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Annamacharya was a Telugu poet and musician of 15th century. He was born on Vaisakha Poornima in the year on May 9, 1408 AD at Tallapaka, a village in the Cuddapah district of present day Andhra Pradesh. He belonged to a Smartba Brahmin family. He was later formally inducted into Vaishnavism by one Ghana Vishnu. The full name of Annamacharya is Sri Tallapaka Annamacharya. He was also known as Annamayya.
Annamacharya was regarded as the Telugu pada kavita pitaamaha (Grand old man of simple poetry). He was a devoted to Lord Venkateswara of Tiruptai, Andhra Pradesh. He composed more than 32, 000 Carnatic krithis in the Carnatic music tradition. These were hidden for centuries in the Sri Venkateswara temple at Tirumala and were discovered in the engraved from on copper plates. But many of them are lost now.
The compositions of Annamacharya were like floral offerings to God. He used to praise Lord Venkateswara in his poems by expressing his love for him. He also used to argue, quarrel and confess his failures and at the end surrender to Venkateswara. The songs composed by Annamacharya can be divided into two categories namely Adhyaatama and Sringaara samkirtanaas. He was also the pioneer of the Bhajana tradition. He architected a major compositional form, the kirtana with its threefold division of pallavi ,anupallavi and charanas. Annamacharya's wife Thimmakka was also a poet and had written Subhadra Kalyana and considered as the first Telugu women poet.
In his later life, Annamacharya was influenced by the founder of the Sri Ahobila Math, Sri Adivan Sathakopa. He has paid his homage to his spiritual teacher Adivan in his composition Chududu in Bhairavi. Many important facts about Annamacharya's life and works were gathered from the Annatnacbarya Cbaritramu a biography written in Telugu, by his grandson Chinna Tiruvengalanatha. Now, few of his works recovered include almost 12000 sankirtanas classified as Adbyatma(with a spiritual import)sriti/fara(those that portray divine love), a Satakam (hundred verses) on Lord Venkates-vara, Srinjjara Manjari and the Venkatacbala Mahatmyam in Sanskrit. The original musical piece, the Sankirtana Lakshanam (in Sanskrit) by Annamacharya was lost. But the Telugu translation of it by his grandson Chinna Tirumalacharya is still available.
Annamacharya was also in close association with the worships performed at the Sri Venkatesvara temple. Once he carried out the Kalyanotsava (marriage ceremony) of the goddess Alarmel-manga with the Lord, assuming the position of the bride's father.
The composition list of Annamacharya has songs on almost every festival associated with the Tirumala temple. He has also donated land to the temple. Now in present days, the Lord of the temple wakes up everyday to a song of Annamacharya and during the Ekanta seva the popular lullaby of Annamacharya Jo Achyutananda is sung.
The life and works of Annamacharya influenced even the modern day filmmakers.
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