UPSC 2018: With reference to cultural history of India, consider the following statements: 1. Most of the Tyagaraja Kritis are devotional songs in praise of Lord Krishna. 2. Tyagaraja created several new ragas. 3. Annamacharya and Tyagaraja are contemporaries. 4. Annamacharya kirtanas are devotional songs in praise of Lord Venkateswara. Which of the statements given above are correct?

1) Tyagaraja’s thousands of kritis praise Lord Rama, not Krishna, so statement 1 is wrong. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chakkani_Rajamargamu?utm_source=openai)) 2) Music historians credit Tyagaraja with creating dozens of new ragas, making statement 2 correct. ([hinduismtoday.com](https://www.hinduismtoday.com/educational-insights/indias-remarkable-carnatic-musician-saints/?utm_source=openai)) 3) Annamacharya (1408–1503) lived about three centuries before Tyagaraja (1767–1847); they were not contemporaries, so statement 3 is incorrect. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annamacharya?utm_source=openai)) 4) Annamacharya’s kirtanas are devotional hymns to Lord Venkateswara, so statement 4 is correct. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annamacharya)) Hence only statements 2 and 4 are correct, matching option (b).