P. R. Thilagam (born 1926), popularly known as Thiruvarur Thilagam, is an Indian composer, vocalist and exponent of ''Kuravanji'', a traditional form of dance drama popular in the Indian state of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

. She hails from ''Kondi parampara'' (Kondi heritage) of the Isai Vellalar community, a sect of women dedicated to the worship at

Thyagaraja Temple, Tiruvarur Thyagaraja Temple is a Shiva temple, located in the town of Thiruvarur in Tamil Nadu, India. Shiva is worshiped as Puttridankondar, and is represented by the ''lingam''. Daily poojas are offered to his idol referred to as ''Maragatha lingam''. T ...

. Thilagam was born in 1926 at

Thiruvarur Thiruvarur () also spelt as Tiruvarur is a town and municipality in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Thiruvarur district and Thiruvarur taluk. The temple chariot of the Thyagaraja temple, weighing and mea ...

, a town in

famous for the Thyagaraja Temple, as one of the last among the ''Kondi Devadasis'', in a family of dancers. Learning Kuravanji from her grandmother, Kamalambal, who was a notable performer of the dance drama, she started public performances and has performed on many stages in India and abroad. She is a recipient of the 1997

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IPA: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in Englis ...

. The Government of India awarded her the fourth highest civilian honour of the

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

, in 2007, for her contributions to Arts. Her performance has been video-documented by the

Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi is a premier government-funded arts organization in India. It is an autonomous institute under the Union Ministry of Culture (India), Ministry of Culture. History The Indira Ga ...

(IGNCA) while her life story is the main feature of a journal, ''Madras Season: Its Genesis'', published by ''Sruti'', a magazine dedicated for performing arts.

References

1926 births Living people Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts Musicians from Tamil Nadu Indian folk musicians Folk dancers Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award People from Tiruvarur district 20th-century Indian musicians {{India-bio-stub

See also

References