Maharajapuram Santhanam Biography 
Maharajapuram Santhanam was one of the great carnatic vocalists and distinguished composers of the 20th century. Hailed from Sirunangur, a village in the state of Tamil Nadu, he was the son of famous Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer who was also a Carnatic singer. He wrote several devotional songs on Lord Subramaniya and Kanchi Shankaracharya. He popularized several devotional songs like "Madhura Madhura" and "Bho Shambo" composed by Swami Dayananda Saraswati, "Nalinakaanthimathim", "Ksheerabdi kannike", "Srichakra Raja", "Sadha Nin Padhame gathi, Varam onnru" etc. His renditions are dedicated to bhakthi and "Narayana ninna", "Govinda ninna” and "Vilayada ithu nerama muruga" need special mention.
An outstanding artist known for his achievements, he has been honoured numerous awards including Padma Shri for the year 1990, Sangeetha Kalanidhi from the Madras Music Academy in 1989 and Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 1984. He was also a recipient of the most prestigious Kalaimamani award by state government of Tamil Nadu for an artist’s outstanding contributions to the field of art. "Sangeetha Sudhakara" by the Yoga vedanta University at Rishikesh and "Gana Kalanidhi" by Sri Chandrasekhara Bharati of Sringeri Sharada Peetha are other major honours received by him.
He was born on December 3, 1928 in Sirunangur, Tamil Nadu. He was introduced to the field of Carnatic music by his father Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer and later he learnt from Melattur Sama Dikshitar. He later did several compositions including devotional songs praising Lord Subramaniya and Kanchi Shankaracharya. He has also served as the Principal of Ramanathan College in Sri Lanka. After retirement he moved to Chennai where he got settled and spent his entire life for music. He died in a car accident on June 24, 1992 aged 63. He has two sons, apart from a disciple Dr. R. Ganesh who carried forward his tradition.
Published: N/A
Updated: January 04, 2016
