Tyagayya or Tyagaraja, the great singer and poet (c. 1800-1850) composed and sang his songs, and gathered around himself a band of disciples who have continued his tradition till the present day. His charming kritis and kirtanas are still sung all over the south. He was a creative musical genius and his compositions mark a definite advance in south Indian musical development. One who remembers him describes him as 'a tall lean man with a brown complexion.' He was revered as a perfectly sincere and selfless man. His father was Rama Brahman, who was also a musical composer of some repute. The rishi Narada is said to have appeared to Tyagaraja and to have presented him with a rare musical treatise entitled Svararnava. His teacher was Sunthi Venkataraman. Music and religion were woven together in his life, and his songs were the outpourings of a real devotion. They were said to have been composed on Ekadasl days, when he fasted all day long. Tyagaraja introduced Sangatis — peculiar variations upon a particular melody — into his music. Each variation, while retaining the important features of the original melody, becomes more and more elaborate. Originality was the distinguishing mark of all his compositions.
Govinda Marar was another well-known southern musician of this period. He lived in Travancore, a native state with a long and honourable musical tradition. Govinda Marar was known as Shatkala Govinda, because he could sing a piece in sextuple time. A story is related of his meeting with Tyagaraja. A number of musicians including himself were seated with the master when a pallavi (chorus) in the raga pantuvarali was sung round by all. Govinda, using his own peculiar tambur which had seven strings, sang it in shatkala (sextuple) accelerated time. Tyagaraja was so astonished that he gave him the name of Govindaswami and composed a song in his honour which began, 'There are many great men in the world and I respect them all.'
MuttuswamI Dikshita and Syama Sastrl were both contemporaries of Tyagaraja. The former belonged to the Tinnevelly District and invented a new system of Indian notation which makes use of the diflferent vowel syllables
