Santhanam was born on 20 May 1928 at Sirunangur, a village in the Tanjavur district of Tamil Nadu.
[1] He followed the footsteps of his father Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer who was also a renowned Carnatic vocalist.
He wrote many songs on Lord Murugan and Kanchi Shankaracharya, Sri Chandrasekarendra Saraswati Swamigal (Maha Periyavar).
The songs which were popularised by Maharajapuram Santhanam are,"Bho Shambo" (Revati), "Madhura Madhura" (Bagheshri), both composed by Swami Dayananda Saraswati, "Unnai Allal" (Kalyani Raga), "Sadha Nin Padhame gathi, Varam onnru" (Shanmukhapriya), "Srichakra Raja" (Ragamalika), "Nalinakaanthimathim" (Ragamalika),"Ksheerabdi kannike" (Ragamalika), "Thillana (Revathy)" among others.
On 24 June 1992, Santhanam died in a car accident in Kooteripattu, a village near Tindivanam in present-day Viluppuram district, Tamil Nadu.