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Manjapara Devesa Bhagavathar Ramanathan (20 May 1923 – 27 April 1984) was aCarnatic musiccomposer andvocalist who created a distinctive style of singing rich in Bhava and Laya. He was considered for theMadras Music Academy'sSangeetha Kalanidhi award in 1983. However, the award for that year was given toSripada Pinakapani.

Manjapara Devesa Bhagavathar Ramanathan was born in Manjapra,Palakkad District,Madras Province (nowKerala), India on 20 May 1923, as the son of Devesa Bhagavathar and Seethalakshmi Ammal. His father Devesa Bhagavathar was a music teacher by profession. Ramanathan did his schooling in ASMMHSS Alathur in Palakkad and graduated with aBSc degree inPhysics from Victoria College, Palakkad. On completion of his studies, he traveled toMadras along with his father to improve his musical talents.

During the same time,Rukmini Devi Arundale initiated a new course onSangeeta Siromani atKalakshetra. Ramanathan auditioned for the course and was the only student to be selected for the first batch commencing in 1944. Soon, he emerged asTiger Varadachariar's favorite and was his closest disciple when the latter died in 1950.

After his graduation, Ramanathan continued as an assistant to his guru and later became Professor of Music at Kalakshetra. He also served as the Principal of the College of Fine Arts at Kalakshetra.

Ramanathan was known for his unique style of singing. In addition to having an extremely deep, booming voice, he rendered songs at an extremely slow pace, thereby allowing ample time for the listener to catch every phrase of a composition and gauge its meaning. He also sang with adequatebhava or expression. Ramanathan has sung in most Carnatic musicragas such asSahana, Sri,Anandabhairavi, Reethigowla andYadukula Kambhoji. Other favorite ragas of his includeKedaram,Kambhoji andHamsadhwani. As he himself once admitted, hisVilambita Kaala Gaanam renderings duringKathakali dances had influenced his music and style of singing. Though Ramanathan is identified with his "trademark" slow pace of singing, he did include a few relatively brisk renderings in his concerts off and on.

His style of rendering was very different from the rather brisk style of rendering that had become quite popular then. Due to this, he also received a fair share of criticism from some music critics. During the rendering of krithis, he sometimes made alterations and embellishments to the lyrics. One highlight that his rasikas would always remember is starting the krithi from theanupallavi and then going to thepallavi.

Ramanathan composed more than 300 songs in carnatic music inTamil,Telugu andSanskrit. He used the wordVaradadasa as hismudra, in respect for Tiger Varadachariar, his teacher. Some of his famous compositions are:

For his contributions to music, Ramanathan was awarded thePadma Shri by the Government of India in 1974 and theSangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1975. He received theKerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award in 1966.^[1] The Indian Fine Arts Society bestowed upon him the title of 'Sangeetha Kalasigamani' in 1976. He also served as a member of theMadras Music Academy's Experts Committee. He was also considered for the Academy'sSangeetha Kalanidhi award in the 1983–84 season though he did not get the award.

Ramanathan died after a long illness on 27 April 1984 at the age of 61.

Ramanathan's legacy has been kept alive through his albums and private recordings.M.D. Ramanathan, A Unique Octave in Music by Madhu Vasudevan, which was released in 2003, is a fitting tribute to the legend.

• Unsung Genius Hindu May 2008
• A brief biography at carnaticcorner.com
• A tribute to M.D.Ramanathan at carnatica.net
• The divine music of M.D.Ramanathan at theWayback Machine (archived 27 October 2009)
• The Hindu: 20 years after M.D.Ramanathan, A tribute to M.D.Ramanathan
• Kuppuswamy, Gowri and Hariharan, M. (1981), Index of Songs in South Indian Music, B. R. Publishing Corporation, Delhi.
• Rajagopalan, N. (1991), A Garland, Bharitiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay.
• M.D.ramanathan songs MP3 download
• Clips of M.D.Ramanathan

• Website of M.D.RamanathanArchived 17 September 2018 at theWayback Machine
• MDR, Mythical Music Maker
• Growing in stature
• Article on Ramanathan (Word document)

• Male Carnatic singers
• Carnatic singers
• Carnatic composers
• Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
• 1923 births
• 1984 deaths
• Government Victoria College, Palakkad alumni
• Kalakshetra Foundation alumni
• 20th-century Indian male classical singers
• Indian male composers
• 20th-century Indian composers
• Musicians from Kerala
• People from Palakkad district
• Indian music educators
• Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts
• Recipients of the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award

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