List of Carnatic composers


List of composers of Carnatic music, a subgenre of Indian classical music. Chronologically they can be grouped into 4 different Eras: Pre-Trinity Era, Trinity Era, Post Trinity Era and Modern Era. Composers are listed here based on this classification and their birth years are provided to the extent available.

Pre-Trinity Era composers (17th century and prior)

These are early stage composers that created the rules and foundations of classical music.
  1. Allama Prabhu
  2. Andal
  3. Tirugnana sambandar
  4. Annamayya
  5. Arunagirinathar
  6. Bhadraachala Raama daasu
  7. Jayadeva, - Composed Gita Govinda
  8. # Prathama Vaggeyakara of Carnatic and Hindustani music forms to compose art music involving ragas; he is praised for his contributions to dance and music by his contemporary and later musicologists in their musical treatises
  9. Kanakadasa
  10. Karaikkal Ammeiyar
  11. Kshetrayya
  12. Madhwacharya
  13. Manikkavasagar
  14. Muthu Thandavar
  15. Naraharitirtha
  16. Narayana Teertha
  17. Padmanabha Tirtha
  18. Papanasa Mudaliar
  19. Paidala Gurumurti Sastri - Composed over 1000 geethams
  20. Purandaradasa
  21. Raghavendra Swami
  22. Sarangapani
  23. Sripadaraya
  24. Sundaramurti
  25. Thirunavukkarasar
  26. Tallapaka Annamacharya
  27. Vadirajatirtha
  28. Vijaya Dasa
  29. Vyasatirtha

Trinity Era Composers (18th Century)

Composers of 18th Century started a new era in the history of Carnatic music with the introduction of new ragas, krithis and musical forms that are widely adopted and laid foundation for what we know today as Classical music. Trinity are the biggest contributors of this era even though there are a large number of musicians and composers that left their mark during this period.
  1. Arunachala Kavi
  2. Ghanam Krishna Iyer
  3. Gopala Dasa
  4. Iraiyamman Tampi
  5. Jagannatha Dasa
  6. Kaiwara Sri Yogi Nareyana
  7. Krishnarajendra Wodeyar III
  8. Marimuttha Pillai
  9. Muthuswami Dikshitar
  10. Mysore Sadasiva Rao
  11. Oottukkadu Venkata Kavi
  12. Pacchimiriam Adiyappa
  13. Sadasiva Brahmendra
  14. Thyagaraja Swami
  15. Anai Ayya brothers
  16. Tiruvarur Ramaswami Pillai
  17. Ramaswami Dikshitar
  18. Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma
  19. Syama Sastri

Post-Trinity Era composers (19th century)

  1. Ajjada Adibhatla Narayana Dasu
  2. # Primary contribution is in the area of Hari katha. Also created several krithis as part of the hari kathas he authored
  3. Ambi Dikshitar
  4. # Propagated Muthuswami Dikshitar compositions and helped bring them into modern era
  5. # Also used the mudra of guruguha for about 10 compositions we have available at this time
  6. Annamalai Reddiyar
  7. Cheyyur Chengalvaraya Sastri
  8. Chittor Subrahmanya Pillai
  9. Dharmapuri Subbarayar
  10. # Composed more than 50 Javalis
  11. Ennappadam Venkatarama Bhagavatar
  12. Gopalakrishna Bharathi
  13. Jayachamaraja Wodeyar
  14. Kavi Kunjara Bharati
  15. Koteeswara Iyer
  16. # Composed in all 72 melakarta raagas
  17. Kotthavaasal Venkatarama Ayyar
  18. Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer
  19. # Composed Mela raga maalika
  20. Manambuchavadi Venkatasubbayyar
  21. Mayuram Viswanatha Sastri
  22. Muthiah Bhagavatar
  23. Mysore T. Chowdiah
  24. Mysore Vasudevacharya
  25. Neelakanta Sivan
  26. Pallavi Seshayyar
  27. Papanasam Sivan
  28. Patnam Subramania Iyer
  29. Pattabhiramayya
  30. Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar
  31. Rallapalli Anantha Krishna Sharma
  32. Subbarama Dikshitar
  33. Subbaraya Sastri
  34. # Son of Shyama Shastri and First generation disciple of Tyagaraja
  35. Mahakavi Subramanya Bharathiyar
  36. Shuddhananda Bharati
  37. Thanjavur Quartet
  38. Tiger Varadachariar
  39. Tiruvottriyur Tyagayya
  40. # Son of Veena Kuppayya
  41. Veena Kuppayya
  42. # First generation disciple of Tyagaraja
  43. Veene Sheshanna

Modern Era composers (20th century and beyond)

Trinity-Age composers (born in 18th century)

These composers lived during the time of the Trinity and there are recorded instances of their interaction with the Trinity.
ComposerYearsLanguagesSignatureApprox. Number of CompositionsOther Info
Syama Sastri1762–1827Telugu, SanskritShyama Krishna400Eldest of the trinity. He came from a family of priests at the Bangaru Kamakshi temple in Thanjavur, he composed on many devi temples in the region. He is famous for his use of chitta swara sahityam and complicated talams, as well as modernizing Ananda Bhairavi raga
Thyagaraja Swami1767–1847Telugu, SanskritThyagaraja24000 of which only 700 are available todayMost famous of the trinity, composed many kritis on lord Rama, and also a few group kritis at temples for Shiva and Parvati. He composed the famous ghanaraga pancharatna kritis, and was famous for the use of ragas such as Kharaharapriya and Ritigowla.
Muthuswami Dikshitar1775–1835SanskritGuruguha400Youngest of the trinity, famous for his use of madhyamakala sahityams, raga mudra, and Sanskrit rhyming. He composed multiple group kritis.
Iraiyamman Tampi1782–1856Malayalam, SanskritPadmanabha40
Ghanam Krishna Iyer1790–1854TamilMuthu Kumara85
Tiruvarur Ramaswami Pillai1798–1852TamilVedapura
Thanjavur Quartet1801–1856Telugu, Tamil, Sanskrit
Kavi Kunjara Bharati1810–1896TamilKavi Kunjaran200
Cheyyur Chengalvaraya Sastri1810–1900Sanskrit, TeluguChengalvarayadasa1000
Swathi Thirunal1813–1846Sanskrit, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu, Hindi, Braj BhashaPadmanabha, Sarasinabha, etc. 300+

Other composers

Other composers in Mysore Kingdom

Other composers—Bhakti Saints

In addition to the above composers, various Bhakti saints of medieval India also composed devotional hymns, verses and songs. First six composer used ancient Tamil music which later evolved to the Carnatic musical tradition over the centuries.