[1] He is well known as the guru of greats such as Maestro Ilaiyaraaja,[2] Mozart of Madras ISAIPUYAL A. R. Rahman, [2][3] and Thenisai Thendral Deva,[4] The Melody King Vidyasagar,[5] and Malayalam music director Shyam and Johnson were also students of Master.
Veteran Chennai-based music teacher Mr. A. Abdul Sattar, who was the guru of music directors Harris Jayaraj, D. Imman, S. Thaman, and S. J. Suriya, and who won the Best Teacher Award from Trinity College, London for 25 consecutive years, was also a student of Dhanraj.
Ilaiyaraaja (previously known as Raasayya) joined Dhanraj Master as a student to learn musical instruments.
[7] Bramma Mela Pramanam Isai Vithi 180 Degree Dhanraj master was considered to be the bedrock of western music in Chennai.
He was one of the trios who laid the foundation for Chennai becoming a hub of Western classical music.