Sripadaraja

Sripadaraja (Sanskrit: श्रीपादराज; Śrīpādarāja) or Sripadaraya, also known by his pontifical name Lakshminarayana Tirtha (c.1422 – c.1480), was a Hindu Dvaita philosopher, scholar and composer and the pontiff of the Madhvacharya mutt at Mulbagal. He is widely considered the founder of Haridasa movement along with Narahari Tirtha. He has influenced both Carnatic music and Hindustani music through his compositions. His songs and hymns, written under the mudra of Ranga Vitthala, contain the distillation of Dvaita principles infused with mysticism and humanism. He is also credited with the invention of the suladi musical structure and composed 133 of them along with several kirtanas. He was the advisor of Saluva Narasimha Deva Raya and mentored the young Vyasatirtha. He also authored a commentary on Jayatirtha’s Nyaya Sudha called Nyayasudhopanyasa-Vagvajra. Sripadaraja is believed to be the incarnation of Dhruva.