Sixth Centennial of Sri Tallapaka Annamacharya

May 19, 2008

SarvadhAri ,VaisAka PoorNima

May 19, 2008

Sixth Centennial of Sri Tallapaka Annamacharya is being ceelbrated all over the world .

Srimad Azahgiya Singar of Ahobila Matam has been invited as the chief Guest by TTD to preside over the celebrations at TaaLapAkkam , the birth place of Saint AnnamAcchArya .

The divine bard was a direct disciple of the Founding Jeeyar of Ahobila Mutt , Sri Adhi VaNN SaThakOpa Jeeyar , who stayed at Thirumala for number of years and performed many Kaimakaryms for Lord VenkatEsa .

We have prepared for this occasion a special audio CD covering the krithis composed by Saint AnnamayyA on His AchAryan , Sri Ahobila Amatam's Founding Jeeyar .

It has 7 songs in Telegu and one in Sanskrit , where the Saint expresses His indebrtness and reverence for his AchAryan . Please contact me if you would like to acquire a copy of this CD with a narration of the meanings of the krithis followed by their rendering by 19 year old artist from India .

Here is some more background on a two day celebrations of the 600th anniversary of the Saint in USA by SVASA , Riverside ,California :

" On May 19, 2008 it will be 600 years, per the Telugu calendar, since the Avatar of Tallapaka Annamacharya was born . Annamacharya is believed to be the re-incarnation of the sword of Sri Venkateswara, the deity of Seven Hills (Tirumala, India) where unbroken worship is being offered for over 13 centuries. A rhyming couplet of poems called "Dwipada" in Telugu written by Tallapaka Chinnanna, grandson of Annamacharya, enabled us to learn about Sri Tallapaka Annamacharya, his life and works. Annamacharya was born on Vaisakha Poornima in the year Sarwadhari (May 9, 1408) in Tallapaka, a remote village in Andhra Pradesh, and lived for 95 years until Phalguna Bahula Dwadasi (12th day after full moon) in the year Dhundhubhi (February 23, 1503). Sri Tallapaka Annamacharya, the contemporary to Bhakt Kabir of the 15th century, is the earliest known musician of South India to compose devotional songs called "Sankeerthanas" in praise of the Almighty Sri Venkateswara. Devotees worship Sri Venkateswara as the most powerful force . During his long and prolific career, Annamacharya composed and sang thirty two thousand (32,000) Sankeerthanas, 12 Satakas (sets of hundred verses), Ramayana in the form of Dwipada (rhyming couplets), Sankirtana Lakshanam, Sringara Manjari and Venkatachala Mahathyam. His works were in Telugu, Sanskrit and a few other languages of India. Annamacharya's Sankeerthanas are noted for the excellence of their lyrics and the beauty of their music.His Sankeerthanas pattern later shaped the keerthanas of the Carnatic music's trinity, viz., Thyagaraja, Deekshithaar, and Shyama Sasthry. The characteristic style and technique of the sahithya (lyrics) of Thyagaraja Krithis were first found in Annamacharya Sankeerthanas. Annamacharya's Sankirthanas were both Adhyathmic (spiritual) and Sringara (romantic) based on where he interpreted mystic experience in terms of both "Virakti" (disinclination) and "Rakti" (inclination) while "Bhakti" (devotion) was common to both.Annamacharya was not a mere musician but he was the combined force of a musician, poet, prophet, guru and a social reformer.He is believed to be the form of Sri Venkateswara's Nandaka (sword) and his Sankirtanas as Mantras (holy hymns) that are tools to eradicate social evils. Annamacharya's disciples wrote the Sankeerthanas on palm leaves while he was singing extemporized Sankeerthanas in a state of bliss. Later his son Tirumalacharya got them engraved on copper plates. But for reasons not known, most of these copper plates lay hidden in a rock built cell opposite to Hundi in the Tirumala temple unnoticed for over 400 years. In 1922, twenty five hundred copper plates, comprising of about 14000 Sankeerthanas and a few other works, were found in the rock built cell.Ever since the discovery of this lost treasure, Tirumala Tirupati Devastanams (TTD) and other organizations in India have been working hard to promote the Sankeerthanas of Annamacharya.Sri Venkateswra Annamacharya Society of America (SVASA), based in Riverside, California has been promoting the music, literature, and philosophy of Annamacharya in the United States for the past two decades. As part of its mission, SVASA is organizing the 600th Jayanthi (day of birth) Commemoration Festival of Sri Tallapaka Annamacharya as a 2-day event at the Hoover Middle School, Lakewood, CA during 17th & 18th of May 2008. The spiritual event is open to all those interested in the Sankeerthanas of Annamacharya. "

NamO SrI VenkatEsAya ,

V.Sadagopan

http://www.Sundarasimham.org

http://www.ahobilavalli.org

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