This is a list of Carnatic instrumentalists: musicians famous for playing the

carnatic music Carnatic music, known as or in the Dravidian languages, South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, an ...

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territo ...

. Musicians are listed by the instrument they have played.

Bowed strings

Violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

Lalgudi Jayaraman Lalgudi Gopala Iyer Jayaraman (17 September 1930 – 22 April 2013) 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 Mu ...

Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan (2 March 1935 – 8 September 2008) was an Indian classical music violinist and music composer. Early life Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan was born on 2 March 1935 and was trained by his father, Ramaswamy Sastry. He was the brother ...

Tirumakudalu Chowdiah Tirumakudalu Chowdiah ( kn, ಸಂಗೀತ ರತ್ನ ತಿರುಮಕೂಡಲು ಚೌಡಯ್ಯ) (1895 – 19 January 1967) was a violin maestro from India in the Carnatic classical tradition. Early years Chowdiah, was born in ...

Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu (8 November 1893 – 25 November 1964) was one of the most important carnatic music violinists of the 20th century. Naidu was partially blind. He played at the National Physical Laboratory auditorium, New Delhi in 1952 ...

M. S. Gopalakrishnan M.S. Gopalakrishnan, a.k.a. MSG, (10 June 1931 – 3 January 2013) was a violinist in the field of Carnatic music. He is commonly grouped with Lalgudi Jayaraman and T.N.Krishnan as part of the violin-trinity of Carnatic Music. He was awarded ...

T. N. Krishnan Trippunithura Narayana Krishnan (6 October 19282 November 2020) was an Indian Carnatic music violinist. Along with Lalgudi Jayaraman and M. S. Gopalakrishnan he was considered part of the violin-trinity of Carnatic music. He was awarded the Mad ...

* H.K. Venkatram *

L. Vaidyanathan Lakshminarayana Vaidyanathan ( ta, லக்ஷ்மிநாராயண வைத்தியநாதன்; kn, ಎಲ್.ವೈದ್ಯನಾಥನ್; 9 April 1942 – 19 May 2007) was an acclaimed musicologist, music director and compo ...

L. Subramaniam Lakshminarayana Subramaniam (born 23 July 1947) is an Indian violinist, composer and conductor, trained in the classical Carnatic music tradition and Western classical music. Early years Subramaniam was born in Madras, Madras Presidency, Br ...

L. Shankar Lakshminarayana Shankar (born 26 April 1950), better known as L. Shankar, Shankar and Shenkar, is an Indian violinist, singer and composer. Early life, family and education Shankar was born in Madras, India, and raised in Ceylon (current- ...

Mysore brothers Mysore Brothers are Indian classical violinist duet—Mysore Nagaraj and Dr. Mysore Manjunath. They trained under their father Sri Mahadevappa, a violinist in the tradition of Sri Tyagaraja, composer of Carnatic classical music. They received t ...

- Mysore Nagaraj & Dr. Mysore Manjunath *

Embar Kannan Embar S. Kannan is a violinist in the fields of Carnatic Music and Tamil Film Music. Trained in Carnatic as well as Western Classical methods, he is a Grade 'A top' artist of the All India Radio and is universally acclaimed as a soloist and an ...

* G. J. R. Krishnan and

Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi is a well-known Carnatic violinist, vocalist and composer. She was chosen for the Sangeetha Kalanidhi award by Madras Music Academy in 2022. Early life Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi was born in Chennai to violin maestro Lalgudi ...

Ragini Shankar Ragini Shankar is an Indian violinist who performs Hindustani classical music and fusion. She is the daughter of Dr. Sangeeta Shankar and the granddaughter of the renowned Padmabhushan Dr. N. Rajam. Early life Shankar began her training at the ...

A. Kanyakumari Avasarala Kanyakumari is a violinist from South India who specializes in Carnatic music. Career Kanyakumari is a native of Vijayanagaram, Andhra Pradesh and has lived in Chennai for more than five decades. Awards and honours A Kanyakumari ...

Ganesh and Kumaresh Ganesh and Kumaresh are Indian duo of violin players who are a part of the Carnatic music (South India) fraternity. The brothers are known as modern contemporary artists in "Sastriya Sangitam". They were awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award f ...

* M. Narmadha *

Vittal Ramamurthy Vittal Ramamurthy (Kannada : ವಿಟ್ಟಲ್ ರಾಮಮೂರ್ತಿ) is a violinist in the Carnatic music tradition of South India. Early life Ramamurthy began learning Carnatic music from his mother, Krishnaveni. He was introduced ...

V. V. Ravi Vadakkanchery Veeraraghava Bhagavathar Ravi is an Indian classical music violinist.‘Every ...

Nedumangad Sivanandan Ragaratnam Nedumangad Sivanandan (V. Sivanandan Nair, born 30 June 1935) is a violinist in the Carnatic tradition of India, who has been in the forefront of both teaching of the Carnatic tradition on the violin, as well as its performance on sta ...

Avaneeswaram S R Vinu Avaneeswaram S. R. Vinu (Malayalam: ആവണീശ്വരം എസ് ആര്‍ വിനു) (born 10 June 1973) is an Indian Carnatic violinist. He is an 'A Top' grade artiste of the All India Radio, world renowned soloist, and accompan ...

Delhi P. Sunder Rajan Delhi P. Sunder Rajan is a violinist-vocalist of India performing South Indian Classical music (Carnatic music Carnatic music, known as or in the South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, inc ...

B. Sasikumar B. Sasikumar is a noted Carnatic music violinist, musician, teacher, composer and writer from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. Profile B. Sasikumar was born on 27 April 1949 in Thiruvalla, to M. K. Bhaskara Panicker and G. Sarojini Amma. ...

Gingger Shankar Gingger Shankar is an American singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist. She has scored several films, including '' Circumstance''. Early life Shankar was born in Los Angeles, California and raised there and in India. She is the eldest daugh ...

Jyotsna Srikanth Jyotsna Srikanth is an Indian violinist and composer, performing Carnatic music and Western classical music. Early life Jyotsna Srikanth was born in an Andhra musical family in Bangalore, India. Her mother, Ratna Srikantaiah, is a Carnatic musi ...

Balabhaskar Balabhaskar Chandran (10 July 1978 – 2 October 2018) was an Indian musician, violinist, composer and record producer. He is best known for promoting fusion music in South India. Hailing from a musically affluent family, he was introduced to ...

Abhijith P. S. Nair Abhijith P. S. Nair (born 18 October 1991) is an Indian violinist, arranger and composer. Performing career Abhijith became acquainted with folk and classical styles and began performing onstage improvisations. His fusion violin shows and al ...

Ambi Subramaniam ''Ambi Subramaniam'' (born 5 August 1991 Los Angeles, California, United States) is a violinist, composer, and educator. He started performing on stage when he was six years old and was described as the "new king of Indian classical violin" by t ...

Plucked strings

Veena The ''veena'', also spelled ''vina'' ( sa, वीणा IAST: vīṇā), comprises various chordophone instruments from the Indian subcontinent. Ancient musical instruments evolved into many variations, such as lutes, zithers and arched harps.< ...

Karaikudi Sambasiva Iyer Karaikudi Sambasiva Iyer (1888 - 1958) was noted Indian classical musician and Veena player. In 1952, he was amongst the first awardees of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship the highest honour conferred by Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's Natio ...

* Challapally Chitti Babu *

Emani Sankara Sastry Emani Sankara Sastry (23 September 1922 – 1987), was a renowned Veena player of Carnatic music. Life sketch Emani Sankara Sastry was born on 23 September 1922 in Draksharamam, India. He came from a family of celebrated classical musicians. H ...

S. Balachander Sundaram Balachander (18 January 1927 – 13 April 1990) was an Indian veena player and filmmaker. He directed, produced, and also composed music for a few of his films. Balachander was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1982. He died of a hear ...

Doraiswamy Iyengar Mysore Venkatesha Doreswamy Iyengar (1920-1997) was a Carnatic musician and one of the greatest exponents of the veena in modern Indian history. Early life He was a son of Venkatesha Iyengar, a learned vainika and royal musician at the cour ...

* E. Gayathri *

Jayanthi Kumaresh Jayanthi Kumaresh is an Indian Veena musician. Jayanthi comes from a lineage of musicians who have been practising Carnatic music for six generations and started playing the Saraswati Veena at the age of 3. Her mother, Lalgudi Rajalakshmi, was h ...

Kalpakam Swaminathan Kalpakam Swaminathan (15 August 1922 – 6 April 2011) was a ''vainika'' (veena player) of Carnatic music. Profile Kalpakam was born in Sethalapathi village in the Tiruvarur district of Tamil Nadu, India. Her mother Abhayambal initiated he ...

Ranganayaki Rajagopalan Ranganayaki Rajagopalan (3 May 1932 – 20 September 2018) was an award-winning veena instrumentalist, recipient of the Kalaimamani and winner of a Presidential Award for Carnatic Instrumental Music. Early life and background Ranganayaki c ...

Rajhesh Vaidhya Rajhesh Vaidhya ( ta, ராஜேஷ் வைத்யா) (or, Vaidya), is an Indian veena player born on 14 June 1973 hailing from Tamil Nadu. Besides performing on stage, he has worked with various film music composers. He also acted in th ...

Revathy Krishna Revathy Krishna () is an Indian vainika renowned for her proficiency in both carnatic classical as well as Light music and film music. Early life Revathy Krishna, born as Revathy Chelvakumar, was the daughter of Chelvakumar and Lakshmi. Revat ...

Mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

U. Srinivas Uppalapu Srinivas (28 February 1969 – 19 September 2014) was an Indian mandolin player in Carnatic classical music and composer. Because he was a child prodigy, he was sometimes called the Mozart of classical Indian music. He was awarded the ...

Chitra veena The chitravina ( sa, चित्रवीणा) (also known as chitra veena, chitraveena, chitra vina, hanumad vina, or mahanataka vina) is a 20 or 21-string fretless lute-style veena in Carnatic music. Around the late 19th and early 20th ce ...

N. Ravikiran Narasimhan Ravikiran (born 12 February 1967) is an Indian slide instrumentalist, vocalist, composer, and orator, who created the concept of melharmony. He is the son of gottuvadhyam player Chitravina Narasimhan and the grandson of Narayan Iye ...

Guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

R. Prasanna R. Prasanna (better known as ''Guitar Prasanna''), is a pioneer in performing Carnatic music on the guitar. He also plays jazz, progressive rock, and world fusion music, world fusion. Early life and background Prasanna grew up in Chennai, I ...

Sukumar Prasad Sukumar Prasad is a South Indian guitarist who was the first Carnatic music, Carnatic musician to play the south Indian musical art form of Carnatic music on the electric guitar. He not only played Carnatic music on guitar but was a skilled mr ...

Winds

Venu The ''venu'' (Sanskrit: ; /मुरळि; ''muraļi'') is one of the ancient transverse flutes of Indian classical music. It is an aerophone typically made from bamboo, that is a side blown wind instrument. It continues to be in use in the ...

* T. R. Mahalingam * N. Ramani *

Prapancham Sitaram Prof Dr. Prapancham Sitaram was a Carnatic flautist from the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. Prof. Sitaram was a disciple of flautist T.R. Mahalingam and was a top artist in the All India Radio. He served as head of many institutions in Andhra ...

* Shashank *

K. Bhaskaran K. Bhaskaran is an Indian Carnatic music flautist. Early life K. Bhaskaran was born on 30 April 1961 to Lakshmi Krishnamurthi and K. Krishnamurthi, and brought up in Mylapore, in the city of Chennai. Bhaskaran started formally learning the flut ...

T. Viswanathan Tanjore Viswanathan (13 August 1927 – 10 September 2002) was a Carnatic musician specializing in the Carnatic flute and voice. Early life and background Viswa, as T. (Tanjore/Thanjavur) Viswanathan is often called, was born in Madras, I ...

B. Shankar Rao B. Shankar Rao (10 May 1922 – 13 September 2020) was an Indian flautist who specialised in classical carnatic music. Biography After obtaining his initial music training from his sister Smt. Balaamba he got the opportunity to learn flute f ...

Tiruchy L. Saravanan Tiruchy L. Saravanan, also known as Flute Saravanan, is a prime disciple of Dr. N. Ramani, one of India's pioneer Carnatic flautists. Education Saravanan is also a disciple of the late Sri K. S. Narayanan (senior most disciple of Sri Mali), the ...

Nadaswaram The Nagaswaram (nādḥasvaram) is a double reed wind instrument from South India. It is used as a traditional classical instrument in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, and Kerala. This instrument is "among the world's loudes ...

T.N. Rajarathnam Pillai Thirumarugal Natesapillai Rajarathinam Pillai (27 August 1898 – 12 December 1956) or TNR was an Indian Carnatic musician, nadaswaram ''maestro'', vocalist and film actor. He was popularly known as "Nadaswara Chakravarthi" (literally, the Emperor ...

Namagiripettai Krishnan Namagiripettai K Krishnan (2 April 1924 – 30 April 2001) was a Carnatic musician who played the Nadaswaram. He was born in Namagiripettai village and lived in Sendamangalam, Namakkal district, Tamil Nadu, India. He gave many performances acro ...

Sheik Chinna Moulana Sheik Chinna Moulana (12 May 1924, Karavadi Prakasham, Andhra Pradesh – 13 April 1999, Srirangam, Tamil Nadu), popularly known as Sheik, was a legendary nadhaswaram player in the Carnatic tradition. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sa ...

Sheik Mahaboob Subhani Sheik Mahaboob Subhani is an Indian classical music nadaswaram artist. He performs with his wife Kaleeshabi Mahaboob, also a nadaswaram artist. Early life Sheik Mahaboob Subhani was born in Prakasam district in Andhra Pradesh Andhra Prad ...

Saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

Kadri Gopalnath Kadri Gopalnath (6 December 1949 – 11 October 2019) was an Indian alto saxophone, alto saxophonist and one of the pioneers of Carnatic music for that instrument. Early life Born in Sajeepa Mooda village in Bantwal taluk of Dakshina Kannada ...

Percussions

Piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

Anil Srinivasan Anil Srinivasan (born 3 June 1977) is an Indian pianist. Born in Chennai, India and educated at the University of Southern California and at Columbia University, New York, he is well known for his collaborative work with Carnatic vocalist Sik ...

Mridangam The mridangam is a percussion instrument of ancient origin. It is the primary rhythmic accompaniment in a Carnatic music ensemble. In Dhrupad, a modified version, the pakhawaj, is the primary percussion instrument. A related instrument is the ...

Palghat Mani Iyer 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 ...

Palghat R. Raghu Palghat R. Raghu (9 January 1928 – 2 June 2009) was a Carnatic musician and percussionist. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 2007. Early life Palghat Ramaswamy Raghu was born in Rangoon, Burma (now Myanma ...

* Vellore G. Ramabhadran *

Mavelikkara Velukkutty Nair Mavelikkara Velukutty Nair (Malayalam: മാവേലിക്കര വേലുക്കുട്ടി നായർ) was an Indian mridangam player. Life Mavelikkara Velukkutty Nair was born on 2 October 1926 in Chettikulangara (near Mavel ...

Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman Umayalpuram Kasiviswanatha Sivaraman (born 17 December 1935) 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. Earl ...

Trichy Sankaran Trichy Sankaran (born 27 July 1942) is an Indian percussionist, composer, scholar, and educator. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 2011. As a mridangam ''vidwan'', he has been called a "doyen among the percussionis ...

* Karaikudi Mani *

Ramnad V. Raghavan Ramnad V. Raghavan (19 June 1927 – 21 November 2009) was a player of the ''mridangam''. He was born in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India, to P. Vaidyanatha Ayyar of Kooniyur, Tirunelveli district, and Brhannayaki. His elder brother Ramnad Krishnan w ...

* T. Ranganathan *

Palani Subramaniam Pillai Pazhani Subramania Pillai (1909–1962) was a well known Carnatic music percussionist. He, along with his contemporaries Palghat Mani Iyer and Ramanathapuram C. S. Murugabhoopathy, are revered as the "Holy Trinity of Mridanga". He was adept in ...

* Mannargudi Easwaran *

Guruvayur Dorai Guruvayur Dorai (born 2 July 1935) is an Indian percussionist. He is one of the most senior exponents of the South Indian classical percussion instrument, the mridangam. He had his initial training under Palghat Subba Iyer and E.P. Narayana P ...

T. V. Gopalakrishnan Tripunithura Viswanathan Gopalakrishnan (born 11 June 1932 in Tripunithura, Kerala), known as TVG, is a Carnatic and Hindustani musician from Cochin, Kerala, India. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 2014. Ea ...

* Ramesh Srinivasan * Patri Satish Kumar *

Erickavu N. Sunil Erickavu N Sunil, aka Sunil Narayana, is an 'A Grade' Indian percussion artist in mridangam at All India Radio and author of the book "Resounding Mridangam". Early life and background He started learning the mridangam at the age of four. ...

* Thiruvarur Bakthavathsalam

Ghatam The ghaṭam ( sa, घटं ''ghaṭaṁ'', kan, ಘಟ ''ghaṭah'', ta, கடம் ''ghatam'', te, ఘటం ''ghatam'', ml, ഘടം, ''ghatam'') is a percussion instrument used in various repertoires across India. It's a variant ...

* T. H. "Vikku" Vinayakram * Ghatam Udupa

Kanjira The kanjira, khanjira, khanjiri or ganjira, a South Indian frame drum, is an instrument of the tambourine family. As a folk and bhajan instrument, it has been used in India for many centuries. The kanjira's emergence in South Indian Carnatic m ...

* G. Harishankar * V. Selvaganesh

Thavil A ''thavil'' (Tamil:தவில்) or ''tavil'' is a barrel-shaped percussion instrument from Tamil Nadu. It is also widely used in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamilnadu and Telangana States of South India. It is used in temple, folk ...

* Haridwaramangalam A. K. Palanivel

Morsing The morsing (also mukharshanku, mourching, morching or morchang; Sanskrit: दंत वाद्यन्तरात्मसत्रस्य, Telugu: మోర్సింగ్, Kannada: ಮೋರ್ಸಿಂಗ್, Rajasthani: मोर� ...
(jaw harp)

Srirangam Kannan Srirangam Kannan (born 5 May 1952) is an Indian musician and artist, known for playing the morsing. He has a degree in mathematics. Profile Vidwan Srirangam S. Kannan was born on 5 May 1952 in Srirangam to K Sathyamurthy and Kamalam. Growing up ...

Other

Idakka The ''idakka'' (), also spelt edaykka/edakka, is an hourglass-shaped drum from Kerala in south India. This handy percussion instrument is very similar to the pan-Indian damaru. While the damaru is played by rattling knotted cords against the res ...

* Tripunithura Krishnadas

Jaltarang

* Anayampatti S. Ganesan * Seethalakshmi Doraiswamy

Santoor The Indian santoor instrument is a trapezoid-shaped hammered dulcimer, and a variation of the Iranian santur. The instrument is generally made of walnut and has 25 bridges. Each bridge has 4 strings, making for a total of 100 strings. It is a ...

* R. Visweswaran

References

External links

Information on Carnatic music
* (resource for lyrics of a number of Carnatic ''kritis'')

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carnatic Instrumentalists * Lists of musicians by genre India music-related lists