Parameswara Bhagavathar was the main palace musician of Sri Swati Tirunal and composer. Not only was he the main artist in Swati Tirunal’s reign but in the royal court of four successive rulers of Travancore: Swati Tirunal, Uttiram Tirunal, Marthaanda Varma, Aayilyam Tirunal and Vikram Tirunal. Born in Noorani Agrahaaram in the town of Palghat, he lost his parents at a young age and was brought up by his uncle at Guruvayur. Even at the young age of 16, he had a sound knowledge of theory and the practical aspect of music. He soon became fluent with composing songs in Sanskrit and Malayalam. When he journeyed to Tiruvananthapuram in search of a livelihood, he was heard singing to lord krishna outside the Padmanabhaswami temple by Swathi Tirunal. Taken in by his talent and unfortunate circumstance, Swathi Tirunal offered him to train By virtue of his intensive practice and close association with the court musicians, his musical talents developed to such an extent that Swati Tirunal had great admiration and confidence in him. Whenever the Maharaja composed songs, the Bhagavathar was made to copy them on Cadjan leaves. Apart from becoming recognized as a renowned vocalist and composer, Bhagavathar was also proficient with playing the violin, veena and swarabhat, and played them alongside the maharaja in his free time. He was trained by Vadivelu in the royal court. Swati Tirunal made him the Chief Palace Musician towards the end of his regime after the death of Vadivelu. This created a strong image of his versatility in composing as well as performing, as Bhagavathar was the first musician to receive Swati Tirunal’s honour from outside Travancore. He was an excellent Harikatha exponent and his rendering of the Utsava Prabandham, composed by Swati Tirunal in Manipravalam was very widely acclaimed. Manipravalam was a style of literature in the medieval period in south India that is seen as a mixture of Tamil and Sanskrit. Bhagavathar was particularly well known for his ragam-tanam-pallavi. His unique style of singing Tanam in Ghana Ragas (Nattai, Gowla, Varali, Aarabhi and Sree Ragam) and Alapana in Saveri Raga followed by the rendering of “Paripahi Ganadhipa” (Swati composition) in the Navaratri Mandapam was spoken high of by the musicians of those day. Bhagavathar’s compositions, primarily in Sanksrit, resembled those of Swati Tirunal and Deekshitar. Among other popular compositions of his is a varnam in nattai, sarasijanabha. Shri N P Ramaswamy is the great grandson of Shri Parameswara Bhagavatar. Shri NPR is a vidwan from Kerala The dhatu of a few compositions of Sri Swathi Thirunal Maharaja has been set by Sri. Parameswara Bhagavathar. The final touches of the Kritis of the Maharaja were provided by this eminent composer who also played a dominant role in popularising them amidst the vidvans and rasikas of the court. The Sahithya of the well known 'Pancha Raga Svarajati' of the Maharaja has been set by bhagavathar.