Saint Thyagaraja was the greatest among the music composers of South India and one of the musical prodigies of all times. He reached the pinnacle of fame for his works, which were full of melodic beauty and profound spirituality. To him music was Nadopasana, the easiest path to salvation. He led a simple life, totally immersed in devotion to Lord Rama. The life and history of Saint Thyagaraja has been of perennial interest to Harikatha performers and Sri Embar was one of the earliest Bhagavathars to perform a Harikatha for five days on the life of this great soul. Here is one of the most comprehensive live Harikathas encompassing the life of Sri Thyagaraja brought out in an ACD format.

Embar Vijayaraghavachariar was the son of Embar Srirangachariar, a distinguished Harikatha exponent of his times. Sri Embar became a ‘Double Sironmani’ in Vedanta and Sahithya. The distinctive features of Sri Embar’s performances included sound knowledge of Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and Hindi. He had the unique ability to establish rapport with his audiences and keep them glued to their seats. He had a sparkling sense of humor, which never detracted from the high intellectual level of his discourses. He had a fine power of story telling. His language was always marked by elegance and refined gracefulness. Sri Embar had a sound knowledge of music and was an excellent singer himself. For over 60 years, he enthralled audiences all over India and abroad with his Harikatha.

Sri Embar was an authority on the origin and evolution of Harikatha as an art form and his two articles on ‘the History of Harikatha’ and ‘Musical forms handled in Harikatha’ published in the Journal of the Music Academy, Madras, represent a treasure trove to musicologists and researchers. Sri Embar is a recipient of many awards and honors.

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