Bangalore Nagarathnamma was an Indian carnatic singer, cultural activist, scholar, and courtesan.
18 Facts About Bangalore Nagarathnamma
2.
Bangalore Nagarathnamma "was among the last practitioners of the devadasi tradition in India," and the first president of the Association of the Devadasis of Madras Presidency.
3.
Bangalore Nagarathnamma edited and published books on poetry and anthologies.
4.
Bangalore Nagarathnamma was born in 1878 to Puttu Lakshmi and Vakil Subba Rao, in Nanjangud.
5.
Bangalore Nagarathnamma educated Nagarathnamma in Sanskrit and music, and she was initiated in devadasi at the age of five.
6.
Bangalore Nagarathnamma was able to make her first stage appearance before a learned audience as a violinist and dancer at the age of 15.
7.
Bangalore Nagarathnamma became a singer early in her life and emerged as one of the best Carnatic singers of her time.
8.
Bangalore Nagarathnamma attained popularity in Bangalore not only in music but in dance.
9.
Bangalore Nagarathnamma was patronized by many other royal houses such as those of Travancore, Bobbili, and Vijayanagaram.
10.
Bangalore Nagarathnamma shifted to there as it was considered the "Heart of Carnatic music" and her musical talent was further developed.
11.
Bangalore Nagarathnamma had gone wondering who the Lord was; she saw Sathya Sai Baba there.
12.
Bangalore Nagarathnamma acquired the land where Thyagaraja's samadhi was located and built a larger edifice embodying a temple in his honour with her own financial resources.
13.
Bangalore Nagarathnamma arranged for an idol of sri Thyagaraja to be installed and consecrated by Brahmin priests and for prayers to be offered daily.
14.
The idea of one or more female artist singing and participating in the annual functions of the shrine was anathema to society, and the rival performing groups therefore prevented Bangalore Nagarathnamma from participating in the festival, even though she had paid for the renovation and she said that she would not sing or dance like a courtesan, but would only recite Harikatha in front of the deity.
15.
Bangalore Nagarathnamma took this as a challenge and started organizing a parallel music festival at the back of the saint's temple.
16.
Bangalore Nagarathnamma was a linguist who held religious discourses not only in Kannada, her mother tongue, but in other languages such as Telugu, Tamil and Sanskrit.
17.
Bangalore Nagarathnamma protested against this double standard and wondered "Does the question of propriety and embarrassment apply only in the case of women and not men".
18.
Bangalore Nagarathnamma died in 1952 at the age of 74; a memorial in her honour was erected next to Thyagaraja's samadhi.