Maharajapuram Santhanam, (20 May 1928-24 June 1992) was an Indian

Carnatic music Carnatic music, known as or in the Dravidian languages, South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, an ...

vocalist Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

. He was awarded the

Madras Music Academy Madras Music Academy is one of the earliest established music academies in South India. Before the concept of infrastructure was introduced to India in the early 1920s, it was a gathering for elite musicians simply called (and is still more ...

's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1989. He was born in Sirunangur, a village in the state of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

. He followed the footsteps of his father

Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer ( ta, மகாராஜபுரம் விசுவநாதையர்; 1896–1970) was one of the great Indian Carnatic vocalists. He won several awards including Sangeetha Kalanidhi and Sangeetha Bhupathy. ...

who was also a renowned Carnatic vocalist.

Career

Besides studying with his father, he was also a disciple of Melattur Sama Dikshitar. Maharajapuram Santhanam was also a distinguished composer. He wrote many songs on Lord

Murugan Kartikeya ( sa, कार्त्तिकेय, Kārttikeya), also known as Skanda, Subrahmanya, Shanmukha (), and Murugan ( ta, முருகன்), is the Hindu god of war. He is the son of Parvati and Shiva, the brother of Ganesha ...

and Kanchi Shankaracharya, Sri Chandrasekarendra Saraswati Swamigal (Maha Periyavar). He was the principal of Ramanathan College in Sri Lanka.Ludwig Pesch, ''The Illustrated Companion to South Indian Classical Music'' (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1999), p. 238. Later he came and settled in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

. The songs which were popularised by Maharajapuram Santhanam are,"''Bho Shambo''" (

Revati Revati (रेवती) is a goddess featured in Hindu scriptures. She is the daughter of King Kakudmi and the consort of Balarama, the elder brother of Krishna, and one of the Dashavatara. Her account is given within a number of Hindu texts su ...

), "''Madhura Madhura''" (Bagheshri), both composed by Swami Dayananda Saraswati, "''Unnai Allal''" ( Kalyani

Raga A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradit ...

), "''Sadha Nin Padhame gathi'', ''Varam onnru''" (

Shanmukhapriya Shanmukhapriya is a ragam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is the 56th ''melakarta'' rāgam (parent scale) in the 72 ''melakarta'' rāgam system of Carnatic music. It is called Chāmaram in Muthuswami Diksh ...

), "''Srichakra Raja''" (Ragamalika), "''Nalinakaanthimathim''" (Ragamalika),"Ksheerabdi kannike" (Ragamalika), "Thillana (Revathy)" among others. The Maharajapuram Santhanam Day is celebrated on 3 December every year. He died in a car accident near

on 24 June 1992, which also killed a few other members of his family. His sons Maharajapuram S. Srinivasan, Maharajapuram S. Ramachandran, and his primary disciple Dr. R. Ganesh are now carrying on his musical tradition. His other most popular songs are

Purandaradasa Purandara Dasa ( IAST: Purandara dāsa) ( 1470 – 1565) was a Haridasa philosopher and a follower of Madhwacharya 's Dwaitha philosophy -saint from present-day Karnataka, India. He was a composer, singer and one of the chief founding-pro ...

kritis ''Kriti'' (Sanskrit: कृति, ''kṛti'') is a format of musical composition typical to Carnatic music. ''Kritis'' form the mental backbone of any typical Carnatic music concert and is the longer format of Carnatic song. "Kriti" also means C ...

: "'' Narayana ninna''" (

Shuddha Dhanyasi Udayaravichandrika is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is an ''audava'' rāgam (or ''owdava'' rāgam, meaning pentatonic scale ). It is a ''janya'' rāgam (derived scale), as it does not have all th ...

) and "''Govinda ninna''". His rendition of "''Vilayada ithu nerama muruga''" was without parallel. His renditions were full of ''Bhakthi''. In Chennai, Griffith Road in T.Nagar was renamed as 'Maharajapuram Santhanam Salai' in honor of Maharajapuram Santhanam. The street has the famous Krishna Gana Sabha and Muppathamman Temple.

Awards and titles

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

- 1990 * Sangeetha Kalanidhi from the

- 1989 *

Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India. History It was set up by the Indian education ministry on 31 May 1952 and be ...

award - 1984 *

Kalaimamani The Kalaimamani is the highest civilian award in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. These awards are given by the ''Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram'' (literature, music and theatre), a unit of the Directorate of Art and Culture, Government of ...

award by Tamil Nadu Government * "Sangeetha Sudhakara" by the Yoga vedanta University at Rishikesh * "Gana Kalanidhi" by Sri Chandrasekhara Bharati of Sringeri Sharada Peetha * "Sangitha Sagaramritha Varshi" by

Jayendra Saraswathi Jagadguru Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Shankaracharya (born Subramanyam Mahadeva; 18 July 1935 – 28 February 2018) was the 69th Shankaracharya Guru and head or pontiff (Pïțhādhipati) of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham. Subramanyam Mahadeva Iyer ...

of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham. * A former "Asthana Vidwan" of the

Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) is an independent trust which manages the temples including the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple in Andhra Pradesh. The trust oversees the operations and finances of the richest and the most visited religious cent ...

, Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham,

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Venkatachalapathi Temple and the Ganapathi Sachidananda Ashrama

References

:4.
^ Maharajapuram Santhanam A Life of Music

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Santhanam, Maharajapuram 1928 births 1992 deaths Male Carnatic singers Carnatic singers Carnatic composers Road incident deaths in India 20th-century Indian male classical singers 20th-century Indian composers Indian male composers Musicians from Tamil Nadu Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award