Birthdays & Anniversaries
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| 15.9.1896 - 1970 |
He has been described as the Grand Cavalier of Carnatic Music; as a Rabelaisian character; as a bon vivant; as a bohemian of the well-dressed kind. He was all of this, Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer was.
He was, in essence, a free spirit and this was manifest in his music as well.
Music was in his blood, born as he was to a man who was well-known as a gifted amateur musician among connoisseurs of his day. He was the third child of Rama Iyer of Maharajapuram and his wife Amba. Rama Iyer, a landlord, lived in Maharajapuram, a fertile village on the banks of Kaveri river, in Tanjavur district. Endowed with a natural musical voice, he used to regale select listeners with his raga alapana-s. He would be invited to sing at festivals and religious functions. It is said that listeners on such occasions would be so moved by the slokas and viruttam-s sung by Rama Iyer that they would even forget to taste the payasam- the sweet delicacy— served to them.
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