Dakshinamurti Pillai was an awe-inspiring musician of those times. He played mridangam, ghatam, and kanjira. He learnt mridangam under Tanjore Narayanaswami Appa and became the student of Manppondia Pillai, a wizard, at the age of twenty-five. He then joined Balamani Ammal's troupe as percussionist. He was a colossus; a familiar figure - respected and admired. A percussion combination that was considered to be memorable and was thought to raise the standards of the concert was, Palghat Mani Iyer and Palani Subramanyam Pillai on the mridangam, and Dakshinamurti Pillai on the kanjira. He was an eternal source of encouragement to the young and an inspiration to great masters like Karaikudi Sambasiva Iyer and Konerirajapuram Vaidyanatha Iyer.
