Known as Panchanatha Iyer or Manattattaai Duraiswami Aiyar, the father of Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer, he himself was a renowned musician. He lived in Vaiyacheri, a small village in Tanjore district, with his wife Arundati. Duraiswami was proficient in Tamil, Telugu and Sanskrit. Once while he was singing Thyagaraja's "Chakkani Raja" (Kharaharapriya), Sri Thyagaraja, who was passing by, blessed him saying that his two sons would become very famous in music. Duraiwami had four sons - Sambamurthy, Ramaswami, Vaidyanathan and Sivaraman (or Appaswami). They belonged to Koundinya Gothram and Brahacharanam sect. Duraiswami found that Ramaswami and Vaidyanathan evinced keen interest in music and trained them in singing. Among his well-known compositions are sarasiruhAsana priyE, and the dasaragamalika varnam ``Intha Gopa.''