39 Facts About Purandara Dasa

Purandara Dasa was a composer, singer and one of the chief founding-proponents of Carnatic music.

Purandara Dasa was a wealthy merchant of gold, silver and other miscellaneous jewellery from Karnataka, who gave away all his material riches to become a Haridasa, a devotional singer who made the difficult Sanskrit tenets of Bhagavata Purana available to everyone in simple and melodious songs.

Purandara Dasa was one of the most important music scholars of medieval India.

Purandara Dasa is noted for composing Dasa Sahithya, as a Bhakti movement vocalist, and a music scholar.

Purandara Dasa's practice was emulated by his younger contemporary, Kanakadasa.

Purandara Dasa signed his compositions with the ankitanama "Purandara Vittala" and this same form of Lord Krishna is his aaradhya daiva or ishta murthi or worshippable deity.

Purandara Dasa's work was appreciated by many scholars of his time and the later scholars.

Inscriptional evidence suggests Purandara Dasa was born to a diamond merchant in a Kannada Deshastha Madhva Brahmin family, in 1470 CE in Purandara gada,18 kms far from pune present-day Maharashtra state.

In 2018, a five-member committee set up by the Government of Karnataka to ascertain the birthplace of Purandara Dasa has submitted its report asserting Tirthahalli as the likeliest candidate.

Purandara Dasa was the only son of the wealthy merchant Varadappa Nayaka and his wife Rukmini.

Purandara Dasa was named Srinivasa Nayaka, after the patron deity of Venkateswara Temple, Tirumala.

Purandara Dasa acquired proficiency in Kannada, Sanskrit, and sacred music through education.

Purandara Dasa lost his parents at age 20, thereby inheriting his father's business of gemstones and pawning.

Purandara Dasa prospered and became known as Navakoti Narayana.

Sambamoorthy, Srinivasa had his formal initiation at the hands of Vyasatirtha in 1525 when he was about 40 years old, with the name Purandara Dasa Daasa bestowed on him.

Purandara Dasa Daasa traveled extensively through the length and breadth of the Vijayanagara Empire and Pandharapur in Maharashtra composing and rendering soul-stirring songs in praise of God.

Purandara Dasa spent his last years in Hampi and sang songs in Krishnadevaraya's court.

Purandara Dasa systematized the method of teaching Carnatic music which is followed to the present day.

Purandara Dasa included comments on ordinary daily life and elements of colloquial language in his lyrics.

Purandara Dasa introduced folk ragas into the mainstream, setting his lyrics to ragas of his day so that even a common man could learn and sing them.

Purandara Dasa composed a number of lakshya and lakshana geetas, many of which are sung to this day.

Purandara Dasa's sooladis are regarded musical masterpieces and are the standard for raga lakshana.

Purandara Dasa was a vaggeyakara, a lakshanakara, and the founder of musical pedagogy.

Purandara Dasa tried to reform existing social practices and preached through devotional songs in the local Kannada language.

The philosophy of Purandara Dasa is harmonious with the concept of bhakti in Hinduism, broadly based on the Narada Bhakti Sutras and essentially synchronous with the pan-Indian Bhakti movement.

Purandara Dasa's keerthanas have simple lessons in this regard and implore men to lead the noble life of a Vaishnava.

Purandara Dasa fought the evils of casteism through his songs.

Purandara Dasa asks will the sweetness of a crooked sugarcane be crooked or will the milk of cows of many a colour be of many colours.

Purandara Dasa asked people to do their best in the world, to provide food and charity to the poor, help others and give up attachments.

Purandara Dasa was against the caste system, and believed true caste was based on character, not on birth.

Purandara Dasa distinctly described the quality of a virtuous women.

Purandara Dasa made some forceful expressions on untouchability, which was dogging society.

Purandara Dasa's strength comes perhaps from the support of his guru Vyasathirtha with the backing of powerful king Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagara himself.

Purandara Dasa's message is loud and clear rejecting untouchability in our society.

Purandara Dasa uses the name of Purandara Vittala to imply any God.

Singer Madras Lalithangi, and her illustrious daughter Padmavibushan, Sangeetha Kalanidhi M L Vasanthakumari have rendered yeoman service in propagating the compositions of Purandara Dasa; both were considered as authorities on Purandara Dasa.

Purandara Dasa composed the first lullaby songs in Carnatic music, such as Thoogire Rangana and Gummana Kareyadire, which led to the creation of many similar songs by others.

Purandara Dasa is said to have composed his well known song, 'Aadisidaleshoda jagadoddharana' on infant Sri Krishna, in raga Kapi, at the Aprameyaswamy temple in Doddamallur, Channapattana taluk, Karnataka.

Purandara Dasa's compositions are sung by established and upcoming artists on this day.