The life of Swathi Thirunal was an offering in music to God. A rare renaissance personality, Swathi Thirunal was a king among musicians and musician among kings. His musical compositions and his life were a mutual translation of his devotion to LordPadmanabha, the presiding deity of the Travancore Royal House....
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Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma
was a progressive ruler who lived ahead of his times and was committed to the welfare of the people. Being an able administrator his far sighted reforms were responsible for introducing modern medicine, English education and a humane judicial system in Kerala....

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Composers and Musicians


Shyama Shastri ( 1762-1827)


ShyamaShastri Ragalist
Shyama Shasri was born in a family of priest in Thiruvaroor in the Thanjavoor district of Tamil Nadu which is known as the birth place of Thyagaraja and Deekshithar. He was called Shyamakrishnan by his parents. He belonged to the family of traditional priests in the Kanchhepuram Bangaru Kamakshi temple. His father discouraged Shyama from getting more and more inclined to music.He later became the disciple of a great musician named Sangeethaswamy
Guru gave many rare musical manuscripts. Shyama then became the shishya of Aadiappayya who is known for his Viriboni varnam. He shared a wonderful relationship with his teacher. After the death of his father, Shyama became the priest of the Bangaru Kamakshi temple. He became a scholar in Sanskrit, Tamil and Telugu. Shyama has written nearly 300 kritis. His navaratnamailika praising Madurai Meenakshi is well known. He was a good friend of Thygaraja. He was an expert in using useing difficult thalas or time cycles. He has composed many compositions in the Aananda Bhairavi Raga. The stamp of his compositions is total devotion to the mother goddess. He is believed to have influenced both Thygaraja and Deekshithr and initiated them into Devi upasana.He has composed songs in Sanskrit,Telugu and Tamil totaling around 300.But only very few are in vogue today. He had only very few disciples . They include Alasur Krishna Iyer,Nadaswaram dasari and Sangetha Swami.Shyama Shastri, Thyagaraja and Deekshitar are known as the trinity of Carnatic music and musicians and music lovers worship them as saints.Thyagaraja’s compositions carries deep insights into Indian philosophy, Shyama Shastri’s poetry was the out pouring of a devout worshipper of Devi and Deekshitar composed songs on great temples gods. Together they created a priceless repertoire for Carnatic musical tradition.

 




 
 
 
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