Muthaiah Bhagavathar
(Composer, Vocalist)
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Profile
Dr. Harikesanallur Muthaiah Bhagavathar is one of the most important post-trinity composers and an important vocalist as well.
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, who taught his 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 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 Harikatha-s.
The next phase of his life was as a court musician in Mysore, from 1927. Most of his compositions were from this period. Initially he composed mostly in Madhyakala, like Shri Thyagaraj. After 1931, he was influenced by Muthuswamy Dikshitar compositions and started compoing in vilambita kala. 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" there.
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 state.
Related Composers
| Teachers & Influences | M. Lakshamana Suri, Sambasiva Iyer, T. S. Sabesa Iyer |
| Disciples & Followers | |
| Similar Composers | Mysore Vasudevachar, Papanasam Shivan, Subramanya Bharathi, Koteeshwara Iyer |
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