If the century spanning 1850 to 1950 was that of Tyagaraja, the next one undoubtedly belongs to Muthuswami Dikshitar. He has been the subject of the same intense study that his illustrious contemporary was previously. The corpus of his songs in public circulation has gone up tremendously during this period, though debates continue on the genuineness of some of these. This is exactly the way Tyagaraja kritis went up in circulation and publications were churned out on them from the mid-19^th century onwards. Dikshitar like a late-blooming flower is slowly unfurling petal after petal, revealing some, but not all the facets of his personality. There is something about him that seems to speak to the 21^st century mind.

There is a renewed interest in the Sangita Sampradaya Pradarsini, the book published by Subbarama Dikshitar which has among other features, the single largest compilation of Muthuswami Dikshitar songs. Should this work be considered the most ‘authentic’ source for notation for Muthuswami Dikshitar songs? And if so, do we give allowances for the changes that can occur when reading print and re-interpreting via voice and instrument? The debate continues. From a time when songs were simply pieces to be rendered, we seem to have moved on to when they are the subject of research and discussion, not just among academics but musicians and lay researchers apart from listeners. Dikshitar seems tailor-made for this and a lot more.