tAllapAka annamAcArya

The tAllapAka family of poets, music composers and scholars in Telugu and Sankrit popularized the Srivaishnava faith in Andhra Pradesh in the 15th and 16th centuries. AnnamAchArya, the greatest of them, it is said, had a vision of Lord Venkateswara when he was 16 and then spent the rest of his life composing kIrtanAs and padams on Him, which totalled 32,000. Of these only 14,000 are available now engraved on copper plates which were hidden for centuries in a niche of Sri Venkateswara temple at Tirumala.

Annamayya was born in 1424 A.D. in TallapAka, a village in Cuddapah district. Born with a gift for poetry and song, the boy Annamayya would improvise songs on Venkateswara and was always preoccupied by Him. He ran away to Tirupati and fell asleep on a rock after and exhausting climb of the first steep hill at Tirumala. He dreamt of alamelumangA and composed a Shataka in her praise. Upon reaching the lord of Seven Hills he burst into a song of ecstatic praise.

He lived in Tirumala for some time and was initiated into Sri Vaishnava faith. Sometime later his people sought him out and took him home where he was married. His marriage did not interfere with his spiritual interests and he became a disciple of the saint Shathakopayati of Ahobalam and studied all the sacred texts. Although he propitiated other deities like RAma, Krishna, NarasimhA and VitthalA, he viewed them as forms of Venkateswara, the Ultimate Reality. He spent the rest of his life in His service and devoting his time between TAllapAka and Tirumala. Annamayya breathed his last in 1503.

Compositions

Annamayya's songs, which he considered as "flower-offerings" to God are his outstanding achievements. In themh e praises Venkateswara, describes his love for Him, argues and quarrels with Him, meditates on His attributes, confesses his failures and apprehensions, and surrenders himself to Him. Traditionally his songs are classified into AdhyAtma and SringAra samkIrtanAs.

AdhyAtma samkIrtanAs affirm the primacy of spiritual values over the purely mundane, and express inevitable tension between these and oneself. They emphasize the need for bhakti and virakti. (eg. "Bhaktikoladi vAde paramAtmudu", in RAmakriyA). Despite such faith Annamayya was troubled by tensions because of opposing pulls in himself. "To live and move aimlessly has been my lot. When do I learn, O Lord, fixity of purpose ? So unsteady am I, while I desire renunciation .." ("KalakAlamunitte kApurapu badukAye", in PAdi). Temple festivities gave Annamayya many occasions for songs in which he sees symbolic enactments of cosmic truths. In the song "Alara Chanchalamaina" (Ahiri) he describes the dola of Venkateswara and His consorts in all its magnificience.

The SringAra samkIrtanAs express love and longing for the Lord and his surrender to Him. Here Annamayya speaks for himself and for others who similarly long for god in terms of rakti rather than virakti. Some songs describe AlamelumangA's love for Him ("Alarulukuriyaga Aadenade" in ShankarAbharanam). In "Palukutenelatalli" (SAlanganAta), he DESCRIBES HOW "MOTHER OF HONEY-SWEET SPEECH" PLEASES HIM AND possesses Him by surrendering herself to Him.

The samkIrtanAs have a common structural pattern. Each song comprises a pallavi, very occasional anupallavi, and usually three metrically and musically identical four-line charanAs. In general, the songs exhibit a high degree of literary craftmanship in which he uses both colloquial and literary Telugu.

ChinnathirumalAcharya, the grandson of Annamayya praises him as PadakavitApitAmahA. Annamayya was not the first to compose or invent padas, which had been evolving over many years and was used by SripAdarAyaswAmi and his predecessors for writing devotionals in Kannada. Annamaya who was probably influenced by these composers seems as yet to be the FIRST writer of Padas in Telugu. The pada is a difficuly form to handle, and being bound by strict rule, meant to serve the purpose of both poetry and song. Annamayya used it with such mastery that it became a habit of his mind.

Unforunately, little is known about Annamayya's music and his musical thought. While his poetry was preserved, his music could not be, for resons not known. Not only is there no written record of his music, there is no living tradition of singing his songs, although several centuries after him, his songs are sung in Tirumala. The copper plates only mention the rAga for the song, but what musical form and tAla did he assign to it is not known. He did not have the advantage of an institution like DAsakUta which has, in a way preserved the tradition of singing DAsarapadagalu. However, since Annamayya's samkIrtanams are very similar in structural patterns to DAsarapadagalu, it is likely that they resemble musically also.

The fact that Annamayya knew all musical modes and forms of his times is obvious from his works. But he conceived his PADAS PRIMARILY AS DEVOTIONAL POETRY. MUSIC WAS MAINLY AN AID to render them effectively. The krithIs of ThyAgarAja and others are conceived generally as musical compositions, and their poetry, however impressive, is mainly a verbal scaffold for raising a musical structure. Therefore while singing Annamayya's compositions, importance has to be given to the meaning since sAhityam takes precedence over the music. The rAgas used by Annamayya in his songs are about 100. A good number of them like AbAli, Amarasindhu, Kondamalahari, and SourAshtragujjari, etc. have either become rare or extinct now. Even the commonly used ones today like SankarAbharanam, MukhAri, Kambhoji, DevagAndhAri and Sri have probably undergone subtle changes since his time.

Annamayya is a Telugu movie directed by K.Raghavendra Rao starring Akkineni Nagarjuna, Ramya Krishna, Mohan Babu, and Roja. It is the cinematic of life of the famous composer, Annamacharya.The music director is Keeravani. Tollywood (టాలీవుడ్) refers to the Telugu language film industry. ... Akkineni Nagarjuna (born August 29, 1959 in Chennai, India) is a popular Telugu Cinema Telugu actor. ... Image:Annamayya. ... M. M. Kreem alias Maragadamani alias M. M. Keera Vaani (also spelt M. M. Keeravani) is a film composer in India. ...

Plot

One day;Lord Vishnu's(Suman) wife Lakshmi complains that there are no people who sing songs in praise of Him in Telugu language.To find a solution to the problem;he sends Nandaka(His sword) to be born as Annamayya to a childless couple.When the child is born;it turns out to be a great moment of joy for the family.Now;at the age of 16;Annamayya(Nagarjuna) is in love with his 2 cousins(Ramyakrishnan and another);but he still possesses the element of devotion to God.Since;Annamayya never ventured out of his village(Leave alone Tirumala!);he always thinks that no one are more beautiful than his 2 cousins.(Who were promised to be married to Annamayya.)Now;Venkateshwara(Vishnu) comes in a disguise and asks Annamayya what will he do if he finds anyone more beautiful than his own cousins;he says that he will never see anyone other than that person.Now;this man takes Annamayya to a Vishnu Temple in Annamayya's own place, "tallapaka" and to Annamayya's shock;he finds the Lord Venkateshwara more handsome.Now;he feels ashamed of himself for blindly running behind his 2 cousins;instead of concentrating upon God.Now;when Annamayya was asked to bring dry grass for Yagna from the forests(Near Tirumala.);he intrinsically feels like joining the Tirumala pilgrims's group.However;he finds it difficult to walk many steps of the Tirumala and also feels hungry.Then Padmavathi or Lakshmi(Bhanupriya) comes in the disguise of an old woman and tells Annamayya to remove his sandals and walk bare-footed and gives him food.Once again;he resumes his journey and when he reaches the temple;he starts singing songs in praise of the Lord Venkateshwara and he remains there for many days.Meanwhile;Annamayya's kith and kin go in search of Annamayya;his parents feel broken-hearted as their lineage will get eliminated if Annamayya does not marry.Taking pity on the parents;The Lord Venkateswara comes in a common man's disguise and tells Annamayya that one can live a saintly life even in a marriage life and asks him not to disrespect his parents;and he says even his Lord has 2 wives.This seems convincing to Annamayya and hence;he marries his 2 cousins;but on condition that he after 2 sons are born to him;he will go along with his wifes to seek Venkateshwara's grace.After his wifes give birth to 2 sons;he and his wifes will look after the children for 10 years and submit them to Annamayya's parents' care.Then;go to Tirumala where Annamayya recites the songs while his 2 wifes write them.He catches the attention of many devotees due to his kirtanas.Now;the ruler Saluva Narasimha(Mohan Babu) too get charmed by his songs and make him the court poet.One day;the ruler asks him to recite a song in his praise;but Annamayya rejects it saying he would sin only for the Lord Venkateshwara!Now;the ruler sends him to jail where he tied by iron rods and beaten badly by the guards.But;Venkateswar rescues him by breaking the iron rods;much to the shock of the jailors and Saluva Narasimha.Now;Saluva Narasimha realises Annamayya's greatness and begs for pardon.He then allows him to venture anywhere and also can ask help anytime from him.This offer turns out to be helpful for him;for at a later time;when his enemies attempt to destroy his writings;Saluva comes to Annamayya's rescue and sees that his writings are published and stored for the future.Now;at the age of 95;having seen and been to many pilgrimage places dedicated to Vishnu;he prefers to go to the Tirumala temple and fall at Lord Venkateswara's feet.But;to his surprise;the Lord himself leaves his abode to greet him at the temple entrance.This makes him feel emotional and dies in front of the Lord ;who will accept his great devotee Annamayya to stay at His abode(Vaikuntha);meant for the great and divine. In Hinduism, Lakshmi or Laxmi (Sanskrit: लक्ष्मी ) is the goddess of wealth, light, wisdom and fortune, as well as (secondarily) luck, beauty and fertility. ... 150 - 250 CE) was an Indian philosopher, the founder of the Madhyamaka (Middle Path) school of Mahāyāna Buddhism, and arguably the most influential Indian Buddhist thinker after the Gautama Buddha himself. ... Vishnu (IAST , Devanagari , with honorific Shri Vishnu; , ), is a form of God, in Hinduism. ... Tirumala (తిరుమల), the abode of the Hindu God Lord Venkateswara, is situated on a very ancient ridge of mountains in a southern district of Andhra Pradesh. ...

Box-office

This turned out to be the biggest hit of 1997.

External links

• Imdb page
• indianjourney.net review