[3] His compositions, of which around 500 are known and are noted for their elaborate, poetic descriptions of Hindu gods / temples and for capturing the essence of the raga forms through the vainika (veena) style that emphasises gamakas.

However, T K Govinda Rao explains in Compositions of Mudduswamy Dikshitar[1] that "the word Muddayya is an epithet of Kumaraswami or Guha.

Further, in the original Telugu publication of Sangita Sampradaya Pradarshini (1904) Sri Subbarama Dikshitar mentions his name as Mudduswamy.

Also, in the known composition of Dikshitar, "Bhajare re Chitha"[4] in raga Kalyani, the "mudra" or signature of the composer appears in the text as "Guruguha Roopa Muddu Kumara Jananeem".

Muthuswami Dikshitar was born in a Brahmin family[5] on 24 March, 1776,[6] in Tiruvarur near Thanjavur in what is now the state of Tamil Nadu in India.

He was the eldest son of the composer, Ramaswami Dikshitar who instructed in a number of subjects including the vedas, poetry, music, and astronomy.

The Dikshitar brothers accompanied the zamindar to Fort St. George nearby where they were introduced to Western orchestral music and the violin.

[c][7] Upon the death of Chidamabaranatha Yogi, Dikshitar returned South from Benares and moved to the town of Tiruttani near Tirupati.

[7] According to legend, Murugan, the deity of the temple at Tirutani, placed a piece of sugar candy in Dikshitar's mouth and commanded him to sing.

[10] He then went on a pilgrimage visiting and composing at the temples at Kanchi, Tiruvannamalai, Chidambaram, Tirupathi and Kalahasthi, Srirangam, before returning to Tiruvarur.

This is when he composed the famous Kamalamba Navavarna kritis, filled with exemplary sahityas on the deities of the Sri Chakra which proved to be the showcase of his compositions.

[8][15] In his Sangeeta Sampradaya Pradarshini (IAST: Saṅgīta sampradāya pradarśini), Subbarama records 229 of Muthuswami Dikshitar's kritis.

They included the Tanjore quartet brothers, Ponnayya Pillai, Vadivelu, Chinnayya and Sivanandam, the mridangam player Tambiyappa, the veena player Venkatarama Ayyar of Avudayarkoil, Tiruvarur Kamalam, Vallalarkoil Ammani, Kornad Ramaswamy, Tirukkadeyur Bharati, Thevvoor Subrahmania Ayyar, and the son of his Shyama Shastri, Subbaraya Shastri.

[7] With the creativity and spiritual value embedded in his compositions, Dikshitar is considered one of the Trinity of Carnatic music alongside his two contemporaries from Tiruvarur, Tyagaraja and Shyama Shastri.

[9][17] The Carnatic musician M Balamuralikrishna had composed a song in his honour in the Raga Sucharitra, 'Cintayāmi Satatam Śrī Mudduswāmi Dīkṣitam'.

Muthuswami Dikshitar travelled to many holy shrines throughout his life, and composed krithis on the deities and temples he visited.

Samashti Charanam Hrîmkâra Bîjâkâra vadanâm Hiranya manimaya Shôbhâ Sadanâm) on the Nellaiappar Temple goddess Kanthimathi Amman.

[citation needed] At a young age, Dikshitar was also exposed to the music of the Western bands at Fort St. George.

At a later stage, Dikshitar composed some forty songs to several (mostly western folk) tunes loosely adopted to ragas such as Shankarabharanam.

In fact, the rAgas chosen are related by their word names to the Cakra and the rAga/Cakra mudra is embedded in direct or indirect form which is another mark of the Dikshitar.