Alathur Venkatesa Iyer Biography 
Alathur Venkatesa Iyer was a legendary composer and guru of Carnatic music. Known as a music maestro, he practised the style of the composer Tyagaraja and also developed his own tradition of Carnatic music named Alathur Style rendering kritis. He was also an accomplished harmonium player. The famous Alathur Brothers - Sivasubramania Iyer and Srinivasa Iyer of Carnatic music are his disciples, and Sivasubramania Iyer was his son. Venkatesa Iyer accompanied Alathur Brothers for their first performance with a harmonium. Venkatesa Iyer was also a great admirer of rare Muthuswamy Dikshitar's compositions, apart from Tyagaraja kritis. He also polished and compiled many compositions of Maharaja Swathi Thirunal of Travancore and Meesu Krishna Iyer of 19th century.
Alathur Venkatesa Iyer was born in 1895 in an affluent family. He comes from the direct lineage of Tyagaraja Shishya parampara. His sense of laya was extra ordinary and his excellence in lakshana and lakshya were easily visible. His name is always taken among the most leading names of Carnatic music. A great admirer of Tyagaraja, his role in popularizing his compositions is immensely huge. He founded Sadguru Sangeetha Sabha at Trichy and organized a 10-day Tyagaraja Music festival.
Iyer is known for compiling works of many legends and polishing them and passing over to next generation. As a sign of respect to the great composer Muthuswamy Dikshitar, he purchased the site at Tiruvarur where the great composer’s home stood and constructed a shrine for the great composer. Alathur style is famous for singing Ragam, Thalam and Pallavi in different patterns of rhythms, which is taught to disciples during the early phases of learning Alathur style. He died in 1958 aged 62.
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Updated: January 28, 2016
