Rudrapatna is a small village on the banks of the

Kaveri river The Kaveri (also known as Cauvery) is a major river flowing across Southern India. It is the third largest river in the region after Godavari and Krishna. The catchment area of the Kaveri basin is estimated to be and encompasses the states o ...

Arkalgud Arkalgud, also known as Arakalagudu is a panchayat town and is one among the eight taluks of Hassan district in the state of Karnataka, India. It is situated 30 km from Hassan, 181 km from Mangalore and 195 km from Bangalore. The ...

taluk of

Hassan district Hassan is one of the districts of Karnataka, 31 districts of Karnataka, India. The district headquarter is Hassan, Karnataka, Hassan. It was part of ''Manjarabad Faujdari'' between 1832-81 (Mysore Commission, Commissioner's Rule of Mysore). In ...

in the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n State of

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 ...

. The village is known for its rich musical heritage. The village was an abode of Veda, Nada, and Taranga, according to the renowned Carnatic vocalist, R K Padmanabha. Rudrapatna stands apart as it has the honour of having contributed many artistes to

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 ...

Musical history

The village has had a rich musical history. Bhaskar Avadhani, an authority on the History of Rudrapatna calls the place the confluence of ''Veda Brahma'' and ''Nada Brahma''. He recounts that the people of the village migrated from Sengottai in Tirunelveli District of Tamil Nadu. They came in two groups. While one group settled down at Koushika village in Hassan, another came to Bettadapura. People from there started inhabiting on the banks of river Cauvery and one such village formed as Rudrapatna. Sanketis, as they were known, practised Vedas and music. While Dikshitas and Somayajis performed ''Yajna'' and ''Yaga'', others spent most of their time learning ''Shathavadhana'', chanting of

Veda FIle:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png, upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the ''Atharvaveda''. The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of relig ...

and music. It was a place of ''Ghanapathi'', ''Shatvadani'', ''Ashtavadhani'' and musicians. The Channakeshava Temple of this village is more than a thousand years old. Unlike other contemporary musicians, it is claimed that musicians from this village did not aspire for ''Rajashraya''(patronage of royalty). Renowned musician from Rudrapatna R K Padmanabha adds that a mass desertion of the village took place following a plague. He also claims that nearly 60 per cent of the currently performing Carnatic musicians in Karnataka hail from Rudrapatna.

Noted musicians

Several noted musicians such as R.S. Keshavamurthy, R.K. Ramanathan, R.K. Srikantan, R.K.Srinivasamurthy, R.K. Suryanarayana, R.N. Thyagarajan and R.N. Tharanathan (also known as Rudrapatnam Brothers), R.K. Raghavan, R.K. Prakash, R K Prasanna Kumar, R.K. Padmanabha, R.S. Ramakanth, R.N. Sreelatha and Rathnamala Prakash (a renowned light music artist also), R.P. Prashanth and R.P. Pramod (also knows as Rudrapatna Veena Brothers), who have carved a niche for themselves, hail from this village. R.K. Krishna Shastry was another noted vocalist and Harikathe Vidwan, who hailed from Rudrapatna. Venkataramiah, popularly known as Thimmappa, was a renowned

Veena The ''veena'', also spelled ''vina'' ( IAST: vīṇā), is any of various chordophone instruments from the Indian subcontinent. Ancient musical instruments evolved into many variations, such as lutes, zithers and arched harps.

vidwan. He is best known for his Viriboni Varna in

Kedaragowla Kedaragaula (pronounced kēdāragaula) is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is a ''janya'' rāgam (derived scale) from the 28th ''melakarta'' scale ''Harikambhoji'', and is sometimes spelled as Keda ...

raga. Shathavadhani Venkataraya was another popular veena vidwan. Veene Shamanna, Veene Shrikantaiah, Veene Ranganath and R.S. Keshava Murthy, who was a disciple of the legendary Veene Subbanna are all from Rudrapatna. Music critic Mysore V Subrahmanya has noted that the village has produced several musicians and scholars, including Veena Rangashastry, who have occupied the position of court musicians at the Mysore palace. R. K. Shriramkumar is another noted Violin Vidwn. Notable Personalities * R. Shamasastry -

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

scholar and discoverer of the lost manuscript of the

Arthashastra ''Kautilya's Arthashastra'' (, ; ) is an Ancient Indian Sanskrit treatise on statecraft, politics, economic policy and military strategy. The text is likely the work of several authors over centuries, starting as a compilation of ''Arthashas ...

Political Recognition

Padmavati Gangadhergowda is Daughter of RH Javaragowda (Late Rudrapatna Grama Panchayat chairman for 20 years) has been elected as Mayor of Karnataka capital Bangalore. She also been elected as Janata party (ladies) president in the year 2008.

References

{{reflist Villages in Hassan district