Trinity of Carnatic Music
Sadguru Sree Thyagaraja
Thiagaraja swamigal was a great poet, and a great devotee of lord ram. he composed great poems on ram.
NativePlace : Thiruvarur, Tanjore District Period : 1767
Thyagaraja Swamigal is one of the Trinity, who composed thousands of songs on Lord Rama and other dieties. Thyagaraja’s great grand father Sri Giriraja Brahmam, and father Rama Brahmam were great scholars and composers themselves. Mother Sithamma was also a learned musician. Thyagaraja’s guru was Sonthi Venkataramanadas. Being a gifted child and a fast learner, Thyagaraja mastered everything in the first one year itself. Thyagaraja has composed songs in Telugu & Sanskrit languages. He was also an expert in mathematics and astrology. Thagaraja grew to be an ardent devotee of Lord Rama. All his songs, depicting various scenes from Ramayana, are very lively. Thyagaraja’s Nithya chores included Unchavruththi, pooja, namasankeerthanam and dolotsavam. His Utsava sampradaya kruthis are followed by many bhagavathas as part of their daily routines. Thyagaraja took sanyasam towards the end of his life, carried the name Nadabrahmananda. He attained samadhi in 1847 in Thiruvaiyaru.
He was born in the year 1762 into a Tamil Brahmin family of Vishwanath Iyer. He was born in the town of Tiruvarur like his contemporaries. His family was not very much into music. His father was a priest in the temple of Bangaaru Kamakshi. Shyama Shastri’s real name was Venkata Subrahmanya. He did have a beautiful voice but was not trained in music. Soon his family moved to Tanjore.
One day a saint namely Sangita Svam came to their house from Varanasi. He recognised the talent in Syama Sastry and requested his parents to allow him to impart his knowledge of music to Syama Sastry. Syama Sastry soon learnt all that the saint had to teach. After which, Swami asked Syama Sastry to go to a person called Adiyappayya for further learning. Syama Sastry did so and learnt further by only listening to Adiyappaya. This is apparent in one of his compositions – ” Swara jati” – “Kamakshi” in “Bhairavi Raga”.
He was born in the year 1762 into a Tamil Brahmin family of Vishwanath Iyer. He was born in the town of Tiruvarur like his contemporaries. His family was not very much into music. His father was a priest in the temple of Bangaaru Kamakshi. Shyama Shastri’s real name was Venkata Subrahmanya. He did have a beautiful voice but was not trained in music. Soon his family moved to Tanjore.
One day a saint namely Sangita Svam came to their house from Varanasi. He recognised the talent in Syama Sastry and requested his parents to allow him to impart his knowledge of music to Syama Sastry. Syama Sastry soon learnt all that the saint had to teach. After which, Swami asked Syama Sastry to go to a person called Adiyappayya for further learning. Syama Sastry did so and learnt further by only listening to Adiyappaya. This is apparent in one of his compositions – ” Swara jati” – “Kamakshi” in “Bhairavi Raga”.
He was born in the year 1762 into a Tamil Brahmin family of Vishwanath Iyer. He was born in the town of Tiruvarur like his contemporaries. His family was not very much into music. His father was a priest in the temple of Bangaaru Kamakshi. Shyama Shastri’s real name was Venkata Subrahmanya. He did have a beautiful voice but was not trained in music. Soon his family moved to Tanjore.
One day a saint namely Sangita Svam came to their house from Varanasi. He recognised the talent in Syama Sastry and requested his parents to allow him to impart his knowledge of music to Syama Sastry. Syama Sastry soon learnt all that the saint had to teach. After which, Swami asked Syama Sastry to go to a person called Adiyappayya for further learning. Syama Sastry did so and learnt further by only listening to Adiyappaya. This is apparent in one of his compositions – ” Swara jati” – “Kamakshi” in “Bhairavi Raga”.
He was also a gifted composer who composed several slow paced, intricate rhythm patterned compositions which went well with the Veena. Muthuswami Dikshitar started composing songs at the early age of 16. His pen name was “Guruguha”. Which means that, every song he composed had the word “Guruguha” incorporated
Muthuswami Deekshithar
The great composer was born in the town of Tiruvarur, just like Sri Tyagaraja and Shyama shastri. He was one among the Classical Music Trinity. His parents were Ramaswami Dikshitar and Bhageeratamma. His father was a classical singer himself. Muthuswami learnt classical music from his father. He also became an expert in ” Veena” instrument, Sanskrit language, “tantra shastra”, “mantra shastra”, astrology, “alankara shastra”. He studied the ” Vedas” and became a “Agnihotri”. Chidambaranatha Yogi was his mentor and teacher. He stayed with his Guru in Kashi for 5 years to learn ” Mantras”. Here he also learnt Hndustani Classical music. It is believed that when Muthuswami took bath in the Ganges and finished his prayers, a “Veena” came into his hands by itself. Muthuswami Dikshitar also was familiarized with western music during his early childhood. While returning from Kashi, it is believed that Lord Subramanya appeared before him in Tiruttani. All the education that he got so far have laid a strong foundation for all that Muthuswami offered later on. He was a “Vainika-Gayaka” who not only was a great singer but also played on the Veena while he sang.
Shyama Sasthrikal
He was born in the year 1762 into a Tamil Brahmin family of Vishwanath Iyer. He was born in the town of Tiruvarur like his contemporaries. His family was not very much into music. His father was a priest in the temple of Bangaaru Kamakshi. Shyama Shastri’s real name was Venkata Subrahmanya. He did have a beautiful voice but was not trained in music. Soon his family moved to Tanjore.
One day a saint namely Sangita Svam came to their house from Varanasi. He recognised the talent in Syama Sastry and requested his parents to allow him to impart his knowledge of music to Syama Sastry. Syama Sastry soon learnt all that the saint had to teach. After which, Swami asked Syama Sastry to go to a person called Adiyappayya for further learning. Syama Sastry did so and learnt further by only listening to Adiyappaya. This is apparent in one of his compositions – ” Swara jati” – “Kamakshi” in “Bhairavi Raga”.
He was born in the year 1762 into a Tamil Brahmin family of Vishwanath Iyer. He was born in the town of Tiruvarur like his contemporaries. His family was not very much into music. His father was a priest in the temple of Bangaaru Kamakshi. Shyama Shastri’s real name was Venkata Subrahmanya. He did have a beautiful voice but was not trained in music. Soon his family moved to Tanjore.
One day a saint namely Sangita Svam came to their house from Varanasi. He recognised the talent in Syama Sastry and requested his parents to allow him to impart his knowledge of music to Syama Sastry. Syama Sastry soon learnt all that the saint had to teach. After which, Swami asked Syama Sastry to go to a person called Adiyappayya for further learning. Syama Sastry did so and learnt further by only listening to Adiyappaya. This is apparent in one of his compositions – ” Swara jati” – “Kamakshi” in “Bhairavi Raga”.