Kshetrayya ( Telugu:క్షేత్రయ్య) (–1680) was a prolific Telugu poet. He lived in the area of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territ ...

. He composed a number of ''padams'' and ''keertanas'', the prevalent formats of his time. He is credited with more than 4000 compositions, although only a handful have survived. He composed his songs on his favourite deity

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...

(Gopala) in Telugu. He was born to Telugu Brahmin family in a village called Movva (or Muvva), Krishna district in Andhra Pradesh. His parents named him Varadayya. Because of his habit of traveling from one place to another singing his songs at temples, he came to be called ''Kshetragna'' or ''Kshetrayya'' (one who travels). He perfected the ''padam'' format that is still used today. His ''padams'' are sung in dance (

Bharatanatyam Bharatanatyam () is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the eight widely recognized Indian classical dance forms, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of ...

and Kuchipudi) and music recitals. A unique feature of his padams is the practice of singing the '' anupallavi'' first then the ''

pallavi A pallavi has multiple connotations in carnatic music. It is the first part of any formal composition (Krithi) which has three segments - Pallavi, Anupallavi and Charanam (which can be one or more). Pallavi is usually also an abbreviation of R ...

'' (second verse followed by first verse). Most of the padams are of the theme of longing for the coming of the Lord

. He wrote with

Sringara Sringara ( sa, शृङ्गार, ) is one of the nine rasas, usually translated as erotic love, romantic love, or as attraction or beauty. ''Rasa'' means "flavour", and the theory of rasa is the primary concept behind classical Indian arts inc ...

as a main theme in expressing ''madhurabhakti'' (devotion to the supreme). Sringara is a motif where the mundane sexual relationship between a Nayaki (woman) and a Nayaka (man) is used as a metaphor, denoting the yearning of jeeva (usually depicted as the Nayaki) to unite with the divine (usually depicted as the man). In most of his compositions, Kshetrayya has used the '' mudra'' (signature) "Muvva Gopala" as a reference to himself, which is also a name for the Lord

in Kshetrayya's village Muvva in Krishna District of Andhra Pradesh State, now called as Movva. Kshetrayya's work has played a major role in influencing poetry, dance, music of the South Indian tradition. Kshetrayya was intimately connected with the devadasi women of the temples of south India, who were the subject of many of his compositions. The devadasis traditionally possessed the musical/poetic interpretations of his work for a long period till the devadasi system was abolished and the compositions became more accepted in the musical community as valuable works of art. The musical community owes a lot to

Veena Dhanammal Veenai Dhanammal ( ta, வீணை தனம்மாள்) (1867–1938) was a highly accomplished Carnatic musician, and the torchbearer of the school of Carnatic music that goes by her name. She was both a vocalist and a performer on the S ...

and T. Brinda, who popularized Kshetrayya's songs with their beautiful musical interpretation. Kshetrayya's padams now form an integral part of the dance and musical traditions of South India, where his songs are rendered purely as musical works or as accompaniments to dance.

Telugu film

'' Mahakavi Kshetrayya'' is a 1976 Telugu film produced by Anjali Pictures and starring

Akkineni Nageswara Rao Akkineni Nageswara Rao (20 September 1923 – 22 January 2014), widely known as ANR, was an Indian actor and producer, known for his works majorly in Telugu cinema. He starred in many landmark films in his seventy five-year career, and became on ...

and Anjali Devi. The film's soundtrack was sung by V. Ramakrishna and composed by P. Adinarayana Rao.

Biographic novel

The life of Kshetragna is depicted in the novel ''Bliss Of Life'' by M. V. Rama Sarma, professor of English and former vice chancellor, S.V. University, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India. It is translated into Telugu with the title ''Kshetrayya''.

References

* Prof. M. V. Rama Sarma
Kṣetrayya, the poet-musician
retrieved as on 26 July 2015 {{authority control Performers of Hindu music Year of birth uncertain 1680 deaths Carnatic composers Telugu poets 17th-century Indian musicians Bharatanatyam 17th-century Indian poets Kuchipudi Telugu-language writers Musicians from Andhra Pradesh 17th-century Indian composers Indian male poets Indian male classical musicians Indian male composers Poets from Andhra Pradesh 17th-century male musicians