R. Pichumani Iyer (18 May 1920 [1] - 20 June 2015) [2] was a renowned veena vidwan from Tiruchirapalli. He was the winner of the prestigious Kalaimamani award. Hailing from a prominent music family, Pichumani's career started when he was just 10 years old. A mentor to many carnatic musicians, he died in June 2015. [3]
Justice Vaidyanathapuram Rama Krishna Iyer was an Indian judge who became a pioneer of judicial activism. He pioneered the legal-aid movement in the country. Before that, he was a state minister and politician. As an activist lawyer, he served jail terms for the cause of his poor and underprivileged clients. He was seen as an ardent human-rights activist. In addition, he campaigned for social justice and the environment. A sports enthusiast and a prolific author, he was conferred with the Padma Vibhushan in 1999. His judgements continue to be cited in the higher judiciary.
Semmangudi Radhakrishna Srinivasa Iyer was an Indian Carnatic vocalist. He was the youngest recipient of the Sangeetha Kalanidhi awarded by the Music Academy in 1947, a distinction he holds to this day as of 2022, probably the only musician to receive that honour before reaching 40. He had received many other awards as well, including Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan from the Government of India, Rajya Sewa Nirata title from Travancore's erstwhile ruling family, Sangeet Natak Academy award (1953), Isai Perarignar from Government of Tamil Nadu and Kalidas Samman from Government of Madhya Pradesh. He was affectionately addressed as "Semmangudi Maama" by his disciples. He was also considered the "Pitamaha" or the grand sire of modern Carnatic Music. He was conferred with an honorary doctorate by University of Kerala in 1979.
Presidency College is an art, commerce, and science college in the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India. On 16 October 1840, this school was established as the Madras Preparatory School before being repurposed as a high school, and then a graduate college. The Presidency College is one of the oldest government arts colleges in India. It is one of two Presidency Colleges established by the British in India, the other being the Presidency College, Kolkata.
Lalgudi Gopala Jayaraman was an Indian Carnatic violinist, vocalist and composer. He is commonly grouped with M.S. Gopalakrishnan and T.N.Krishnan as part of the violin-trinity of Carnatic Music. He was awarded Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 2001.
The Sarasvatī vīṇa is an ancient Indian plucked veena. It is named after the Hindu goddess Saraswati, who is usually depicted holding or playing the instrument. Also known as raghunatha veena, it is used mostly in Carnatic Indian classical music. There are several variations of the veena, which in its South Indian form is a member of the lute family. One who plays the veena is referred to as a vainika.
Naresh Iyer is an Indian playback singer. Born Mumbai, Iyer is fluent in Malayalam,Tamil, Kannada, Hindi and Marathi. Naresh Iyer has rendered 2000 film songs in several Indian languages and has several chart hits to his credit. His rendition of "Roobaroo" from the movie Rang De Basanti composed by A. R. Rahman topped the music charts for many weeks in 2006 and won him the National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer. He won the Filmfare award in the R.D. Burman Musical Talent category.
Vanchinatha Iyer, popularly known as Vanchinathan or Vanchi, was an Indian independence activist. He is best remembered for assassinating Robert Ashe, the Tax Collector of Thirunelveli who was instrumental in closing V.O.Chidambaram Pillai’s Swadeshi Shipping Company and arresting him.
Palghat T. S. Mani Iyer (1912–1981), born Thiruvilvamalai Ramaswamy was one of the leading mridangists in the field of Carnatic music. He, along with his contemporaries Palani Subramaniam Pillai and Ramanathapuram C. S. Murugabhoopathy, are revered as the "Holy Trinity of Mrudangam". Mani Iyer was the first mridangist to be awarded the Sangeetha Kalanidhi (1966) presented by the Music Academy of Madras, the Padma Bhushan (1971) and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards(1956) presented by the Government of India.
Manmatha Leelai is a 1976 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed by K. Balachander. The film stars Kamal Haasan and Aalam. A number of actresses debuted on Tamil industry through this film, including Hema Chaudhary, Jaya Prada, Y. Vijaya among others. Though the film was criticised for its bold content when it released, it has received cult status with passing years and is considered a trendsetter.
Mahalakshmi Iyer is an Indian playback singer, best known for her Hindi, Assamese and Tamil songs. She has sung in many other Indian languages as well, including Telugu, Marathi, Bengali, Odia, Gujarati and Kannada.
Umayalpuram Kasiviswanatha Sivaraman is an Indian musician and exponent of the Carnatic percussion instrument, the mridangam. He is a recipient of the Padma Vibhushan as well as the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.
Puliyur Subramaniam Narayanaswamy was a Carnatic music vocalist.
Rasipuram Subramaniyan Iyer Manohar was an Indian actor who performed roles ranging from hero to villain to comedic characters. He was born at Namakkal in 1925. He acted in over 200 films. He is known for his versatility and dominating personality. He is also known as Nadaga Kavalar for his love of stage plays and his undeterred passion in continuing to stage mythological plays almost his entire life.
Janani is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Tamil and Malayalam movies. She made her cinematic debut with the Tamil feature film Avan Ivan (2011). Her notable films including Thegidi (2014) and 7th Day (2014). She is the 3rd runner up of the reality show Bigg Boss Tamil 2 which aired in 2018.
Enga Thambi is a 1993 Indian Tamil-language romantic action film directed by Sabapathy Dekshinamurthy. The film stars Prashanth and Subhashri, with Lakshmi, Nagesh and Nassar in supporting roles. It was released on 9 April 1993.
Onna Irukka Kathukanum is a 1992 Indian Tamil language comedy drama film directed by V. Sekhar. The film stars Sivakumar, while an ensemble supporting cast includes Manorama, Vinu Chakravarthy, Goundamani, Senthil, S. S. Chandran, Charle, Kovai Sarala, Supergood Kannan and Jeeva, amongst others. The film had musical score by Ilaiyaraaja and was released on 20 November 1992.
The Iyer Brothers are an Australian-based Carnatic music ensemble formed in 1994 by the twins, Ramnath and Gopinath Iyer, who each use Saraswati veenas. They released an album, Sound of Tradition, which was broadcast by Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Radio National's The Weekend Planet on 27 January 2012.
Kannan Balakrishnan is a classical musician and veena exponent from Chennai, India, in the Carnatic Music genre. He is also a vocalist and exponent of the instruments Mridangam, Suddha Madhalam and the Ganjira. He is also known his work in promoting the Veena and the annual ten-day Veena festival organized in Chennai.
Parassala B. Ponnammal was an Indian Carnatic musician from the south Indian state of Kerala. She was a classical carnatic vocalist in the lineage of Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Muthiah Bhagavathar, and Papanasam Sivan. She was the first woman to perform at the Navaratri Mandapam in Thiruvananthapuram as a part of the Navaratri Celebrations of the Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple in Kerala.
Bhagyalakshmi is a 1961 Indian Tamil-language film directed by K. V. Srinivasan. The film stars Gemini Ganesan and Sowcar Janaki. It was released on 7 November 1961.