List of Carnatic composers explained

List of composers of Carnatic music, a subgenre of Indian classical music. Chronologically they can be grouped into 4 different Eras: Pre-Trinity Era, Trinity Era, Post Trinity Era and Modern Era. Composers are listed here based on this classification and their birth years are provided to the extent available.

Pre-Trinity Era composers (17th century and prior)

These are early stage composers that created the rules and foundations of classical music.

1. Allama Prabhu (12th century)
2. Andal (9th century)
3. Tirugnana sambandar (7th century)
4. Arunagirinathar (b.1480)
5. Bhadraachala Raama daasu (1620–1688)
6. Jayadeva, (12th Century) - Composed Gita Govinda
   1. Prathama Vaggeyakara(First poet-composer) of Carnatic and Hindustani music forms to compose art music (in contrast to traditional bhakti poems) involving ragas; he is praised for his contributions to dance and music by his contemporary and later musicologists in their musical treatises
7. Kanakadasa (1509–1609)
8. Karaikkal Ammeiyar (7th century)
9. Kshetrayya (1600–1680)
10. Madhwacharya (12th century)
11. Manikkavasagar (10th century)
12. Muthu Thandavar (1525–1625)
13. Naraharitirtha (1250–1333)
14. Narayana Teertha (1650–1725)
15. Padmanabha Tirtha (12th century)
16. Papanasa Mudaliar (1650–1725)
17. Paidala Gurumurti Sastri (17th century) - Composed over 1000 geethams
18. Purandaradasa (1484–1564)
19. Raghavendra Swami (1595–1671)
20. Sarangapani (1680–1750)
21. Sripadaraya (1404–1502)
22. Sundaramurti (7th century)
23. Thirunavukkarasar (7th century)
24. Tallapaka Annamacharya (1408–1503)
25. Vadirajatirtha (1480–1600)
26. Vijaya Dasa (1682–1755)
27. Vyasatirtha (1460–1539)

Trinity Era Composers (18th Century)

Composers of 18th Century started a new era in the history of Carnatic music with the introduction of new ragas, krithis and musical forms that are widely adopted and laid foundation for what we know today as Classical music. Trinity are the biggest contributors of this era even though there are a large number of musicians and composers that left their mark during this period.

1. Arunachala Kavi (1711–1788)
2. Ghanam Krishna Iyer (1790–1854)
3. Gopala Dasa (1722–1762)
4. Iraiyamman Tampi (1782–1856)
5. Jagannatha Dasa (1728–1809)
6. Kaiwara Sri Yogi Nareyana (1730–1840)
7. Krishnarajendra Wodeyar III (1799–1868)
8. Marimutthu Pillai (1717–1787)
9. Muthuswami Dikshitar (1775–1835)
10. Mysore Sadasiva Rao (b. 1790)
11. Oottukkadu Venkata Kavi (1700–1765)
12. Pacchimiriam Adiyappa (early 18th century)
13. Sadasiva Brahmendra (18th century)
14. Thyagaraja Swami (1767–1847)
15. Anai Ayya brothers (1776–1857)
16. Tiruvarur Ramaswami Pillai (1798–1852)
17. Ramaswami Dikshitar (1735–1817)
18. Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma (1813-1846)
19. Syama Sastri (1762–1827)

Post-Trinity Era composers (19th century)

1. Ajjada Adibhatla Narayana Dasu (1864–1945)
   1. Primary contribution is in the area of Hari katha. Also created several krithis as part of the hari kathas he authored
2. Ambi Dikshitar (1863–1936)
   1. Propagated Muthuswami Dikshitar compositions and helped bring them into modern era
   2. Also used the mudra of guruguha for about 10 compositions we have available at this time
3. Annamalai Reddiyar (1865–1891)
4. Cheyyur Chengalvaraya Sastri (1810–1900)
5. Chittor Subrahmanya Pillai (1898–1975)
6. Dharmapuri Subbarayar
   1. Composed more than 50 Javalis
7. Ennappadam Venkatarama Bhagavatar (1880–1961)
8. Gopalakrishna Bharathi (1811–1896)
9. Jayachamaraja Wodeyar (1919–1974)
10. Kavi Kunjara Bharati (1810–1896)
11. Koteeswara Iyer (1870–1940)
    1. Composed in all 72 melakarta raagas
12. Kotthavaasal Venkatarama Ayyar (1810–1880)
13. Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer (1844–1893)
    1. Composed Mela raga maalika
14. Manambuchavadi Venkatasubbayyar
15. Mayuram Viswanatha Sastri (1893–1958)
16. Muthiah Bhagavatar (1877–1945)
17. Mysore T. Chowdiah (1894–1967)
18. Mysore Vasudevacharya (1865–1961)
19. Neelakanta Sivan (1839–1900)
20. Pallavi Seshayyar (1842–1905)
21. Papanasam Sivan (1890–1973)
22. Patnam Subramania Iyer (1845–1902)
23. Pattabhiramayya (b. 1863)
24. Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar (1860–1919)
25. Rallapalli Anantha Krishna Sharma (1893–1979)
26. Subbarama Dikshitar (1839–1906)
27. Subbaraya Sastri (1803–1862)
    1. Son of Shyama Shastri and First generation disciple of Tyagaraja
28. Mahakavi Subramanya Bharathiyar (1882–1921)
29. Shuddhananda Bharati (1897–1990)
30. Thanjavur Quartet (1801–1856)
31. Tiger Varadachariar (1876–1950)
32. Tiruvottriyur Tyagayya (1845–1917)
    1. Son of Veena Kuppayya
33. Veena Kuppayya (1798–1860)
    1. First generation disciple of Tyagaraja
34. Veene Sheshanna (1852–1926)

Modern Era composers (20th century and beyond)

• A. Kanyakumari
• Ambujam Krishna (1917–1989)
• Annavarapu Rama Swamy (b. 1926)
• G. N. Balasubramaniam (1910–1965)
• Kalyani Varadarajan (1923–2003)
  • Composed in all 72 Melakarta ragas
• K. Ramaraj (1936-2009)
• Lalgudi Jayaraman (1930–2013)
• M.Balamuralikrishna (1930–2016)
  • Composed in all 72 melakarta ragas and created several new ragas including those with fewer than 5 notes
• M. D. Ramanathan (1923–1984)
• Maharajapuram Santhanam (1928–1992)
• N. Ravikiran (b. 1967)
  • Composed in all 35 Sulaadi talas
• N. S. Ramachandran (1908-1981)
• Nallan Chakravartula Krishnamacharyulu (1924–2006)
• Periyasami Thooran (1908-1987)
  • Composed only lyrics. Music is set by a few contemporary musicians
• Samavedam Shanmukha Sarma (b. 1967)
  • Composed only lyrics. Music is set by a few contemporary musicians
• Suguna Purushothaman (1941–2015)
  • Composed navagraha krithis in Tamil
• T. V. Gopalakrishnan (b. 1932)
• T. R. Subramaniam (1929–2013)
• R. Ramachandran Nair (Thulasivanam - b. 1939)
  • Composed only lyrics. Music is set by a few contemporary musicians
• Sundaranarayana (1938-2013)
  • Composed only lyrics. Music is set by a few contemporary musicians

Pre-Trinity composers (born in 17th century or earlier)

	Years	Languages	Approx. number of compositions	Signature (Insignia)	Other Info
	1250? – 1333)	Sanskrit		Narahari	Composed Dasara Padas
	1404–1502			Ranga Vittala	Composed Dasara Padas
	1408–1503	Telugu, Sanskrit	36,000 compositions were composed, out of which around 12,000 are only available as of today	Venkatachala, venkatagiri, venkatadhri, venkatesu	Called as Telugu pada-kavita pitamaha; composed in themes srungara (love), adhyatma (bhakti) and philosophical in 100 ragas; also the author of the musical text Sankeertana Lakshana
	1480–1600)		hundreds	Hayavadana	Composed Dasara Padas in his Ramagadya, Vaikunthavarnane and Lakshmisobanehadu
	1480–	Tamil	760		Composed Tiruppugazh
	1484–1564	Kannada, Sanskrit	475,000, of which only around 2000 have come down to us	Purandara Vittala	Set the Carnatic music in its present form; composed basic exercises for practice like sarali and janta varisai, and thus known as 'Karnataka Sangeetha Pithamaha', meaning the Grandfather of Carnatic music.
	1509–1609	Kannada	300	Adi Keshava	Composed Dasara Padas in native metrical forms such as Suladi and Ugabhoga and wrote 5 classical Kavya epics poems in Shatpadi
	1525–1625	Tamil	165
Kshetrayya or Kshetrajna or Varadayya	1600–1680	Telugu	100	Muvvagopala	Composed immortal padams which are even popular today in Bharathanatyam & Kuchipudi. Also the oldest composer whose tunes are available
	1620–1688	Telugu	500	Bhadradri	Composed devotional songs
Narayana Teertha or Tallavajjhala Govinda Sastry	1650–1745	Telugu, Sanskrit	200	Vara Naaraayana Teertha	Composed Krishna leelaa Tarangini
	1650–1725	Tamil
	1680–1750	Telugu	220	Venugopalu
	17th century	Telugu, Sanskrit			Composed mainly geetams, many of which have since been lost
	1682–1755	Kannada	25,000	Vijaya Vittala	Composed Dasara Padas in native metrical forms such as Suladi and Ugabhoga
	1700–1765	Tamil, Sanskrit	600		Composed in complex talas like Sankeerna Matyam and Misra Ata. Also an early composer of Navavarana kritis. He was the pioneer of the Madhyama Kala Prayoga. Had knowledge of ancient Tamil tags system too. His Sapta Ratnas were the precursors to Thyagaraja's pancharatnas. His kritis often used complicated madhyamakala systems.
	1711–1788	Tamil	320
	1717–1787	Tamil	42
	1722–1762	Kannada	10,000	Gopala Vittala	Composed Dasara Padas in native metrical forms such as Suladi and Ugabhoga
	early 18th century	Telugu			Composed the immortal Viriboni bhairavi ata tala varnam
	18th century	Sanskrit	95
	1728–1809	Kannada	260	Jagannatha Vittala	Composed Dasara Padas, and the Kavya poems Harikathamritasara in the native shatpadi and Tattva suvvali in the native tripadi meters
	1730–1840	Kannada & Telugu	172	Amaranareyana	Composed 20 Kannada Keerthanam and 152 Telugu Padas, and the Kavya poems on various gods
Ramaswami Dikshitar	1735–1817	Telugu, Sanskrit		Thyageshwara	Composed many varnams, padams, and kirtanas; popularly considered the inventor of Hamsadwhani

Trinity-Age composers (born in 18th century)

These composers lived during the time of the Trinity and there are recorded instances of their interaction with the Trinity.

	Years	Languages	Signature(Insignia)	Approx. Number of Compositions	Other Info
	1762–1827	Telugu, Sanskrit	Shyama Krishna	400	Eldest of the trinity. He came from a family of priests at the Bangaru Kamakshi temple in Thanjavur, he composed on many devi temples in the region. He is famous for his use of chitta swara sahityam and complicated talams, as well as modernizing Ananda Bhairavi raga
Thyagaraja Swami	1767–1847	Telugu, Sanskrit	Thyagaraja	24000 of which only 700 are available today	Most famous of the trinity, composed many kritis on lord Rama, and also a few group kritis at temples for Shiva and Parvati. He composed the famous ghanaraga pancharatna kritis, and was famous for the use of ragas such as Kharaharapriya and Ritigowla.
	1775–1835	Sanskrit	Guruguha	400	Youngest of the trinity, famous for his use of madhyamakala sahityams, raga mudra, and Sanskrit rhyming. He composed multiple group kritis.
	1782–1856	Malayalam, Sanskrit	Padmanabha	40
	1790–1854	Tamil	Muthu Kumara	85
	1798–1852	Tamil	Vedapura
	1801–1856	Telugu, Tamil, Sanskrit
	1810–1896	Tamil	Kavi Kunjaran	200
Cheyyur Chengalvaraya Sastri	1810–1900	Sanskrit, Telugu	Chengalvarayadasa	1000
	1813–1846		Padmanabha, Sarasinabha, etc.	300+

19th-century composers

	Years	Languages	Approx. Number of Compositions	Signature(Insignia)	Other Info
	1882–1921	Tamil	230
Annamalai Reddiyar	1865–1891	Tamil	40
Anai Ayya brothers	19th century	Telugu, Tamil	20	Umadasa
Dharmapuri Subbarayar	19th century	Telugu	50	Dharmapuri	Composed many javalis
Ennappadam Venkatarama Bhagavatar	1880–1961			Venkataramana	^[1]
Gopalakrishna Bharathi	1811–1896	Tamil	395	Balakrishnan
Koteeswara Iyer	1870–1940	Tamil, Sanskrit	200	Kavikunjaradasan	Composed in all 72 Melakarta raagas
Krishnarajendra Wodeyar III	1799–1868	Sanskrit
Jayachamaraja Wodeyar	1919–1974	Sanskrit	70	Srividya
Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer	1844–1893	Sanskrit, Tamil	100	Guhadasa	Composed 72-Melakarta raaga maalika
Manambuchavadi Venkatasubbayyar	19th century	Telugu, Tamil	50	Venkatesa	Cousin and disciple of Thyagaraja
Mayuram Viswanatha Sastri	1893–1958	Tamil, Sanskrit	160	Vishwam, Vedapuri
Muthiah Bhagavatar	1877–1945	Tamil, Kannada Sanskrit	390	Harikesha	Composed many famous songs, including a set of 108 songs on goddess Chamundeshwari at the behest of the kings of Mysore
Mysore Sadasiva Rao	b. 1790	Telugu, Sanskrit	100	Sadashiva
Mysore Vasudevacharya	1865–1961	Telugu, Sanskrit	250	Vasudeva
Neelakanta Sivan	1839–1900	Tamil	300	Nilakantha
Pallavi Seshayyar	1842–1905	Telugu	75	Shesha
Papanasam Sivan	1890–1973	Tamil	535	Ramadasan
Patnam Subramania Iyer	1845–1902	Telugu	100	Venkatesha
Pattabhiramayya	c. 1863	Tamil			Composed javalis
Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar	1860–1919	Telugu	100	Srinivasa	Composed varnams,javalis and krithis including the famous mohanam raga varnam ninnu kori.
Shuddhananda Bharati	1897–1990	Tamil, Sanskrit	1090
Subbarama Dikshitar	1839–1906	Telugu	50		Grandson of Baluswami Dikshitar, younger brother of Muthuswami Dikshitar. Author of the important Telugu musical treatise Sangeetha sampradaya pradarshini
Subbaraya Sastri	1803–1862	Telugu	12	Kumara	Son of Syama Sastri
	1845–1917	Telugu	80	Venugopala	Son of Veena Kuppayya
	1798–1860	Telugu	100	Gopaladasa	Disciple of Thyagaraja
Ajjada Adibhatla Narayana Dasu	1864–1945	Telugu	100		Composed in all 72 melakarthas and a geetha-malika in 90 ragas in manjari meter called Dasha Vidha Raga Navati Kusuma Manjari; also composed in rare talams like Sankeerna chapu

Modern-age composers (born in 20th century and beyond)

	Years	Languages	Approx. Number of Compositions	Signature(Insignia)	Other Info
	1910–1965	Telugu, Sanskrit, Tamil	250	None	Did not use a mudra; Ranjani Niranjani, Saraswati Namostute, and Sri Chakra Raja Nilaye are popular compositions.
	1917–1989		600	None	Did not use a mudra; Her songs have been set to tune by leading Carnatic musicians.
	1923–1984	Telugu, Sanskrit, Tamil, Malayalam	300	varadasa	Composed in all popular ragas; Used signature "Varada dasa"; Disciple of Tiger Varadachariar
Kalyani Varadarajan	1923–2003	Telugu, Sanskrit, Tamil	1000 +	kalyani	Composed in all 72 Melakarta raagas; Used signature "Kalyani"Composed songs on many deities, mainly Sholinganallur Narasimhar, Sholinganallur Anjaneyar, Thayars, and most all Devis.
K. Ramaraj	1936-2009	Telugu, Tamil, Sanskrit	200+	ragamudra	Did not use a composer mudra; Vaggeyakkara who composed both the lyrics and the tune; specialised in less popular and vivaadhi ragas
	1930–2016	Telugu, Kannada, Sanskrit, Tamil	400	murali	Composed in all 72 Melakarta raagas; Used signature "Muraligana"; Created several ragas, with 4 notes and 3 notes; Invented a new Tala system; Disciple of Parupalli Ramakrishnayya Pantulu, a direct descendant of the shishya parampara (lineage of disciples) of Tyagaraja.
	1930–2013	Telugu, Sanskrit, Tamil	100	None	His sparkling thillana are especially popular and a staple of Carnatic music concerts.
Mahesh Mahadev	present	Sanskrit, Kannada		Sri Skanda	Created many new ragas ^[2] and composed kritis, varnams and devaranama ^[3] ^[4] ^[5]
Mysore Manjunath	present	Instrumental			Manjunath has created many New ragas including Yaduveera Manohari, Bharatha.^[6]

Other composers

• Rallapalli Anantha Krishna Sharma (1893–1979)^[7]
• N. S. Ramachandran
• Shishunala Sharif
• Madurai N. Krishnan

Other composers in Mysore Kingdom

See also: Musicians of Mysore Kingdom.

• Veene Sheshanna (1852–1926)
• Rallapalli Anantha Krishna Sharma (1893–1979)
• Mysore T. Chowdiah (1894–1967)
• Jayachamaraja Wodeyar (1919–1974)
• Tiger Varadachariar (1876–1950)

Other composers—Bhakti Saints

In addition to the above composers, various Bhakti saints of medieval India also composed devotional hymns, verses and songs. First six composer used ancient Tamil music [pannicai] which later evolved to the Carnatic musical tradition over the centuries.

• Karaikkal Ammeiyar (7th century)
• Thirunavukkarasar (7th century)
• Thirugnana Sambanthar (7th century)
• Sundaramurti (7th century)
• Andal (9th century)
• Manikkavasagar (10th century)
• Madhwacharya (12th century)
• Padmanabha Tirtha (12th century)
• Allama Prabhu (12th century)
• Muthu Thandavar (14th century)
• Sripadaraja (14th century)
• Vyasatirtha (1460–1539)
• Vadirajatirtha (1480–1600)
• Narayana Teertha (1580–1660)
• Kanakadasa (1509–1609)
• Raghavendra Swami (1595–1671)
• Vijaya Dasa (1682–1755)

See also

• List of composers who created ragas
• List of Carnatic instrumentalists

External links

• http://www.thehindu.com/arts/music/article2618959.ece#.Tr5zbWkGd-A.email
• https://web.archive.org/web/20151225101816/http://saaranimusic.org/vaggeya/vaggeyakarulu.php

Notes and References

1. News: Music — different perspectives. The Hindu . 2 January 2009. 21 April 2018. www.thehindu.com.
2. News: Mary . S. B. Vijaya . 2021-08-05 . Mahesh Mahadev's experiments with ragas . en-IN . The Hindu . 2023-01-20 . 0971-751X.
3. Web site: Pinto . Arun . 2023-01-19 . Sri Tyagaraja - a New Raga in Carnatic Music by Mahesh Mahadev . 2023-01-20 . News Karnataka . en-US.
4. Web site: 2021-08-10 . Bengaluru composer creating new ragas . 2023-01-20 . Deccan Herald . en.
5. News: Balachandran . Logesh . Mahesh Mahadav and Priyadarshini salute Saint Tyagaraja with a new raga named after him . The Times of India . 2023-02-27 . 0971-8257.
6. Web site: p. shilpa. 2016-06-26. 'Yaduveer raga' for Mysuru royal wedding. 2020-09-05. Deccan Chronicle. en.
7. Web site: rallapallisharma. sites.google.com. 21 April 2018.