Veena Kuppayyar

1798-1860

Birth and Origin /Introduction

Telugu Brahmin born into a musical family in Tiruvottiyur near Chennai
Also known as Tiruvottiyur Kuppayyar.
Kuppayyar was:
- a famous composee
- a talented vainika (veena player),
- His excellent veena skills (or proficiency in veena) gave him his popular name 'Veena Kuppayyar'
He was the disciple of Shri Thyagaraja.

Early Life

received his initial training from his father Sambamurthy Sastry
- His father was a famous vocalist and a veena player.
became a versatile vidwan (scholar) in both vocal and veena.

People would, 'Sambadu (Sambamurthi) should sing and Sambadu (Lord Siva) should listen' - Sambadu Vayinchavale, Sambadu Vinavale.

he became a disciple of Thyagaraja
- learnt the art of music and composing.

Contributions

A scholar in Sanskrit, Telugu
Kuppayyar was a genius in composing bhajan, Divyanama kirtanas, varnas, Kritis and Tillanas
He learnt violin
- a new instrument in Carnatic music at the time.
composed his songs in Telugu Language.
He composed a variety of Kritis ranging from simple to sophisticated.
- His Tana varnas are shining examples for varnas which beautifully bring out the sketch and essence of the raga.
Kuppayyar later moved to Chennai and sought the patronage of the local ruler Kovur Sundara Mudaliar.
He has written many compositions including the famous Sami Ninne (Shankarabharanam).
Since he was very proficient in Narayana Goula raga he was called “Narayangoula Kuppayyar” and he was also referred to as “Paata Kuppayyar” for being a vocalist too.
Veena kuppayyer was honored with the title of Gana Chakravarti.

Mudra

His creative abilities were remarkable and being deeply devoted to his family deity, he adopted 'Gopaladasa' (meaning the servant of Krishna) as his signature.

Significant Events / Events /events in his life

One day, he was playing on the veena of his guru surreptitiously (secretively) in his absence. When Tyagaraja entered, he was surprised to hear captivating music and brilliant play on veena with remarkable felicity (intense happiness) and competent (efficient)fingering technique. When he found that the player was none other than his own disciple, he was astonished with his disciple’s brilliant performance and pleased him by going over to his house at Tiruvottiyur and singing 'Venugopala loluni' (Kedaragoula) in praise of the family deity of Kuppayyar.

and also, by staying at the Madras house of Kovur Sundara Mudaliar [where Kuppayyar enjoyed the status of Asthana vidwan] for seven days and made a magnificent display of the potential and intricacies of Devagandhari raga.

Later life

Kuppayyar later shifted to Muthialpet in Madras. Kovur Sundara Mudaliar (local ruler) was his primary patron and enjoyed the status of “Asthana Vidwan” there.

His fame and popularity were such that eminent musicians like Vadivelu of Thanjavur used to visit him frequently and take part in festivals and bhajans conducted by him regularly.

Disciples

Like Maha Vaidyanatha Ayyar, Kuppayyar trained a lot of disciples in his gurukula at his house (free accommodation, food, dress, education and training - all included),

His son Tiruvottiyur Tyagayyar

Kothavasal Venkataramana Ayyar

Sitaramayya

Fiddle Ponnuswami Pillai

were among his disciples, who carried forward the legacy of Thyagaraja, helping to spread his Kritis.

Popular Compositions

• Varnams

Karunimpa (Sahana)

Intachala (Begada) in Adi

• Kriti

Vinayaka (Hamsadhwani) in Adi

Koni yaadina naa pai (Kambhoji) in Adi