Bidaram Krishnappa (1866–1931) was a musician and composer of Carnatic Indian music in the court of King Chamaraja Wodeyar IX (1862–1894) and King

Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV (4 June 1884 – 3 August 1940) was the twenty-fourth Maharaja of Mysore, reigning from 1902 until his death in 1940. Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV is popularly deemed a '' rajarshi'', or 'saintly king', a moniker with which Mah ...

(1884–1940) of the

Kingdom of Mysore The Kingdom of Mysore was a geopolitical realm in southern India founded in around 1399 in the vicinity of the modern-day city of Mysore and prevailed until 1950. The territorial boundaries and the form of government transmuted substantially ...

. Bidaram Krishnappa was a

Konkani __NOTOC__ Konkani may refer to: Language * Konkani language is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Konkan region of India. * Konkani alphabets, different scripts used to write the language **Konkani in the Roman script, one of the scripts used to ...

-speaking

Gowda Saraswath Brahmin Gaud Saraswat Brahmins (GSB) (also Goud or Gawd), also known as Shenvis are a Hindu community of contested caste status and identity. They primarily speak Konkani and its various dialects as their mother tongue. They claim to be Saraswat Brah ...

and a native of Nandalike in modern

Udupi district Udupi district (also Udipi () in Kannada or Odipu () in Tulu language) is an administrative subdivision in the Karnataka state of India, with the district headquarters in the city of Udupi. It is situated in the Canara old north Malabar c ...

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

. His parents were Sri. Vishwanathayya Kini and Smt. Saraswathi Bai. When he was a boy he had a chance encounter with a rich businessman who loved music. This happened when hungry Krishnappa, who came from a poor family, was singing a devotional song (''devaranama'') in a local temple. Impressed with his voice, the merchant sponsored Krishnappa to train under the guidance of a musician called Ramaswamy. He later came under the influence of Tammayya and Veena Sheshanna. Bidaram Krishnappa is credited with having popularised the singing of Kannada ''devaranama'' on stage. He adapted certain concepts of

Hindustani music Hindustani classical music is the Indian classical music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent's northern regions. It may also be called North Indian classical music or ''Uttar Bhartiya shastriya sangeet''. The term ''shastriya sangeet'' ...

into his Carnatic compositions. For his scholarship in music, he earned the titles "Shudda Swaracharya", "Pallavi Krishnappa" and "Gana Visharada". One of his disciples, T. Chowdiah, went on to become a music legend. Vidwan Harmonium S Bheem Rao was also his disciple who was famous for playing Carnatic music both on

Harmonium The pump organ or reed organ is a type of organ that uses free reeds to generate sound, with air passing over vibrating thin metal strips mounted in a frame. Types include the pressure-based harmonium, the suction reed organ (which employs a va ...

and

Violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

. Vidwan B Raghuram is son of Vidwan S Bheem Rao. Krishnappa was most famous for writing and rendering ''devaranama'' and ''

kirtan Sikh ''kirta''n with Indian harmoniums and '' Kenya.html" ;"title="tabla'' drums (a common and popular pairing), in Kenya">tabla'' drums (a common and popular pairing), in Kenya (1960s) ''Kirtana'' (; ), also rendered as ''Kiirtan'', ''Kirt ...

s''.

Well-known disciples

* Tirumakudalu Chowdiah * R. R. Keshavamurthy * Rallapalli Anantha Krishna Sharma

Places in honour

A road is named after Bidaram Krishnappa, named as Bidaram Krishnappa Street in Subbarayanakere area of Devaraja Mohalla in

Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

. There is a Temple i.e., Sri Prasanna Sitarama Mandira established by Bidaram Krishnappa himself. In this Temple, Cultural programs will be conducted during

Rama Navami Rama Navami () is a Hindu festival that celebrates the birth of Rama, one of the most popularly revered deities in Hinduism, also known as the seventh avatar of Vishnu. He is often held as an emblem within Hinduism for being an ideal king and h ...

festival.Ganavisharada Bidaram Krishnappa’s Sree Prasanna Seetharama Mandira, Narayana Shastri Road https://starofmysore.com/ganavisharada-bidaram-krishnappas-sree-prasanna-seetharama-mandira-narayana-shastri-road-10/

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Krishnappa, Bidaram 1866 births 1931 deaths Indian male classical musicians 20th-century Indian male classical singers People from Udupi district 19th-century Indian male classical singers Musicians from Karnataka Carnatic instrumentalists Musicians from British India