<Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> Purandara Dāsa (Kannada: ಪುರಂದರ ದಾಸ) (1484--1564) was a Haridasa (a devotee - servant of Lord Hari (Vishnu)), great devotee of Lord Krishna (an incarnation of Lord Vishnu) and a saint . He was a disciple of the celebrated Madhwa philosopher - saint Vyasatirtha, and a contemporary of yet another great Haridasa, Kanakadasa . His Guru, Vyasatirtha glorified Purandara Dasa in a song thus: Dāsarendare purandara dāsarayya . He was a composer, singer and one of the chief founding - proponents of the South Indian classical music (Carnatic Music). In honor of his significant and legendary contributions to Carnatic Music, he is widely referred to as the Pitamaha (lit, "father" or the "grandfather") of Carnatic Music . He is respected as an avatara (incarnation) of the great sage Narada (a celestial being who is also a singer). </P> <P> Purandara Dasa was a wealthy diamond merchant from Karnataka, who gave away all his material riches to become a Haridasa, a devotional singer who made the difficult Sanskrit tenets of Srimad Bhagavatam available to everyone in simple and melodious songs, and is one of the most important music scholars of medieval India . He formulated the basic lessons of teaching Carnatic music by structuring graded exercises known as Svaravalis and Alankaras, and at the same time, he introduced the Raga Mayamalavagowla as the first scale to be learnt by beginners in the field - a practice that is being followed till date . He also composed Gitas (simple songs) for novice students . </P>

Who is known as father of karnataka music