Heritage

The composer of Colletpet

In this sequel to Colletpet  Tiger’s lair (see Article Tiger's Lair) Sriram provides proof of Colletpet’s claim to be regarded as a significant ‘sangeeta sthalam’. He discovered from the Gana Manjari, a compilation of the compositions of Veenai Krishnamacharya, the younger brother of Tiger Varadachariar, that most of his compositions are dedicated to this deity. Krishnamacharya’s mudra was ‘Padmapuri Varada’ or minor variants of that term. The book has 12 varnam-s and around 30 compositions, and almost all of them are in praise of either KalyanaVaradaraja or Rama who is enshrined in a sanctum in the same temple complex. Colletpet apparently was also referred to as Padmapuram by the local inhabitants and Krishnamacharya used the name in his songs. Through this article, Sriram corrects his earlier impression that Colletpet may not have been sanctified by a musical composition.

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