1. Vishnu Digambar Paluskar
A great musician, a good teacher and a pioneer in getting the respect for music that it deserved, Paluskar is most well-known for having opened the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya. His Ram dhun-Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram was sung at the head of the Dandi March in 1930, and it was a favorite with Gandhi whose prayer meetings always included a rendering of it.
2.Swami Haridas
Deeply learned and widely acquainted with the music of his days, Swami Haridas of the sixteenth century was a strong force in the spread of the dhrupad. He belonged to the tradition of madhura bhakti”adoration expressed in erotic terms. He began the Haridasi School of mysticism.
3. Tansen
Ramtanu or Tanna Misra, the boy who came to be known as Tansen later, was from childhood interested and proficient in music. The first real patron of the singer was Raja Ramchandra Baghela of Rewa who conferred the honorific title ‘Tansen’ on him. Being subordinate to Emperor Akbar, the Raja had to agree to Akbar’s request that Tansen be sent to the Imperial Court at Agra. Tansen thus became one of the ‘nine gems’ at Akbar’s courts in 1562. His compositions and style of singing were in the dhrupad tradition. He is supposed to have authored Sangeet Sar, Raga Mata and Sri Ganesha Stotra. He is traditionally considered to have created the new ragas bearing the prefix Miyan-Miyan ki Miyan ki Todi, Miyan ki Malhar. Darbari Kanada is also attributed to him. The musical tradition created by Tansen has come to be known by the name of Senia gharana. Legend has it that Tansen was blessed by Hazrat Mohammad Ghouse with whom he lived on being orphaned at a young age.
4. Purandaradasa
Sreenivasa Nayak born in what is now south Maharashtra in 1484 was a miser according to legend till enlightenment came under the tutelage of Vyasaraya, a guru of Vijayanagara emperors. Becoming a member of the order of Haridasas, he turned into Purandaradasa. A prolific composer, he standardised teaching methods in music. He postulated Maya Malavagaula as the standard scale for teaching; even today this is the first raga to be taught to beginners in the Karnataka music style. He also devised graded lessons of basic scale exercises (svaravali), exercises with paired notes (janta varisai), and note patterns (alankara) etc. for training students. He is for obvious reasons called Adi Guru, and the father of Karnataka music.
5. Kshetrajna
Born probably in the 17th century in Andhra, Varadayya or Kshetrajna composed padams of great beauty marked by strikingly direct language and simple lyricism. Tie songs express the love of Kshetrajna himself (as a woman) for the lover, Muvva Gopala (also Kshetrajna’s signature) or Lord Krishna.
6. Muthuswami Dikshitar
Highly proficient in music from his very childhood, Muthuswami was born in Thiruvarur in Thanjavur and was trained mainly by his father. His well-known compositions are his Tirtuttani kritts, Navavarana Navavarana Krittis and Navagraha kritts. He has composed certain pieces in uncommon ragas such as Saranga Nata, Kumudakrtya and Amritavarshini which are references for use of these ragas. He innovated musical techniques with certain complex use of varying tempo. Some of his pioneering innovations were: introduction of the violin (for long considered a Western Instrument) into the Karnataka music ensemble; incorporating in his compositions melodic phrases suggestive of Hindustani musical progressions: some of the rages he employs like Brindavani Saranga and Hamir Kalyani show clear indication of his having imbibed the spirit of the North; and the influence of the style and sound of the veena player in his compositions”the gamakas, the range of pitch, the leaps in all the octaves. He is considered one the ‘trinity’ in Karnataka music, the other two being Thyagaraja and Shyama Shastri.
7. Swati Tirunal Rama Varna
Was a nineteenth century Maharaja of Travancore, well-versed in nearly thirteen languages in many of which he was able to write poems. His well-known works include Kuchelopakhyanam and Padmonabha Satakam. He composed varnams, kritis padams and javalts. What is more, his genius extended to Hindustani music, for he composed dhrupads, Khayals and thumris, too. His signature was ‘Padmanabha’ or some variation of this name. Vadivelu, who, with the help of his guru, Muthuswami Dikshitar, had popularized the violin in Karnataka music, was at his court.
