Muttuswami also undertook the project of composing in all the 72 melakartha ragas, (in his asampurna mela scheme) thereby providing a musical example for many rare and lost ragas. His songs also contain much information about the history of the temple, and its background, thus preserving many customs followed in these old shrines. His Sanskrit lyrics are in praise of the temple deity, but Muttuswami introduces the advaitin thought seamlessly into his songs, resolving the inherent relationship between Advaita philosophy and polytheistic worship. The compositions are known for the depth and soulfulness of the melody - his visions of some of the ragas are still the final word on their structure.
Muttuswami Dikshitar traveled to many holy shrines throughout his life, and composed krithis on the deities and temples he visited.Įach of his compositions is unique and brilliantly crafted. Most of his compositions are in Sanskrit and in the Krithi form i.e. His total compositions are about 450 to 500, most of which are very widely sung by musicians today in Carnatic music concerts. The Nilotpalamba krithis is another classic set of compositions which revived dying ragas like Narayanagowla. The sahitya of the songs reflect a profound knowledge of the mantra and jyotisha shaastras. He continued to display his prowess by composing the "Navagraha krithis" in praise of the nine planets. These navavarnams were in all the eight vibhakthis and are sung as a highlight of guruguha jayanthi celebrated every year. This is when he composed the famous "kamalamba navavarnams" filled with exemplary sahityams which proved to be the showcase of his compositions. On his return to tiruvarur, he composed on every deity in the Tiruvarur temple complex including Tyagaraja, the presiding deity at Tiruvarur, Nilothpalambal, his consort and the Goddess Kamalambal an independent deity of high tantric significance in the same temple complex. He then went on a pilgrimage visiting and composing on temples at Kanchi, Arunachalam, Chidambaram,Tirupathi and Kalahasthi.
These kritis are mostly with epithets glorifying the guru and have very few references to Lord Muruga or specifically to the God in the saguna form or to the form at Tiruttani. He composed kritis in all the 8 declensions on the Lord. This song addressed the Lord ( and /or the Guru) in the first declension in sanskrit. As he opened his mouth, he had the darshana of the God Muruga and the composer burst forth into his first composition "Shri naathaadi guruguho" in the raga Maayaamaalavagaula. He dropped sugar candy into his mouth and disappeared. As per his guru's orders, he went to tiruttani(a temple town near chennai).There while he was immersed deep in meditation, an old man appeared and asked him to open his mouth. Muttuswami Dikshitar attained mastery over the Veena, and the influence of Veena playing is evident in his compositions. The Samadhi of Chidambaranatha Yogi can still be seen in the Hanuman Ghat area in Varanasi. During their stay in Kashi (Varanasi), his guru Chidambarantha Yogi, presented him with a unique Veena, and died shortly thereafter. Over the course of this pilgrimage, he visited many places in North India, and acquired a broad outlook that is reflected in many of his compositions. While he was still in his teens, his father sent him on a pilgrimage with a wandering monk named Chidambaranatha Yogi, to gain musical and philosophical knowledge. He also obtained his preliminary musical education from his father. He also had two younger brothers Baluswami, Chinnaswami and a sister Balambal.Ĭonsistent with the education of Brahmin boys of that time, Muttuswami learnt the Vedas, Sanskrit and other important religious texts.
He was named after the temple deity, Muttukumaraswamy. According to the account of Subbarama Dikshitar, Muttuswami Dikshitar was born in the manmatha year, in the month of Panguni under the asterism Krittikaa. Muttuswami is said to have born to the couple after they prayed for a child in the temple of Vaitheeswaran Koil. He was born in 1775 to Ramaswami Dikshitar and Subbamma, as the eldest son, in Tiruvarur(of Thanjavur district in Tamil Nadu). Muthuswami Dikshitar (1775 – October 21, 1835), is the youngest of the Carnatic music composer trinity. You can get the meanings of his lyrics in my wife's blog "" which will be covering as many songs as possible in course of time
I have tried my best to gather as many artists as possible here and hope this may expose the youngsters to variety of renditions. Many readers, especially youngsters who are learning Carnatic music expressed their desire to learn Dhikshitar krithis by hearing various artists.