Before he turned twenty, Palani had the good fortune to accompany stalwarts like Kanchipuram Nayana Pillai, Mazhavarayanendal Subbarama Bhavathar and Mudicondon Venkatarama Iyer.
[citation needed] Palani is credited with composing a larger number of major pallavis for the brothers including their tempo and nadai variations.
As Palani's playing in the early part of his career was robust and laya-oriented with extensive calculations, many vocalists of the time did not feel comfortable with him except for the few mentioned earlier.
It was one of the most popular among the dozens of yesteryears, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar (earlier responsible in advancing the careers of Mysore T.Chowdiah and Palghat Mani Iyer) who took to promoting Palani.
It is said that in a concert in Shanmukhananda Sabha in Bombay he asked Palani to play in each of the five nadais, Chatusram, Tisram, Misram, Kandam and Sankeernam.
Palani, probably with considerable regret in having to shed his specialization and scholarship abided by his mentor's suggestion, not only because of the practicality but also because of his great respect for Chembai who was his elder by several years.
Of course senior vidwans of that era like Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar, Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer, Chembai and Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu ( Violin Solo ) had him as accompanist in many concerts.
In turn Palani encouraged a number of younger vocal and instrumental artists including Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna, Ramnad Krishnan, M. D. Ramanathan, K. V. Narayanaswamy, Tiruvarur Namasivayam, Thanjavur Thyagarajan, Lalgudi Jayaraman and Palghat R. Raghu.
In fact although he possessed talents of gigantic proportions, he never indulged in exhibitionism and his only aim was to enhance the total appeal of the concert.
In his Solo interludes-"Thani Avarthanams"- he displayed both intellectual and aesthetic aspects in equal measure which pleased all sections of the audience but he never played to the gallery.
Unlike many other musicians, he lived in a spacious bungalow and owned the latest model in cars (he changed them every two years).
Among the earliest disciple of Palani were T. Ranganathan (brother of T. Balasaraswathi) along with Ramanathapuram M.N.Kandaswami, Poovalur Venkataraman, Dandamudi Rammohan Rao, Pallathur C.T.Lakshmanan, Udumalai T.Mayilswamy, T.S Janakiraman among others.
Till he died in 1962, Palani performed Gurupooja each year at this Samadhi on Mamundia Pillai's death anniversary.