CHENNAI: On the occasion of the great saint and music composer Tyagaraja’s 250th birth anniversary, a special talk was organised at the Narada Gana Sabha on Sunday by the Charsur Arts Foundation to commemorate his contribution to Carnatic music. V Sriram, historian and writer, spoke about the composer’s life and achievements.
“Of the three greats of Carnatic music — Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Syama Sastri, Tyagaraja’s compositions are the most versatile and employ a variety of ragas,” said Sriram. Describing the composer as the polestar of Carnatic music, without whom the field would be very different, Sriram delved into several aspects of the saint’s life that had the audience listening in rapt attention.
Born in Thanjavur in 1767, Tyagaraja is credited with creating thousands of devotional compositions mostly in praise of Lord Rama, of which his most famous is called the Pancharatna Kritis. The Tyagaraja Aradhana, a music festival, is held every year at Thiruvaiyaru in his honour. Sriram’s talk threw light on his humble beginnings, when his father worked under the Maratha kings of Thanjavur, to Tyagaraja becoming a composer par excellence. “It is indisputable that he was a very firm individual, extremely devoted to Lord Rama. A lot of his work was probably influenced by Tulsidas and Valmiki, as evidenced by the latter’s mention in his works,” said Sriram.
Sriram also gave glimpses of what Tyagaraja was as a person. “It is said that he was a very strong-willed person, and due to this he often did not get along even with his elder brothers. He condemned the rich, and often scorned offers of patronage from royalty. But surprisingly, he was unsparing of women,” he explained.
In several of his compositions, he has mentioned never to fall prey to women. “But we have to take it in the context of the time he lived in,” said Sriram and added that this particularly was ironic because his samadhi at Thiruvaiyaru was built by a woman, the revolutionary singer ‘Bangalore’ Ratnamma, who financed the building with her own money and was also instrumental in organising the Tyagaraja Aradhana. “The very fact that he lived 250 years ago and that we are still celebrating his life and works, speaks of nothing but a genius,” said Sriram.