Mannargudi Sambasiva Bhagavathar was a Carnatic musician, musicologist, Harikatha exponent and composer. He served Carnatic music for over seven decades. He was a disciple of Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer in music and Madurai Narayana Bhagavatar and Smt Saraswathy Bai in Harikatha. He performed more than 1000 music concerts and 7000 Harikatha performances all over India. He started composing from his teens and has composed more than 3000 songs in many languages such as Tamil, Telugu and Sanskrit. He composed different musical forms such as Geetham, Varnam, Krithi, Javali, Padam, Thillana, Ragamalika and Harikatha. The first edition of his compositions are published in Tamil in the book 'Sangeetha Ratna Mala'. Sambasiva Bhagavatar's musical discourse of Muthuswami Dikshitar charitram, Ramana Maharshi Charitram, Purandara Dasa charitram and Seetha Kalyanam are brought out in CD's. His compositions (Sahityams) are released in cassettes and CD's. His composition "Neerajadalanayana" in raga "Maand" was popularised by his guru Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer.