Muthiah Bhagavathar
Puduhai Sreeram
Bhagavathar. The author is N.V.R. Swamy.
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A versatile composer
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Muthiah Bhagavathar occupies a distinguished place among the
post-Tyagaraja composers of classical Carnatic music. A tribute
on the occasion of his 50th death anniversary.
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Muthiah Bhagavathar was a leading luminary, one of the
few musicians who combined good story-telling with high quality
of music, late E. Krishna Iyer had rightly said.
Born in 1877 at Punaiveli, near Srivilliputtur and having
lost his father at a tender age, Muthiah Bhagavathar came under
the tutelage of his maternal uncle at Harikesanallur, who exposed
him to the Vedas, under the guidance of Muthu Ganapadigal of
Tiruvayyar. At that time, Tiruvayyar was the home of classical
music exponents such as Maha Vaidyanatha Ayyar and Patnam
Subrahmania Ayyar. Attracted by their music, young Muthiah gave
up his `adhyayana' and switched over to the study of classical
carnatic music. He became a disciple of violin vidwan Sambasiva
Ayyar.
At 16, after completing his studies, Muthiah Bhagavathar
returned to Harikesanallur and devoted himself to music practice
for three years. He gave concerts and soon became a recognised
vidwan. His performance before the Maharaja Mulam Tirunal of
Trivancore in 1897, fetched him the highest State honour.
The death of Thanjavur Krishna Bhagavathar left a void in
the field of Harikatha, and Muthiah Bhagavathar joined vidwans
Anantharama Bhagavathar and Vedanta Bhagavathar in taking to
Harikatha. His fine personality, wonderful power of exposition,
scintillating wit and humour, besides his knowledge of Tamil and
Sanskrit, helped him, and his reputation as Harikatha exponent
surpassed that as a music vidwan. The Kalakshepams he popularised
include ``Valli Parinayam'', ``Sati Sulochana'', and ``Tyagaraja
Charitram.''
In 1905, he went to Thanjavur and lived there for three
years with his uncle Lakshman Suri and established himself as a
concert vidwan and a Harikatha performer. He specialised the
theory of Indian music with the foundations laid by Sambasiva
Ayyar. He established contacts with famous vidwans, including
Abraham Pandithar, who associated Muthiah Bhagavathar in his
work. The latter availed himself this opportunity to gain mastery
over his subject.Muthiah Bhagavathar began to compose kirtanas
and wrote his own `nirupanams' for his Harikatha performances.
Soon he established himself as a composer of kirtanas. He was
patronised by the Raja of Ettayapuram, Raja of Ramnad and
Zamindar of Andipatti. p73
In 1927, his concert before Maharaja Krishna Rajendra
Wodeyar, during the Dasara festival won him the title ``Gayaka
Sikhamani''. He was also appointed as an Asthana Vidwan and as
desired by the maharaja, he composed Ashtothara Satha Kirtanas in
praise of Chamundeswari, followed by another on Siva and the
Navagraha Krithis. He also composed several varnams, ragamalikas,
darus and tillanas.
Muthiah Bhagavathar presided over the Annual Conference
of the Music Academy, Madras, in 1930 and was conferred the
`birudu' Sangita Kalanidhi. He also served as Principal of the
Teachers' College of Music from 1932 to 1934.Unable to bear the
sudden demise of his only child in 1928, he went to Benares for
about six months, when he heard a good deal of classical
Hindustani music and also evolved `Hamsanandi', which has become
one of the most famous ragas.
Muthiah Bhagavathar, whose 50th death anniversary is
being observed this year, was known for his captivating
discourses, sparkling wit and matchless music. His compositions
were innumerable both in Sanskrit and Telugu. He displayed
remarkable versatility in handling rare ragas. His 103 kritis on
Chamundeswari are a substantial contribution to music literature.
His compositions are marked by originality, vigour and
systematised variations.
Muthiah Bhagavathar's disciples include Madurai Mani Iyer
and Budalur Krishnamurthy Sastrigal.
--
Puduhai Sreeram
psre...@pms238.pms.ford.com
Srikanth Gopalan
: Here is an article on "The Hindu" dated 30.06.95 about Muthiah
: ==============================================================
May I also add that bringing about 400 or so compositions of Swathi Tirunal's
krithis to the fore was also one of his contributions to C.music.
-Srikanth
R. Subramanian
I am not sure if he was just touring or if he lived there for some time.
The biography that was posted by Puduhai Sreeram was silent on this
aspect. Does anybody know?
I was also told that Muthiah Bhagavathar switched to Harikatha when he
found that his voice was not cooperating. But, the boigraphy implies that
he took up Harikatha under no "duress". Any comments?
Subramanian
Puduhai Sreeram
> I vaguely remenber that Muthiah Bhagavatar spent some time in Malaysia.
> I am not sure if he was just touring or if he lived there for some time.
> The biography that was posted by Puduhai Sreeram was silent on this
> aspect. Does anybody know?
There is some information about a few composers/performers including
Muthiah Bhagavathar in the net. If you have access to Mosaic/Netscape you may
want to visit Mohan Ayyar's home page.
The address is http://www.usyd.edu.au/~mayyar/music.html.
--
Puduhai Sreeram
psre...@pms238.pms.ford.com
Balaji
>I was also told that Muthiah Bhagavathar switched to Harikatha when he
>found that his voice was not cooperating. But, the boigraphy implies that
>he took up Harikatha under no "duress". Any comments?
>
He was originally with the ThiruvidAngoor samasthAnam and when he felt his
voice was not 'cooperating' he took up harikatha. But then when he was young,
he was formally trained in the vedas and puranas by his uncle ( whose name
I dont remember now ) who was a sanskrit scholar himself.
Apparently later in his life, MB wanted to be recognised by the
Mysore samasthanam. But he never got any invitation from the Maharaja of
Mysore. However, during the Dasara festival, it was customary for the
musicians to go to Mysore, sing before the Maharaja and get patronized.
MB decided to do the same, and he also sang before the Maharaja. But
since his voice didnt cooperate he gave a mediocre performance and
the Maharaja gave him some gifts and sent him away. Broken hearted,
MB went to the Chamundeeswari temple the next day and started singing
his heart out in the sanctum. Needless to say his voice cooperated ! :-)
The Maharaja who had come to the temple heard him sing and called for
him the next day and had a grand concert. At the end of the concert he
was bestowed the title 'gAyaka sikAmani' !
balaji/...
...from a book in tamil titled 'gAyaka sikAmani Muthiah Bhagavatar'.