Kunnakudi Subbalakshmi (24 April 1931 – 21 March 2010) was a vocal Carnatic singer and elder sister of eminent violinist Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan.

Early life

She was born in

Kunnakudi 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 ...

in the temple town of Lord Murugan in the Southern Indian State of Tamil Nadu under the

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including the ...

. Her parents were Sri Ramaswamy Sastri and Smt. Meenakshi. Her father was a scholar in Sanskrit and Tamil. He was also a composer of Carnatic Music and Kathakalakshepam. Subbalakshmi. She learned South Indian Classical Music from her father at a young age.

Career

Subbalakshmi started giving concerts accompanied by her younger sister Sundaralakshmi and Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan. Sundaralakshmi died as a child. Subbalakshmi started giving solo vocal concerts in Karaikudi and

. She married S. C. Natesan (from a Brahmin Iyer family) at age 19. He was in the army so they moved frequently, which led Subbalakshmi to perform concerts through All India Radio. Natesan was transferred to Delhi, Hyderabad, Pune,

Ahmednagar Ahmednagar (), is a city located in the Ahmednagar district in the state of Maharashtra, India, about 120 km northeast of Pune and 114 km from Aurangabad. Ahmednagar takes its name from Ahmad Nizam Shah I, who founded the town in 1494 ...

. Subbalakshmi performed at Radio Centers in Hyderabad and Delhi. After that, her husband was transferred to

, in the state of

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

where he remained for 20 years. Subbalakshmi could not portray her talent due to financial conditions. The couple had three daughters, Padmini, Lalitha and Rajeshwari. The financial conditions of the family were worse and in 1984. Natesan was transferred to Hyderabad where he worked for AOC and retired. Subbalakshmi then performed at All India Radio for 10 years. The couple stayed at Sitaphal Mandi near

Secunderabad Secunderabad, also spelled as Sikandarabad (, ), is a twin cities, twin city of Hyderabad and one of the six zones of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Telangana. It ...

and started teaching music. The couple then shifted to Sainikpuri in 2002. Natesan died on 21 June 2003 at age 83. Subbalakshmi continue teaching. She performed various concerts on Sun TV,

Doordarshan Doordarshan (abbreviated as DD; Hindi: , ) is an Indian public service broadcaster founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and one of Prasar Bharati's two divisions. One of India's largest bro ...

and Jaya TV. She performed live concerts at Bangalore during the Ramanavami Festival in 2009. She also performed at Chikadpally in Hyderabad, Machilipatnam and

Coimbatore Coimbatore, also spelt as Koyamputhur (), sometimes shortened as Kovai (), is one of the major metropolitan cities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyyal River and surrounded by the Western Ghats. Coimbato ...

. She attended the Tyagaraja Aradhana conducted at Thanjavur for 25 years conducted by her brother Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan. She knew more than 2500 Keerthanas written by Tyagaraja, MuthuSwamy Dikshitar, Sama Sastri. She also knew many Keerthanas written by her father. Sangeetha Ksheerasagaram and Thyagaraya Gana Sabha jointly organized a 5-day music festival at Sabha's venue in 2005 in memory of Uppalapati Ankaiah, a Sangeetha Vidwan. Veteran percussionists were engaged.

Awards

She was awarded the Kalaimamani award by the Government of Tamil Nadu in 2005.

Death

Subbalakshmi died at 2:10 AM on 21 March 2010 at a hospital in Hyderabad.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Subbalakshmi, Kunnakudi 1931 births 2010 deaths Women Carnatic singers Carnatic singers Singers from Tamil Nadu 20th-century Indian singers All India Radio people Indian women classical singers 20th-century Indian women singers Women musicians from Tamil Nadu All India Radio women