Tallapaka Annamacharya
Annamacharya (1408 –1503) is a great Hindu saint and a poet, and has composed wonderful songs on Lord Venkateswara and his consort Ma Alamelumanga also called as Padmavathy Thayar. He is well versed in Carnatic music, and a great devotee of Lord Vishnu, and he is considered to be an avatar of Nandaka, Lord Vishnu’s sword.
Tallapaka Annamacharya was born in Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh, India. Along with him, his wife and his son were also experts in music and writing poems.
Annamayya is said to have composed many songs on Lord Venkateswara. He is the author of his musical work “Sankirthanalakshanamu”.
During his life, Annamacharya composed lot of sankirtanas, the famous among them are:-Dwipada, Sringaara Manjari, and Venkatachala Mahatmyam. His works were in Telugu, Sanskrit and a few other languages of India.
Annamacharya wrote the sankirtanas on palm leaves, and later his son Tirumalacharya got them engraved on copper plates. In 1922, many of his works are found opposite to the Hundi (donation box) of TTD Devasthanams. And Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams is preserving his famous compositions. Among Annamayya’s compositions, Brahmam Okate song became very popular among his devotees.
Tirumala Tirupati Devastanams (TTD) is working hard to promote and preserve the music and literature of Annamacharya.
He has also opposed the caste discrimination, and he mentions it in his sankeertanas,by telling that the relationship between God and human is the same irrespective of the caste.
Let us taste some of the delicious songs on Ma Alamelumanga, which was written by Sri Annamacharya, and let us fill up our soul with full of divine thoughts on Ma Alamelumanga.
1. Oh my worshipful Mother! You are my holy mother Ma Lakshmi Devi, who dwells in the Lotus Flower, and offers everlasting bliss to your devotees. Even the sages and saints cannot understand you fully, since you are considered as the “SUPREME HOLY MOTHER GODDESS”, I bow my head before you, and I offer my humble salutation to you.
2. Oh my worshipful Mother! You dwell in the heart of your lovely consort Lord Venkateswara, and you also decorate his body as a precious ornament, you are the holy GEM Kaustuba, you are the Sudarsana Chakra and the Sangu, and you are present in the entire body of Lord Venkateswara, I bow my head before you, and I offer my humble salutation to you.
3. Oh my worshipful Mother! Please remove all the negative thoughts from my mind, and let my mind concentrate only on you and your consort Lord Venkateswara. I am realising a great pleasure in thinking about you, praising you and offering lotus flowers at your holy feet. I think that your beloved Lord Venkateswara is waiting for you, and I don’t want to disturb you at this moment, please serve your consort sincerely with your sweet words,I bow my head before you, and I offer my humble salutation to you.
4. Oh my worshipful Mother! You are shining like the sparkling stars in the sky. With your pleasing smile, you are giving great comfort to your devotees, and making them as cheerful. You are the goddess of wealth, happiness and prosperity. You are the one, who removes the tears of your devotees and inculcates great courage, will-power and motivation on them, I bow my head before you, and I offer my humble salutation to you.
5. Oh my worshipful Mother! No one can separate Lord Venkateswara from you. You look like the freshly blossomed lotus flower, your heart is pure, you are the kind and a good natured worshipful goddess, and, you are melting the souls of your devotees through your beautiful appearance. You are the goddess of beauty, those who see your beautiful face, need not be interested to see any other thing in this world, I bow my head before you, and I offer my humble salutation to you.
6. Oh my worshipful Mother! You are always meditating on Lord Venkateswara, even without wasting a single moment, you are the precious couple, and your marriage with Venkateswara took place on an auspicious day, where all the celestial Devas and the sages were present. Oh my holy mother! I want to once again see your marriage with Lord Venkateswara, in order to see your wholesome divine beauty,I bow my head before you, and I offer my humble salutation to you.
7. Oh my worshipful Mother! I want to learn lot of good things from you, like, patience, love, compassion and affection. Those who have your darshan would be relieved from their sins and diseases, and they would lead a blessed life, I bow my head before you, and I offer my humble salutation to you.
8. Oh my worshipful Mother! Like a child which gets addicted with his mother, I also want to hug you, kiss you and I want to sit on your lap. Please give me an opportunity to get seated on your lap, in order to enjoy the divine pleasure, I bow my head before you, and I offer my humble salutation to you.
9. Oh my worshipful Mother! I want to permanently dwell at your lotus feet, and I want to serve you and Lord Venkateswara, since I hate this worldly attachments and bondages, which is highly perishable in nature, I bow my head before you, and I offer my humble salutation to you.
10. Oh my worshipful Mother! The people in the earth, are leading a sinful life covered with full of illusions. Please look at them at least once, and make them into pure and precious. Oh my holy mother, you are everything for me, and I would never forget you even for a single moment in my life. Please make me to dwell under your holy feet, and give me a chance to gently press your legs, since I am considering it as the great divine service offered to my holy mother, I bow my head before you, and I offer my humble salutation to you.
11. Oh my worshipful Mother! Even the planets, stars and the gods and goddesses are chanting your glories and the glories of Lord Venkateswara. You are containing magnificent powers, and you occupy in the souls of the noble people like saints and sages, and making them to utter your Mantra, I bow my head before you, and I offer my humble salutation to you.
12. Oh my worshipful Mother! I don’t want to take innumerable births in this difficult earth, at this present Kaliyuga. You are the one who is having sufficient powers to grant salvation to your devotees, I bow my head before you, and I offer my humble salutation to you.
“OM MA ALAMELUMANGAMMA NAMAHA”
WRITTEN BY
R.HARISHANKAR