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Muthaiah Ragalist |
Dr. Harikesanallur Muthaiah Bhagavathar
is one of the most important post-trinity composers in Carnatic music.
He was also a noted vocalist. Muthaiah Bhagavathar was born to Lingam
Iyer and Anamdam in 1877. After the early death of his father, he
was brought up by his maternal uncle Lakshamana Suri of Harikesanallur. |
His uncle taught him Sanskrit, Vedas and music. He got further musical
training from Sambasiva Iyer and his son T. S. Sabesa Iyer, who belonged
to the Thyagaraja shishya parampara.
As a vocalist, his big break came when in 1887 when he sang before Maharaja
Mulam Thirunal of Travancore who honoured him as a court musician. This
established him as one of the front ranking musicians of the time. Later
he started giving Harikatha performances, for which he earned the name Bhagavathar.
This was the time he started composing, which he would use in his Harikathaas.
The next phase of his life was as a court musician in Mysore, from 1927.
In 1936, he was again invited by Maharani Sethu Parvathi of Travancore and
he spent several years there. During that time, one of his major contributions
was popularising Swati Tirunal compositions. He was also the first prinicipal
of "Swathi Thirunal Academy of Music" at Thiruvananthapuram.
Apart from being a vocalist and composer, Muthaiah Bhagavathar was also
a learned musicologist. He was actively involved in the Annual Conference
of Experts conducted by The Music Academy of Madras. In 1930 he was awarded
the Sangeetha Kalanidhi by the academy. He also wrote a book on the science
of music, Sangeetha Kalpa Dhruma, for which he was awarded Degree of Doctorate
in 1943 by the Travancore University.
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