Annamacharya Biography 
Annamacharya was a Hindu saint and musician who lived in the 15th century in Andhra Pradesh. He is widely regarded as the Andhra Pada kavita Pitamaha and one of the earliest musicians to compose songs called sankirtanas in praise of Venkateswara. His place is among all-time greats of Telugu literature. His keertans are still popular among Carnatic musicians. His compositions have strongly influenced the structure of Carnatic music. He spent his last days in Thirupati and many devotees regard him to be the incarnation of Lord Vishnu. His wife, Timmakka is regarded as the first female poet of Telugu language.
He was born on May 9, 1408 in Tallapaka of Andhra Pradesh. He lived for long 94 years. The village belongs to Kadapa district at present. He was initiated to Vaishnavism by Venkatesha and he became a saint. He was married to Timmakka, the first female poet from Andhra Pradesh. Both their son, Pedda Tirumalacharya, and grandson, Tallapaka Chinnayya, were composers and poets. It’s widely believed that Annamacharya has composed more than 36,000 sankeertanas on Govinda Venkateswara of which only about 12,000 are available today. This great composer regarded his each composition to be a floral offering to his god. Apart from Bhakti, morality, dharma and righteousness are the other themes on which he wrote keertans.
Though his works were immensely popular during his life, they got buried in past for about 3 centuries. They were later found engraved on copper plates inside the Sri Venkateswara temple at Tirumala in 1849. But only 12,000 compositions are available right now. A few of his works have been translated to English and published in 2005. Shobha Raju is one among the notable singers of today who researched on his works and discovered many of his lost compositions.
Published: N/A
Updated: June 27, 2014
