Introduction to Purandaradasa
Some men are so beyond the ordinary, that we have no choice but to recognize them as avatars of the divine. In this case, Sri Purandaradasa, a Kannada poet who lived in the 15th century Vijayanagara Empire - he who is known as Narada incarnate and rightfully so.
Where to start? How to convey the greatness of the man who single handedly systemized all of classical Carnatic music while also roaming the countryside singing folk songs in Kannada? The man who wrote 4,75,000 compositions, though only a 1000 remain today. A man whose Bhakthi to Narayana is so complete that he refuses to refer to Vittala as anything other than his own?
Since I don't have the words to do that, I am going to show you three songs from the master.
1. Venkatachala Nilayam
This one is a classic, straight forward Sanskrit composition - this version sung by Vijay Prakash. It's a great example of simple catchy devotional krithi or song.
If you notice, the song ends with a reference to "Purandara Vittala", which is Purandaradasar's signature move. If you hear a song by him, it has to end with such a call out.
2. Chandrachooda
As must be obvious by now, Purandaradasa was a Vaishnavite of the highest order. So, this song may come as a bit of a surprise. And yet, it is just plain awesome.
Let us start with a rock-fusion version of this song, complete heavy metal beats. From the wonderful Shetty gang of Kannada Film Industry - the film Garuda Gamana Vrishaba Vahana (2021) brought to you by Raj B. Shetty.
Sadly, this cover is only a portion of the original song, though even the original is not too much longer. The song captures a trace of Shiva - in all his wild un-fettered glory - and this magic is not in the metal cover version, but in the original lyrics. Don't believe me? Now, listen to a standard classical rendition of this krithi:
No words. Simply no words.
3. Mullu Koneyamele
Now, for something completely different. You have heard 2 songs, both in Sanskrit. But, Purandaradasa was a true master of Kannada janapada or folk song as well.
Listen to this fantastic rendition of Mullu Koneyamele by Vasu Dixit:
It is nice, isn't? A peppy song with a rustic setup to it? Now, look at the lyrics. It is right there in the video caption. Take a moment to appreciate the silly nonsense that is going on, clearly chosen for a nice rhyming scheme. There is structure of 3, 2, 1 that is repeated. None of the comparisions make sense. What a fun little song.
Wrong!
Turns out, Purandaradasar doesn't joke around. This little song holds the wisdom of Vedanta in it, if you know what to look for. If you understand a bit of Kannada, with a bit of pausing you can go over this Upanyasam that explains all the deep meaning behind this one jaunty tune in 50 minutes:
It's a brilliant interpretation - that needs an entire blog post of discussion - so maybe I will do that some day.
4. Where to go from here?
This introduction hopefully conveyed the sheer bhakthi, technical mastery and musical prowess of Purandaradasar. Now, the real journey begins - for you and me.
This page: https://karnatik.com/co1004.shtml lists all of his known compositions - all 1094 of them. New age fusion artists like Vasu Dixit have done a commendable job in bringing many of his works to modern audiences. May our Purandara Vittala guide us from here!