Tallapaka Annamacharya () (09 May 1408 – 23 February 1503), also popularly known as Annamayya, was a
Telugu musician, composer, and a
Hindu
Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
saint. He is the earliest known Indian musician to compose songs called ''
samkirtanas.'' His devotional samkirtanas were in the praise of
Venkateswara
Venkateswara (, ), also known as Venkatachalapati, Venkata, Balaji and Srinivasa, is a Hindu deity, described as a form or avatar of the god Vishnu. He is the presiding deity of Venkateswara Temple, Tirumala, Venkateswara Temple, Tirupati. Hi ...
, a form of
Vishnu
Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...
. Annamayya is said to have composed as many as 32,000 samkirtanas (songs) in the praise of Venkateswara of which only about 12,000 are available today. He wrote the highest number of Kirtanas of all time in the praise of Lord Vishnu
The
musical form
In music, ''form'' refers to the structure of a musical composition or musical improvisation, performance. In his book, ''Worlds of Music'', Jeff Todd Titon suggests that a number of organizational elements may determine the formal structure of a ...
of the
kirtana songs that he composed, which are still popular among
Carnatic music
Carnatic music (known as or in the Dravidian languages) is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and southern Odisha.
It is o ...
concert artists, have strongly influenced the structure of Carnatic music compositions.
[ Jackson (1999), p. 216.] His compositions are classified as Adhyatma (spiritual) and Sringara (romantic). Annamacharya is remembered for his saintly life, as one of the greatest musicians and is honoured as a great devotee of Vishnu by devotees and saintly singers.
[ Jackson (1999), p. 265.] He was one of the first few who opposed the social stigma towards the
untouchable castes in his era.
He is believed to have been the
avatar
Avatar (, ; ) is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means . It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearance" is sometimes u ...
of
Nandaka, the sword of
Vishnu
Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...
. He is widely regarded as the "Andhra Pada kavitā Pitāmaha" (Grandfather of Telugu song-writing).
Personal life
Tallapaka Annamacharya was born on Vaishakha Shuddha Pournami in the year Sarwadhari (22 May 1408) in
Tallapaka, Near
Rajampet Mandalam, a village in present-day
Annamayya district of
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...
, India. Even though his parents belonged to the
Nandavarika Niyogi Brahmin community of
Smarta tradition
The ''Smarta'' tradition (, ) is a movement in Hinduism that developed and expanded with the Puranas genre of literature. It reflects a synthesis of four philosophical strands, namely Uttara Mīmāṃsā, Advaita, Yoga, and theism. The Smar ...
, he was given
samashrayana initiation by Ghana-Vishnu and became a
Vaishnava
Vaishnavism () ), also called Vishnuism, is one of the major Hindu traditions, that considers Vishnu as the sole supreme being leading all other Hindu deities, that is, '' Mahavishnu''. It is one of the major Hindu denominations along wit ...
of the
Ramanuja
Ramanuja ('; Middle Tamil: Rāmāṉujam; Classical Sanskrit: Rāmānuja; 1077 – 1157), also known as Ramanujacharya, was an Indian Hindu philosopher, guru and social reformer. He is one of the most important exponents of the Sri Vaishnavi ...
Sri Vaishnava Sampradaya. He decided to go to
Ahobilam in order to receive instructions from Satakopa Swami, the founder of
Ahobila Matha. He spent many years in Ahobilam where he acquired the knowledge of
Naalayira Divya Prabandham
The Naalayira Divya Prabandham () is a collection of 4,000 Tamil verses composed by the 12 Alvars. It was compiled in its present form by Nāthamuni during the 9th–10th centuries. The work, an important liturgical compilation of the Tamil ...
and the philosophy of
Visistadvaita. His wife,
Timmakka, 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
Carnatic music (known as or in the Dravidian languages) is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and southern Odisha.
It is o ...
compositions.
Annamacharya lived for 95 years until Phalguna Bahula (Krishna) Dvadashi (12th day after full moon) in the year Dhundhubhi (4 April 1503).
Literary career

Annamayya is said to have composed as many as 32,000
samkirtanas (songs) on the praise of Venkateswara of which only about 12,000 are available today. He is also the author of musical treatise called ''"Samkirthana lakshanamu"''.
Annamayya considered his compositions as floral offerings to Venkateswara. In the poems, he praises the deity, describes his love for him, argues and quarrels with the deity, confesses the devotee's failures and apprehensions, and surrenders himself to Venkateswara. His songs are classified into the Adhyatma (spiritual) and Shringara (romantic) ''samkirtanas'' genres. His songs in the "Sringara" genre worship Venkateswara by describing the romantic adventures of
Venkateswara
Venkateswara (, ), also known as Venkatachalapati, Venkata, Balaji and Srinivasa, is a Hindu deity, described as a form or avatar of the god Vishnu. He is the presiding deity of Venkateswara Temple, Tirumala, Venkateswara Temple, Tirupati. Hi ...
and his consort
Alamelu, while others describe the ''
bhakti
''Bhakti'' (; Pali: ''bhatti'') is a term common in Indian religions which means attachment, fondness for, devotion to, trust, homage, worship, piety, faith, or love.See Monier-Williams, ''Sanskrit Dictionary'', 1899. In Indian religions, it ...
'' of his devotees.
In his later keertanas, he espouses subjects such as
morality
Morality () is the categorization of intentions, Decision-making, decisions and Social actions, actions into those that are ''proper'', or ''right'', and those that are ''improper'', or ''wrong''. Morality can be a body of standards or principle ...
,
dharma
Dharma (; , ) is a key concept in various Indian religions. The term ''dharma'' does not have a single, clear Untranslatability, translation and conveys a multifaceted idea. Etymologically, it comes from the Sanskrit ''dhr-'', meaning ''to hold ...
and
righteousness
Righteousness is the quality or state of "being morally right or justifiable" rooted in religious or divine law with a broader spectrum of moral correctness, justice, and virtuous living as dictated by a higher authority or set of spiritual beli ...
. He was one of the first few who opposed the social stigma towards the
untouchable castes in his era, with his samkirtanas explaining that the relationship between God and humans is the same irrespective of the latter's colour, caste and financial status, in his songs "''Brahmaṃ Okkatē Paraḥbrahmamokkatē''" and "''ē kulajuḍainanēmi evvaḍainanēmi''". His prodigious literary career earned him a place among the all-time greats of
Telugu literature
Telugu literature includes poetry, short stories, novels, plays, and other works composed in Telugu. There is some indication that Telugu literature dates at least to the middle of the first millennium. The earliest extant works are from the ...
.
Legacy

While he enjoyed popularity in his days, his compositions were forgotten for over three centuries. Mentioned in 1849, they were later found engraved on copper plates, hidden for centuries inside the
Venkateswara temple
The Venkateswara Temple of Tirumala or Sri Venkateswara Swami Temple is a Hindu temple situated in the hills of Tirumala, Tirupati Urban mandal, Tirupati Urban Mandal in the Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh, India. The temple is dedicated t ...
at
Tirumala, just opposite the Hundi, concealed in a very small room. An English translation of 150 of these verses was published in 2005.
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 Andhra Pradesh created a committee and appointed the musician late
Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna as its head. He set music to over 800 compositions of Annamacharya. He was the ''Āsthāna Gāyaka'' of the Tirumala temple at Tirupati for two decades. He is regarded as a legend for rendering devotional music in classical style, especially the Annamacharya Sankirtanas. He was also an acclaimed poet, singer, and musicologist. In 1979, the singer Smt.
M. S. Subbulakshmi's album Balaji Pancharatna Mala came up with Annamacharya keerthanas like Vande Vasudevam, Bhavamulona, Sriman Narayana and many more.
Shobha Raju is the first recipient of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams scholarship in 1976 to study and set a trend for the propagation of Annamacharya's compositions, and was also chosen as the first exclusive artiste for the propagation of Tallapaka's compositions in 1978. Her first audio album, "''Vēnkatēśvara Gīta Mālika''" is globally popular among the Telugu community. She is the founder of Annamacharya Bhavana Vahini (ABV) in 1983, which is located in Hyderabad, India. She has been awarded
Padmashri by the Government of India, in 2010 in recognition of her efforts to promote Annamayya Compositions.
Garimella Balakrishna Prasad, a Carnatic music exponent and the Asthana Vidwan of
Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams has set tune to more than six hundred songs written by Annamacharya, gave audio recordings for TTD, published books with musical notations and conducted classes, teaching the songs to make them more popular.
In 1994, reputed Bharathanatyam artist Parvathi Ravi Ghantasala, also the daughter-in-law of the singer Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao, for the first time produced and presented a mammoth dance production as a tribute to the divine composer titled "Annamaiyah". Rare and popular songs were woven into a story format and music by stalwarts was set to action. This production was inaugurated by the former President of India
R. Venkatraman and Bharat Ratna-winning singer
M. S. Subbulakshmi and later that year for the Tirumala Brahmotsavam. In 2009, a DVD of the production was launched which included several places visited by the saint himself.
A
Telugu film named ''
Annamayya'' was made on him by
K. Raghavendra Rao in 1997. It starred
Nagarjuna
Nāgārjuna (Sanskrit: नागार्जुन, ''Nāgārjuna''; ) was an Indian monk and Mahayana, Mahāyāna Buddhist Philosophy, philosopher of the Madhyamaka (Centrism, Middle Way) school. He is widely considered one of the most importa ...
in the lead role as Annamacharya and also featured
Suman as Venkateswara and
Bhanupriya
Bhanupriya (born Manga Bhanu; 15 January 1967) is an Indian actress and dancer. In a four decade old career, she has appeared in 155 feature films, predominantly in Telugu cinema, Telugu and Tamil cinema, Tamil, and a few in Malayalam cinema, M ...
as Goddess Padmavati in important roles.
In 2017, one of Annamayya's compositions, Brahmam Okate, became a YouTube sensation. As of early 2019, this video alone (produced by
Kuldeep M. Pai) has garnered over 11 million views and made the child singers Sooryagayathri and Rahul Vellal household names for their flawless rendering of the classic keerthana. Professional singers
P. Unnikrishnan and
Sreeranjini Kodampally have their performances of the composition on YouTube.
Famous compositions
This is a partial list of some of the most famous Tallapaka Annamacharya compositions.
* Note – (చ=Ca; ఛ=Cha; శ=Śa; ష=Ṣ. For more see
Romanization of Telugu)
అన్నమయ్య పాటలు (All Annamayya songs lyrics in Telugu Script)
See also
*
List of Carnatic composers
*
Annamacharya sankeertana
*
List of composers who created ragas
References
Further reading
* Jackson, William. 'Religious and Devotional Music: Southern Area' (1999). In
External links
Sri Annamacharya Project of North AmericaSri Venkateswara Annamacharya Society of America
{{DEFAULTSORT:Annamayya
Carnatic composers
Hindu poets
Telugu poets
History of Andhra Pradesh
Tirumala Venkateswara Temple
Bhakti movement
1408 births
1503 deaths
People from Rayalaseema
People from Kadapa district
15th-century Indian poets
15th-century Indian musicians
Indian male classical musicians
Indian male composers
Musicians from Andhra Pradesh
Poets from Andhra Pradesh
Indian male poets
Kirtan performers