Annamacharya's life and career

Sri Tallapaka Annamacharya (Telugu: శ్రీ తాళ్ళపాక అన్నమాచార్య) (or Annamayya) (May 9, 1408 – February 23, 1503) was the official songmaster of the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple and a Telugu composer who composed around 36000 keertana songs, many of which were in praise of Venkateswara, the presiding deity of the temple. The musical form of the keertana songs that he composed have strongly influenced the structure of Carnatic music compositions, which are still popular among Carnatic music concert artists. Sri Annamacharya is remembered for his saintly life, and is honoured as a great Bhakta/devotee of Bhagwaan Govinda by devotees and saintly singers.

He is widely regarded as the Pada-kavita Pitaamaha (grand old man of song-writing) of the Telugu language.

Personal life

Annamacharya was born on Vaisakha Suddha Pournami in the year Sarwadhari (May 9, 1408) in Tallapaka, a village in current day Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh, India His wife, Thimmakka had written Subhadra Kalyanam, and is considered the first female poet in Telugu literature. Their son, Pedda Tirumalacharya, and grandson, Tallapaka Chinnayya, were also composers and poets. The Tallapaka compositions are considered to have dominated and influenced the structure of Carnatic music compositions. Annamacharya lived for 94 years until Phalguna Bahula Dwadasi (12th day after full moon) in the year Dhundhubhi (February 23, 1503).

Literary career

Annamacharya is said to have composed as many as 36,000 sankeertanas (songs) on Bhagwaan Govinda Venkateswara, of which only about 12,000 are available today.

Annamacharya considered his compositions as floral offerings to Bhagwaan Govinda. In the poems, he praises Venkateswara, describes his love for him, argues and quarrels with the Lord, confesses the devotee's failures and apprehensions, and surrenders himself to Venkateshwara. His songs are classified into the Adhyaatma (spiritual) and Sringaara (romantic) sankeertanas genres. His songs in the "Sringaara" genre worship Bhagwaan Venkateswara by describing his amorous and romantic adventures of Venkateswara and Alamel Manga, while others describe the Bhakti of his devotees.

In his later keertanas, he espouses subjects such as morality, dharma and righteousness. He was one of the first few who opposed the social stigma towards the untouchable castes in his era, with his sankeertanas explaining that the relationship between God and human is the same irrespective of the latters' color, caste and financial status, in beautiful yet powerful usage of words in his songs "Brahmam Okkate Parabrahmam Okkate..." and "E Kulajudainanemi Evvadainanemi..."

His choice of words gives a mellifluous tone to his songs, charming the listener. His prodigious literary career earned him a place among the all-time greats of Telugu literature

According to legend, Annamacharya met up with Purandara Dasa and both of them composed music and lyrics. They met when Annamacharya had invited Purandara Dasa to join him in singing praise.

While enjoying popularity in his own days, his compositions were forgotten for over three centuries for some inexplicable reason. They were later found engraved on copper plates, hidden for centuries inside the Sri Venkateswara temple at Tirumala, just opposite the Hundi, concealed in a very small room.

Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, also known as TTD, has been endeavouring to preserve the rich heritage of his compositions. In the year 1950, The State Government of Andra Pradesh created a committee and appointed Dr M Balamuralikrishna as its head. Dr M Balamuralikrishna set music to over 800 compositions of Sri Annamyya and are still popular among the devotees. He has been the Asthana Gayaka of the Tirumala temple at Tirupati since two decades. He is regarded as a legend in rendering devotional music in classical style, especially the Annamacharya sankirtanas. He is also an acclaimed poet, singer, and a musicologist.

Movie

A film on the poet, Annamayya, was released in 1997, and starred Akkineni Nagarjuna in the lead role as poet Annamacharya. The film was directed by K. Raghavendra Rao, and featured Annamayya keertanas as songs in the movie. The movie was a major box office hit and won many awards including Best Actor and Best Film from the A. P State Government.

World record

In the programme, LakshaGala Sankirthanarchana, some 160,000 people sang seven Annamayya keertanas called Sapthagiri Sankeerthanalu in Hyderabad, creating a new Guinness record on May 10, 2009.