Presenting here Shri Navagraha Krithis (Vara Krithis) of Shri Muthuswamy Dikshithar, sung by  Madurai Mani Iyer.

Madurai Mani Iyer was a great devotee of Navagrahas. He strongly believed that its the nine planets which are guiding through the life path of a man. Only with their blessings, a man can overcome the problematic phases of life.  Through his devotion to the Navagraha Krithis of Muthuswami Dikshithar, he overcame many shortcomings due to physical ailments and financial problems during his life.  Each day Madurai Mani Iyer used to sing the Navagraha krithis at home, after bath, as a part of his daily prayer. Since early 1950s, he made it a practice to sing the days Graha krithi at the concert and sincerely followed the practice till his end. It was only after he started singing the Navagraha krithis as a part of his prayer, he was bestowed with a new Graha (own house), at Karpagambal Nagar, Mylapore.

It can be firmly said that Madurai Mani Iyer was the only musician to be given full credit for popularizing the Navagraha Krithis amongst the Kutchery Rasikas.

Presented here are the recordings of Navagraha Krithis rendered by Mani Iyer, at various concert places between 1959 - 1967. The recordings are from my personal collections and the quality may not be upto the current standards.

Click on the Krithi name (side panel) to view the lyrics and meaning in a new page which also contains the song file to listen.