Damal Krishnaswamy Pattammal, popularly known as D. K. Pattammal or DKP, was an Indian Carnatic musician and a playback singer for film songs in Tamil. Pattammal, along with her contemporaries M. S. Subbulakshmi and M. L. Vasanthakumari, are popularly referred to as the female trinity of Carnatic Music. This trio initiated the entry of women into mainstream Carnatic Music. She has been appreciated all over the world by Carnatic music lovers.
Music of Tamil Nadu has a long tradition and history going back thousands of years. Music is a very important aspect of marriage and temple festival Tamil people.
Oothukkaadu Venkata Kavi or Oottukkaadu Venkata Subramanyar was one of the pioneering composers in Indian classical Carnatic music. He lived in South India in the present-day state of Tamil Nadu. Also known by the name Oothukkaadu Venkatasubramaniya Iyer, he composed hundreds of compositions in Sanskrit and Tamil of which over 500 are available. These were handed down from generation to generation by the descendants of the composer's brother's family.
Sudha Ragunathan is an Indian Carnatic vocalist, singer and composer. She was conferred the Kalaimamani award by the Government of Tamil Nadu in 1994, Padma Shri (2004) and Padma Bhushan (2015) by the Government of India, and Sangeetha Kalanidhi by Madras Music Academy in 2013.
Madras Lalitangi Vasanthakumari was a Carnatic musician and playback singer for film songs in many Indian languages. MLV and her contemporaries D. K. Pattammal and M. S. Subbulakshmi are popularly referred to as the female trinity of Carnatic Music. A prime disciple of G. N. Balasubramaniam, she was the youngest among the established musicians of that era, and was the youngest female to receive the Sangita Kalanidhi award. In 1967, she was honored with the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award by the government of India. Her daughter, the late K.Srividya, was an actress in Tamil and Malayalam languages.
Venkateswaran Dakshinamoorthy was a veteran carnatic musician and composer and music director of Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi films, predominantly in Malayalam films. He has set scores for the songs in over 125 films. He composed as many as 1400 songs over a period of 63 years. Fondly known as Swami, he was instrumental in pioneering classical music-based film songs. Revered as one of the forefathers of the Malayalam music industry, he has mentored many of the renowned contemporary singers and composers including P Leela and K.J Yesudas. In 1998, he was honoured with the J. C. Daniel Award, Kerala government's highest honour for contributions to Malayalam cinema.
Nithyasree Mahadevan, also referred to as S. Nithyasree, is a Carnatic musician and playback singer for film songs in many Indian languages. Nithyashree has performed in all major sabhas in India. She has released more than 500 albums. She is best known for her rendition of the A. R. Rahman composition, "Kannodu Kaanbadhellam" - her playback debut song in the Tamil movie Jeans.
Tiruchi Loganathan Maharajan is a musician. He is a Tamil classical and Tamil playback singer. He is the eldest son of Tiruchi Loganathan, who is the first playback singer in the Tamil music industry. He is also the grandson of Kalaimaamani C.T Raajakaantham. Aged 10, TLM acted and sang in a play called "Vallalar". His booming voice was well noted and echoed across the stage. Two years later, in the year 1967, he began a career in playback singing through the devotional movie "Thiruvarutchelvar". The song "Kaadhalagi Kasindhu", which he sang with the Legendary Simma Kuraloan T.M.Soundarraajan, composed by K.V. Mahadevan is a heart wrenching devotional number. With 50 years of experience in play back singing. This singer, who has worked with most prolific names in the Tamil Music industry, has sung the most unexpected numbers. Though he sings devotional songs most of the time, TLM has also sung songs like "Nee Kattum Selai" from "Puthiya Mannargal" "Unnai Kelai" from "Desam" "Rettajadai Rakkamma" from "Anbe Anbe", Kadhal Yogi" from "Taalam", "Buck Buck Buck" from "Parthiban Kanavu" Avanapathi. TL Maharajan, though associated with the greatness of his father, has marked a solid place for himself in the music industry worldwide. TL Maharajan has been a Judge for many singing competitions programs worldwide.
Manachanallur Giridharan is a South Indian music director, lyricist, singer, and also an educationist. He is also the founder of EdServ Softsystems Limited. He has founded his own music production house called Gaananjali Recordings in 2011 and has been producing non-film albums.
Jyotsna Srikanth is an Indian-British violinist and composer, performing Carnatic music and Western classical music.
Tanishq Swarna Sangeetham is a reality-based Indian singing competition in Tamil language that is being aired on Raj TV. The program seeks to discover the best singing talent in the Carnatic music genre, through a series of statewide auditions in South India. The contest is run for youngsters between the age group 15-23. The show is sponsored by the diamond and gold jewellery store, Tanishq, and the winner of the show is awarded 5 lakh rupees worth of jewellery from Tanishq. The show completed three seasons after its debut in 2012.
Jaya Super Singer South India is a reality-based Indian Tamil-language singing competition that was broadcast on Jaya TV. The program seeks to discover playback singing talent in South India.
"Vatapi Ganapatim", also known as "Vatapi ganapatim bhajeham" or "Vatapi ganapatim bhaje", is a Sanskrit kriti song by the South Indian poet-composer Muthuswami Dikshitar (1775–1835), one of the "Trinity of Carnatic music". The panegyrical hymn praises Vatapi Ganapati, Ganesha (Ganapati) worshipped in a shrine in Tiruchenkattankudi Utrapatishwaraswamy Temple dedicated to lord Shiva in Thiruvarur district in the Tamil Nadu state of India. The hymn is composed in Hamsadhvani raga ; however, in tradition of kritis, individual performers add their own variations in the tune as a part of improvisation. Vatapi Ganapatim is considered the best-known piece of Muthuswami Dikshitar and is one of the most popular compositions of Carnatic music. The hymn is traditionally sung at the beginning of many Carnatic music concerts.
Lavanya Sundararaman is a Carnatic musician. She received initial training from Poornapragya Rao, and went on to receive further training from her family of musicians.
Zee Tamil's Sa Re Ga Ma Pa 2009 Challenge was a reality-based Indian singing competition that aired on Tamil language TV channel Zee Tamil. It was designed to be a talent hunt in Tamil Nadu. The top 15 contestants would have an opportunity to perform with celebrity singers during the main stage of the competition. The show was sponsored by Clinic Plus.
Airtel Super Singer 5 - Thamizhagathil Brahmaanda Kuralukkaana Thedal, the fifth season of the Airtel Super Singer show, is a reality-based Indian singing competition in Tamil language that aired on Vijay TV. It was designed to be a talent hunt to find the best voice of Tamil Nadu. The show premiered on 1 June 2015, and episodes were telecasted on weekdays each week at 9:30 PM. Persons above the age of 16 years were permitted to audition to showcase their talent on Vijay TV's platform. This program was sponsored by Airtel.
K. Arun Prakash is a Carnatic Musician, Percussionist, Composer and well known for playing Mridangam, a principal accompanying percussion instrument in South Indian Classical Carnatic Music.
P. Muthukumaraswamy Sarma was a Carnatic musician and a music educator. He was a prime disciple of Dandapani Desikar at Annamalai University during the 1950s.
