 At a young age he accompanied legends like Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar, Musiri Subramania Iyer, Alathur Brothers, M D Ramanathan and Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer.Krishnan first arrived in Madras in 1942.Sri Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer installed him in the care of Sri R. Aiyadurai, a prominent industrialist, philanthropist and connoisseur of Carnatic Music.