About Purandara Dasa 

• Sri Purandara Dasa was a great devotee of Lord Krishna, a poet and a musician.
• He was born in 1494 and was named as Srinivasa Nayaka. He was the son of Varadappa Nayaka, a wealthy merchant and Leelavathi.
• After his renunciation, Srinivasa Nayaka became the disciple of the great saint Vyasaraja, who gave him the title Purandara Vittala, after the Lord of Pandarpur.
• Purandara Dasa is said to have composed around 475,000 songs, in Kannada and Sanskrit of which only about 1000 survived.
• Purandara Dasa is considered to be the father of Carnatic Music as he formalized the music system which was a blend of various traditions of South India and the musical science as explained in the Vedas.

Why in News?

• The Karnataka government has taken efforts to explore definitive archaeological evidence that may put an end to speculations regarding the birthplace of Purandara Dasa.
• As ‘Purandara Vithala’ was the pen name of his compositions, it was widely believed that the mystic poet was born in Purandharagad, Maharashtra. 
• However, many in Malnad, Karnataka claimed that he hailed from this region.

About Carnatic Music

• Carnatic music, also known as karnataka sangītam is one of the two styles of Indian classical music; the other is Hindustani music.
• The present form of Carnatic music is based on historical developments that can be traced to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries C.E.
• Carnatic Music, which was based in South India, was substantially influenced by the pan-Indian bhakti movement which inspired the use of religious themes.
• In contrast to Hindustani music, the main emphasis in Carnatic music is on vocal music; most compositions are written to be sung, and even when played on instruments, they are meant to be performed in gāyaki (singing) style.
• Instruments include veena, rudra veena, violin, tambura, ghata, flute (venu), mridangam, nagaswara, and swarabhat.
• Carnatic songs (kritis or kirtanas) are varied in structure and style, but generally consist of three units: Pallavi, Anupallavi and Charana.
• The contemporaries Tyagaraja (1759-1847), Muthuswami Dikshitar, (1776 – 1827) and Syama Sastri, (1762-1827) are regarded as the Trinity of Carnatic music.