Adibhatla Narayana Dasu

Adibhatla Narayana Dasu was a poet, musician and performer of the Vizianagaram country in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.¹² He is remembered as Harikatha Pitamaha, “the grandfather of harikatha”.² Harikatha is a way of telling religious stories that joins music and dance.³ Before cinema and the modern stage, it was one of the most popular arts of the villages.¹

Early life

Mikkilineni Radhakrishna Murthy wrote about him in his book on Telugu folk arts (1992). According to him, Narayana Dasu was born in 1864 at Ajjada, a village on the Suvarnamukhi river in Bobbili taluk.¹ His mother was Narasamamba and his father Venkatachayanulu.¹ As a child he heard the Bhagavata from his mother, and he learned poetry and scholarship from his father.¹

He learned the veena from Vasa Sambayya at Bobbili.⁴ He then studied at the Maharaja’s College at Vizianagaram up to the F.A. examination, and gave up English studies after that.⁴ Mikkilineni says most of his wide learning came from his own effort.¹

Harikatha

He first wrote yakshaganas (Telugu dance-dramas), and later harikathas.⁴ He was a master of the veena, of dance and of music, and Mikkilineni calls his command of rhythm (laya) unequalled.⁴ Some of his harikathas were Rukmini Kalyanam, Janaki Sapatham and Prahlada Charitram.⁵

He performed in many towns. Mikkilineni lists Pithapuram, Eluru, Vijayawada, Bellary and Madras, and says many zamindars honoured him.⁴ After he showed his art at Bangalore, he was invited to the court of the Maharaja of Mysore.⁴ Hearing of his fame, Ananda Gajapati, the Maharaja of Vizianagaram, made him a scholar of his court.⁴

Mikkilineni credits him with giving harikatha its dignity. In his view, Narayana Dasu made it a fine art, wrote many harikathas, and trained many skilled pupils.¹ Their pupils in turn spread his style across the Andhra country.⁴

Languages and books

The Census handbook of Vizianagaram district (2011) says he knew English, Persian, Sanskrit and Telugu, and wrote songs and verses in all of them.⁵ He translated the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam from Persian into Telugu.⁵ His Nava Rasa Tarangini compares Shakespeare with Kalidasa in Telugu.⁵ Because he knew both Hindustani and Carnatic music, the handbook says, his songs were still sung in the Andhra country.⁵

The music college at Vizianagaram

In 1919 the ruler of the Vizianagaram estate founded a music school and made Narayana Dasu its head.⁴ He held the post for 17 years and left it in 1936.⁴ The violinist Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu became principal after him.⁵ In old age he gave fewer performances and spent more time on his pupils.⁴ He died on 2 January 1945.⁴

Where the sources disagree

Inventor or reformer of harikatha. The Census handbook of 1981 calls him the “inventor” of harikatha.³ Mikkilineni describes harikatha as an older village art, told by wandering haridasus. In his account Narayana Dasu raised it to a fine art, but did not begin it.¹

Footnotes

1. Mikkilineni Radhakrishna Murthy, Teluguvari Janapada Kalarupalu (Hyderabad: Telugu University, 1992), p. 353 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

2. Census of India 2011, Andhra Pradesh: District Census Handbook, Vizianagaram, Part XII-A (2014), p. 152 (censusindia.gov.in↗ (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩²

3. Census of India 1981, Andhra Pradesh: District Census Handbook, Vizianagaram District (1986), PDF p. 2 (censusindia.gov.in↗ (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩²

4. Mikkilineni, Janapada Kalarupalu (1992), p. 354 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹²

5. Census of India 2011: District Census Handbook, Vizianagaram, Part XII-A (2014), p. 153 (censusindia.gov.in↗ (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶