Dates 1600 to 1680 Genre Carnatic - Keertana Language Telugu   Profile   Compositions   Discography   Related Composers

Profile

Kshethragna was an important pre-trinity composer. He composed in the pravelent format of the time - Pada (or Padam) or Keertana that was also used by earlier composers like Shri Purandaradasa.

Not much is known about Kshetragna. He was born in a village called Muvva in Andhra Pradesh. His original name was Varadayya. He went from place to place composing and singing his Pada-s. Most of the Pada-s are composed with the pen name Muvva Gopala, in honor of his village diety.

More than four thousand compositions have been credited to him, but only a handful of them have survived. The theme of his compositions is his longing for the diety, Gopala (Krishna), much like the Ashtapadhi-s of Jayadeva. He seems to have used rare raaga-s in his compositions, though it is not clear what taala-s he used.

Compositions

• ramarama - bhairavi
• gaddari - kalyani
• emoradamma - kalyani
• yemandu namma - kedaragowla
• kontegadu - surati
• kuvalayaakshiro - gowlipantu

Related Composers

Teachers & Influences
Disciples & Followers
Similar Composers	Jayadeva, Annamacharya, Bhadrachala Ramadasa,
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