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Manambucchavadi Venkatasubayyar - An incomplete outline
 For all the wealth of information available about his Guru (Tyagaraja) and his disciples (Maha, Patnam et al), Manambucchavadi Venkatasubbayyar remains an inchoate personality. The Sangita Sampradaya Pradarshini does not even mention him. Other works have at best given very sketchy details. All agree that he was a composer of great merit and also a teacher of repute.
1. The Gayakasiddhanjanam of the Tachur Singaracharyulu brothers of 1905, in its first few pages carries 'A Brief Account of Hindu Musicians'. In page 3, under the section titled Tyagaraja, it has the following details:
"One of his kinsmen, Manambchavadi Venkatasubbayya, was an able man of the day. He made many kritis in honour of Venkatesa. He was a good violinist and created a school of musicians. One of his pupils Panchabhikesayya by name, a grandson of Thiagarejayya was a good songster but departed this life when he was 22 years of age".
2. The Karunamirtha Sagaram of Rao Sahib M Abraham Pandither, of 1917, in the First Book - First Part - A Brief History of Indian Music, in its section titled 'The names of Experts in South Indian Music with a few remarks on each' in page 201, has the following lines on Manambucchavadi Venkatasubbayyar:
"Venkatasubbayyar of Manombucchavadi. He was a relation of Thyagaraja Iyer of Tiruvadi and became a distinguished musician learning the art under him. He has composed many Keertanams in praise of Venkatasami. He was a good violinist too. Panchapakesa Iyer and Sivarama Iyer are his students".
3. By far the longest tract on Venkatasubbayyar is in the Mulakanadu Sabha souvenir issued in 1947 on the occasion of Tyagaraja's death centenary. The entire book is a kind of celebration of the contributions of the Mulakanadu community to Carnatic Music. Page 48 of this souvenir has an article on Venkatasubbayyar (under the heading Profiles of Past Vidwans) by G Gopalaswami which has the following details:
Venkatasubbiah, Manambuchavadi:
 One of the famous direct sishyas of Sri Thiaga Brahmam. He was the prathama sishya and in fact the confidante of the Guru. He not only learnt vocal music but also became an expert in violin. He faithfully preserved the classical style of singing imparted to him by his Guru. He toured Mysore, Baroda, Benares and other places with Panchapagesa Bhagavathar and gave performances in all those places and won the appreciation and admiration of all. He was a great Sanskrit and Telugu scholar. He was besides a gifted composer of krithis and varnams. Sri TS Vasudevan, B.A., Dip. Mus., in an article on the Carnatic Music composers in the Journal of the Madras University says "That Manambuchavadi Venkatasubbier was a composer of original songs was made known only through one Lavani Venkata Rao, a Marathi poet and composer and a disciple of his. The pieces Narahari Hariyani, Mariadakada, Avaraguta, Swamiki Sari and varna Karuninchumu are all familiar to persons in and around Tanjore and especially the kriti Mariada Kada in Saraswati Raga is even finer than Thiagaraja's in that Raga. In the Devagandhari kriti Swamiki Sari he pays his homage to his Guru. The mudra employed by him in his kritis is 'Venkatesa' and this perhaps gave rise to the fact that some of his kritis were ascribed to Patnam Subramania Iyer as he has also used the same
mudra.
He had a passion for composing songs in apoorva ragas. He composed a keerthana 'Avaraku' in the apoorva raga of Kuthoohalam. It is stated that this krithi in this raga gave the inspiration to his sishya Patnam Subramanya Ayyar to create a new raga called 'Kathana - kuthoohalam'. Venkatasubbiah composed also an apuroopa chathushty ragamalika beginning with the words 'Sivaboothe in Desathi thalam in four ragams viz Prathapa. Abhogi, Vijayasri, and Poorna Chandrika. He also composed a Navarathna ragamalika beginning with the words 'Kaninchunu Lokadara' in Adi Talam. Among the famous varnams mention may also be made of Jalajakshi varnam in Hamsadhwani. After the death of his guru he kept his own school of musicians. Among his famous sishyas may be mentioned Maha Vaidhyanatha Iyer, Patnam Subramania Iyer, Sarabha Sastrigal, Fiddle Venkoba Rao, and Trivadi Panchapagesa Iyer and
Sivaramakrishniah.
4. Prof P Sambamoorthy in his Great Musicians, mentions Venkatasubbayyar in his chapters on Maha Vaidyanatha Sivan, Patnam Subramanya Iyer and Sarabha Sastrigal. He goes on to say that five disciples of his became giants in the field. We shall study them next week.
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