Arunachala Kavi ( ta, அருணாசல கவி) (1711–1779) was a

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

poet and a composer of

Carnatic music Carnatic music, known as or in the Dravidian languages, South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, an ...

. He was born in Tillaiyadi in

Thanjavur District Thanjavur District is one of the Districts of Tamil Nadu, 38 districts of the States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu, in southeastern India. Its headquarters is Thanjavur. The district is located in the delta of the Cauvery River ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

. The three Tamil composers Arunachala Kavi,

Muthu Thandavar Muthu Thandavar (1525 – 1600 CE) (Tamil:முத்துத்தாண்டவர்)was composer of Carnatic music. He was an early architect of the present day Carnatic '' kriti'' (song) format, which consists of the ''pallavi'' (refra ...

and

Marimutthu Pillai Marimutha Pillai (1712 – 1787 CE) was a composer of Carnatic music and, along with Arunachala Kavi and Muthu Thandavar, was one of the pioneering Tamil Trinity The Tamil Trinity (also known as the Tamil Moovar) commonly refers to the th ...

are considered the

Tamil Trinity The Tamil Trinity (also known as the Tamil Moovar) commonly refers to the three Tamil composers of early Carnatic music. They were Muthu Thandavar (?1560 - ?1640 CE), Arunachala Kavi (1712–1779) and Marimutthu Pillai Marimutha Pillai (1712 ...

,Tamil Music
Carnatica.net who contributed to the evolution of Carnatic music.

Life

His father died when he was 12, and during that time he went to

Dharmapuram Mutt Dharmapuram is a village near Srikakulam town in Ponduru Mandal Division in Andhra Pradesh, India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seve ...

to continue his studies in Sanskrit and Tamil. The head of Mutt was so pleased with him he even considered making Arunchala his successor. At 18, he left Mutt and continued his studies in Tamil for another 12 years. He got married at the age of 30 in a place called Karuppur and earned his livelihood by setting up a jeweller's shop. He wanted to buy gold at a cheaper rate, therefore he travelled to Pondicherry. On his way, he stopped at Seerkazhi, and found a branch of Dharmapuram Mutt. The head was his old colleague, Chidambaram. Chidamabaram convinced him to do a Prabandham, then convinced him and his family to settle in Seerkaazhi. Therefore, he got the name Seerkaazhi AruNaachala Kavi. He then wanted to do an arangetram in a temple, but the temple priests denied him permission unless the Lord himself gave it. So during the night, Lord Ranganaatha appeared and let him do it. Thus came it about that AruNaachala Kaviraayar's Raama Naatakam, composed in a series of lyrics, drew wide attention. The lyrics set in Carnaatic raagaas have become immensely popular. AruNaachala Kaviraayar died in 1779 68. (info from arichana theory notes)

Compositions

Arunachala Kavi was fluent in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

and

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

. He wrote ''Rama Natakam'', a musical drama based on the

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...

. The music for this musical was composed by two of Arunachala Kavi's disciples, Kothandarama Iyer and Venkatarama Iyer. The songs contain many Tamil proverbs and sayings. This musical drama was first performed at the

Srirangam Srirangam, is a neighbourhood in the city of Tiruchirappalli in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. A river island, Srirangam is bounded by the Kaveri River on one side and its distributary Kollidam on the other side. Considered as the first amon ...

temple and within a short time it became very popular. Kavirayar was honoured by Maharaja Tulaja, the King of Tanjavur, and by several other patrons of that time. He also composed ''Seergazhi Sthala Puranam'' (

Sirkali Sirkazhi () also spelled as ''Siyali'' is a major municipal town in Mayiladuthurai district in Tamil Nadu, India. It is located from the coast of the Bay of Bengal, and from the state capital Chennai. Sirkazhi was a part of Thanjavur distric ...

), ''Seergazhi Kovai'', ''Hanumar Pillai Tamil'', ''Ajomukhi Natakam'' and a few Keertanas. Some of his famous compositions still popular today are '' Enpalli kondir iyya'', ''Yaro ivar yaro'' (''

Bhairavi Bhairavi ( sa, भैरवी) is a Hindu goddess, described as one of the Mahāvidyas, the ten avatars of the mother goddess. She is the consort of Bhairava. Etymology The name ''Bhairavi'' means "terror" or "awe-inspiring". She is the ...

''), ''Kanden Kanden Sitayai'' ('' Vasantha''), ''Ramanai Kannara Kandane'' (''

Mohanam Mohanam is a rāga in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is an ''audava'' rāga (or ''owdava'' rāga, meaning pentatonic scale). It is usually described as a '' janya'' rāga of Harikamboji (28th Melakartha Raga) ...

'').

References

* M. V. Ramana
Pre-trinity composers of Tamil Nadu
Carnatica.net *Lena Tamilvanan (ed.), (in Tamil) ''Thamizh Mummanikalin kiirththanaikal'', Manimekalai Publications, Chennai 600 017, 1987 (லேனா தமிழ்வானன் (பதிபாசிரியர்), ''தமிழ் மும்மணிகளின் கீர்த்தனைகள்'', மணிமேகலைப் பிரசுரம், சென்னை 600 017, முதற்பதிப்பு 1987). 1711 births 1779 deaths Carnatic composers People from Thanjavur district 18th-century classical composers 18th-century male musicians {{Carnatic-music-stub

Life

Compositions

See also

References