The Father of Carnatic Music

Hello readers! This week’s talk is about the father of Carnatic music. Before knowing interesting facts about him, do you know about Carnatic music? If not, let’s learn some info regarding Carnatic music.

Carnatic music or Carnatic sangeet is the south Indian classical music. It has a rich history and tradition and it is one of the gems of world music. It has developed in the south Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka. These states are known for their strong presentation of Dravidian culture.

So now you know something about Carnatic music. Let’s take a look upon the father of Carnatic music.

Purandara Dasa was a composer, singer and one of the chief founding-proponents of South Indian Classical Carnatic Music. In honor of his significant contributions to Carnatic music, he is widely referred to as the Pitamaha (father) of Carnatic music. He is respected as an Avatara (incarnation) of the great sage Narada (a celestial being who is also a singer).

Biography of Purandara Dasa

Srinivasa Nayaka, the only son born for Varadappa Nayaka, a wealthy merchant, and Leelavati. He was named after the Lord of the seven hills. He received a good education and acquired expertise in Kannada, Sanskrit, and sacred music. He prospered and became rich, known as Navakoti Narayana (means an abundantly rich man; worth ninety million).

A miraculous incident in Srinivasa Nayaka's life made to devote himself to practice, spread, and priority of bhakti (devotion) towards Lord Krishna through musical compositions. It is believed to give up his former greed and cheap self, having realized the worthlessness of attachment to worldly possessions.

In the course of his wandering, he met the holy sage Vyasatirtha, the rajaguru of Krishnadevaraya, the emperor of the Vijayanagara kingdom. According to professor Sambamoorthy, Srinivasa had his formal action of beginning at the hands of Vyasatirtha in 1525. At age of 40, Vyasatirtha granted Srinivasa with the name Purandara Dasa.

Purandara Dasa traveled extensively through the Vijayanagara empire in Karnataka, Tirupati, Pandharapura composing and offering soul blend songs in praise of God. He spent his last years in Hampi and also sang in Krishnadevaraya's durbar. He stayed in a mantapa (mandap) known as Purandara Dasa Mantapa (mandap) located in Hampi.

Within a short period after his death, on 2nd January 1565 at the age of 80, the Vijayanagara empire collapsed. Tradition told that he composed 4,75,000 keerthanas (songs). According to this legend, his original desire was to compose 5,00,000 keerthanas. Later his younger son fulfilled his desire by completing the remaining 25,000 keerthanas.

Most of his songs are in praise of Lord Narayana and other Devatas. Due to this, he is believed to be an avatar of Narada, the celestial singer, and son of Goddess Saraswati. One of the trimurtis (three icons) of Carnatic music, Saint Thyagaraja, has paid tribute to Purandara Dasa in his geya natakam(an opera) Prahlada Bhakti Vijayam.

Purandara Dasa systematized the method of teaching Carnatic music which is followed even today. He introduced the raga Mayamalavagowla as the basic scale for music instruction and fashioned a series of graded lessons such as swaravalis, janti swaras, alankaras, lakshana geetas, prabandhas, ugabhogas, daatu varase, geeta, sooladis, and kritis.

His other important contributions were the fusion of bhava, raga, and laya in his compositions. He included comments on ordinary daily life and elements of colloquial language in his lyrics. He introduced folk ragas into the mainstream, setting his lyrics to tunes(ragas) of his day in the layman’s perspective.

He also composed a large number of lakshya and lakshana geetas, many of which are sung to date. His sooladis are musical masterpieces and are the standard for raga lakshana. Scholars attribute the standardization of varna mettus entirely to Purandara Dasa. According to traditional sources, his compositions not more than 700 compositions are accessible now.

Purandara Dasa was a vaggeyakara (composer-performer), a lakshanakara (musicologist), and the founder of musical pedagogy. For all these reasons and the enormous influence that he had on Carnatic music, musicologists call him the Sangeeta Pitamaha (Father) of Carnatic music. Purandara Dasa had a great influence on Hindustani music.

The Purandara Dasa Mantapa adjoining the Vijayavittala temple at Hampi is one of the longstanding monuments relating to Purandara Dasa, said to have composed and sung in praise of Lord Vishnu. A statue of Purandara Dasa has been constructed at the foothills of Tirumala in Alipiri. A statue of Purandara Dasa decorates the Asthana Mandapam (auditorium) on the Tirumala hill.

After reading his biography, you now get some sort of interest in music. Am I correct? Yes! I’m.

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