Arunachala Kavi
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Arunachala Kavi (Tamil: அருணாசல கவி) (1711–1779) was a Tamil poet and a composer of Carnatic music. He was born in Tillaiyadi, which was formerly part of Thanjavur District and is now located in Mayiladuthurai district in Tamil Nadu. The three Tamil composers Arunachala Kavi, Muthu Thandavar and Marimutthu Pillai are considered the Tamil Trinity,[1] who contributed to the evolution of Carnatic music. He composed the famous opera Rama Natakam.[2]
His father died when he was 12, and during that time he went to Dharmapuram Adheenam to continue his studies in Sanskrit and Tamil. The head of Mutt was so pleased with him and even considered making Arunchala as his successor. At 18, Arunachala left the Mutt and continued his studies in Tamil for another 12 years. He got married at the age of 30 in a place called Karuppur and earned his livelihood by setting up a jeweller's shop.
He wanted to buy gold at a cheaper rate, therefore he travelled to Pondicherry. On his way, he stopped at Seerkazhi, and found a branch of Dharmapuram Mutt. The head was his old colleague named Chidambaram. Chidamabaram convinced him and his family to settle in Seerkaazhi. Therefore, he got the name Seerkaazhi AruNaachala Kavi. Arunachala lived a major part of his active life in the town Seerkazhi. As he was running a jeweller shop, this not only provided him with a good living, but also with a fair amount of leisure to pursue his literary studies. Just as he was good at “estimating the fineness of the precious metal, he was equally proficient at estimating the worth of the literary works.” Two books were most liked by him — The Tirukkural of Tiruvalluvar and The Kambar's Ramavataram, While the former was only a book of ethics, the latter gave the same in the form of a story which would be more appealing to the common man.[3][4]
