THYAGARAJA was a great poet-saint of South India.

He has sung hundreds of melodioussongs on our gods Ganapati, Rama, Siva, Devi and others. They are full of devotion and feeling.

Thyagaraja was born over two hundred years ago in a village called Panchanada on the banks of the Kaveri river. This village is also known in Tamil by the name Thiruvaiyaru.

His father Ramabrahmam and mother Shanta were a poor but devout couple. Ramabrahmam lived by unchavritti, a religious form of living by alms.

As a result of worshipping Lord Rama, they were blessed with two sons, whom they named Jappesa and Thyagaraja.

The parents educated their sons in their mother-tongue Telugu, in Sanskrit and the religious lore and got them married in due time too.

Jappesa the elder, it so happened, was less intelligent by nature and turned bad by association. Thyagaraja the younger, how ever, was astute and became well-versed in all the lores. Besides, he was pious by nature and helped his father in theworship of the family deity Rama.

In addition to these he studied Carnatic music under a local teacher. Very soon he became so proficient in music that he began composing- songs in praise of gods.

When father Ramabrahmam passed away, the two brothers divided their paternal properties. While Jappesa wasted his time and life in evil ways, Thyagaraja continued the worship of his family deities and composing new songs in their praise

In religious life, it is necessary to have a Guru in order to achieve spiritual success. Thyagaraja longed to have one.

At this time a sanyasi came toThyagaraja's house one day, asking to see him.

He said, "I learn that you are a good composer. May I hear some of your songs?"

After duly worshipping him, Thyagaraja sang some of his songs. Hearing them the sanyasi said: "They are very good. May
God blesses you with greater success. Here, take this book. It is a rare musical treatise. You may find it useful," and started going away.

Then Thyagaraja begged: "O Guru! You must partake of a little food at my humble home!"

"All right, I shall; keep the food ready and I shall return." So saying the sanyasi departed.

Thyagaraja waited and waited. There was no sign of the return of the sanyasi. Thyagaraja became very sad.

He fasted for the whole day and went to sleep with a heavy heart.

In his dream that night Rishi Narada appeared and said: "Son! It was I who came to you this morning as a sanyasi, as
you had longed for a Guru. Take this Taraka mantra. I am initiating you in it. The musical treatise I gave you is Swararnava.

Study it and you will become a great musician by the grace of Rama."

Waking up, Thyagaraja felt very happy to have the darshan of Narada and have him as his Guru.

He took out the book given by Narada and started reading it. He sang the praise of the Guru for his infinite grace.

After this event Thyagaraja went to the temple with his wife and repeated the Taraka mantra over a lakh of times every day.

Within a short time he completed uttering the mantra to a staggering total of 96 million times which he dedicated to the
Lord. As a result of it Sri Rama Himself appeared before him in the company of Sita, Lakshmana and Hanuman and blessed him. Thyagaraja broke into rapturous songs on seeing them.

Year after year Thyagaraja was singing before his deity surrounded by a host of devotees. Everyone present was lost in
the melody and sweetness of the songs.

At that time an old man sitting in the crowd shouted "Even the sruti on the Tambura is jarring! How can a man who has no ear for sruti compose good songs?"

Everyone was aghast. Thyagaraja too was perplexed.

He took the Tambura and carefully examined the sruti. He found it flawless. Yet he said to the old man humbly: "Sir, I find the sruti all right, would you kindly correct it yourself?".

The old man came forward, took on the Tambura and started fingering the strings. Oh! the effect was miraculous.

Everyone was so bewitched by hearing it, that they completely lost consciousness. When the sruti stopped they woke up, but the old man was nowhere to be seen!.

Thyagaraja concluded: "God himself came here to cure me of my ego. How grateful am I for his grace!"

Jappesa the elder brother became so envious of the popularity of Thyagaraja that one day he stole the idols of Rama, Sita and other deities and threw them in the Kaveri river unknown to anyone.

Thyagaraja became heart-broken on missing them and prayed to Sri Rama in songs to return the idols.

One night Sri Rama appeared in his dream and pointed out the exact spot in the river where the idols lay.

In the morning Thyagaraja went to that spot and recovered all the Idols. After due purificatory ceremonies, he started worshipping them as before.

Thyagaraja's wife passed away.

Once the King of Tanjore invited him to his palace and sing his praise.

Thyagaraja being a god-man declined it saying he would sing nobody's praise except God's.

The king was enraged and wanted to force him by his fiat.

As a result of this evil thought, the king developed intense pain in his stomach which no medicine could cure.

Realising his mistake, the king came to the saint and begged his forgiveness.

Thyagaraja prayed to Sri Rama and the king was cured.

On one occasion Thyagaraja had been to Tirupati to Worship Sri Venkateswara. At the time he went, the curtain had been drawn before the Lord's image.

Thyagaraja felt disappointed and he sang a song praying that the curtain ofignorance be removed.

At once the physical curtain before the Lord dropped down and Thyagaraja could have his fill of darshan!.

On his way back through a forest; Sri Rama and Lakshmana protected him from a band of dacoits unseen by him.

Thyagaraia visited the shrine of Sri Ranganatha at Srirangam and sang exquisite songs on the deity. Later on he met another saint by name Bodhendra.

Thyagaraja was now 88 years old. He sang before his favourite deity of Sri Rama- requesting him to give him moksha.

Sri Rama appeared to him and said: "My son! You have yet to take another birth before reaching moksha. If however you
take sanyasa now you can reach moksha because Sanyasa is a rebirth."

Hearing it Thyagaraja embraced sanyasa in the prescribed manner and a week later on the fifth day of the dark half of

Pausha month he reached God while singing the Lord's praise.

Today the samadhi of this great patron- saint of Carnatic music is a centre of pilgrimage to all musicians and music lovers.

Every year his aradhana is celebrated on this day in December in a grand manner. All Carnatic musicians take part in this festival.