Sangeetha Kalanidhi Maharajapuram Santhanam was born on 3rd of December in the year 1928. He was one of the excellent proponents of Carnatic music of the 20th century. He was born in Sirunangur, a village in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He also followed the footstep of Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer, his father, who was also a Carnatic singer.
Life of Sangeetha Kalanidhi Maharajapuram Santhanam
Apart from taking musical lessons from his father, he was also a disciple of Melattur Sama Dikshitar. Maharajapuram Santhanam was also a notable composer, and wrote several songs on Lord Murugan and Kanchi Shankaracharya, His Holiness Sri Chandrasekarendra Saraswati Swamigal (Maha Periyavar). He also served as the principal of Ramanathan College in Sri Lanka, and later settled in Chennai.
The songs which were popularised by Maharajapuram Santhanam are,"Bho Shambo" (Revati), "Madhura Madhura" (Bagheshri), both composed by Swami Dayananda Saraswati, "Unnai Allal" (Kalyani Raga), "Sadha Nin Padhame gathi, Varam onnru" (Shanmukhapriya), "Srichakra Raja" (Ragamalika), "Nalinakaanthimathim" (Ragamalika),"Ksheerabdi kannike" (Ragamalika) among others. The Maharajapuram Santhanam Day is celebrated on the 3rd of December every year.
His other most popular songs are Purandaradasa kritis: "Narayana Ninna" (Shuddha Dhanyasi) and "Govinda Ninna". His rendition of "Vilayada ithu nerama muruga" cannot be replicated by any other artiste. His renditions were full of Bhakti.
In Chennai, Griffith Road in T. Nagar was renamed as `Maharajapuram Santhanam Salai` in honour of Maharajapuram Santhanam, by Karunanidhi and Stalin. The street has the famous Krishna Gana Sabha and Muppathamman Temple.
Sangeetha Kalanidhi Maharajapuram Santhanam died on 24th June in the year 1992 due to a road accident. His legacy is being carried forward by his sons Maharajapuram S. Srinivasan, Maharajapuram S. Ramachandran, and his primary disciple Dr. R. Ganesh.
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