Ajjada Adibhatla Narayana Dasu

Ajjada Adibhatla Narayana Dasu Biography

Pandit Ajjada Adibhatla Narayana Dasu was a scholar, poet, musician, composer, dancer, linguist and philosopher from Andhra Pradesh. He lived during the period 31 August 1864 – 2 January 1945. He was a scholar and linguist, who was proficient in 8 languages including Arabic and Persian. Fusing poetry, music and dance he created a new art form called the Harikatha. He has authored Harikatha works and was an exponent too. Harikathamrutam is a compilation of three Hari Kathas among 12 major works written for its performance. He composed a geeta-malika comprising 90 Carnatic ragas, the only writer-composer to do so. He was also a performer of Ashtavadhanam and has has written over a hundred books in Telugu, Sanskrit. A genius ahead of times, he wrote original Kavyas and Prabandhas. He has also done translation works.

Ajjada Adibhatla Narayana Das was born on 31 August 1864 in Ajjada, Vizianagaram district, Andhra Pradesh. He mastered over four classical languages and translated works from Persian and English into Sanskrit and Telugu. As he felt that Edward Fitzgerald's English translations did not do justice to the Omar Khayyam's Persian poetry, he translated both these versions to Sanskrit and Atcha Telugu in different metres. The work was titled The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (1932); indeed a rare and unique work. For a scholarship study, he compared the works of Kalidasa with Shakespeare. He has authored two volumes of philosophy work titled Jagadjyoti, his masterpiece work.

He was also a brilliant musician of his age. He composed Dasha Vidha Raga Navati Kusuma Manjari employing 90 ragas in the Manjari metre, which is a testimony to his rare mastery over poetry and music. He earned music honorary titles, Laya Brahma and Panchamukhi Parameshwara. Created to creating a new art form Harikatha, he wrote 21 Harikathas, 17 in Telugu and 3 in Sanskrit. He was the first principal of the Maharajah's Government College of Music and Dance, established in 1919. He declined offers to be made court musician by the Maharajah of Mysore and later by the Maharaja of Vizianagaram, and preferred to remain independent serving god.

Published: September 01, 2018

Updated: September 01, 2018