M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar

Bhagavathar was born Thiyagaraja in Mayiladuthurai (then known as Mayavaram), Tanjore District on 1 March 1910.[1] He was the eldest son of Krishnasamy Aachary, a goldsmith.[1] A few years after his birth, the family moved to Tiruchirappalli (then known as Trichinopoly), where Thyagaraja was admitted in a local school.[1]

Right from his boyhood, Thyagaraja neglected his studies and desired to become a singer instead. According to a popular anecdote, Thyagaraja once ran away from home after being reprimanded by his father for his decision to become a singer, as singing was not considered to be an honourable profession in the conservative Indian society of the early 20th century. Krishnasamy Aachary, eventually, found his son in the Telugu-speaking town of Kadapa as he was singing to a large group of admiring listeners. Krishnasamy Aachary relented and encouraged his son to hone his skills. Soon, Thyagaraja began to sing bhajans.

M. K. T. in the film Ambikapathy.

F. G. Natesa Iyer, a railway officer with South Indian Railways, Trichy and the founder of an amateur theatre group, Rasika Ranjana Sabha, is credited with introducing Thyagaraja to the stage. One story is that he heard Thyagaja singing at a bhajan. Impressed with his talent, F. G. Natesa Iyer offered him the role of Lohitadasa in his play Harischandra, with the permission of Thyagaraja's father. Thyagaraja, who was ten at the time, agreed, and the play was a success. He also started training under the guidance of theatre veterans at that time in Trichy.[1] However, Thyagaraja concentrated more on singing than acting and took a six-year training in Carnatic music from Madurai Ponnu Iyengar, an acclaimed violinist.

In 1934, businessmen Lakshmana Chettiar and Alagappa Chettiar and film director K. Subramaniam happened to watch a Hindu mythological play called "Pavalakkodi" in which Bhagavathar played the lead role of Arjuna. Thoroughly impressed with the performance, Chettiar planned to produce a movie based on the same story with Bhagavathar the lead role. The film was shot in Adyar and was a success. It helped launch Bhagavathar's career in films.

Bhagavathar's second film Naveena Sarangadhara (1935) was again directed by K. Subramaniam and was based on a play called Sarangadhara. Bagavathar's next film was his first own production film under the banner Trichy Thyagaraja Films, "Sathyaseelan" (1936). The film had the novel feature of two Bagavathars appearing on the same frame, though it was not strictly a film with Bagavathar playing a double role. Bagavathar, apart from playing Sathyaseelan, also briefly appears as a court singer himself in the film.

In 1937, Bhagavathar was cast in role of Bilwamangal in the film Chintamani directed by Y. V. Rao. Chintamani was record-breaking success and became the first Tamil film to run continuously for a year. Bhagavathar's songs in the movie were especially popular. The Tamil writer Kalki Krishnamurthy wrote that the film has made such an impact on the viewers that housewives would sing the song Mayaprapanchattil from the movie while preparing coffee in the morning and her husband would sing Rathey unakku kobam in response.[2] However, the songs that were featured in the gramophone records produced by Saraswathi Stores were not sung by Bhagavathar as he did not have any business understanding with the company. With the profits obtained from the movie, the owners of Rayal Talkies constructed a theatre in Madurai and named it Chintamani.[2][3]

The very same year, Bhagavathar was offered the title role in the film Ambikapathy made by the American film director Ellis R. Dungan. The film was Bhagavathar's second consecutive hit in the year and broke records set by Chintamani. Dungan was, however, heavily criticised by the conservative Hindu society for introducing controversially intimate scenes between Bhagavathar and the heroine Santhanalakshmi. Bhagavathar played the role of Saivite saint Thiruneelakanta Nayanar in the 1939 movie Thiruneelakantar.

MKT turned more towards temples and developed a philosophical attitude towards the end of his life. He undertook journeys to many pilgrimage centres. He lost interest in wealth and popularity.

After 1955, he visited many temples in South India including Dharmapura Adheenam and other places such as Pandharpur etc., with one of his best friends, Mr. A. Nagarathnam, a school teacher from Erode and who also learnt carnatic music from Alathur Brothers along with MKT. He visited Ramakrishna Tapovanam near Trichy and stayed there for well over a month. He visited Tiruvannamalai and another place called Tirumoolaranyam near Tiruvannamalai and stayed in an ashram for a few days. He also visited Puttaparthy to see Sathya Sai Baba.

MKT also suffered from diabetes and used take the insulin injection himself in the middle of concerts in the last years of his life.

During the closing days of his life, Bagavathar suffered from high blood pressure and acute diabetes. Only ten days before his demise, he gave a concert at Pollachi. At the end of the concert, a person offered him some Ayurvedic tonic to cure the diabetics. But instead of providing relief, the tonic aggravated the condition so much so that he had to be taken to Madras to be admitted immediately in the General Hospital.

On 22 October 1959, he was admitted in the General Hospital, Madras. He took treatment for a week, but he died on 1 November 1959 at about 6.20 p.m.

His body was taken to Trichy and was buried in Sangiliyandapuram, a small village in the outskirts of Trichy. His funeral procession started in the cantonment from his house at about 4.30 p.m. and took about 4 hours to reach the burial ground due to the gathering of an overwhelming crowd.

He has helped many people without publicity. It was a custom those days to arrange music concerts in family functions like weddings etc. Bhagavathar would sing without any remuneration in family functions of those who helped him to come up in life. When World War II started, the British colonial government in India asked him to stage dramas and donate the collections for the Red Cross. He agreed and donated an impressive amount. When the war was over, the British government, as a gesture of gratitude, offered to honour him with the title Divan Bahadur. But he politely declined it saying he was only helping a humanitarian cause and did not expect to be rewarded.[7]

During the Second World War, at the request of the Governor of Madras, Arthur Oswald James Hope, Bhagavathar organised concerts and plays to raise money for the British war effort.[8] The Governor recognised his contributions by offering him a Diwan Bahadur title which Bhagavathar declined.[8]

Bhagavathar was the first super star in Tamil film industry,[9] himself along with Chinnappa started the culture of dual stars ruling the Tamil industry who attained demigod status in Tamil Nadu.

• Suresh Balakrishnan (2010). Bagavather – His life and times.

• M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar at IMDb
• A legend fades into oblivion, The Hindu
• M.K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar at tamilnation.org