Tyagaraja

Sadguru Sri Tyāgarāja Swāmi (4 May 1767 – 6 January 1847), also known as Tyāgayya, and in full as Kākarla Tyāgabraḥmaṁ, was a composer of Carnatic Music, a form of Indian Classical Music. Tyāgarāja and his contemporaries, Śyāma Śāstri and Muthuswāmi Dikshitar, are regarded as the Trinity of Carnatic Music. Tyāgarāja composed hundreds of devotional kṛti ( compositions), mostly in Telugu and in praise of Rāma. Many of them remain popular to this day. Of special mention are five of his compositions called the Pañcaratna Kṛti ( five gems), which are often sung in programs held in his honor. Tyāgarāja composed many Utsava Sāmpradāya Kṛti ( festive ritual compositions), meant to be sung in temple rituals/festivities and Divya Nāma Saṅkīrtana ( divine compositions on the Lord’s various names), sung as a part of concerts and daily life. Tyāgarāja lived through the reigns of four kings of the Thanjavur Maratha rule – Thuljaji (1763–1787), Amarasimha (1787–1798), Serfoji II (1798–1832) and Shivaji II (1832–1855), although he served none of them. Biography Tyāgarāja was born Kākarla Tyāgabraḥmaṁ in 1767 to a Telugu Vaidiki Mulakanādu Brahmin family in Thiruvarur, present-day Thiruvarur Distri