Veena Kuppayyar

Veena Kuppayyar (1798–1860) was an exponent of Veena and a composer of Carnatic music. He was a student of the famous composer Tyagaraja. Kuppayar composed his songs in Telugu language and has left behind a number of popular kritis.

Early life

Veena Kuppayya was born in a Telugu Brahmin family in Tiruvottiyur, near Chennai. His father Sambamoorti Sastri was a famous vocalist as well as a veena player. Kuppayyar had his initial training from his father. Later he continued his musical training under Tyagaraja and learnt the art of music composition from him. Kuppayyar later moved to Chennai and sought the patronage of the local ruler Kovur Sundara Mudaliar. Kuppayyar trained a lot of disciples, who carried forward the legacy of Tyagaraja, helping to spread his krithis. Veena Kuppayar was a talented veena player. He also learnt the violin, a new instrument to Carnatic Music at that time. He composed many varnams and krithis in particular. The most famous varnam was Sami Ninne in Shankarabharanam. When he was in his height of composing, he received the title of Asthana Vidwan. His mudra was Gopaaladaasa, in honour of his personal deity.

Compositions

Composition Raga Tala Type Language
koniyADina nA pai kOpamu sEyanEra gAdu Kambhoji Adi Kriti Telugu
sAmi ninnE kOri Sankarabharanam Adi Tana Varnam Telugu
vinAyakA ninu vinA brOcutaku vErevaru rA Hamsadhwani Adi Kriti Telugu
ninnukOri yunnAnUrA Mohanam Adi Varnam Telugu

References & Audio Links

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