Sri Muthuswami Dikshitar (March 24, 1775 – October 21, 1835) born in Thiruvarur of Tamil Nadu to Ramaswami Dikshitar and Subbamma,  is a South Indian composer and one of the musical trinity of Karnatak music.

Being born into a brahmin family and keeping up the tradition he learnt Sanskrit, Vedas and other religious texts. He obtained his preliminary music education from his father. Having the Mudra Guruguha, he composed around  500 compositions which are  noted for their elaborate and poetic descriptions of Hindu Gods and temples and for capturing the essence of raga forms through the vainika (veena) style that emphasises gamakas.  His compositions are known for its rich raga bhaava, sublimity of philosophic contents and grandeur of sahitya.

Ganabharathi has organised a festival in remembrance of the great composer on Nov.25 and 26 at Veene Seshanna Bhavana in Kuvempunagar. On 25th at 6 pm, Prof. R. Vishweshwaran will be giving a lec-dem on “Special Significance of Sri Muthuswami Dikshitar’s Navagraha krithis  and its echo in western music.”

On 26th, it’s a day-long festival which starts at 10 am staging around 20 artistes. The programme schedule is as follows:

10 am to 11 am  – Vid. Krishna Murthy, Vid. Chetan Kumar, Vid. A. Puttaswamy and  Vid. P. Shivu; 11 am to 12 noon –  Vid. Manasanayana, Vid. B. K. Raghu, Vid.  M. S. Jayaram; 12 noon to 1 pm – Vid.  M. R. Sudha, Vid. B. K. Raghu, Vid. M. R. Manjunath; 2 pm to 3 pm – Vid. K. T. Udayakiran, Vid. Jason Zachariah,  Vid. Lenard, Vid. R. Karthik; 3 pm to 4 pm- Vid. A. Vasudha Keshav,  Vid. M. A. Jyothi, Vid. A. Radhesh; 4 pm to 5 pm – Vid. Bellary M. Raghavendra, Vid. C. N. Thyagarajan, Vid. G. S. Ramanujam,  5.30 pm to 6.30 pm – Vid. N. R. Prashanth, Vid. Veenasuresh, Vid. Kaanchana Eshwara Bhat; 6.30 pm to 7.30 pm – Vid. V. Vaamshidhar, Vid. C. N. Thyagarajan, Vid. G. S. Ramanujam; 7.30 pm to 8.30 pm – Vid. N. Srinath, Vid. M. A. Jyothi, Vid. Kaanchana Eshwara Bhat.