Kavi Kunjara Bharati

Kavi Kunjara Bharati (1810–1896) was a Tamil poet and a composer of Carnatic music. He was born in a family with long involvement in music and scholarship.

His ancestors belonged to Tirunelveli district. His parents lived in the village of Perungarai in Ramanathapuram district. It is said the whole village was a gift from Maharaja Ragunatha Sethupathi (1675-1670) to their family. His given name was Koteeswara Bharathi after his grand father with the same name. His father was Subramanya Bharathi. His father and grandfather were also well known musicians as well as his maternal grand father, Nandanur Nagabharathi. Father Subramanya Bharathi and grandfather Kotiswara Bharathi were also scholars in Tamil & Sanskrit. His parents, who were longing to have a child, prayed weekly at the Murugan temple in Kodumalur (near Perungarai) and the child was considered to be blessed by lord Muruga.

In his early boyhood he was taught Sanskrit and Tamil and thanks to his brilliance in poetry, language skills and music, he developed an intellectual relationship with the then famous poet Madurakavi Bharathiar. One could imagine fruitful discussions among the two in the presence of their families and Koteeswara Bharthi, at the early age of 12 started composing Kirtanams and prabandhams in the praise of his favourite gods Muruga, Meenalkshi Sundareswarar and Subrahmanya. When he was 18, he became critically ill and at this stage the legend says that the local deity appeared in his dreams and told him to compose songs in her praise in order to get well. The next day he found that he was feeling much stronger and full of verve. He then fulfilled the deity's wish and composed a prabhandham in the name of the deity and sang it in the temple.

His most famous work, the Opera "Azhahar Kuravanji", was composed in 1840. It was first sang in a zamindar's palace in Sivaganga and soon his fame spread all over the region . He was than invited by the king Gouri Vallabha of Sivaganga to present his works in the presence of the intellectual community in his palace which he did with brilliance. He was than given the title "Kavi Kunjaram" and was appointed as the "Asthana Vidwan" in his court. He was thus respected by the royal court of Sivaganga and he continued to be in the court of the later Sivaganga king "Chatrapathi Bodaguru". He is known to have composed "Vengai kummi" to commemorate the hunting prowess of the king after he killed a 16 foot tiger. The king was so pleased that he presented him with a village called "Kottangachi yendal" and was accompanied by royal presents and traveled in a royal palanquin to his village

He was later invited by the king of Ramnad to his court and was appointed as Asthana vidwan of Ramnad too. To fulfil the royal desire he created a collection called "Skaanda purana Kirtanai" on the mystery of lord Subramanya's avatar. He was about 55 by the time the book was released. He then lived a pious and respected life in his village. There are tales of him creating a "Venba" to provoke rainfall in his village and a prayer he composed to cure his buffalo. At the age of 86 he passed way surrounded by his loved ones and full of prayers and divine thoughts.

...
Wikipedia