Syama Sastri, whose birth name was Venkata Subrahmanya Iyer, was born on 26 April 1762 in a Tamil speaking Smartha Vadama Brahmin family to Visvanatha Iyer and Vengalakshmi. He was also known as one of the trinity of carnatic music. To later generations, he is better known by his adopted name Syama Sastri or by his musical
mudra (signature)
Syama Krishna. He was born in
Tiruvarur, in what is now the state of
Tamil Nadu. He received his instruction in the vedas, astrology, and other traditional subjects early on and learned music from his maternal uncle. He was later trained in music by
Adiappayya, a noted durbar musician of
Thanjavur. Although Śyāma Śastri did not compose as many
kritis as his two prolific contemporaries, his compositions are still well known due to the literary, melodic and rhythmic proficiency observed in them. It is said that he composed about three hundred pieces in all. He did not have many disciples to propagate his compositions, nor was the
printing press widely accessible during his time. More importantly, the scholarly nature of his compositions made them more appealing to the learned than to the lay. Additionally, they feature a more formal form of Telugu which borrows heavily from Sanskrit. In contrast, Tyagaraja composes in generally more colloquial dialect of Telugu. There are also a number of krithis in
Tamil attributed to him. Most of his compositions propitiate the Goddess
Kamakshi. He composed
kritis,
varṇa(s) and
svarajati(s) with the
ankita or
mudra (signature)
Śyāma Krishna. He was probably the first to compose in a new form of the
svarajati musical genre, where the compositions could be rendered solely in a singing or instrumental manner. Prior to this, the
svarajati was primarily a dance form, and was close in structure to the dance
Varṇaṃ (
padavarṇaṃ). His set of three famous
svarajati(s) are intended to be sung in concert rather than danced, and are sometimes referred to as "
Ratnatrayam" (Three jewels). They are
Kāmākṣhī Anudinamu,
Kāmākṣhī Padayugamē, and
Rāvē himagiri kumāri, composed in the
ragas Bhairavi,
Yadukula kambhoji and
Todi respectively. The former two are set to
Miśra Cāpu Tāḷa, while the third is set to
Ādi Tāḷa. He is known for his ability to compose in the most complex of tāḷas. ==Legacy==