Arunachala Kavi (1711 - 1779) was a Tamil

Tamil language

Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...

 poet and a composer of Carnatic music

Carnatic music

Carnatic music is a system of music commonly associated with the southern part of the Indian subcontinent, with its area roughly confined to four modern states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu...

. He was born in Tillaiyadi in Thanjavur District

Thanjavur District

Thanjavur District is one of the 32 districts of the state of Tamil Nadu, in southeastern India. Its headquarters is Thanjavur.-Geography:...

 in Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...

. The three Tamil composers Arunachala Kavi, Muthu Thandavar

Muthu Thandavar

Muthu Thandavar was composer of Carnatic music. He was an early architect of the present day Carnatic kriti format, which consists of the pallavi , anupallavi and charanam. He lived in the town of Sirkazhi in Tamil Nadu. His contributions to Carnatic music have been largely forgotten and not many...

 and Marimutthu Pillai

Marimutthu Pillai

Marimutthu Pillai was a composer of Carnatic music and along with Arunachala Kavi and Muthu Thandavar was one of the pioneering Tamil Trinity of Carnatic music. He was a contemporary of Arunachala Kavi....

 are considered the Tamil Trinity

Tamil Trinity

The Tamil Trinity commonly refers to the three Tamil composers of early Carnatic music. They were Muthu Thandavar , Arunachala Kavi and Marimutthu Pillai , and lived five decades before the Tiruvarur Trinity or Trinity of Carnatic Music...

, who contributed to the evolution of Carnatic music.

Compositions

Arunachala Kavi was fluent in Tamil, Telugu

Telugu language

Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...

 and Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

. He wrote Rama Natakam, a musical drama based on the Ramayana

Ramayana

The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...

. The music for this musical was composed by two of Arunachala Kavi's disciples, Kothandarama Iyer and Venkatarama Iyer. The songs contain many Tamil proverbs and sayings.

This musical drama was first performed at the Srirangam

Srirangam

Srirangam , Old name is Vellithirumutha gramam and Tamil name is Thiruvarangam , is an island and a part of the city of Tiruchirapalli , in South India....

 temple and within a short time it became very popular. Kavirayar was honoured by Maharaja Tulaja, the King of Tanjavur, and by several other patrons of that time. He also composed Seergazhi Sthala Puranam (sirkali), Seergazhi Kovai, Hanumar Pillai Tamil, Ajomukhi Natakam and a few Keertanas.

Some of his famous compositions still popular today are Yaro ivar yaro (Bhairavi

Bhairavi (ragam)

Bhairavi is a janya rāgam in Carnatic music . Though it is a sampoorna rāgam , it has two different dhaivathams in its scale, and hence is not classified as a melakarta rāgam .This is one of the ancient rāgams, said to have been prevalent about 1500 years ago...

), Kanden Kanden Sitayai (Vasanta), Ramanai Kannara Kandane (Mohanam

Mohanam

Mohanam is a rāgam in Carnatic music . It is an audava rāgam . It is a janya rāgam , as it does not have all the seven swaras .The equivalent of Mohanam in Hindustani music is Bhoop Mohanam is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is an audava rāgam (or...

).