By Dr. Padmavathi Narasimhan
Tyagaraja Aradhana is held every year on the anniversary of the day the great saint achieved Samadhi in 1847, that is, on the Pushya Bahula Panchami day. Bangalore Nagarathnamma, an ardent devotee of Tyagaraja, considering that she owed her considerable wealth to the grace of Tyagaraja, dedicated her life’s earnings to preserving Tyagaraja’s legacy and perpetuating his memory. She constructed the temple at Thiruvayyaru and the consecration of the temple took place in 1926. And since 1941, the convention of singing Tyagaraja Pancharatna, selected by Harikeshanellur Muttiah Bhagavatar as being best suited for group singing, is performed year after year in memory of the great saint.
