Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer ( ta, மகாராஜபுரம் விசுவநாதையர்; 1896–1970) was one of the great

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

n Carnatic vocalists. He won several awards including

Sangeetha Kalanidhi Sangeetha Kalanidhi or Sangeeta Kalanidhi (Tamil: சங்கீத கலாநிதி, Sanskrit : संगीत-कला-निधि) (''sangeetha'' = music, ''kala'' = art, ''nidhi'' = treasure or ocean) is the title awarded yearly to ...

and Sangeetha Bhupathy.

Early life and background

Viswanatha Iyer was born in Maharajapuram to Rama Iyer, a singer. He was trained initially by Umayalpuram Swaminatha Iyer, a direct disciple of Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer. Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer had learnt from a direct disciple of

Tyagaraja Thyagaraja (Telugu: త్యాగరాజ) (4 May 1767 – 6 January 1847), also known as Thyāgayya and in full as Kakarla Thyagabrahmam, was a composer and vocalist of Carnatic music, a form of Indian classical music. Tyagaraja and his ...

and thus Viswanatha Iyer represents the fifth generation of the Tyagaraja School.

Palghat Rama Bhagavathar Palghat Rama Bhagavathar (5 June 1888 – 26 May 1957) was an Indian musician. Early life Rama Bhagavathar was born in Mundaya (മുണ്ടായ) village near Shoranur, Palghat, Kerala. His father, Kasturi Ranganathan was a man of m ...

was a fellow student under Umayalpuram Swaminatha Iyer. Nandanar 1935 film

Singing career

A unique feature about his music was his great success in

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

elaboration in great detail. The raga

alapana In Carnatic classical music, alapana is a form of manodharmam, or improvisation, that introduces and develops a raga (musical scale). It communicates the permitted notes and phrases of the raga, setting the mood for the composition that follow ...

of ''

Mohanam Mohanam is a rāga in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is an ''audava'' rāga (or ''owdava'' rāga, meaning pentatonic scale). It is usually described as a '' janya'' rāga of Harikamboji (28th Melakartha Raga) ...

'' was one of his specialties. His has been hailed as the success of 'kalpana sangeetha', music rich with imagination in raga elaboration and swara singing, a specialty of his. His prominent disciples include

Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer Semmangudi Radhakrishna Srinivasa Iyer (25 July 1908 – 31 October 2003) was an Indian Carnatic vocalist. He was the youngest recipient of the Sangeetha Kalanidhi awarded by the Music Academy in 1947, a distinction he holds to this day a ...

Mannargudi Sambasiva Bhagavatar Mannargudi Sambasiva Bhagavathar (also spelt ''Bagavathar'') (1912–2004) was a Carnatic musician, musicologist, Harikatha exponent and composer. He served Carnatic music for over seven decades. He was a disciple of Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iye ...

, and his own son

Maharajapuram Santhanam Maharajapuram Santhanam, (20 May 1928-24 June 1992) was an Indian Carnatic music vocalist. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1989. He was born in Sirunangur, a village in the state of Tamil Nadu. He followed the foo ...

.
Like the Singing Wind from the Ghat
'' The Hindu - Kerala News, 13 November 2005.

Film career

He acted in a Tamil movie "Bhaktha Nandhanar" released on 1 January 1935 as the landlord Vedhiyar. K.B. Sundarambal acted as Nandhanar in this movie.

References

Male Carnatic singers Carnatic singers 1896 births 1970 deaths People from Thanjavur district Sangeetha Kalanidhi recipients 20th-century Indian male classical singers Singers from Tamil Nadu Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award {{Carnatic-music-stub