Baluswami Dikshitar

Baluswami Dikshitar was the son of Ramaswami Dikshitar, the scholar-composer, and the brother of Muthuswami Dikshitar, one of the Carnatic musical trinity. He was a multi-faceted musician who could play the family veena, besides swarabat, sitar, and mridangam.

Baluswami Dikshitar and his brothers received patronage from Muthukrishna Mudaliyar and Venkatakrishna Mudaliyar of Manali. It is believed that at their instance, a visiting European violinist taught Baluswami Dikshitar to play the violin between 1806 and 1814.

He later adapted his violin technique to suit Carnatic music. His brother Muthuswami Dikshitar composed nottuswarams in Sankarabharanam raga to practice with, helping the instrument settle into an Indian musical vocabulary.

From 1825, Baluswami Dikshitar was the Asthana vidwan of Ettayapuram and also the music tutor of the Raja of Ettayapuram. He gave concerts with his brother Chinnaswamy Dikshitar, and the brothers are remembered among the earliest prominent musical duos in history.