Margazhi Mahotsav: Desikar's melodious voice took him to dizzy heights

This writer had the pleasure of knowing Dhandapani Desikar intimately and had spent many delightful hours with him and his second wife M. S. Devasena, a leading star in Tamil films for some years.

Besides his knowledge of music, his inborn talent and acquired skills, Desikar’s major asset was his melodious voice.

According to Mr. Fielden, the first boss of All India Radio at Delhi, Desikar’s voice was the only one among Carnatic musicians, which qualified according to the standards of Western classical music. He described all other top Carnatic musicians including Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Musiri Subramania Iyer, Madurai Mani Iyer and even the inimitable Ariyakudi Ramanuja Ayyangar as ‘mere crooners!’ According to Saint Thyagaraja Swamigal’s famous composition Sapthasawara shobillu…. the voice is supposed to come from, ‘naabhi….’. It means that when a person sings, the voice should originate from the pit of the stomach and not from the nose!

Madurai Muthaiah Dhandapani Desikar was born on August 27, 1908 in the small village of Tiruchenkattakudi, famous as the birth-place of one of the Nayanmaars, Siruthonda Nayanar.

In this village there is an ancient Shiva temple which had many devotional singers known as odhuvaars. Desikar’s grandfather Murugayya Desikar was a popular odhuvar as was his son Muthaiah. In the late 19th century Muthaiah created history by being invited to what was then known as the
Federated Malay States (later to become Malaysia and Singapore.)

Even as a lad Dhandapani Desikar had his characteristic melodious voice and began to sing the various religious hymns sung by his father. Noticing his interest and talent, his father initiated him into training as an odhuvar. To give him grounding in classical music his father sent him to be a disciple of Sattayappa, a nagaswaram expert of the local temple.

In the next few years Desikar proved to be a good singer of devotional hymns with an excellent foundation in classical music. His debut concert was at the age of eleven.

Invitations to sing in many places in Thanjavur district began to come his way but Desikar was not keen in following the traditional profession of his forefathers. He revealed his desire to a close relation who took him to Kumbakonam, then one of the centres of classical Carnatic music. Desikar began to learn classical music at the feet of celebrated violin maestro Kumbakonam Rajamanickam Pillai.

When he was hardly 18 he received an offer to move to Madurai where he met many noted classical musicians and learnt from them.

Soon he began to sing at many festivals, not only in Madurai, but also in places like Nagapattinam and Mylapore, Madras. At the age of 20, he made his debut as a classical Carnatic vocalist at a temple in Madurai. He married Gnanambal soon after.

Destiny took over at this juncture the life of Desikar. While he was
living in Madurai, T. C. Vadivelu Naicker, an active person in the early decades of Tamil cinema, met him with an offer that Desikar could not refuse.

The well-known Madras based movie company Vel Pictures was then launching Pattinathar, the story of the noble saint of Thiruvetriyur near Madras. Vadivelu Naicker was working on the movie as a writer and he brought Desikar to Madras to play the lead role in the movie on a monthly salary of rupees one thousand.

The movie was a musical and had the original compositions of the saint himself. Some other songs were written and composed by Papanasam Sivan. It was a major success and established Desikar as an excellent singer-actor on the ladder of success.

His next film was again a musical, Vallala Maharaja (1938) whose heroine was Devasena. She became his “unwedded wife”, as a personal friend commented! During the 1930s, Desikar played the lead role in two more religious folk myth movies, Thayumanavar (1938) and Manickavasagar (1939).

Then came his most successful movie, the Gemini Studio - S. S. Vasan production, Nandanar (1942).
Murugadasa and Vasan used some of the original compositions of Gopalakrishna Bharathiyar like “Sivaloka naathanai kandu sevithiduvom….” in raga Naadnaamakriya (Bharathiyar composed it in raga Senjurutti.); “Vazhi maraithirikkirathey…” (raga Todi); “Ellorum varungal…” (raga Bilahari. Bharathiyar sang it in raga Behag); “Pittham thelia marundhondru….” (Raga Shankarabharanam); “Ayyey mettha kadinam…” (ragamalika, Bharathiyar composed it in raga Punnagavaraali); “Varugalaamo…” (raga Manji); “Chidamabara dharisanam…” (raga Mukhari, raga Asaveri by Bharathiyar.)
The film was a major hit. When the 60-year-old film was screened recently by the Vintage Heritage Film Club, it drew large crowds to the surprise of many.

Desikar’s’ last film venture was Thirumazhisai Alwar (1948). This film was long in production due to financial problems and when released, it hardly raised a ripple.

Later Desikar rose higher in the Carnatic musical firmament, actively helped and inspired by the Thamizh Isai Movement.

For some time he was the Principal of the Music College of the Annamalai University. Here a problem arose over his entanglement with a woman which sadly led to his resignation. It caused him much mental anguish and soon after he passed away in 1972.