Annamacharya

Tallapaka Annamacharya (; 9 May 1408 – 23 February 1503), also popularly known as Annamayya, was a Telugu musician, composer, and Hindu saint. He is the earliest known Indian musician to compose songs called ''saṁkīrtanas.'' His devotional ''saṁkīrtanas'' were in the praise of Venkateswara, a form of Vishnu.

Annamayya is said to have composed as many as 32,000 ''saṁkīrtanas'' in the praise of Venkateswara, of which only about 12,000 are available today. He wrote the most ''kīrtanas'' in the praise of Lord Vishnu of all time. The musical form of the ''kīrtana'' songs that he composed, which are still popular among Carnatic music concert artists, have strongly influenced the structure of Carnatic music compositions. His compositions are classified as Adhyatma (spiritual) and Sringara (romantic). Annamacharya is remembered for his saintly life, as one of the greatest musicians and is honoured as a great devotee of Vishnu by devotees and saintly singers. He was one of the first few who opposed the social stigma towards the untouchable castes in his era.

He is believed to have been the avatar of Nandaka, the sword of Vishnu. He is widely regarded as the (), which means the "grandfather of Telugu songwriting." Provided by Wikipedia