It's the death anniversary of the Padakavitha Pithamahudu, and some history is
in order here. Of course, you've seen the Nagarjuna starrer, but we're not telling
you a lot from that, so don't worry!
Fondly called "Annama" by elders and "Annamayya" by his disciples and followers, Tallapaka Annamacharya wrote 32,000 sankeeratanas in a lifetime spent in praise of the Lord, of which only 16,000 are available now - the rest have been destroyed. The saint wrote all of his sankeeratanas on tataku patralu (tree leaves), and his son, grandson and disciples could, with great difficulty, rewrite only 16,000 of them on copper plates and safeguard them. These are now available at the Tirupathi Sri Venkateshwara temple, and the place that they are kept is known as Annamayya Bhandagaram.
Some research institutes are searching for the other 16,000 sankeertanas - a few researchers still believe that they are available and need to be traced. This appears so from the scriptures written by some poets of his time.
Annamayya is believed to have lived in the 15th century. His sankeertanas were enormously popular since, apart from being quite mellifluous, they were in colloquial language, so even laymen could understand and hum them. The saint left for his heavenly abode in 1503 AD.
Today is his vardhanthi, and S B G Krishna Murthy and family are presenting 11 Sankeertanas at the Hari Hara Kala Bhavan in his memory. The famous songs being rendered today include:
Gurustuti Sankeertana
Sri Anjaneya Sankeertana
Vishnu Sankeertana
Ramudu Raghupati Vijayambu Sankeertana
Krishna Sankeertana
Krishna Janma Sankeertana
Gopika Bhava Sankeertana
Lakshmi Nrusimha Sankeertana
Saranaagati Sankeertana, and
Manga Charana Sankeertana
Please contact S B G Krishna Murthy at 763-5904 for details.