Muthuswami Dikshita (, 24 March 1775 â 21 October 1835) or Dikshitar was a South Indian poet and composer and is one of the musical trinity of Carnatic music. His compositions, of which around 500 are commonly known, are noted for their elaborate and poetic descriptions of Hindu gods and temples and for capturing the essence of the raga forms through the vainika (veena) style that emphasises gamakas. They are typically in a slower speed (chowka kala). He is also known by his signature name of Guruguha which is also his mudra (and can be found in each of his songs). His compositions are widely sung and played in classical concerts of Carnatic music.
Muthuswami Dikshitar composed many kritis in groups. The following lists describe those groups and compositions that belong to each group.
There are 27 Dikshitar kritis on Ganapathi in and around Thiruvarur, out of which 16 kritis are the shodasha kritis, as the name suggests. The shodasha (16) forms of Ganapathi are Bala, Taruna, Bhakti, Veera, Shakti, Dwija, Siddhi, Uchishta, Vighna, Kshipra, Heramba, Lakshmi, Maha, Vijaya, Nritta and Urdhava. Other forms of Ganapathi, Dikshitar mentions are Rakta, Sweta, Ekadanta, Lambodara and Dhundi.
These are the Guruguha Vibhakti Kritis composed in Tiruttani Kshetra.
Here are the 11 songs in praise of Goddess Kamalamba in Tiruvarur.
The Following kriti is on Goddess Neelayadakshi Ambal of Nagapattinam (Nagai Karonam).
The Following kritis are in the Nilotpalamba Vibhakti Krithis set. These songs are dedicated to Goddess Nilotpalamba in Thiruvarur.
Muthuswamy Dikshitar visited Madurai for some time and composed two groups of krithis on Meenakshi Amman, (also called Madhuramba): Maduramba (Meenakshi) Vibhakti kritis and Minakshi Devi krithis.
The kritis on the nine grahas of Jyotisha Shastra composed by Muthuswami Dikshitar are:
These 5 compositions are based on the 5 elements in Hinduism; namely, sky, water, earth, fire, and air. As such, the manifestations of Lord Shiva in each of these 5 elements is portrayed in these pieces.
Muthuswami Dikshitar composed 13 compositions in 8 Vibhaktis in praise of Sri Thyagarajeswara at Tiruvayur.
Deekshitar lived in Kanchi for a few years. During that time, he composed three krithis on Ekambareswara, several krithis on Kamakshi and a couple on Varadaraja Swami of Vishnu Kanchi.