The Factions

The Tillaistanam brothers had continued the Aradhana tradition by performing the religious functions as well as organizing music concerts at Tiruvaiyaru. Around 1910 differences cropped up between the two brothers and separate invitations were sent out thereby splitting the Aradhana celebrations.

Thus was born the Peria Katchi and Chinna Katchi (Bigger and Smaller factions) led by the elder Narasimha Bhagavatar and the younger Panchu Bhagavatar respectively. The Peria Katchi had the support of musicians like Malaikkottai Govindaswamy Pillai, Pudukkottai Dakshinamurthy Pillai, Azhaganambia Pillai and Thanjavur Panchapagesa Bhagavatar. The programmes by the Peria Katchi were held at the Kalyana Mahal. After the death of Narasimha Bhagavatar the programmes were headed by Govindaswamy Pillai and subsequent to his death in 1930, it was conducted by the Tiruveezhimalai Brothers (Nadaswara Vidwans).

The Chinna Katchi's members included Soolamangalam Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar, Sabesa Iyer, Rajagopala Bhagavatar, Palladam Sanjeeva Rao and Mangudi Chidambara Bhagavatar. The Chinna Katchi conducted its programmes at a local choultry or at the Tiruvaiyaru High School. The Chinna Katchi concentrated more on the religious functions and had for itself the sole rights for performing daily pooja etc at the shrine of Tyagaraja. In the year a committee was formed by this group called the Shri Tyagaraja Vybhava Prakasa Sabha to conduct the Aradhana celebrations.

Though there were two factions the Aradhana was carried out smoothly with one faction doing the festival doing it 5 days preceding the main day and the other, on the succeeding five days. Also musicians did participate in both the Aradhanas.

Bangalore Nagaratnammal

Bangalore Nagaratnammal was a lady musician who was a great devotee of Tyagaraja. In 1924 she visited Tiruvaiyaru and was not allowed to participate because women singers were not allowed on stage in those days. Stung by the insult and spurred on by her own devotion and the dilapidated condition of the Samadhi she collected money and built the present concrete structure and installed an idol of Tyagaraja. The Kumbabishekam of the shrine took place in 1925 and she started organizing a separate festival of her own at the site where women musicians were also allowed to participate. Thus from 1927 to 1940 three organizations conducted the Aradhana at three different places in Tiruvaiyaru. Between 1935 and 1938 Bangalore Nagaratnammal purchased a lot of land in and around the Samadhi and made it feasible for holding the festival properly. Her intention being to unite the three factions and hold a joint festival.

Tyaga Brahma Mahotsava Sabha

In 1940, because of the joint efforts of people like Shri S.Y.Krishnaswamy (ICS), Musiri Subramania Iyer, Bangalore Nagaratnammal and the Tiruveezhimalai Brothers, The Tyaga Brahma Mahotsava Sabha was formed. This Sabha was entrusted with task of organizing the Aradhana Celebrations of Tyagaraja every year and the separate festivals by the factions was thus discontinued. This Sabha is now primarily responsible for the conduct of the musical celebrations every year in Tiruvaiyaru. Thus the various factions got finally united under a single body and the Aradhana has been going on in this fashion ever since.

The Chinna Katchi headed by Panchu Bhagavatar from the beginning has retained the right to perform the religious functions associated with the Aradhana. It was only the musical celebrations that were united under the Sabha. Today there are actually three different groups that perform the Abishekam at the Samadhi site on Aradhana. The first is by the current survivors of the erstwhile Chinna Katchi, which goes under the name of Sadguru Shri Tyaga Brahma Aradhana Mahotsava Kainkarya Committee. The second is the Bangalore Nagaratnammal trust which is the legal owner of the land and the adjoining areas where the shrine is lodged. The third is the Tyaga Brahma Mahotsava Sabha that organizes the music festival.