Life History and Contribution of Composers

Paidala Gurumurthi Sastri

• Paidala Gurumurthi Sastri was an eminent composer of gitas in the post Venkatamakhi period.

• Paidala’s gitas rank next to those of Purandara Dasa in popularity.

• He was referred to as “Veyigitala Paidaala Gurumurti” (one who composed thousand gitas).

• He also was known to have knowledge of 40,000 ragas.

• He had lots of knowledge in the Sastras and was acknowledged as one of the renowned Vaggeyakaras of his times.

• Paidala Gurumurthi Sastri was a Mulkinadu Telugu Brahmin and was born in Kayathar and his house name was paidaala.

• He refers to his house name in 2 of his gitas in the Nata and Arabhi ragas. Most gitas till that time were primarily in praise of dieties. And Sastri is the earliest to attempt composing gitas in praise of an Acharya or guru.

• He composed lakshana gitas to illustrate the features of the form of janaka and janya ragas.

• A few of his Gitams include : Arabhi Ragalakshna (Ragam: Arabhi , Tala: Jhampa) and Bhuvanatraya (raga: Khamboji, Tala: Dhruva).

• He was very proficient in Sanskrit and had rich vocabulary which was something unique to him.

• Venkatasubbaiah was the guru of Paidala Gurumurthy Sastri and Sastri had unbounded love and devotion towards him which is evident from the sahitya of his gita in Nata raga “gaana vidyadurandhara”

Purandara Dasa

• He was born in the year 1486 A.D in a village in Bellary District

• His original name was Srinivasa Naik and his pet name was Seenappa

• His father was a leading buisness man who got his son educated by scholars

• Purandara Dasa became proficient in Sanskrit, Kannada, Music, and Vedic lore.

• He followed his father’s footsteps and enlarged his business as a diamond dealer and he became so rich that he was called “Navakoti Narayana”

• Though he was rich, Purandara Dasa would “hoard” his wealth until a strange incident happened in his life. God had taught him a lesson through his pious and devout wife, saraswati, whereafter he realized the futility of mere wealth and he renounced all earthly pleasures. He distributed all his wealth to the poor. and he went on a pilgrimage from Kanyakumari to Himalayas while singing devotional songs.

• In 1525 AD, the Madhwa renowned religious leader Vyasarya, converted Seenappa into leading a religious life and to become a servant of God in 1525 (A.D). And later, Satyadharma Tirtha, reformed his name as ‘Purandaradas’

• He layed a clear path for a systematic study of classical Carnatic music.

• he was the one who formulated a graded course for learning carnatic music

• he was the one who selected Mayamalaavagoula raga for preliminary exercises such as Saralivarsais, janta, and dhatu. He set alankaras to the well known Sapta Talas