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POST-TRINITY COMPOSERS
        
HARIKESANALLUR MUTHAIAH BHAGAVATAR (1877 - 1945)
      
Musical Background: He was a very learned man who had undertaken the study of Vedas. But the music of Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer and Patnam Subramanya Iyer affected him so deeply that he decided to quit Vedic studies and concentrate on music.

Region: He belonged to Harikesanallur, Tirunelveli district, Tamilnadu.

Contribution: He composed several varnams, kritis, tillanas and ragamalikas, many of which are in rare ragas or ragas discovered by him. He also did much to popularise Swati Tirunal's compositions. He received a doctorate in 1943 for his work Sangeeta Kalpadruma, which deals with the theory of music.

Theme: Devotional.

Languages used: Sanskrit, Telugu, Tamil and Kannada.

Signature: He used the mudra Harikesa.

Popular Compositions: Bhuvanesvariya (Mohanakalyani), Vanchatonu (Karnaranjani), Ambavani (Keeravani) etc.

        
An article on Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavatar - Part 1 by Karthik Krishnaswami
   

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