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COMPOSER

Narayana Theerthar

PLACE OF BIRTH - Thiruppoonthuruthi
PERIOD - 1650   -   1745
MUDRA - Narayanatheertha
NO.OF COMPOSITIONS LISTED IN OUR WEBSITE - 122
TOTAL NO.OF COMOSITIONS (APPROX) - 0
NO.OF COMPOSITIONS LISTED IN OUR WEBSITE WITH LYRICS - 57
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Among the musicians and saint poets who nourished the South Indian Bhajana Sampradaya with their outstanding contribution was Narayana Theertha, a 17th C. saint composer. Hailing from a Telugu scholarly family that migrated from Vijayanagar and settled in the banks of river Kaveri, during the rule of the Nayaks, Narayana Theertha was a scholar in Sanskrit. He is one of the sanyasins who established the tradition of Nama Siddhantha in Tamil Nadu. A devout Krishna Bhaktha, he was the illustrious composer of 'Krishna Lila Tarangini', a work fervent with vedantic ideas in Sanskrit. Describing the various lilas (divine play) of Lord Krishna, right from his childhood to marriage, the songs in this work are called as Tarangas. These Tarangas, which are patterned like Jayadeva's Gita Govinda and adorned with dance sollukattus, are well adaptable to bhajana and dance choreography. According to some scholars, the Krishna Lila Tarangini comprises 12 tarangas, 147 kirtanas, 267 slokas, 30 gadyams and 30 darus. It is also believed that the earliest publication of this work was in Grantha script at Thanjavur. Some of the popular Tarangas are Govardhana Giridhara' , Madhava mamava deva', Viksheham kada' and Govinda Ghataya' among many others. Narayana Theertha attained Jeeva Samadhi at Thirupanthuruthi, where every year till date, an aradhana of Narayana Theertha is celebrated for a week.