Muttuswami Dikshitar's sishya parampara

This is a sort of follow-up to what Srini Pichumani posted a few days back. I did not have my reference at hand and so couldn't post this earlier.

In what follows, I will be quoting from an article Dr. V. Raghavan on the subject. The whole article is too long to type. It is published in the book entitled Muttuswami Dikshitar (National Centre for the Performing Arts, 1975).

"The main line of Dikshitar's pupils is represented by his own family. After Baluswami Dikshitar, there was the great Subbarama Dikshitar.... His son was Ambi Dikshitar (full name : Muttuswami Dikshitar) who succeeded him as court musician at Ettayapuram and stayed there for a long time. Late in life he migrated to Madras where he lived for the rest of his life. While in Madras he built up a school around himself; it was the starting point of a strong and fruitful movement. The well-known Vedanta Bhagavatar of Kallidaikurichi, who also happened to live in Madras at that time, threw himself enthusiastically into this active propagation of Dikshitar Kritis. There were two young vina brothers of Tirunelveli, Anatakrishrna Iyer and Sundaram Iyer, who made copies of Dikshitar kritis from the manuscripts of Sri Ambi Dikshitar. These formed the basis on which they propagated Dikshitar kritis......

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While in Madras, Ambi Dikshitar discovered the talents of D.K.Pattammal at a Goevrnment Technical Examination. Later T.L.Venkatrama Iyer also came into the picture, but D.K.Pattammal's primary initiation into Dikshitar kritis may be said to be directly due to Ambi Dikshitar. As an influential office bearer of the Music Academy, Madras, the late T.L.Venkatrama Iyer became an active force in the rising tide of Dikshitar enthusiasm........

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While Dikshitar and his brother and descendants were in Ettayapuram in Tirunelveli district, Dikshitar kritis spread in that southernmost district of Tamilnadu. The names of some of the musicians who learnt Dikshitar kritis and whose names are still remembered are : Kalakkadu Subbiah Bhagavatar, Kodakanallur Subbiah Bhagavatar, Srivilliputtur Muthiah Bhagavatar of the Settur Samasthanam, Pallakurichi Subbiah Bhagavatar and Vasudevanallur Subbiah Bhagavatar (a pupil of Maha Vaidhyanatha Iyer and a Sri Vidya devotee). Among the noteworthy musians of modern times became deeply interested in Dikshitar music were the Kallidaikurichi brothers, Vedanta Bhagavatar and Ramalinga Bhagavatar.......two younger pupils of the Kallidaikurichi brothers are the late Pattamadi Sundaram and Sri Mahadeva Iyer.....

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Of Dikshitar's own direct line, Ambi Dikshitar's son Tiruvarur Baluswami Dikshitar is the present living representative. (Note : this was in 1975. Anyone knows if he is still alive? Did he have any descendants? Is this person musically active? - Ramana)

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During Dikshitar's sojourn in Tanjavur, the four dance masters Ponnayya, Chinnayya, Vadivelu and Sivanandam, attached to the Big Temple in Tanjavur, became disciples of Dikshitar.

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Besides this it is well known that Dikshitar had a pupil in Sattanur Panchanada Iyer who was reputed for his madhyamakala and tana singing. He was the teacher of nagaswaram vidwans and several musicians and dancers.

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Among the vidwans, who had been life-long devotees of Thyagaraja, who awoke to a new awareness of the beauty of Dikshitar, must be mentioned Alathur venkatesa Iyer ( father of Alathur Subbu Iyer of the Alathur brothers). It was he, who... went to Tiruvarur, and out of his meagre personal resources, purchased the site at Tiruvarur where Dikshitar's house stood, and where we now have, thanks to Sadasivam and M.S.Subbulakshmi, a Dikshitar mandapam and shrine.

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A living tradition of Dikshitar kritis directly from Dikshitar himself is to be had at the Thyagaraja temple at Tiruvarur, with the nagaswaram vidwans.......................

(note : some of their lifestyle and how they jealously guarded Dikshitar's compositions is described in Kottamangalam Subbu's novel "Tillana Mohanambal" - the movie made from this book does not go into these details. For those who can read Tamil, this is worth reading - all the 1300 odd pages of the novel! - Ramana)


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