In dealing with the history of Indian Music of the Modern period this chapter refers to the developments in Karnatic Music and the developments in Hindustani Music will be dealt with separately.

The Modern period of Karnatic music begins with "Purandaradas" (1484-1564). He was the pioneer who blended the rich musical streams of Dravidian and Aryan music into one stream called Karnatic music. The synthesis of the Dravidian and Aryan cultures resulted in the hybrid variety that has become the Karnatic music of South India, a highly rich traditional and classical musical system.

Sri Purandaradas born at Purandargarh near Pune finally settled at Hampi (Vijayanagar), a border area for both Northern and Southern cultures. He was attracted by the aesthetic beauty of both the Northern and Southern flow of music as similar ragas and 'thalas' exist in both the systems in different names. The Aryan system was more prevalent in princely courts whereas the Dravidan system was prevalent in the temples of South India.

Sri Purandara Das decided that "Malava gowla" of the South was most suited for beginners. The corresponding Raga in the North is called "Bhairav". In "Malavagowla" subsequently named as "Maya Malavagowla", the difference of pitch between 'Ri' and 'ga' and 'da' and 'ni' are the same and the notes sa-ri-ga-ma and pa-da-ni-sa are perfect concordant notes. That is why Purandara Dasa found Maya Malavagowla the best Raga to begin lessons in classical music. This system of music is called "Karnataka Music" as he belongs to that region and the music is very pleasing to the ears. He created several phrases of notes called "Sarali" "Janta", Hetchu-sthayi, "Thaggu sthayi" and "Datu" Swaras. He also simplified "Thala" system and moulded it into "Pancha-Thrimsathi" Thala system and composed "Alankaras" to be sung in those Thalas

All these initial notes or Swaras are to be sung in Maya Malavagowla. The next phase of learning of a beginner is "Geetham" for which Purandaradasa created "Pillari Geetams" in Rag-Malahari" a derivative of Maya-Malava-Gowla . Gradually the Ragas and their notes are to be changed to acquaint the student with different notes step by step. Purandara Dasa was therefore, rightly called Karnataka Sangeeta Pithamaha.

Further Purandara Dasa said in his song "Vasudevana namavaliya" (Mukhari raga) that he composed 4,75,000 Keerthanas. About 800 of them are available. As the original tunes are lost, people sing some of them in their own tunes.

The beginning of the modern period of Karnatic music was influenced by three schools. 1. The Vishnu Bhaktas of "Dwaita" school comprising Narahari Theertha, Sree Pada Raja, Vyasa Raja, Vadhi Raja Purandar dasa, Kanaka Dasa, Vijaya Dasa Jagannadha Dasa etc. and the compositions of all these Dasas about 5,00,000 in number are called "Dasara Pada Galu". 2. Shiva sharanas of Veera Saivam such as "Basaveswara" "Akka Mahadevi" "Channa Basaveswara" "Nijaguna Shiva Yogi" etc. had their compositions in poetry and vachanas which contributed substantially to the enrichment of contemporary music 3. Nayanars, Alwars and other Tamil writers composed varieties of songs called "Thiruppughaz" "Thevaram" "Arupti"etc. The prominent composers of these were Manikkavachagar, Arunagirinather Ramalingaswamy Muthu Thandavar, Marimuthu Pillay, Papavinas-Mudaliar etc of the subsequent period.

Sri Purandara Dasa's life is a wonderful episode in human history showing how an initially miserly man was converted into a great Bhakta by the grace of Lord Vithala.

The earlier name of Purandara Dasa was Srinivasa Nayaka. In his earlier days he was miserly and cruel. His wife Sri Lakshmi Saraswati Bai was pious and kind to fellow human beings. The turning point in the life of Srinivasa Nayaka occurred at the instance of the Lord who in the guise of a poor brahmin begged for alms for conducting the sacred thread ceremony of his son. Srinivasa Nayaka in his customary style drove away the disguised brahmin who straight away went to his wife and repeated the drama. His wife being very kind gave away her diamond studded nose ring and the Brahmin went to Srinivasa Nayaka again and asked him to give some money in return for the diamond studded ornament. Srinivas Nayaka identifying it as his wife's ornament kept it in his iron safe and went to his wife to enquire about the nasal ring. Bewildered at the turn of events Sri Saraswathi Bai decided to end her life and was about to take poison. In the container; Lord put a similar ornament to the utter surprise of Saraswathi Bai who showed the same to Srinivasa Nayaka as if nothing has happened. Surprised at this Srinivasa checked his iron safe and found the ornament kept by him in tact. This made him realise that the Brahmin in disguise was none else than Lord Vithala. He repented for his misdeeds, begged pardon of the Lord, and renounced all his wealth to become a saint and was called "Purandar Dasa". This inspired him to sing innumerable songs in praise of the Lord which numbered about 4,75,000.

As previously stated he composed several geethams which are to be taught at the preliminary stage. Many composers wrote several geethams depicting Raga-Lakshanas etc. which are called "Lakshana geethams" Prominent among them were Venkata Makhi Pydala Gurumurthy Sastry Ramaswamy Deekshithulu etc. Pydala Guru Murthy Sastry composed more than thousand Geethams and earned the title "Veye Geetha" Gurumurthy Sastry.

The next stage of development occurred in the 16th century during the period of "Rama mathya" who wrote a great book called "Swara mela kalanidhi". He introduced the system of "Janaka" and "Janya" "Raga Padhathi" which has ultimately shaped into the best Raga system in all the music styles of the world. He also created a special type of Veena and named it Atchyuta - Rajendra Mela-Veena in commemoration of king Atchyuta Deva-Raya the brother of the great king Krishna-Deva-Raya.

The existing Janaka-Janyaraga system of 72 Melakarthas and their derivatives was introduced around 1620 AD, by Venkata Makhi who wrote an invaluable book called "Chaturdandi-Prakasika". In this there are 10 Chapters on "Swara" "Mela" "Raga" "Aalapa", "Thana", "Geetha", "Prabhandha", and "Thalam". The definitions and explanations of "Raganga", "Upanga", "Bhashanga" Ragas were given with supporting Slokas in Sanskrit. The mature shape of the present Karnatic music had its roots during this period. It blossomed with all its decorations during the next century that is the period of the Musical Trinity (Thyagaraja, Syamasastry, Deekshitar.)

The present day student is taught at the beginning Sarali, Janta and other swaras by Geethams, Swarajathis, Varnam, Kriti, Ragam-Thanam, Pallavi etc. over a period of 5 to 10 years.

Sri Purandar Dasa, his contemporaries and many of his successors wrote several Geethams. Swarapallavis and Swarajathis which took their shape in the subsequent period and were added to the syllabus for the preliminary course of study in music to achieve control over vocal chords or the instrument in case of instrumental music. Syama Sastry (1763 - 1827 AD) composed Swarajathis of very high order in Ragas. Bhairavi, Thodi and Yadukula Kambhoji. The Swarajathi in Bhairavi (Kamakshi) is one of the best compositions in that Raga and great vidwans of the present day sing it in their concerts. Thus the status of Syama Sastry's Swarajathis rose to the level of "Sabha Sangeetham", concert musical item instead of remaining in the channels of Abhyas-Ganam i.e. practice music.

Simultaneously this musical genius created a type of piece called "Varnam" which is very useful for the enrichment of 'Ragalap' 'Swara Kalpana', voice control of a student. This item is generally sung at the beginning of a concert for tuning the vocal chords or the instruments to the correct pitch. Prominent among the composers of "Varnam" are Patchimiriam Adi-Appiah, Rama swamy Deekshitulu, Muthuswamy Deekshitulu, Syama sastry, Veena Kuppaiah, Thanjavuru Ponnaiah, Thriruvathiyur Thyagayya, and Ramnad Srinivasa Iyer.

The 17th and 18th centuries were very significant in the musical history of this globe. The present day Karnataka Music got its shape during this period at the hands of the Musical Trinity (Thyagarajaswamy, Shyama sastry and Muthuswamy Deekshitulu). In the west the Harmonical Music was elevated to the present heights during that period by Beethoven, Allen Beck, Mozart. etc. Hindusthani music was enriched by "Thansen" Haridasa swamy. Baiju and others at that time. This period was, therefore, the golden era in musical history.

During this period "Kriti" got its perfection. Prior to "Kriti", "Keertana" had its birth about the later half of the fourteenth century. Tallapaka Annamacharya was the first to compose keertana with the divisions "Pallavi", "Anupallavi" and "Charanam" (1400-1500). The Sahitya in keertana serves as a vehicle to sing devotional songs. In "Kriti" the sahitya besides being devotional is congenial to present the raga in all its bright colours. It may be doxological, didactical or ethical .

Thyagaraja is the first composer to introduce "Sangathis" in "Krithi". This paved the way for presenting a Raga in all its richness by learning a number of "Kritis". The "Sahitya" bhava was made more effective through "Sangathis". ChittaSwaras were added to kritis by Ramaswamy-Deekshitulu and Kavi-Matrubhutayya (18th century). Swara sahityas were introduced by Thyagaraja in his "Ghanaraga-Pancha Ratna kritis" and also by Shyama Sastry. Kritis with "Viloma krama swara sahityas" were first composed by Ramaswamy Dikshutulu, kritis with "Samishti Charanas" were first composed by Muthuswamy Dikshitulu, kritis with charanas in different dhatus were first composed by "Thyagaraja". Kritis with 'Solkatta' Swaras were first composed by Muthuswamy. The musical trinity were the first to compose Samudaya kritis. Muthuswamy was the first to compose "Manipravala-kriti"- Venkataachalapathi in kapi raga composed in Sanskrit, Telugu and Tamil.

Up to the period of Thyagaraja, music occupied a secondary position and was treated mainly as a part of dance or a vehicle for devotional prayers. Musical Trinity Thyagaraju, Shyama sastry. Muthu swamy Deekshitulu added so much luster to the art of music that it had occupied the first position in the category of fine arts. Their achievements were wonderful episodes in the annals of music.

Thyagarajaswamy lighted the Jyothies by singing "Jyothi swarupini" Ragam. He brought a dead person to life by singing a song, "Najeevadhara" in Rag-Bilahari. At Tirupathi he sang a song "Thera-Theeyaga-rada" and got the curtain between him and the deity, removed. In Nagulapalli forests he got the robbers driven away by singing a song "Mundu-Venuka-Iruprakkala-Thodai RaRa". Lords Rama and Lakshmana at the call of Thyagaraja came to the rescue and hit back the robbers with their stones who prostrated at the feet of Thyagaraja begging for his mercy. Lord Rama himself came to Thyagarajas' house in disguise and served him food when Thyagaraja had nothing in his house to offer to the Lord or to himself. He sang about 24,000 krithis and "keerthanas" in praise of Lord Rama and he was acclamined as an 'Avathar' of Valmiki who in Ramayana wrote about 24,000 slokas. His compositions are famous as "Thyagopanishads". Narada the great divine singer gave him two books called Swararnavam and Naradeeyam in the disguise of a sanyasi which helped him to unearth many secrets in calssical music and get command over the art.

Muthuswamy Dikshitulu introduced severel varieties in the composition of kritis such as "Madhyamakala sahityam", "Solukattu swaram" Raga Mudra His compostions were in "Vilambitha" Kala depicting Raga bhava completely. They are not accessible to beginners of classical music. He was a scholar in "Jyothish-Sastra" and "Manthra Sasrtra"and his compostions give good knowledge of these "Sastras". Muthuswamy Dikshitar got the wonderful flow of music by the grace of Lord "Kumaraswamy" who put "Kalakanda" in his mouth. Soon he began to sing in praise of the Lord in a unique style. By singing a kriti "Anandamritha Varshini" in raga AmruthaVarshini". He caused the thunderous clouds to gather over the sky and rain profusely when there were no rains in that region for one year and the people yearned for water.

Syamasastry got the blessings of "Kamaakshi Devi". He was a great scholar in astrology. His musical content was enriched by "Sangeetha Swamy" a great sangeetha vidwan of Varanasi who taught him several aspects of music. His compositions were rich with varieties of Rhythmical applications. He was the creator of Viloma Chapu and "Sarabhanandana Thalam." He reduced the pride of a great challenger singer by name "Bobbili" Kesavayya who defeated several vidwans in musical contests. Shyama Sastry humbled him. At this contest Shyama Sastry created 'Sarabhanandana Thala' and sang a Pallavi in that Thalam which made his opponent accept defeat.

Thus the creations of the musical trinity had divine grace behind them and were outstanding and everlasting. They teach Bhakthi marga and carry their singers to a state of bliss. Their classical content is immeasurable and ocean deep. Another contemporary vaggeyakaraka of the period was "Swathi Thirunal Maharaja" whose compositions enriched the musical treasure of Karnatic music.

In the Tamil language too, outstanding kritis and other musical pieces were composed by Gopalakrishna Bharathi, Kavikunjara Bharathi, Ananta Bharathi Ramaswamy sivam, Nilakanta Sivan, Achuta dasar etc.

In the instrumental music, the violin, the Western instrument began to dominate and displaced the Veena as an accompanying instrument. Many Western instruments such as guitar, clarionet, mandoline entered the arena of Karnatic music and secured a place in the galaxy of Karnatic musical instruments already in vogue. The advancements in various fields of science such as printing, broadcasting, Telecast, electronics etc. made the task of a musical learner easy. Electronic Thambura, Electronic - Sruthi Box, electronic Tabala etc., were invented reducing the manual labour required for playing the original instruments. The high standard of classical music is within the reach of the commoner through the media of Radio, T.V, recorded cassettes, etc.

The 20th century also produced brilliant composers, such as Mysore Vasudevachary, Ramnad Srininvasa Iyengar, Mangalampalli Bala Muralikrishna , Jayarama Iyer, G.N.Balasubrahamanyam etc. whose compostions are second to none. l