Annamacharya, Hindu saint (died 1503)

Tallapaka Annamacharya, also popularly known as Annamayya, was a Telugu musician, composer, and a Hindu saint. He is the earliest known Indian musician to compose songs called samkirtanas. His devotional samkirtanas were in the praise of Venkateswara, a form of Vishnu. Annamayya is said to have composed as many as 32,000 samkirtanas (songs) in the praise of Venkateswara of which only about 12,000 are available today. He wrote the highest number of Kirtanas of all time in the praise of Lord Vishnu The musical form of the kirtana songs that he composed, which are still popular among Carnatic music concert artists, have strongly influenced the structure of Carnatic music compositions. His compositions are classified as Adhyatma (spiritual) and Sringara (romantic). Annamacharya is remembered for his saintly life, as one of the greatest musicians and is honoured as a great devotee of Vishnu by devotees and saintly singers. He was one of the first few who opposed the social stigma towards the untouchable castes in his era.