Archive | Ramadasu (రామదాసు)

Kancherla Gopanna (Telugu: కంచెర్ల గోపన్న) (c 1620 – 1680 CE), popularly known as Bhadradri Ramadasu or Bhadrachala Ramadasu(Telugu: భద్రాచల రామదాసు), was a 17th century Indian devotee of Rama and a composer of Carnatic music.[1] He is one among the famous vaggeyakaras (same person being the writer and composer of a song) in the Telugu language, the others being Tyagaraja, Annamayya, Kshetryya. He lived in the village of Nelakondapalli near Bhadrachalam, Andhra Pradesh during the 17th century and is renowned for constructing a famous temple for Rama at Bhadrachalam. His devotional lyrics to Rama are famous in South Indian classical music as Ramadaasu Keertanalu. Even the doyen of South Indian classical music Saint Thyagaraja learned and later improved the style now considered standard krithi form of music composition.He also wrote Dasarathi Shatakamu (దాసరధీ శతకము) with a ‘makuTamu’ (మకుటము) ‘dASaradhee karuNA payOnidhI’ (దాశరధీ కరుణా పయోనిధీ!), a collection of nearly 108 poems dedicated to the son of Dasaratha (Lord Rama).