Muthuswamy Dikshitar's Memorial, Ettayapuram
Muthuswamy
Dikshitar's Memorial is located at Ettayapuram, located 15 km from Kovilpatti
en route Tuticorin. This place has a mantapam, simple in design and appearance
and the decoration was minimal for the occasion. The “Temple of Dikshitar” has
many of his songs painted on the walls with their meanings written in Tamil and
each small room (kutil) is named after the relatives of Dikshitar.
Muthuswami
Dikshitar (March 24, 1775 – October 21, 1835) was a South
Indian poet and composer
and is one of the Musical Trinity of Carnatic music. His compositions, of which
around 500 are commonly known, are noted for their contemplative nature and for
capturing the essence of the raga forms through the vainika (veena) style that emphasizes
gamakas. They are typically in a slower speed (chowka kala). He is also known
by his signature name of Guruguha which is also his mudra (can be
found in every one of his songs). His compositions are widely sung and played
in classical concerts of Carnatic music.
The
musical trinity consists of Dikshitar, Tyagaraja (1767–1847), and Syama
Sastri (1762–1827) although,
unlike the Telugu compositions of
the others, his compositions are predominantly in Sanskrit. He also had composed some of his Kritis in Manipravalam (admixture
of Tamil and Sanskrit).
Muthuswami
Dikshitar was born in Tiruvarur (of Thiruvarur district in what is now
the state of Tamilnadu) to a Tamil Iyer Brahmin couple Ramaswami Dikshitar(discoverer
of Raaga Hamsadwani) and Subbamma, as the eldest son. According to the
account of Subbarama Dikshitar, Muthuswami Dikshitar was born in the Manmatha year,
in the month of Tamil Panguni under the
asterism Krittikaa. He was named after the temple deity, Muthukumaraswamy;
legend has it that he was born after his parents prayed for a child in
the Vaitheeswaran Temple. He had two younger brothers Baluswami, Chinnaswami and
a sister Balambal.
In
keeping with the tradition, Muthuswami learnt the Sanskrit language, Vedas and other
important religious texts. He obtained his preliminary musical education from
his father. While he was still in his teens, his father sent him on a
pilgrimage with a wandering monk named Chidambaranatha Yogi to gain musical and philosophical knowledge. Over
the course of this pilgrimage, he visited many places in North India and
acquired a broad outlook that is reflected in many of his compositions. During their stay in Kashi (Varanasi), his guru Chidambaranatha Yogi, presented Dikshitar
with a unique Veena and died shortly thereafter. The Samadhi of Chidambaranatha Yogi can still be seen in Sri
Chakra Lingeswarar temple at the Hanuman Ghat area in Varanasi.
On Deepavali day, in 1835, Dikshithar performed puja as usual and asked his students to sing the song
"Meenakshi Me Mudam" in the raga purvikalyani raga. As his students sang the lines "Meena lochani
pasa mochani" he raised his hands and saying "Sive Pahi" and
left his mortal coil. His Samadhi is
at Ettayapuram (Mahakavi Bharathi’s Birth Place), between Kovilpatti
(14 km) and Tuticorin.
