 The bard of Cauvery-at-Tiruvaiyaru - 2 Sunset years:
As Thyagaraja got older he travelled to various temple towns such as Kancheepuram, Tiruvallikkeni, and other neighbouring places and worshipped the presiding deities and composed kritis on them. Once when he visited the temple at Tirupati, it was past the viewing time and hence the curtain was covering the sanctum sanctorum. The priests were also gone from the scene. Thyagaraja was upset that he could not view the Lord and so sang the song ‘tera tIyaga rAda?’ (gauLipantu) pleading for the curtain to part. To his surprise the curtain dropped. That prompted him to sing another kriti, ‘vEnkaTEsha ninu sEvimpanu padivEla’ (madyamAvati) praising the Lord that to worship Him one needs ten thousand eyes. Such an incident brought an invitation from a wealthy patron, Kovur Sundaresa Mudaliyar, to visit his hometown and compose kritis on the presiding deity in Kovur which the bard obliged avidly.
Despite his fame, Thyagaraja was very modest when he encountered other composers. Once Gopalakrishna Bharathi, who composed the well-known nandan caritram opera, visited Thyagaraja in Tiruvaiyaru. After listening to Thyagaraja’s kriti ‘manasu nilpa shakti lEka bOtE’ (AbhOgi) expressing the thought that it is futile to worship god offering flowers when the mind is not under control, he went to the river for a bath and composed a kriti on the spot in the same rAgam on Lord Nataraja of Cidambaram. He came back to Thyagaraja and sang the kriti ‘sabhApatikku vERu deivam’ (AbhOgi). Thyagaraja was very happy and appreciative of young Bharathi’s devotion and composing acumen.
 Life of renunciation:
After a few years Thyagaraja’s wife died and that brought him immense grief. He then went on more pilgrimages to places like Srirangam, Lalgudi, Nagapattinam, and Sholingapuram and composed kritis on the deities in the temples there. He did not want to live much longer and wanted to join Lord Rama and composed many more kritis such as ‘kshINamai tiruga’ (mukhAri), and ‘mOkshamu galadA bhuvilO’ (sAramati) pleading with Rama to relieve him from the misery of rebirth. Having received the orders from Lord Rama to renounce the worldly life, he made arrangements for the same according to standard ritual procedure. He then composed the kriti, ‘giripai nelakonna rAmuni’ (sahAnA) in which he indicates that Lord Rama told him that he would be taken in His fold in ten days. And so it was on the tenth day. On the day of pushyabahuLa pancami in January of the year 1847 CE, after the morning rituals and puja his soul departed from his body and the disciples present at that time reported seeing a light emanating from his head and joining the idol of Lord Rama. As per prescribed rituals his body was taken and buried on the banks of the river Kaveri which was very sacred for him. Ever since then, on bahuLapancami day his disciples went to that spot, did pujas, sang his kritis, and remembered him with respect. That tradition continues still.
His legacy:
 Saint Thyagaraja lived in the world of music and devotion to Lord Rama. He is credited with having composed several thousands of kritis although only about 700 are currently available. Most of his kritis are in Telugu and some are in Sanskrit. Besides hundreds of surviving kritis, his other compositions include two operas, ‘Prahalada Bhakti vijayam’, and ‘Nauka caritram’, and several keertanas. His pancaratna (five gems) kritis in the rAgams nATTai, gauLai, Arabhi, varALi, and Sri rAgam are held in great reverence by Carnatic musicians and composers alike. They are recited in commemorative functions celebrating the saint’s attainment of
samAdi.
 It is unfortunate that his only daughter had only one male offspring named Thyagaraja, who did not leave any progeny at his premature death. An institution thus came to an end without further propagation. However, despite the lack of familial posterity, Thyagaraja did stand out like a huge banyan tree which sheltered so many disciples and music composers who continued his tradition. From Tiruvarur to Tiruvaiyaru it was one memorable migration for a unique composer. His treasure trove of kritis is still cherished by musicians and connoisseurs alike.
 We have mentioned a few kritis of Thyagaraja as they were relevant to certain incidents in his life. By no means they are the only ones that are important. It is really difficult to name the top ten kritis of Thyagaraja. Many websites list the available kritis of Thyagaraja. One such website is:
http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/Strasse/5926/thyagarajk.htm
(Concluded)
Sethuraman Subramanian
subramaniansethu@hotmail.com
Postscript: As this article is being written, the ancestral house of Thyagaraja is being demolished (to the dismay of a lot of music aficionados) to make way for a memorial.
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