List of composers of Carnatic music, a subgenre of Indian classical music. Chronologically they can be grouped into 4 different Eras: Pre-Trinity Era, Trinity Era, Post Trinity Era and Modern Era. Composers are listed here based on this classification and their birth years are provided to the extent available.
Pre-Trinity Era composers (17th century and prior) These are early stage composers that created the rules and foundations of classical music. Allama Prabhu (12th century) Andal (9th century) Tirugnana sambandar (7th century)
Arunagirinathar (b.1480) Bhadraachala Raama daasu (1620–1688) Jayadeva, (12th Century) - Composed Gita Govinda Prathama Vaggeyakara(First poet-composer) of Carnatic and Hindustani music forms to compose art music (in contrast to traditional bhakti poems) involving ragas; he is praised for his contributions to dance and music by his contemporary and later musicologists in their musical treatises Kanakadasa (1509–1609) Karaikkal Ammeiyar (7th century) Kshetrayya (1600–1680) Madhwacharya (12th century) Manikkavasagar (10th century) Muthu Thandavar (1525–1625) Naraharitirtha (1250–1333) Narayana Teertha (1650–1725) Padmanabha Tirtha (12th century) Papanasa Mudaliar (1650–1725) Paidala Gurumurti Sastri (17th century) - Composed over 1000 geethams Purandaradasa (1484–1564) Raghavendra Swami (1595–1671) Sarangapani (1680–1750) Sripadaraya (1404–1502) Sundaramurti (7th century) Thirunavukkarasar (7th century) Tallapaka Annamacharya (1408–1503) Vadirajatirtha (1480–1600) Vijaya Dasa (1682–1755) Vyasatirtha (1460–1539)
Trinity Era Composers (18th Century) Composers of 18th Century started a new era in the history of Carnatic music with the introduction of new ragas, krithis and musical forms that are widely adopted and laid foundation for what we know today as Classical music. Trinity are the biggest contributors of this era even though there are a large number of musicians and composers that left their mark during this period. Arunachala Kavi (1711–1788) Ghanam Krishna Iyer (1790–1854) Gopala Dasa (1722–1762) Iraiyamman Tampi (1782–1856) Jagannatha Dasa (1728–1809) Kaiwara Sri Yogi Nareyana (1730–1840) Krishnarajendra Wodeyar III (1799–1868) Marimuttha Pillai (1717–1787) Muthuswami Dikshitar (1775–1835) Mysore Sadasiva Rao (b. 1790) Oottukkadu Venkata Kavi (1700–1765) Pacchimiriam Adiyappa (early 18th century) Sadasiva Brahmendra (18th century) Thyagaraja Swami (1767–1847) Anai Ayya brothers (1776–1857) Tiruvarur Ramaswami Pillai (1798–1852) Ramaswami Dikshitar (1735–1817) Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma (1813-1846) Syama Sastri (1762–1827)
Post-Trinity Era composers (19th century) Ajjada Adibhatla Narayana Dasu (1864–1945) Primary contribution is in the area of Hari katha. Also created several krithis as part of the hari kathas he authored Ambi Dikshitar (1863–1936) Propagated Muthuswami Dikshitar compositions and helped bring them into modern era Also used the mudra of guruguha for about 10 compositions we have available at this time Annamalai Reddiyar (1865–1891) Cheyyur Chengalvaraya Sastri (1810–1900) Chittor Subrahmanya Pillai (1898–1975) Dharmapuri Subbarayar Composed more than 50 Javalis Ennappadam Venkatarama Bhagavatar (1880–1961) Gopalakrishna Bharathi (1811–1896) Jayachamaraja Wodeyar (1919–1974) Kavi Kunjara Bharati (1810–1896) Koteeswara Iyer (1870–1940) Composed in all 72 melakarta raagas Kotthavaasal Venkatarama Ayyar (1810–1880) Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer (1844–1893) Composed Mela raga maalika Manambuchavadi Venkatasubbayyar Mayuram Viswanatha Sastri (1893–1958) Muthiah Bhagavatar (1877–1945) Mysore T. Chowdiah (1894–1967) Mysore Vasudevacharya (1865–1961) Neelakanta Sivan (1839–1900) Pallavi Seshayyar (1842–1905) Papanasam Sivan (1890–1973) Patnam Subramania Iyer (1845–1902) Pattabhiramayya (b. 1863) Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar (1860–1919) Rallapalli Anantha Krishna Sharma (1893–1979) Subbarama Dikshitar (1839–1906) Subbaraya Sastri (1803–1862) Son of Shyama Shastri and First generation disciple of Tyagaraja Mahakavi Subramanya Bharathiyar (1882–1921) Shuddhananda Bharati (1897–1990) Thanjavur Quartet (1801–1856) Tiger Varadachariar (1876–1950) Tiruvottriyur Tyagayya (1845–1917) Son of Veena Kuppayya Veena Kuppayya (1798–1860) First generation disciple of Tyagaraja Veene Sheshanna (1852–1926)
Modern Era composers (20th century and beyond) A. Kanyakumari Ambujam Krishna (1917–1989) Annavarapu Rama Swamy (b. 1926) G. N. Balasubramaniam (1910–1965) Kalyani Varadarajan (1923–2003) Composed in all 72 Melakarta ragas K. Ramaraj (1936-2009) Lalgudi Jayaraman (1930–2013) M.Balamuralikrishna (1930–2016) Composed in all 72 melakarta ragas and created several new ragas including those with fewer than 5 notes and 200+ compositions M. D. Ramanathan (1923–1984) Maharajapuram Santhanam (1928–1992) N. Ravikiran (b. 1967) Composed in all 35 Sulaadi talas N. S. Ramachandran (1908-1981) Nallan Chakravartula Krishnamacharyulu (1924–2006) Periyasami Thooran (1908-1987) Composed only lyrics. Music is set by a few contemporary musicians Samavedam Shanmukha Sarma (b. 1967) Composed only lyrics. Music is set by a few contemporary musicians Suguna Purushothaman (1941–2015) Composed navagraha krithis in Tamil T. V. Gopalakrishnan (b. 1932) T. R. Subramaniam (1929–2013) R. Ramachandran Nair (Thulasivanam - b. 1939) Composed only lyrics. Music is set by a few contemporary musicians Sundaranarayana (1938-2013) Composed only lyrics. Music is set by a few contemporary musicians
Pre-Trinity composers (born in 17th century or earlier) Composer Years Languages Approx. number of compositions Signature(Insignia) Other Info Naraharitirtha 1250? – 1333) Sanskrit Narahari Composed Dasara Padas Sripadaraya 1404–1502 Kannada, Sanskrit Ranga Vittala Composed Dasara Padas Tallapaka Annamacharya 1408–1503 Telugu, Sanskrit 36,000 compositions were composed, out of which around 12,000 are only available as of today Venkatachala, venkatagiri, venkatadhri, venkatesu Called as Telugu pada-kavita pitamaha; composed in themes srungara (love), adhyatma (bhakti) and philosophical in 100 ragas; also the author of the musical text Sankeertana Lakshana Vadirajatirtha 1480–1600) Kannada, Sanskrit hundreds Hayavadana Composed Dasara Padas in his Ramagadya, Vaikunthavarnane and Lakshmisobanehadu Arunagirinathar 1480– Tamil 760 Composed Tiruppugazh Purandara Dasa 1484–1564 Kannada, Sanskrit 475,000, of which only around 2000 have come down to us Purandara Vittala Set the Carnatic music in its present form; composed basic exercises for practice like sarali and janta varisai, and thus known as 'Karnataka Sangeetha Pithamaha', meaning the Grandfather of Carnatic music. Kanaka Dasa 1509–1609 Kannada 300 Adi Keshava Composed Dasara Padas in native metrical forms such as Suladi and Ugabhoga and wrote 5 classical Kavya epics poems in Shatpadi Muthu Thandavar 1525–1625 Tamil 165 Kshetrayya or Kshetrajna or Varadayya1600–1680 Telugu 100 Muvvagopala Composed immortal padams which are even popular today in Bharathanatyam & Kuchipudi. Also the oldest composer whose tunes are available Bhadraachala Raama daasu 1620–1688 Telugu 500 Bhadradri Composed devotional songs Narayana Teertha or Tallavajjhala Govinda Sastry 1650–1745 Telugu, Sanskrit 200 Vara Naaraayana Teertha Composed Krishna leelaa Tarangini Papanasa Mudaliar 1650–1725 Tamil Sarangapani 1680–1750 Telugu 220 Venugopalu Paidala Gurumurti Sastri 17th century Telugu, Sanskrit Composed mainly geetams, many of which have since been lost Vijaya Dasa 1682–1755 Kannada 25,000 Vijaya Vittala Composed Dasara Padas in native metrical forms such as Suladi and Ugabhoga Oottukkadu Venkata Kavi 1700–1765 Tamil, Sanskrit 600 Composed in complex talas like Sankeerna Matyam and Misra Ata. Also an early composer of Navavarana kritis. He was the pioneer of the Madhyama Kala Prayoga. Had knowledge of ancient Tamil tags system too. His Sapta Ratnas were the precursors to Thyagaraja's pancharatnas. His kritis often used complicated madhyamakala systems. Arunachala Kavi 1711–1788 Tamil 320 Marimutthu Pillai 1717–1787 Tamil 42 Gopala Dasa 1722–1762 Kannada 10,000 Gopala Vittala Composed Dasara Padas in native metrical forms such as Suladi and Ugabhoga Pacchimiriam Adiyappa early 18th century Telugu Composed the immortal Viriboni bhairavi ata tala varnam Sadasiva Brahmendra 18th century Sanskrit 95 Jagannatha Dasa 1728–1809 Kannada 260 Jagannatha Vittala Composed Dasara Padas, and the Kavya poems Harikathamritasara in the native shatpadi and Tattva suvvali in the native tripadi metersKaiwara Sri Yogi Nareyana 1730–1840 Kannada & Telugu172AmaranareyanaComposed 20 Kannada Keerthanam and 152 Telugu Padas, and the Kavya poems on various godsRamaswami Dikshitar1735–1817Telugu, SanskritThyageshwaraComposed many varnams, padams, and kirtanas; popularly considered the inventor of Hamsadwhani
Trinity-Age composers (born in 18th century) These composers lived during the time of the Trinity and there are recorded instances of their interaction with the Trinity.
Composer Years Languages Signature(Insignia) Approx. Number of Compositions Other Info Syama Sastri 1762–1827 Telugu, Sanskrit Shyama Krishna 400 Eldest of the trinity. He came from a family of priests at the Bangaru Kamakshi temple in Thanjavur, he composed on many devi temples in the region. He is famous for his use of chitta swara sahityam and complicated talams, as well as modernizing Ananda Bhairavi raga Thyagaraja Swami 1767–1847 Telugu, Sanskrit Thyagaraja 24000 of which only 700 are available today Most famous of the trinity, composed many kritis on lord Rama, and also a few group kritis at temples for Shiva and Parvati. He composed the famous ghanaraga pancharatna kritis, and was famous for the use of ragas such as Kharaharapriya and Ritigowla. Muthuswami Dikshitar 1775–1835 SanskritGuruguha 400 Youngest of the trinity, famous for his use of madhyamakala sahityams, raga mudra, and Sanskrit rhyming. He composed multiple group kritis. Iraiyamman Tampi 1782–1856 Malayalam, Sanskrit Padmanabha 40 Ghanam Krishna Iyer 1790–1854 Tamil Muthu Kumara 85 Tiruvarur Ramaswami Pillai 1798–1852 Tamil Vedapura Thanjavur Quartet 1801–1856 Telugu, Tamil, Sanskrit Kavi Kunjara Bharati 1810–1896 Tamil Kavi Kunjaran 200 Cheyyur Chengalvaraya Sastri1810–1900Sanskrit, TeluguChengalvarayadasa1000 Swathi Thirunal 1813–1846 Sanskrit, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu, Hindi, Braj Bhasha Padmanabha, Sarasinabha, etc. 300+
19th-century composers