ANNAMAYYA (1408-1503): Telugu Pada Kavitha Pithamaha

By Prof. V. Krishna Moorthy*

The 600th birth anniversary celebrations of the saint-poet Annamayya, started on May 9, 2007, under the auspices of TTD as he was born on Vaishakha Poornima of Sarvadhari year of the Hindu calendar, corresponding to 9th May ,1408 of the Christian era. The Tirupati Tirumala Devastanams is celebrating the 6th birth centenary of the saint poet in a befitting manner, throughout the year culminating with a 108 ft. statue of the saint poet scheduled for installation on 22nd May, 2008 at Tallapaka, the poet’s birthplace.

Annamacharya or Annamayya as he is popularly known, the mystic saint of the 15th century, is the earliest known musician of South India who composed lyrics—called sankeertanas in praise of the deity of the Seven Hills, Lord Venkateswara of Tirumala, set them to music and sang them during his lifetime, till his death in 1503. An ardent devotee of Lord Venkateswara, Annamayya’s life was spread over a period of 95 years. It was through his grandson’s (Chinathirumalaraya—known as Chinnanna), Dwipada work that we come to know about the life and work of the great saint composer. Annamacharya (1408-1503) was a Telugu poet and musician widely regarded as the Telugu Pada Kavitha Pitamaha (grand old sire of simple poetry) a title given by his grandson in his ‘dwipada’ work..

Though there is still some controversy regarding the exact date of his birth, it is believed that Annamayya was born in the Telugu calendar year of Sarvadhari on Vaishaka Poornima (Visakha Star) (corresponding to May, 9, 1408) in the village of Tallapaka in Cuddapah district of Andhra Pradesh. Annamayya’s father Narayana Suri and mother Lakkamamba belonged to Nandavarika Brahmin sub-sect, of Asvalayana Sutra and Bharadwaja gothra, were followers of Regvedic rituals. Annamayya’s great, great ancestors originally hailed from Varanasi. In the 10th century, there was a big famine in Varanasi and scores of scholars migrated to Southern India to eke out a living with their scholarship. Some of these scholars settled in a place called Nandavaram, a small princely state in Andhra Pradesh, which was then ruled by King Nanda. The immigrants of that place were called Nandavariks.

As the story goes, Annamayya’s parents visited Tirumala seeking the God’s blessings for a child. Their desire was fulfilled in due course and the child was named Annamayya. Annamayya was believed to be the incarnation of Lord Venkateswara’s Nandaka or Sword. From his childhood Annamayya was an ardent devotee of Govinda and was immersed in his memory.

Once when Annamayya was 8 years, he dreamt of Alamelumanga, and immediately travelled to Tirumala by foot without eating anything for days together and swooned on the mid-way while climbing through the seven hills. The story goes that Alamelumanga appeared in the form of an old lady, gave him food and advised him to walk to the top of the seven hills barefoot, leaving the sandals behind. Annamayya followed the Devi’s

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PDF created with FinePrint pdfFactory Pro trial version http://www.fineprint.com advice and on his way up the hills he instantly composed 100 poems (sataka) in praise of Alamelu, known as Mangabikasatakam. Visitng the Lord and other deities at Tirumala, he sang several songs in praise of the Lord, and composed the Venkatesa Satakam. While taking rest after visiting the Lord and praising him through his 100 poems—which later became the Venkatesa Satakam, a Saint by name Ghana Vishnu visited Annamayya and converted him into Srivaishnava sect, as per the instructions given to the saint by the Lord in his dream the previous night—Ekadasi. Thus, Annamayya became Annamacharya when the sage Ghana Vishnu converted him into Vaishnavite sect.

On learning this, Annamayya’s mother rushed to Tirumala and pleaded with her son to come back home. At the instance of the Muni, he returned home with his mother. Though not much is known of his early life, Annamayya underwent a formal course in traditional education and thereafter set forth to visit sacred places. Annamayya was the disciple of Sathagopa Yogi and completed his vedic studies under his tutelage. After fully digesting Valmiki Ramayana, Annamayya recreated the story of Rama in Sankeertanas, which became very popular. The people around praised his talents, which spread far and wide.

Annamayya was helping his brother and his family in the farming and allied activities. Forced by elders, Annamayya accepted the householder’s life and under compelling circumstances, married two brides—Thirumalamma and Akkalamma. However, marriage was no hindrance in his pursuit of the divine.

Having come to know the greatness and the spiritual power of Annamacharya, King Saluva Narasingaraya, who was ruling Tanguturu in Andhra Pradesh, offered a respectable position of GURU (Teacher) in his royal court. Annamayya agreed with the request and stayed in a palatial house near Keshava Temple at Tanguturu. The King grew in stature and power over the years and subsequently moved his capital to Penugonda in Rayala Seema and invited Annamacharya to Penugonda, which he did. After a while, one day Annamacharya sang a song in the tradition of Madhura Bhakti on the request of the King. Highly impressed by the same, the King asked him to sing a similar composition on himself which Annamayya refused saying that he can only sing the glory of the Lord and not a human.

With this, the King’s ego got hurt and enraged by the incident, chained the saint with shackles and imprisoned him. Annamacharya sang a song thinking of Lord Venkateswra with agony. The spiritual power of his song resulted in the chains getting broken. Thereafter, the King asked Annamayya’s pardon and requested him to stay in his court. However, advising the King that he should not insult the devotees of the Lord like this, Annamayya left for Tirumala to propagate his philosophy and the glory of the Lord through is Sankeertanas. It is during this period that Annamayya composed Sringara Manjari in praise of the Lord.

An ardent devotee of Lord Venkateswara, during his lifetime of 95 years, Annamayya composed and sang over 32,000 Sankeertanas (devotional songs) dedicated to Lord Venkateswara. Annamayya wrote the sankeertanas on palm leaves, and later, his son Thirumalacharya got them engraved on copper plates. Presently, only 14,000 of the

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PDF created with FinePrint pdfFactory Pro trial version http://www.fineprint.com sankirtanas are available. For some unknown reason, the works of Annamayya could not be traced for three centuries. However, in 1922, about 2500 copper plates comprising about 14,000 sankirtanas and a few other works were found hidden in a rock built cell in the Venkateswara temple at Tirumala in a small room opposite the Hundi.

Annamayya sang only for the pleasure of the Almighty and to convey the message for the upliftment of mankind, unmindful of materialistic gains. Annamayya considered his compositions as floral offerings to the Lord of the Seven Hills. These poems, praise the Lord, and describe Annamayya’s love for the Lord, his arguments and quarrels with the Lord at times and ultimately surrenders himself to the Lord. From the work of Chinnanna (Annamayya’s grandson) it is noticed that when Annamayya was in his 90s, Karnataka’s saint poet Purandaradasa, who was 70 years younger to Annamayya, having heard about the miracles of Annamayya visited him and paid his respects by calling him the incarnation of Lord Venkateswara and his Sankeertanas Sacred Hymns.

Annamayya’s compositions of Sankeertanas can be categorized under two heads: Adhyatma Sankeertanas—which are essentially devotional, with detachment, containing moral, social and spiritual values. The second category, are: Sringara Sankeertanas— which are expressions of romantic feelings to Lord, composed in Madhura Bhakti style/metre. According to literary critics, that out of the available Annamayya literature, there are 1526 Sringara Sankeertanas and 2209 Adhyatma Sankeertanas. Besides these, Annamacharya composed Twelve Satakas, Sringara Manjari in Dwipada, Venkateswara Mahatyam, Dwipada Ramayana etc. His works are mainly in Telugu, though he wrote in Sanskrit also. Annamayya’s wife, Thimmakka was also a great poetess and has written Subhadra Kalyanam, and she is considered as the first Telugu poetess.

Tirumala Tirupati Devastanams (TTD) has been successfully endeavouring to preserve the rich heritage of Annamayya’s compositions through the Annamayya Special Project, which came into existence with the appointment of Mrs. Shobha Raju, an eminent singer, as the project chief. TTD have also consecrated Annamayya statue at two places—one in Annamayya Mandiram located at the Annamayya Project Office premises at Tirupathi and the second one at his birthplace, Tallapaka. Mrs. Shobha Raju, an eminent singer has devoted her life for the propagation of Annamayya’s sankeertanas and she was the first artiste of TTD to be appointed for the propagation of Annamayya’s sankeertanas.

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