Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

is a

state of India India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, with a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions. History Pre-independ ...

with a long tradition of innovation in the fields of both Carnatic and

Hindustani classical music Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, sita ...

Basaveshwara Basaveshwara, colloquially known as Basavanna, was a 12th-century CE Indian statesman, philosopher, poet, Lingayat social reformer in the Shiva-focussed bhakti movement, and a Hindu Shaivite social reformer during the reign of the Kalyani Chal ...

, King of Kalyana, leader of the

Bhakti movement The Bhakti movement was a significant religious movement in medieval Hinduism that sought to bring religious reforms to all strata of society by adopting the method of devotion to achieve salvation. Originating in Tamilakam during 6th centur ...

and Prime Minister of Bijjala, created his

Vachanas Vachana sahitya is a form of rhythmic writing in Kannada (see also Kannada poetry) that evolved in the 11th century and flourished in the 12th century, as a part of the Sharana movement. Madara Chennaiah, an 11th-century cobbler-saint who lived ...

, an integral part of the

Indian classical music Indian classical music is the classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as '' Hindustani'' and the South Indian expression known as '' Carnatic''. These traditions were not ...

's development during this period, which also saw the rise of composers like Chandraja, Shantala, Akka Mahadevi and Allama. Later, Ventamakhin's ''

Chaturdandi Prakashika The ''Chaturdandiprakashika'' (; "The Illuminator of the Four Pillars of Music") is a Sanskrit treatise written by the musicologist Venkatamakhin in the mid-17th century. It introduced a theoretical melakarta system to classify and organise ragas ...

'' and Chaturkallinatha's '' Sangitaratnakara'' further refined these traditions. With the rise of

Vaishnavism Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...

and the

Haridasa The Haridasa Bhakti Sahitya devotional movement (sampradaya) originated in Karnataka, India, after Madhvacharya, and spread to eastern states such as Bengal and Assam of medieval India. Over a span of nearly six centuries, several saints and ...

movement came prominent composers from Karnataka like Purandaradasa, Kanakadasa,

Vijaya Dasa Vijaya Dasa ( kn, ವಿಜಯದಾಸ) (c. 1682– c. 1755) was a prominent saint from the Haridasa tradition of Karnataka, India in the 18th century, and a scholar of the Dvaita philosophical tradition. Along with contemporary haridasa saint ...

and Jagannathadasa. The Wodeyars of

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

were great patrons of the arts.

Development

In earlier times, Sangeeta Shaastra followed the "Guru-Shishya" tradition, and there did not exist any written text. First classical music began as abhyasa, and it was only later that shaastras were formed. It is estimated that only during the period of Bharatamuni (300 BC) were the theories of sangeeta documented for the first time, and this was termed as "Naatya Shaastra". For a considerable period of time it was one of the only authoritative treatise (PramaaNa Grantha) for the whole of India. After that, independent growth of classical music occurred across different parts of India, in different forms. Around 1200 CE, a scholar by name "Shaarjnadeva" wrote a treatise, which was named as "Sangeeta Ratnakara" - an Indian musical treatise that is considered to be the first documented work on South Indian classical music. He hailed from Devagiri, which was at the time a part of

(but is now Daulatabad, province of

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

). Later, in 1350 CE, South Indian classical music obtained a well-defined structure through the works of Maadhava. Carnatic music saw renewed growth during the Vijayanagar Empire by the Kannada

movement of

Vyasaraja Vyāsatīrtha (. 1460 – 1539), also called ''Vyasaraja'' or ''Chandrikacharya'', was a Hindu philosopher, scholar, polemicist, commentator and poet belonging to the Madhwacharya's Dvaita order of Vedanta. As the patron saint of the Vijay ...

Purandara Dasa Purandara Dasa (IAST: Purandara dāsa) ( 1470 – 1565) was a Haridasa philosopher and a follower of Madhwacharya 's Dwaitha philosophy -saint from present-day Karnataka, India. He was a composer, singer and one of the chief founding-prop ...

, Kanakadasa and others. Among the Haridasa movement,

who is known as the ''Sangeeta Pitamaha'' (the grandfather of Carnatic music), is credited with the founding of the system of teaching Carnatic music. Others of the Haridasa movement, helped shaped the music of their time and prepared for the future by influencing some of the composers who came after them. Thyagaraja acknowledges the influence of Purandaradasa. Tulajaji, the Maharashtra ruler of Tanjore (1729-35 A.D.), writes of the music of Haridasas in his book Sangita Saramrita, and venerates Vyasaraya and Purandaradasa as great composers. Around 1650 AD, Govinda Deekshit, who was a minister in the court of King Achyuta Nayaka of Tanjavore, is believed to have written an introduction to "Sangeeta Sudha". Govinda Dikshita's son was the renowned

Venkatamakhin Venkatamakhin (; ) or Venkatamakhi, was an Indian poet, musician, and musicologist of Carnatic music. He is renowned for his '' Chaturdandiprakashika'' in which he explicates the melakarta system of classifying ragas. Venkatamakhin composed ge ...

, who is credited with the classification of ragas in the Melakarta System, and he wrote his most important work; ''Chaturdandi Prakasika'' (c.1635 CE) in Sanskrit. Kshetrajna who wrote "Shrungaara padas" (which also deals with theory of Sangeeta Shaastra) was also living at this time (1650). The development of Carnatic music in

, from Sharngadeva to

(a duration of 650 years), resulted in further expansion and establishment of Carnatic music.

References

*Satyanarayana, R. "Karnataka Music," Ananya: A Portrait of India. Association of Indians in America, 1997. *Viji Swaminathan, ed. Essays on Indian Classical Music and Dance. Philadelphia: Sruti, 2003. *Kruti Shreni, D.V.G. "Namma Sangita," D.V.G.Kruti Shreni Volume 10. Karnataka: Directorate of Kannada and Culture, 1999. *Thirumale Sisters, Karnataka Sangita Darpana.Bangalore: Sinivasa Prakashana, 2001. {{Portal, India, Music