Ananda Bhairavi is a very popular janaranjaka raga, Tyagaraja has composed only three songs in it. There is an interesting story behind this.
There were many Carnatic musicians who chose a particular raga and specialized in it. Some examples are Atana Appayya and Thodi Seetharamayya. These musicians had extraordinary expertise in the raga they choose.
There was such a musician during the period of Tyagaraja. His name was Swaminatha Iyer. The raga he chose was Anandha Bhairavi. He was a pro in that raga.
Swaminatha Iyer was a part of a group that performed puppet shows (Bommalattam). Once when his group came to Thiruvaiyaru, the hometown of Tyagaraja, he performed in Ananda Bhairavi. Tyagaraja’s disciples who attended the show were mesmerized by Swaminatha Iyer’s performance. They also informed their guru Tyagaraja that Swaminatha Iyer’s Anandha Bhairavi was really great.
Tyagaraja attended the show on the very next day. He also listened to Swaminatha Iyer’s Anandha Bhairavi. Tyagaraja was awestruck. As soon as the show was over, he congratulated Swaminatha Iyer.
Swami was highly overwhelmed. He immediately requested Tyagaraja not to compose in Anandha Bhairavi anymore. Tyagaraja was surprised by the request and asked the reason for such a request.
Swami replied that in the future, when people get confused about why Tyagaraja didn’t compose in Anandha bhairavi, let people get reminded of this incident and they’ll know that there was a person called Swaminatha Iyer who was congratulated by Tyagaraja himself for his expertise in Anandha bhairavi.
Tyagaraja kept his promise.