Tyagaraja, also known as Tyāgayya, was a composer and vocalist of Carnatic music, a form of Indian classical music. He was prolific and highly influential in the development of India's classical music tradition. Tyagaraja and his contemporaries, Shyama Shastri and Muthuswami Dikshitar, are regarded as the Trinity of Carnatic music. Tyagaraja composed thousands of devotional compositions, most in Telugu and in praise of Lord Rama, many of which remain popular today. Of special mention are five of his compositions called the Pancharatna Kritis, which are often sung in programs in his honour.
Muthuswami Dikshitar (IAST: muttusvāmi dīkṣitar, 24 March 1776 – 21 October 1835), mononymously Dikshitar, was a South Indian poet, singer and veena player, and a legendary composer of Indian classical music, who is considered one of the musical trinity of Carnatic music. Muthuswami Dikshitar was born on 24 March 1775 in Tiruvarur near Thanjavur, in what is now the state of Tamil Nadu in India, to a family that is traditionally traced back to Virinichipuram in the northern boundaries of the state. His compositions, of which around 500 are commonly known, are noted for their elaborate and poetic descriptions of Hindu gods and temples and for capturing the essence of the raga forms through the vainika (veena) style that emphasises gamakas. They are typically in a slower speed. He is also known by his signature name of Guruguha which is also his mudra. His compositions are widely sung and played in classical concerts of Carnatic music.
Kanakku Chembakaraman Kesava Pillai (1868–1914) was an Indian composer of Carnatic music and a poet of Malayalam literature. He was the Poet Laureate of Travancore and was known for Kesaveeyam, a mahakavya in Malayalam, two attakathas and several bhajans and kirtans. He also translated the Sanskrit text, Narayaniyam, into Malayalam under the title, Bhashanarayaniyam.
Thoguluva Meenatchi Iyengar Soundararajan, popularly known as TMS, was an Indian Carnatic musician and a playback singer in Tamil cinema for over six and a half decades. He lent his voice to actors and thespians in the Tamil film industry such as M. G. Ramachandran, Sivaji Ganesan, N. T. Rama Rao, Gemini Ganesan, S. S. Rajendran, Jaishankar, Ravichandran, A. V. M. Rajan, R. Muthuraman, Nagesh, Sivakumar, Kantha Rao, Rajkumar, Prem Nazir and A. Nageswara Rao. He also gave his voice to many new generation actors like Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth, Vijayakanth, Satyaraj, Rajesh, Prabhu, and Vijaya Kumar, in addition to other known and unknown heroes and supporting actors like M.R. Radha, K R Ramaswami, T. Rajendar, V.K. Ramaswami, Thengai Sreenivasan, M.N. Nambiar, Thangavelu, Y.G. Mahendran, R.S. Manohar, S.V. Ashokan, Ranjan, Narasimha Bharathi, Sahasra Namam, T S Balayya, Jagayya, Nagayya, Thyagarajan, Sreenath, Shankar etc. He sang over 10,138 songs from 3,162 films, including devotional, semi-classical, Carnatic, classical and light music songs. He gave classical concerts starting in 1943.
Vaidyanatha Sivan was a composer and vocalist of Carnatic music. He was a great exponent of extemporaneous singing. He also composed a ragamalika with all the 72 melakartha ragas.
Alathur Venkatesa Iyer (1895–1958) was a teacher of Carnatic music. Venkatesa Iyer practised Carnatic music in the style of the composer Tyagaraja. Venkatesa Iyer later developed a unique style that is known as the "Alathur style" of rendering kritis. Venkatesa Iyer was also accomplished in playing the harmonium.
P. G. N. Unnithan was the last Diwan of independent Travancore. He succeeded C.P. Ramaswami Iyer on 20 August 1947 following the latter's resignation. He chaired the Travancore Constitutional Reforms Committee. He relinquished office on 24 March 1948 when people's government led by Sri Pattom Thanu Pillai as Prime Minister took over.
Visakham Thirunal Rama VarmaFRAS was the Maharaja of the erstwhile Indian kingdom of Travancore from 1880–1885 AD. He succeeded his elder brother Maharajah Ayilyam Thirunal to the throne of Travancore.
Tiruvidaimarudur Ramaswamy Mahalingam affectionately known as Mali, was a flautist who revolutionised the style of flute-playing in Carnatic music.
Salem Ramaswami Mudaliar was an Indian lawyer, politician and Indian independence activist who campaigned for India's independence.
Balan is a 1938 Indian Malayalam-language film directed by S. Nottani. It was the third feature film and first sound film in Malayalam. Based on the short story "Vidhiyum Mrs. Nayarum" by A. Sundaram, its screenplay and dialogues are written by Muthukulam Raghavan Pillai. The film is a melodrama and was the first movie in this genre in Malayalam. It is produced by T. R. Sundaram of Modern Theatres, Salem. The film, which stars K. K. Aroor, Master Madanagopal, M. V. Shanku, K. Gopinath, Alleppey Vincent, C. O. N. Nambiar, M. K. Kamalam, K. N. Lakshmi, Baby Malathi, A. B. Pious and Subhadra, is about the struggle of two orphaned children. German cinematographer Bado Gushwalker handled the camera while Varghese and K.D. George did the editing. Its music was composed by K. K. Aroor and Ibrahim. There are overall 23 songs in the film.
Simizhi Sundaram Iyer (1884–1927) was a Carnatic music composer.
Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai or Mahavidhvan Meenakshisundaram Pillai was a Tamil scholar and teacher of U. V. Swaminatha Iyer, a Tamil scholar and researcher who was instrumental in bringing many long-forgotten works of classical Tamil literature to light. Pillai's important contribution is in the form of temple history called Thala Varalaru for 90 temples in Tamil Nadu. He was born in Trichy and went on to associate himself with Thiruvaduthurai Adheenam. He was an ardent devotee of Sivaperuman and a Tamil teacher.
K. P. Kittappa Pillai was the son of Sangita Kalanidhi K. Ponniah Pillai (1888-1945), a scion of the famous Tanjore Quartet, codifiers of the Bharatanatyam format.
Motor Sundaram Pillai is a 1966 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by S. S. Balan and written by Veppathur Kittoo. A remake of the Hindi film Grahasti (1963), itself based on the American film The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker (1959), the film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Ravichandran, Sowcar Janaki and Jayalalithaa. It revolves around a man who leads a double life, having two sets of families.
Manidhanum Dheivamagalam is a 1975 Indian Tamil-language film, directed by P. Madhavan. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Sowcar Janaki, Ushanandini, Shubha and Sukumari. The film had musical score by Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan. The film was a remake of the Telugu film Buddhimanthudu.
Sir Ramaswami Srinivasa Sarma was an Indian journalist and politician. He was the first Indian journalist to be knighted.
Valayapatti A. R. Subramaniam is an Indian classical musician and percussionist, considered by many as one of the foremost prominent exponents of Thavil also known as Dolu, a traditional percussion instrument in Carnatk music, accompanying windpipe instruments such as nadaswaram, saxophone, clarinet, etc, and string instruments like violin, mandolin, etc. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 2009. He is a recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2007, for his contributions to Music.
Thigambara Samiar is 1950 Indian Tamil-language thriller film produced and directed by T. R. Sundaram. An adaptation of Vaduvoor K. Duraswamy Iyengar's novel of the same name, the film stars M. N. Nambiar and M. S. Draupadi. It revolves around the efforts of a man to expose the illicit activities of a corrupt lawyer. The film was released on 22 September 1950, and emerged a commercial success.
