Music and the Tamil landscape have been inseparable, right from the Sangam Era. Several legendary figures have contributed to the evolution of music down the ages and played a crucial role in intertwining art and culture with the social milieu.
Three such personalities were the Tamilisai Moovar (Tamil Trinity) — Muthuthandavar, Marimutha Pillai, and Arunachala Kavirayar — who composed conventional kritis in Tamil and made invaluable contributions to the evolution of Carnatic music. All three lived in Sirkazhi in present-day Mayiladuthurai district and composed numerous kritis much before saint Tyagaraja and others.
Though there is no authentic information on the exact period during which Muthuthandavar lived, the Tamil Virtual Academy of the State government, which offers various academic courses online and is involved in digital documentation of rare printed books, periodicals, manuscripts, photographs, and audio-visual materials of Tamil literature and culture, indicates his period could roughly date back to the 16th Century. Arunachala Kavirayar (1711-1779) and Marimutha Pillai (1712-1787), who lived two centuries later, continued composing kritis in Tamil.
