Tyāgarāja
18th–19th century · Tiruvaiyāru, Tamil Nadu · Carnatic music, Rāma bhakti
Tyāgarāja, born at Tiruvārūr into a Telugu family, lived at Tiruvaiyāru on the Kāverī and devoted his life to Rāma and to music. With Muttusvāmī Dīkṣitar and Śyāma Śāstrī he forms the Trinity of Carnatic music. His kṛtis in Telugu — hundreds survive — are the core of every Carnatic concert, and his five Pañcaratna kṛtis are sung together by hundreds of musicians at the Tyāgarāja Ārādhanā, held each year at his samādhi.
For Tyāgarāja, music was nāda-yoga, a path to God.
Tradition says the king of Thanjavur invited him to court with rich gifts. Tyāgarāja declined, singing “Nidhi cāla sukhamā?” — “Is wealth the greater joy, or the presence of Rāma?”
Carnatic Trinity · Pañcaratna kṛtis · Tyāgarāja Ārādhanā