With reference to cultural history of India, consider the following statements:
- 1.Most of the Tyagaraja Kritis are devotional songs in praise of Lord Krishna.
- 2.Tyagaraja created several new ragas.
- 3.Annamacharya and Tyagaraja are contemporaries.
- 4.Annamacharya kirtanas are devotional songs in praise of Lord Venkateshwara.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (b) 2 and 4 only
Tyagaraja created new ragas, and Annamacharya's kirtanas praise Lord Venkateswara of Tirumala, so 2 and 4 are correct. The two composers are separated by about three centuries.
- ✗ 1. UPSC's official key treats this statement as incorrect; we could not confirm the detail from an official source, so we do not explain it here.
- ✓ 2. The Ministry of Culture's CCRT notes that later composers like Tyagaraja invented many beautiful ragas, following the scheme of 72 melakartas.
- ✗ 3. Annamacharya belongs to the Tallapaka composers of the 15th century. Tyagaraja was one of the Musical Trinity born between 1750 and 1850, so they lived centuries apart.
- ✓ 4. Annamacharya of Tallapaka composed over thirty-two thousand devotional sankeerthanas on Lord Venkateswara of Tirumala, his family deity.
Remember · Tyagaraja: Trinity of Carnatic music, new ragas. Annamacharya (15th century, Tallapaka): sankeerthanas on Venkateswara of Tirumala.
Sources
- CCRT, Ministry of Culture: Carnatic Classical Music (Internet Archive copy) ↗ “later composers like Tyagaraja invented many a beautiful raga by following it. … The Talapakam composers of the 15th century were the first to compose kirtanas with the sections, pallavi, anupallavi and charanas.”
- District YSR (Kadapa), Government of Andhra Pradesh: Tallapaka ↗ “On Lord Venkateswara of Tirumala, his FAMILY DEITY he composed more than Thirty two thousand devotional hymns – Sankeerthanas.”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2018, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). ·