Maharajapuram Santhanam | |
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| Born | (1928-05-20)20 May 1928 Sirunangur,Tanjore District, Madras Presidency, British India (now inAriyalur district, Tamil Nadu, India) |
| Died | 24 June 1992(1992-06-24) (aged 64) Kooteripattu, South Arcot District (now inViluppuram District), Tamil Nadu, India |
| Occupations | Carnatic vocalist |
| Children | 2,Maharajapuram S. Ramachandran and Maharajapuram S. Srinivasan |
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Maharajapuram Santhanam, (20 May 1928 – 24 June 1992) was an IndianCarnaticvocalist. He was awarded theMadras Music Academy'sSangeetha Kalanidhi in 1989.
Santhanam was born on 20 May 1928 at Sirunangur, a village in the Tanjavur district of Tamil Nadu.[1] He followed the footsteps of his fatherMaharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer who was also a renowned Carnatic vocalist.[2] His mother was Visalakshi.[3]
Besides studying with his father, he was also a disciple of Melattur Sama Dikshitar. Maharajapuram Santhanam was also a distinguished composer. He wrote many songs on LordMurugan and Kanchi Shankaracharya, SriChandrasekarendra Saraswati Swamigal (Maha Periyavar). He was the principal of Ramanathan College in Sri Lanka.[4] Later he came and settled inChennai. The songs which were popularised by Maharajapuram Santhanam are,"Bho Shambo" (Revati), "Madhura Madhura" (Bagheshri), both composed bySwami Dayananda Saraswati, "Unnai Allal" (KalyaniRaga), "Sadha Nin Padhame gathi,Varam onnru" (Shanmukhapriya), "Srichakra Raja" (Ragamalika), "Nalinakaanthimathim" (Ragamalika),"Ksheerabdi kannike" (Ragamalika), "Thillana (Revathy)" among others.
His other most popular songs arePurandaradasakritis: "Narayana ninna" (Shuddha Dhanyasi) and "Govinda ninna". His rendition of "Vilayada ithu nerama muruga" was without parallel. His renditions were full ofBhakthi.
On 24 June 1992, Santhanam died in a car accident inKooteripattu, a village nearTindivanam in present-dayViluppuram district, Tamil Nadu. A few other members of his family too died in the accident.
The Maharajapuram Santhanam Day is celebrated on 3 December every year.
His sons Maharajapuram S. Srinivasan,Maharajapuram S. Ramachandran, and his primary disciple Dr. R. Ganesh are now carrying on his musical tradition.[2][5]
In Chennai, Griffith Road in T.Nagar was renamed as 'Maharajapuram Santhanam Salai' in honor of Maharajapuram Santhanam. The street has the famous Krishna Gana Sabha and Muppathamman Temple.
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