Annamayya's Life and Works

        It was way back in fifteenth century. In a remote village by name Taallapaaka, in the Rajampet  taluk of  Kadapa district (now in Andhra Pradesh), there lived a middle class Telugu brahmin family that made a living on agriculture. Their sixteen year old son who since childhood had an inborn devotion, adoration and longing for Lord Vishnu, and His other manifestations, was in due course  frustrated with the repetitive daily chores, including those of field works, or, cutting and procuring grass etc. It so happened that, while on an errand of acquiring fodder, he noticed a group of devotees, singing loudly the Lord’s names, and going in a procession on pilgrimage to Tirumala. Instinctively, without informing his family or anyone, he joined them and walked all the way to the Abode of Seven Hills. At that time, the only way to reach the Temple on the Hill, was by walking up the steps all the way. The young lad, after the long and arduous journey, felt thoroughly tired and exhausted midway up the hill, and fell asleep. It is said that in his dream, the Deity Alamelu Manga appeared to him with motherly love, and administered to him food and water to quench his hunger and thirst. Suddenly, on waking up in excitement, he fell into a trance as it were, and, effortlessly and extempore, a hundred poems gushed out of him (in Telugu). That constituted his first satakam, the Venkateswara satakam. Since then,  poetry and music were perpetually emanating from him. On reaching the hill top, and after ablutions in the Pushkarini Lake, he straight walked, with song on his lips, to the sanctum of his Lord. He is said to have experienced the Divine Revelation.  He made the Temple his abode, and was ever composing and singing.  The young devotee became the cynosure of one and all, who loved his sweet voice and his musical compositions. The strength and power of his devotion once came to light when one day he, after bath in the Pushkarini, came late  to the temple, by which time the doors of the Sanctum Sanctorum were closed. The frustrated devotee implored and sang ecstatically, when the doors opened on their own, to the utter wonder of the onlookers, and let him in !

        Little did the world know that that boy who unnoticed walked away all the way from the remote village of Taallapaaka to Tirumala, would later turn out to be a legendary Vaaggeyakaara, and would eventually compose in his lifetime a staggering 32,000 sankeertans, apart from innumerable other works. That lad was none other than the budding Annamacharya, popularly referred to as  Annamayya.

        Annamayya was born on Vaisakhi Suddha Poornima in 1424 A.D, in Taallapaaka. His Telugu brahmin parents were Narayan Suri, the father (a scholar), and Akkalamma the mother.  After the silent disappearance of their beloved son from Taallapaaka, they were naturally steeped in great distress, not knowing his whereabouts and welfare, for a long time. At last, thanks to some information from some source that the boy was cited in the Balaji Temple at Tirumala, they rushed there, and their joy knew no bounds on discovering him. On their pleading with him to return home, Annamayya was initially quite reluctant, as he did not brook any distance from the aura of his Lord. But on persistent persuasion, he yielded and returned home along with them.  

        The parents, with a view to retain him with the family, performed his marriage with the twin sisters Timmakka and Akkalamma , his cousins with whom he was very close since childhood, and were ever so dear to him. He stayed on, but with undiminished and steadfast devotion to his Deity Lord Venkateswara. However, in this new phase of life, his compositions centered around ‘Sringara’ (Romance), but entirely linked to the theme of his Lord and His Consort, Alamelu Manga.  After sometime however, he along with his twin wives, returned to Tirumala, and he continued with his poetic and musical compositions.

         Once he and his consorts went to Ahobilam, where he came under the influence of its founder Sri. Satagopa Yateeswara Jeer, due to which he was drawn to Vaishnavism and Visishtadvaita. His exposure to the Dravida Veda (in Tamil) composed by Alwars, gave much inspiration  and impetus to his compositions, which however were predominantly in Sringara rasa, but still pertaining to the Divine Couple alone. Annamayya composed without respite. It is said that since his sixteenth year, he was composing not less than two or three songs every day, and even more on some days, till his very end. After being in Ahobilam for some period, the Annamayya family returned to  Tirumala where he spent all his time composing and singing, close to his Lord of adoration.

  

        When Annamayya was past sixty years of age, and was well known as an exemplary Composer, one Saalwa Narasimha Raaya, the monarch of the Vijayanagar kingdom, while at Penugonda, learnt about this celebrated Composer, and invited him to his Court. Being highly impressed, he made Annamayya his Court Musician. The royal patron greatly admired his keertans, especially of the Sringaara type. This prompted in him a desire that Annamayya should compose similar romantic songs on himself and his Queen. He expressed this to Annamayya, to whom the idea was totally repulsive. Annamayya vehemently refused, stating that the tongue that solely praises Hari Mukunda, cannot in the same breath praise a mortal, whoever he be. This infuriated Narasimha Raaya, who ordered his imprisonment and physical punishment till he yields. Annamayya, unable to bear the brunt of the physical ill-treatment, sought refuge in his Divine Savior through his keertan, and lo! the shackles that bound him just dropped off on their own !  On knowing this, the monarch humbly apologized to  Annamayya, who in all magnanimity forgave him. Later on he returned to Tirumala and continued his musical and poetic pursuits, the rest of his life.

        At some point of time, as per Divine Dispensation, both his dear consorts expired, which became in a way a turning point in the theme of his prolific compositions subsequently.  His sankeertana-s  now tilted towards the Adhyaatmic (spiritual) type, with an undercurrent of  Advaita (Monism).

Progeny  of  Annamacharya:  Thru Tirumalakka (Timmakka), he had a son, Narasimhacharya.  Thru Akkalamma, he had a son, Pedda Tirumalacharya, and two daughters Narasamma and Tirumalamma. Subsequently, Pedda Tirumalacharya had a son, Chinna Tirumala-charya  or  also called Chinnanna. All of them were good Composers. It is said that Annamayya’s  wife Timmakka was also a poetess who authored “Subhadra Parineeyam”.  Many facts regarding Annamayya are said to have come to light thru his biography authored and bequeathed to us by his grandson Chinnanna. It was thru that source that it came to be known that a whopping 32,000 sankeertan-s were composed by Annamayya,  including the sringara as also the adhyatmic types, and that over ninety raga-s were used by him. Another significant fact was that the raga of each and every song was given by him, and put at the head of each song, to suit the content and  mood of the song.

       Annamayya’s  other works:  In Sanskrit, he authored “Venkata-chala Mahatyam”, and  “Sankeertana Lakshanam” (the text that gave the guidelines in composing  sankeertana-s). In Telugu, he is said to have authored twelve satakams (each comprising of over hundred poems), but unfortunately out of which only one, the “Venkateswara Satakam” survived.  He also authored in Telugu, “Sringara Manjari”, and “Dwipada Ramayanam”.  Another interesting fact is that the very popular Telugu lullaby  “Jo Achyutaananda  Jo Jo Mukundaa…”, sung even today by Telugu mothers (and even others)  to put infants to sleep, is said to have been composed by Annamayya.

        Annamayya  was a trend-setter in composing sankeertana-s, in an easily understandable language by even the common folk, because of which they became very widely popular. His keertana-s  not only abound in quantity, but excel in quality as well. In their saahitya (the lyrical content), creativity, expression of  ‘bhaava’ (feeling), the picturesque idiom and beauty of language, and the superb correspondence between the saahitya and the musical form, and in the subtle interaction between bhakti and sringaara, his sankeertana-s have a unique excellence. Though over five centuries have passed, they still have an irresistible charm and attraction even today.

Titles bestowed on Annamayya: They include “Padakavita Pitaamaha”,  “Padakavita Maargadarsi”,  “Padakavita Saarvabhouma” and also  “Sankeertanaacharya”.

Mode of  script:  Initially, his compositions were carved on ‘palmyra’ leaves, as per the custom then in vogue (in fifteenth century). Unfortunately, many of them were lost, or intentionally burnt by some who turned inimical to him over his social reformist trends. Later however, under royal patronage, many of his songs were got etched on copper plates, and subsequently preserved in a small room  (near the Hundi) in the Tirumala Temple. However, to our misfortune, over the years, this fact was totally forgotten for over three or more centuries, and discovered much later.

Retrieval :  The credit for the search-out  and discovery of the stored copper-plates, goes to one Veturi Prabhakara Sastry, a scholar and researcher, and later his son Veturi  Ananda Murthy. It is said that only 2000 copper-plates were retrieved, containing about 12,200 songs, comprising of about 10,000 of the Sringara type, and 2,200 of the Adhyatmic type.

        Also in this connection, the credit for initially setting to music for many songs, should go to the reputed scholar and musicologist  Raallapalli Ananta Krishna Sarma.

        However, the major credit for not only retrieval, but also research and propagation of the precious heritage of Annamayya, goes to TTD (Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam) who constituted the Annamacharya Trust  for all the needed work. It is learnt that TTD had published thirty volumes of this great legacy.

         Annamayya  the  Social  Reformer :  A lesser known fact is that, apart from being a prolific Composer and Poet, Annamayya was noble and great as an individual, who espoused the cause of women’s right to learn Vedic literature and Sastra-s, which was not in vogue earlier. Also, he strongly opposed the social stigma against the lower castes, and the so-called ‘untouchables’ and prevailed upon their entry into Temples. This move infuriated the orthodox Pundits who are said to have got burnt many of his inscripted songs on the palmyra leaves. Annamayya pleaded equality for all, irrespective of creed, caste, or wealth and status. His song “ Brahma Mokkatay..” espouses the Advaita concept of Divinity in all.

        Annamayya  and  Purandara Dasa :  These two Titans, the two legendary Vaaggeyakara-s, the former in Telugu, and the latter in

Kannada, were contemporaries. The latter i.e., Purandara Dasa, is said to have visited Annamayya at Tirumala, in his old age.

        Demise  of  Annamayya :  The incredible mind that churned out

thousands of devotional lyrics and hundreds of poetic verses, the dexterous hand that inscribed innumerable sankeertans on palmyra leaves, the nectarine tongue that relentlessly sang the praises of Lord Venkateswara ……, all came to a standstill on the Phalguna Bahula Dwaadasi day of 1502 A.D, at his ripe age of  seventy-eight *

        ( There does not seem to exist any authentic historic record of the date of birth, or demise, of this fifteenth century celebrity. As per some sources, he is said to have lived up to an age of ninety-four. I had taken the details that I have given above, from the Andhra Pradesh Dept of Cultural Affairs publication, as also from Dr. Mutnuri Sangamesam’s  “Biography of  Annamayya”, as authentic ).

        Propagation of Annamayya Songs :  Those associated with the propagation and popularization of this great legacy of Annamayya, include:  

(1) Padma Vibhushan Mangalampalli Balamurali Krishna, the Aasthaana Vidwaan  of TTD, who is said to have set  music for hundreds of  Annamayya songs, and also sang many of his songs,

(2)  Garimella Balakrishna Prasad of Annamacharya Trust of  TTD, whose concerts and TV shows widely popularized the songs,

(3)  Bharat Ratna  M.S. Subbulakshmi, the legendary Carnatic Singer who recorded Annamayya songs (under auspices of TTD) which received wide acclaim, and led to propagation of this legacy,

(4)  Sobharaj of Andhra Pradesh, whose many concerts and frequent appearances on TV, highly popularized this great heritage. Also she founded the institution of “Annamayya Bhaava Vaahini” in Hyderabad, to take this music far and wide.

         In USA, the organization ‘SVASA’  (Sri Venkateswara Annamayya  Society of America), in Los Angeles, founded and sustained by  Satya Duvvuri,  has taken up this cause.  Also locally, in its own humble way, the Silicon Andhra organization conducts special programs in this city (San Jose and neighboring townships) to popularize  the  Annamayya legacy.

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( This is the gist of a talk given by Dr. Krishna M. Gutala, in the Colloquium Chapter of  ICC Cupertino, on  26^th April  2013 ).