In This Book The Author Translates The Songs Of Annamacharya, Purandaradasa And Kanakadasa, In An English That Is Sometimes Startlingly Contemporary And Colloquial, Capturing The Essence Of Bhakti As A Movement That Belonged To The People, And That Spoke The Language Of The Streets.

A book of contemporary translations of the ancient Hindu poet Purandaradasa.

Songs in Kannada, Sanskrit, Tamil, and Telugu; an alphabetical list with raga, tala, and name of the composer.

With more and more youngsters of India adapting to English for their routine activities, many lyrical gems of Indian poets of yester-years in vernacular languages have become obscure or even lost to the new generations. The present book fills in this gap. It presents English version of some of the most popular songs of Sant Purandara Dasa, originally composed in Kannada. Besides explaining devotional and philosophical aspects of these songs, it also analyzes the views of Sant Purandara Dasa on societal mores and his criticism of the social evils of the 15th century India.

Born in England on June 22, 1966, Sriram had his early schooling in Madras and then in Calcutta. His bachelors in engineering from the Delhi College of Engineering in 1987, was followed by a masters in business administration specializing in marketing and advertising from FMS, Delhi University. Sriram then moved on to a varied career in marketing and advertising before joining his family business in Chennai. Carnatic music has been a passion for Sriram since the age of six, when his grandmother began to teach him the basics, in the family puja room. This combined with a great interest in history, has led him to study the art form in depth with special reference to its great personalities. Since this book first appeared in print in 2004, Sriram has emerged as an engaging historian and chronicler of Chennai, and Carnatic Music. He conducts heritage walks, addresses audiences and is a columnist for city newspapers. Carnatic Summer was his first book and since then he has written eight more, on the arts, corporate history and personalities.

Tyāgarāa (1767-1847) is undoubtedly South India’s most celebrated singer-saint. This book attempts to deepen our understanding of Tyāgarāa’s life and music with fresh insights. It explores Tyāgarāa’s philosophy of music and provides excellent English translations of a hundred and sixty of his greatest lyrics. For the first time in Tyāgarāa scholarship, the saint’s life and works have been contextualized in a sociohistorical framework. The author provides an exhaustive sociological analysis of Tyāgarāa’s Thanjavur and establishes links between Tyāgarāa’s works and the troubled history of his time. He analyses the making of saints in different religions and draws parallels between legends of saints built over decades.

This book is a compendium of one hundred and eight popular Purandara Dasa Keertanas (songs) which are translated into English and written in a verse form. The transliteration in English of the actual songs is given on the left side while, corresponding translation in poetry form is on the right. This is followed by the significance and author's own interpretation of the song. The reasons for writing this book are multifold, including enhancing the access of the works of Purandara Dasa to the wider section of people. As many readers would know, these kritis, composed in Kannada (a regional language in the state of Karnataka in India) are sung in most concerts given in Carnatic Classical style of music. This book enables the artists to read the lyrics accurately, interpret, and understand their meanings as well. Although there are several people who have interpreted these lyrics, the author has tried to preserve the beauty of the diction as far as possible since she wanted the possibility of singing the transliterations as well, like the original form in the verses.

The Book The Concept Of Sangeet Sastras And Their Practice And Differences Through The Ages. The Study Dwells On The Composition Of The Trinity-Tyagraja, Samasastry And Diksitar. Has 6 Chapters, Conclusion And Appendices.