Ambi Dīkṣitar

Going right back to the roots of this teacher-student tree is Ambi Dīkṣitar. Ambi Dīkṣitar was the son of Muthuswamy Dīkṣitar’s nephew (Subbarāma Dīkṣitar - a prolific scholar and composer himself) and learnt from Muttuswāmi Dīkṣitar. Ambi Dīkṣitar was also a composer in his own right (with kṛtis such as Gaṇanāthāya Namastē in Rāga Gowḷa). However, he probably went down in the pages of Carnatic history as a prolific teacher, spreading the works of Muttuswāmi Dīkṣitar. 

Ambi Dīkṣitar was a court musician and composer at the Ettayapuram Court, which had already patronised his family. The credit of bringing this vidwān to Chennai goes to the second step of the chart above – Brahmasri A Ananthakrishna Iyer.