Purandara Dasa: Life, Songs and Carnatic Music

Purandara Dasa (about 1484–1564) was a Kannada poet-saint of the Haridasa movement, honoured as the Karnataka Sangeeta Pitamaha, the father of Carnatic music. Born Srinivasa Nayaka, a wealthy merchant, he gave away his fortune, became a disciple of Vyasatirtha at Vijayanagara, and composed devotional songs to Vishnu signed "Purandara Vittala". The graded lessons he set are still the first ones Carnatic students learn.

Merchant to mendicant

Srinivasa Nayaka was the son of a rich merchant and became a wealthy dealer in jewels and money-lending himself. Tradition says he was a miser until an encounter with a poor Brahmin, and his wife Saraswati's gift of her nose-ring, changed him; the story is told in every Haridasa account but cannot be checked. In his late thirties he gave away his wealth and left with his family to live on alms and sing of God.

Where was he born?

Two places are claimed. An old tradition placed his birth at Purandaragad near Pune, linking the name "Purandara" to the fort. In 2018 a committee of scholars in Karnataka pointed instead to Kshemapura (now Keshavapura) in Tirthahalli taluk, Shivamogga district, and recommended further research. Both views are still held.

Disciple of Vyasatirtha

He went to Vijayanagara, then at its height under Krishnadevaraya and his successors, and became a disciple of Vyasatirtha, the leading Madhva teacher of the time, who gave him the name Purandara Dasa. With Kanaka Dasa and others he belonged to the Haridasas, "servants of Hari", who carried Madhva's devotional teaching to ordinary people in Kannada song. Vyasatirtha is said to have praised him as the greatest of the dasas.

His songs

Purandara Dasa's devaranamas (songs to God) praise Vishnu as Vittala of Pandharpur and in his other forms, teach right conduct, and mock hypocrisy and empty ritual in plain, witty Kannada. Tradition credits him with 475,000 songs; about a thousand survive. Many are sung in Carnatic concerts and bhajans, and some are known to Hindustani singers too.

The father of Carnatic music

He is credited with setting the order in which Carnatic music is taught: the raga Mayamalavagowla for beginners, then sarali varisai and other graded exercises, alankaras in the seven talas, and simple songs called pillari gitams. Teachers still follow this order. Later Carnatic composers, Tyagaraja among them, built on the repertoire he began.

Death and remembrance

Purandara Dasa died at Hampi in 1564, the year before the Battle of Talikota, and a mantapa there is associated with him. The Purandara Dasa Aradhana, the anniversary of his death on Pushya Amavasya, is kept each year with music, especially in Karnataka and at Hampi.

Frequently asked questions

Why is Purandara Dasa called the father of Carnatic music?

Because he set the graded lessons, from Mayamalavagowla exercises to pillari gitams, that Carnatic students still learn first.

Who was Purandara Dasa's guru?

Vyasatirtha, the Madhva teacher at the Vijayanagara court.

What was Purandara Dasa's real name?

Srinivasa Nayaka.

What is Purandara Dasa's mudra?

"Purandara Vittala", the name he signed at the end of his songs.

Where did Purandara Dasa die?

At Hampi, in 1564.

Where was Purandara Dasa born?

It is disputed: tradition said Purandaragad near Pune; a 2018 Karnataka committee pointed to Kshemapura in Tirthahalli taluk.

Sources

• Sahitya Akademi, Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature, entry "Purandaradasa".
• Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Purandaradasa".
• William J. Jackson, Vijayanagara Voices: Exploring South Indian History and Hindu Literature (Ashgate, 2005).

Last reviewed: 12 November 2026.

Related: Famous Hindus · Kanaka Dasa · Madhvacharya · Tyagaraja · Krishnadevaraya