Iyer's elder brother was Rao Saheb G. Ganapati Sastriar, who went on to hold the position of Dewan of the Pudukottai state.

Twenty years later, dissatisfied with the ability of the priests to clarify his doubts, he met the Kanchi Shankaracharya, and, getting satisfactory answers from him, reconverted to Hinduism.

In the Lucknow session he was a member of the Subjects Committee and took part in the discussion on the Congress - Indian Muslim League scheme of reforms.

[citation needed] He was a supporter of the Indian Home Rule Movement of those years and a party to the passive resistance resolution passed at the Madras Provincial Conference following the internment of Mrs. Annie Besant, George Arundale, and B. P. Wadia.

[8][9] A research paper on Tamil revivalism in the 1930s described Iyer as a leader of importance, who had been "an autocratic but effective chairman of the Trichnopoly municipality in the 1920s".

The Indian National Congress, in the decade of the 1920s, started organising the Non-Cooperation Movement, which involved getting many people to protest on the streets.

F.G. Natesa Iyer, the leading Congress activist of Tiruchirappalli then, as also the elected Mayor, took this opportunity to convert the movement to also show support for the Chandrashekarendra Saraswati.

I had the blessing to hold the front side of the ivory palanquin where our guru for the whole world, Sri Sankaracharya Swamigal was seated.

He gave darshan to numerous people lined on both sides of the roads, in every floor, irrespective of their religion, caste or creed.

[21] There is an account that he organised the first ever public concert of M. S. Subbulakshmi, when she was eleven years of age, in the 100 pillar hall inside the Rockfort Temple, Tiruchirappalli.

It is reported that the TKS Brothers got their first big break in the world of theatre through Natesa Iyer casting them in the roles of Lava and Kusha, in a similarly named play produced and staged by Rasika Ranjana Sabha.

[23][24] Iyer had written a concept paper for an academy of dance, drama and music, presented at the All India Oriental Conference (Hyderabad session), in the pre-independence days.

[25] Some stories also credit him with spotting the talent of K. B. Sundarambal, who, as a child, earned her living through begging and singing in railway trains for alms and copper coins around Trichy.

The performance was arranged in the 100 pillar hall inside theRockfort Temple, Tiruchirappalli, with Mysore Chowdiah on the violin and Dakshinamurthy Pillai on the Mridangam.

The veteran Marxist leader N. Sankaraiah described Seva Sadhanam as an "unusual film" for choosing the subject of marriages between young girls and old men (which had social sanction).

[29] In one sequence, Iyer is struck with remorse and throws away in sheer disgust his Yagnopaveetham; the sacred threads a Brahmin wears as an iconic symbol of his faith and community.

In the climax, the aged husband, now a totally changed man, was shown as casting aside with utter contempt his 'sacred thread', which symbolises his Brahmin superiority.

The precocious child talent he unearthed and shaped through Rasika Ranjana Sabha, such as M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar[31] and K. B. Sundarambal, turned out to be the first superstars of Tamil cinema.

[34] As a political activist, Mrs. Padma Swaminathan came into her own in the Congress Seva Dal, where she was mentored by S. Ambujammal Desikachari: and managed a group of 200 volunteers in Srinivasa Gandhi Nilayam, Chennai in the 1940s.

An archive photograph shows Mrs. Padma Swaminathan leading a procession of women volunteers on August 15, 1947, holding a giant national flag in Madras, with the Munroe Statue in the background.

[35] At the age of 40, she earned her Sangeeta Vidwan degree from the Central College of Carnatic Music in Chennai, learning from stalwarts like Musiri Subramania Iyer and T. Brinda.

This award was given by the leading social worker Sarojini Varadappan, in her capacity as Chairperson of the Mylapore Academy, for staging the maximum number of dramas in the entire state of Tamil nadu for the year 2011-12.

[38] The Sabha organises a special function on Iyer's birth anniversary to honor well-known personalities in the field of music, dance and culture.

The Sabha has been conferring the coveted title "SANGEETHA SRI" to the outstanding competitor in senior age group from 1991 onwards.

The speakers paid rich tributes to Natesa Iyer for his outstanding contribution to the promotion of drama, art, and culture and recalled his efforts to provide opportunities to the young drama artists and musicians, realising the impact of fine arts on the mind and soul of the masses.

Mr. G. Natarajan, Director of Postal Services (Central region), noted that Natesa Iyer had groomed great artists, including S.G. Kittappa, M.K.

Chitra Visweswaran, member secretary, Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram, delivered the valedictory address.