| Venkataramana Bhagavathar | |
| Alias: | Wallajapet Venkataramana Bhagavathar |
| Birth Date: | 1781 2, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Ayyampettai, Thanjavur district[1] |
| Death Place: | Wallajapet, Ranipet district[2] |
| Occupation: | Carnatic composer |
Venkataramana Bhagavathar (1781–1874) was a direct disciple of Saint Thyagaraja[3] and a composer of Carnatic music.[4] [5] Bhagavathar composed his songs in Saurashtra language and has left behind a number of kritis.[6] [7]
Bhagavathar was born in 1781 to a Saurashtra Brahmin family in Ayyampettai in present-day Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu.[8] He was born to Nannusamy as a fifth child making him the grandson of Kuppaiyer who was a priest, belonging to Dadheecha gotra from Ariyalur in present-day Tiruchirappalli district.[9] Bhagavathar was a scholar, composed more than 150 keerthanas and is well versed in Sanskrit, Telugu, and Saurashtra. He was one of the prime disciples of Saint Tyagaraja. His son, Krishnaswamy Bhagavathar, was also a disciple of Tyagaraja. It was the father-son duo who preserved many of the keerthanas of Tyagaraja and passed them on to posterity. He is popularly known as Walajahpet Venkataramana Bhagavatar after he settled in Wallajapet, a small town in Vellore district.