Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer (1896 - 1970) was one of the great Carnatic vocalists. He has won several awards including Sangeetha Kalanidhi and Sangeetha Bhupathy. 1896 (MDCCCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1970 calendar). ... 1896 (MDCCCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1970 calendar). ... Carnatic music (known as कर्णाटक सङ्गीत in Sanskrit, ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ಸಂಗೀತ in Kannada, കര്‍‌ണാടക സംഗീതം in Malayalam, கருநாடக இசை in Tamil, కర్నాటక సంగీతం in Telugu) is the form of Indian classical music that had its origins in South India. ... Sangeetha Kalanidhi (sangeetha = music, kalanidhi = treasure of art) is the title awarded yearly to an expert Carnatic Musician by the Music Academy of Chennai. ...

Son of Shri Rama lyer, himself a good singer, Viswanathan was trained initially by Umayalpuram Swaminatha Iyer, a direct disciple of Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer. Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer had learnt from a direct disciple of Tyagaraja and thus Viswanatha Iyer represents the fifth generation of the Tyagaraja School. Young Viswanathan also learnt from Thanjavur Rangappa Iyer, a ghatam exponent.

A unique feature about his music was his great success in raga elaboration in great detail. The raga alaapana of Mohanam was one of his specialties. His has been hailed as the success of 'kalpana sangeetha', music rich with imagination in raga elaboration and swara singing,a specialty of his.

He had several prominent disciples including Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Mannargudi Sambasiva Bhagavatar and his own son Maharajapuram Santhanam. Dr. Srinivasa Iyer (1908 - 2003) was one of the great Carnatic vocalists of the twentieth century. ...