Janaranjani Radio Program scheduled for 16 June 2018 covers two hidden vaggeyakaras.
This is the third program of a series of radio programs covering the Ajnata Vaggeyakaras.
Sri Tumu Narasimha das:
Sri Tumu Narasimhadasu was born in a village near Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, to Sri Appayya
and Smt Venkamamba and named after Mangalagiri temple deity Narasimha. He learnt
Sanskrit, Telugu and music; and studied theology and philosophy.
The precocious Narasimhadasu began to compose poetry and songs extempore, besides
playing on the khanjira even as a child. A staunch Rama devotee, he became a householder,
employee of the Revenue Department, and also accepted deeksha. He later quit his job and
relocated to Bhadrachalam drawn to its famous Seetarama temple.
Approximately 120 compositions are known to us in Sanskrit and Telugu extant, though
without notation. His mudra was Narasimhadasu. His lyrics have been tuned and rendered by
several musicians. Besides samkirtanas, Narasimhadasu wrote churnikas, dvipadas,
kandaseesa padyams, panchachamaram, Tohra (narrative lyric), etc. He travelled to
Thiruvayur, met Thyagaraja and even composed a lyric eulogising Thyagaraja’s
devotion Rama Namamruthame Neeku. He made pilgrimages to holy places across India.
Narasimhadasu’s lyrics overflow with bhakti-bhaava and are in chaste Telugu, easily
understood by a common man. He blended music in an inseparable way like Thyagaraja.”
It was Narasimhadasu who introduced the Dasavidhotsavams ––10 kinds of rituals, now
performed at Bhadrachalam Seetarama temple including Nitya Kainkaryams (daily rituals),
Vaarotsavams, Pakshotsavams, Punarvasuutsavam, etc. He meticulously documented details
of each seva through a Hukum (government order). He also wrote appropriate lyrics for each
Nitya Kainkaryam––Prabhata Seva to Pavalimpu Seva. He used to render the compositions
with dance. He had a great sense of laya which enabled him to use a rare rhythm like juluva
thalam, in several lyrics, example Jaya Janakiramana (Nata) and rare ragas like Maaruva.”
Narasimhadasu was influenced by Bhadrachala Ramadasu and Thyagaraja. “Like them he
often composed in a burst of emotion. Even the sahitya shows influences. Bhadrachala
Ramadasu wrote Unnado Ledo Bhadradri Andhu (Asaveri) whereas Narasimhadasu wrote
Kalado Ledo Sriramudu (Ritigowla). Similarly, Thyagaraja’s Videmu Seyave (Kharahapriya)
finds an echo in Narasimhadasu’s Kappurampu Videmu Seyu (Kapi).”
It was Narasimhadasu who introduced the Dasavidhotsavams now performed at
Bhadrachalam Seetarama temple including Nitya Kainkaryams (daily rituals), Vaarotsavams,
Pakshotsavams and Punarvasuutsavam.
Sri Ajjada Adibhatla Narayana Das:
The pandit Ajjada Adibhatla Narayana Das (31 August 1864 – 2 January 1945) is known as
the versatile genius of Andhra Pradesh. He was a poet, musician, dancer, linguist and
philosopher. He was born in Ajjada village, near Bobbili, Vizianagaram district, Andhra
Pradesh. Narayana Das was a linguist with proficiency in as many as eight languages
(including Arabic and Persian), poet, philosopher, playwright, composer, dancer, actor and the
creator of the unique art form, Hari Katha.
Narayana Das was a scholar who had mastery over four classical languages (Sanskrit,
Telugu, Arabic and Persian) and who translated from Persian and English into Sanskrit and
Telugu; the only litterateur who wrote a comparative treatise on the works of Kalidas and
Shakespeare; the only writer-composer who translated into Telugu and set to music Rig Vedic
hymns and the only writer-composer who composed a geeta-malika comprising 90 Carnatic
ragas. As a writer-composer who composed music in all the 72 Carnatic ragas he was next
only to Tyagaraja. Enraptured by his rendering of the Hindusthani Bhairavi raga, Rabindranath
Tagore sought to introduce the curriculum followed by Narayana Das in his music college at
Visva-Bharati University.
He had mastery over several Indian and classical languages like Telugu, Sanskrit, Tamil,
Hindi, Bengali, Urdu, English, Arabic and Persian. He was also a performer of Ashtavadhanam.
He has written over a hundred books in Telugu, Sanskrit. His works ranged from children’s
literature to philosophical treatises.
His literary output was extensive. He wrote original Kavyas and Prabandhas that reflect a rare
creative genius, erudition and great felicity of expression. He wrote over fifty books in Telugu,
Sanskrit and Atcha-Telugu (Desyandhramu or Telugu unmixed of Sanskrit). His works
included original story-poems (Kavyas and Prabndhas), Harikathas, prose works, musical
works, dramas, translations, treatises in philosophy and Vedic studies and children’s
literature. He felt that Edward Fitzgerald’s English translations did not do justice to the Persian
poet Omar Khayyam’s poetry. To demonstrate his viewpoint, Narayana Das translated both the
original quatrains of Omar Khaiyam and Edward Fitzgerald’s English translation into two
languages – Sanskrit and Atcha Telugu in different metres. The work entitled The Rubaiyat of
Omar Khayyam (1932)[1] was acclaimed as a rare literary feat by the literati of his time.
In another voluminous display of scholarship he compared the works of the Sanskrit dramatist
Kālidāsa with those of Shakespeare. Entitled Nava Rasa Tarangini (1922) the book annotates