MS Subbulakshmi | December Season at The Music Academy, Madras 23.12.1975 |

As the December dusk settles softly over Madras, the air around TTK Road hums with quiet anticipation. It is the winter of 1975 — the bicentenary year of the great composer Muthuswamy Dikshitar. The Music Academy, that hallowed sanctum of Carnatic tradition, has dedicated its entire Season to the master’s works as a reverent offering from the city that lives and breathes music.

Inside the TTK Auditorium, golden lamps flicker against freshly polished teakwood. The faint scent of jasmine mingles with the crisp tang of filter coffee. Musicians, scholars, and rasikas from across India fill the hall — their conversations a low murmur of devotion and excitement. It is the second evening of the Season, December 23, 1975, and at precisely 5:30 PM, a wave of silence ripples through the hall.

With a gentle rustle of silk and the soft gleam of jewellery, MS Subbulakshmi steps onto the stage. Draped in muted rose and gold, her poise is regal, her presence radiant. Beside her, the tanpura drones to life, a sound as ancient as it is eternal.

She begins with the sacred syllables of Dakshinamurthy, invoking the eternal Guru before unfolding a musical pilgrimage through Dikshitar’s creations.
From the gentle grace of Sriranjini – “Ni Sati Deivamendule” to the meditative depths of Sri Mooladhara, from the majestic Hemavathi to the tranquil beauty of Anandabhairavi, each raga emerges luminous under her touch. Her voice — crystal, steady, suffused with bhakti — turns every phrase into a prayer, every line into light.

When the first notes of Thodi unfurl, time itself seems to pause. “Kamalambike” rises — slow, grand, and drenched in devotion — the air thick with its gravity. And then comes Shankarabharanam, that eternal raga of radiance, woven through “Sadasivam Upasmahe” — an offering not just to Dikshitar, but to the divine principle of music itself.

By the time she closes with “Maithreem Bhajatha”, the hymn she offered to the world itself, there is a hush — the kind that only great art can command. No applause can break it. The audience, as if in collective prayer, sits suspended in reverence.

Fifty years later, on this 190th remembrance day of Muthuswamy Dikshitar, we bring you this rare and historic performance — a living echo from that luminous evening.

Digitized from the original master spool, this recording preserves every nuance, every breath, every pulse of that night when time, music, and divinity became one. We welcome you to travel back to 1975, to the Music Academy, to the voice of MS Subbulakshmi, singing in devotion to Dikshitar.

Vocal: MS Subbulakshmi
Vocal Support: Radha Viswanathan
Violin: Kandadevi S Alagirisami
Mridangam: TK Murthy
Kanjira: V Nagarajan
Ghatam: TH Vinayakaram

00:00:00 - Tuning & Invocatory Dakshinamurthy Sloka
00:01:56 - Sriranjini - Ni Sati Deivamendule (Daru Varnam) - Rupakam - Muthuswamy Dikshitar
00:06:06 - Sri - Sri Mooladhara - Adi - Muthuswamy Dikshitar
00:12:58 - Vegavahini - Veena Pustaka Darini - Misra Jhampa - Muthuswamy Dikshitar
00:19:59 - Hemavathi - Alapana
00:27:42 - Hemavathi - Sri Kanthimathi - Adi - Muthuswamy Dikshitar (Disputed)
00:36:48 - Anandabhairavi - Tyagaraja Yoga Vaibhavam - Rupakam - Muthuswamy Dikshitar
00:44:06 - Vasantha - Alapana
00:46:44 - Vasantha - Harihara Putram - Misra Jhampa - Muthuswamy Dikshitar (Disputed)
00:58:32 - Thodi - Alapana
01:10:15 - Thodi - Kamalambike - Rupakam - Muthuswamy Dikshitar
01:29:18 - Surutti - Angarakam - Rupakam - Muthuswamy Dikshitar
01:34:14 - Shankarabharanam - Alapana
01:47:43 - Shankarabharanam - Sadasivam Upasmahe - Adi - Muthuswamy Dikshitar
02:01:53 - Tani Avarthanam - Adi
02:22:00 - Tarangini - Maye Tvam Yahi - Adi - Muthuswamy Dikshitar
02:24:37 - Senchurutti - Gange Mam Pahi - Khanda Ekam - Muthuswamy Dikshitar (Disputed)
02:28:08 - Manirangu - Mamava Pattabhirama - Misra Chapu - Muthuswamy Dikshitar
02:32:34 - Misra Yaman - Maithreem Bhajatha - Chandrasekharendra Saraswati
02:34:41 - Sourashtram - Ni Nama Rupamulaku (Mangalam) - Adi - Tyagaraja

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#Dikshitar250 series:    • #Dikshitar250  
As we step into 2025, we commemorate 250 years since the birth of the musical luminary, Muthuswamy Dikshitar (1775–1835). #Dikshitar250 is a celebration of his unparalleled contribution to Indian classical music, a journey through his rich legacy of kritis, brought to life by legendary artists across generations. This series is not just a tribute but an opportunity to rediscover the depth, structure, and divinity embedded in his compositions.