Veena Padmanabiah, a native of Sriramapura (also known as Budihalu in Chikkanayakanahalli taluk, Karnataka), was trained in classical vocal and veena in his early days by a disciple of Veena Shamanna. Later, under the guidance of Veena Shamanna, Padmanabiah's expertise grew. An incident at the king's palace during his youth made him popular and impressed the king. A well-known musician called Veena Sambayya made a mistake in interpreting a "shloka" in the musical treatise "Sangeeta Ratnakara". Padmanabiah immediately pointed out this error, much to the discomfort of Sambayya, while the rest of the musicians dared not to, out of fear of incurring the senior musician's wrath. Years later, pleased by his talent, the king appointed him to the court and bestowed upon him the title "Mahatapi Khillat". Padmanabiah also served in the same capacity under the next king, Chamaraja Wodeyar IX. He was a music teacher at the "Mysore Maharanis High School", at the "Maharajas Sanskrit School", and he also tutored the royal family. He wrote many compositions in Sanskrit, Telugu and Kannada under the pen name "Padmanaba".