tirupati since two decades. He is regarded as a legend in rendering devotional music in classical style, especially the Annamacharya sankirtanas. He is also an acclaimed poet, singer, and a musicologist.

Dr. Shobha Raju is the first recipient of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams scholarship in 1976 to study and set a trend for the propagation of Annamacharya’s compositions, and was also chosen as the first exclusive artiste for the propagation of Annamacharya’s compositions in 1978. Her first audio album, “Venkateswara Geeta Malika” is globally popular among Telugu community. She is the founder of Annamacharya Bhavana Vahini (ABV) www.annamayya.org in 1983, which is located in Hyderabad, India. She has been awarded Padmasree by Government of India, in 2010 in recognition of her efforts to promote Annamayya Compositions.

Famous Compositions [edit]

This is a partial list of some of the more famous Annamacharya compositions.

Movie [edit]

A film on the poet, Annamayya, was released in 1997, and starred Akkineni Nagarjuna in the lead role as poet Annamacharya. The film was directed by K. Raghavendra Rao, and featured Annamayya keertanas as songs in the movie. The movie was a major box office hit and won many awards including Best Actor and Best Film from the A. P State Government. The Film was produced by V.Doraswami Raju under the banner VMC Productions.

See also [edit]

• List of Carnatic composers
• Annamacharya sankeertana

References [edit]

Further reading [edit]

• Jackson, William. ‘Religious and Devotional Music: Southern Area’ (1999). In Porter, James; Rice, Timothy & Goertzon, Chris. The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. New York & London: Taylor & Francis. 

External links [edit]

• http://www.sapna25.com Sri Annamacharya Project of North America]
• http://www.annamacharya.net Sri Annamacharya Project of North America]
• Sri Venkateswara Annamacharya Society of America
• http://www.karnatik.com/co1010.shtml