Also known as Venkata Kavi, he was born to Vadula Ramachandran and Kamala narayani of Mannargudi, Tamil Nadu. Pooranur Natesa Bhagavatar was his first guru but most of Venkata Kavi's music was self-taught. He was a musical genius and experimented with musical forms and ideas. He followed the kriti pattern from earlier composers like Purandaradasa and Annamacharya. He has several firsts to his credit, like composing the 'avarana', 'navavarna' and the 'saptaratna' kritis. He has used a range of forms like jatis, kritis, slokas etc. His compositions have everything in them; command over language and rhythm, soul stirring melody, to emotion-laden lyrics. Rudra Sabdam, Nandana Geeta, Kalinga Nartana Prabhavam, Rajagopala Nrityotsavam and Sri Krishna Ganam are some of his famous works. His compositions are very popular among dancers. Though he has composed on all the deities, Sri Krishna appears to be his favorite. He did not use a mudra except in one or two kritis. Oothukkadu compositions are quite popular now, thanks to the efforts of Needamangalam Krishnamurthy Bhagavatar, who belonged to the same lineage as Sri Venkatasubbaiyer. A rare work, called Kalyana mala, describes the wedding of Lord Krishna. He composed both in Sanskrit and Tamil.