Haridasas and Carnatic music

The Haridaasas, the Vaishnava saints of Karnataka, are classified into the Vyaasakuta and Daasakuta. The Vyaasakuta were the pontifical saints known for their scholarship and exposition of Madhva's philosophy. The Daasakuta were the peripatetic saint disciples of the Vyaasakuta sanyasins. They were proficient singers and composers and used classical music and the Kannada language as a medium to propagate the teachings and philosophy of the Dvaita school. While Sripadaraya is sometimes credited with starting this musical movement, Purandaradaasa, a disciple of Vyaasasraaya, became renowned as Karnataka Sangita Pitaamaha.[1]

The devotees of Panduranga Vitthala of Pandharapur in the Varakari tradition traveled through Karnataka and composed and wrote almost entirely in Kannada. The Haridaasas had a seminal influence on Carnatic music. Later composers from Karnataka and outside, including the venerated 'Trinity' and musical treatises exhibit and acknowledge these influences. They laid the foundations of what is today called Karnataka or Carnatic music.[1]

  1. ^ a b R. Satyanarayana. "Haridasas and Karnataka music". MusicResearch.in. Retrieved 22 September 2007.