Sirkazhi Govindarajan (19 January 1933 – 24 March 1988) was an Indian

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

Carnatic vocalist and a leading playback singer of Indian cinema.

Early life

Govindarajan, was born on 19 January 1933 at

Sirkazhi Sirkazhi () also spelled as ''Siyali'' is a major municipal town in Mayiladuthurai district in Tamil Nadu, India. It is located from the coast of the Bay of Bengal, and from the state capital Chennai. Sirkazhi was a part of Thanjavur distric ...

(a small town in present day

Mayiladuthurai district Mayiladuthurai district is one of the 38 List of districts of Tamil Nadu, districts of the state of Tamil Nadu in India. The district headquarters is located at Mayiladuthurai. Geography The district is bounded on the north by Cuddalore di ...

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 ...

; famed birthplace of

Sambandar Sambandar (Tamil: சம்பந்தர்), also referred to as Tirugnana Sambandar (lit. ''Holy Sage Sambandar''), Tirujnanasambanda, Campantar or Jñāṉacampantar, was a Shaiva poet-saint of Tamil Nadu who lived sometime in the 7th cen ...

, one of the 63

Nayanars The Nayanars (or Nayanmars; ta, நாயன்மார், translit=Nāyaṉmār, translit-std=ISO, lit=hounds of Siva, and later 'teachers of Shiva ) were a group of 63 Tamil Hindu saints living during the 6th to 8th centuries CE who were de ...

of the Saiva faith) to Siva Chidambaram and Avayambal Ammal. At the age of eight, Govindarajan began to perform at the Tirupurasundari Temple on the occasion of the Gnana Paal Festival.Sirkali Home Page
/ref>

Musical education

He graduated from the Tamil Isai College in Chennai (Madras) in 1949 with the degree 'Isaimani'. He also graduated with the Degree of 'Sangeetha Vidwan'. At the same time, he started rigorous training (Gurukulavasam) under his Guru Thiruppampuram Swaminatha Pillai, who was then a Professor at the Central College of Carnatic Music, Madras. Under his tutelage and in-depth study, he gained knowledge of the nuances and intricacies of Indian Music, especially, Classical Carnatic Music. During this period (1951–1952) he won many competitions, conducted by the Sangeetha Vidwat Sabha (Music Academy) and the Rasika Ranjani Sabha.

Collaboration

Music composers

S. V. Venkataraman Sozhavanthan Varadharajan Venkatraman (Tamil: சோழவந்தான் வரதராஜன் வெங்கட்ராமன்) (25 April 1911 – 7 April 1998), also known as SVV, was an Indian actor, singer, and music director, wh ...

S. M. Subbaiah Naidu Subburayulu Munuswami Subbaiah Naidu (a.k.a. SMS) (15 March 1914 – 26 May 1979) was an Indian composer, conductor, and orchestrator. He was one of the oldest music directors. He worked as an in-house music composer for Central Studios an ...

, S. Rajeswara Rao,

S. Dakshinamurthi Susarla Dakshinamurthi Jr. (Telugu: సుసర్ల దక్షిణామూర్తి; 1921 – 2012) was an Indian music composer, playback singer, record producer, Carnatic musician, multi-instrumentalist,Ilavelpu in Naati 101 Chitralu ...

, V. Dakshinamoorthy, G. Ramanathan, C. N. Pandurangam,

Master Venu Madduri Venugopal better known as Master Venu (1916–1981) was an Indian music composer of the Telugu and Tamil cinemas and the father of the actor Bhanu Chander. He was born 1916 in Machilipatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India and died 1981 in Chenn ...

K. V. Mahadevan Krishnankoil Venkadachalam Mahadevan (14 March 1918 – 21 June 2001) was an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, music producer, and musician known for his works in Tamil cinema, Tamil, Telugu cinema, Telugu, Malayalam cinema, Malayalam, and Kann ...

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 ...

G. Devarajan Paravoor Govindan Devarajan (1927–2006), popularly known as G. Devarajan or Devarajan master, was an Indian music composer and Carnatic singer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers in the history of Indian film music. He sco ...

, B. Narasimma Rao, A. Rama Rao,

T. Chalapathi Rao Tatineni Chalapathi Rao (22 December 1920 – 22 February 1994) was an Indian music composer who worked in Telugu cinema. His career spanned more than three decades from early 1950s, till 1980s. He was the cousin of T. Prakash Rao. Early life ...

T. G. Lingappa Thiruchirappalli Govindarajulu Lingappa (22 August 1927 – 5 February 2000) was an Indian music director who worked predominantly in Kannada language films. He also worked in Tamil and Telugu movies. He was the son of G. Govindarajulu Naidu w ...

P. Adinarayana Rao Penupatruni Adinarayana Rao (21 August 1915 – 19 August 1991) was an Indian music director, film producer, lyricist and play writer. He co-founded "Aswini Pictures" with Akkineni Nageswara Rao and produced some movies in Telugu and Tamil langu ...

, T. R. Pappa, Ghantasala,

Vedha ‌ ''Vedha'' is a 2008 Indian Tamil language action drama film, directed by R. Nithyakumar starring Arun Vijay and Sheela. The music is composed by Srikanth Deva. The film opened to negative reviews. Plot Vijay (Arun Vijay) is crazy about his ...

G. K. Venkatesh Gurusala Krishnadas Venkatesh (21 September 1927 – 17 November 1993) was an Indian film score composer who primarily worked in Kannada cinema during the 1960s, 1970s and until the late-1980s. He also composed music for Telugu, Malayalam and Ta ...

M. S. Viswanathan Manayangath Subramanian Viswanathan (24 June 1928 – 14 July 2015), also known as M.S.V., was an Indian music director, singer and actor who predominantly worked in Tamil film industry. He was popularly known as ''Mellisai Mannar''. He compose ...

T. K. Ramamoorthy Trichirappalli Krishnasamy Ramamoorthy (15 May 1922 – 17 April 2013) was an Indian Tamil music composer and violinist. Ramamoorthy was known as ''Mellisai Mannar'' ( ta, மெல்லிசை மன்னர்; "The King of Light Music") ...

V. Kumar V. Kumar ( ta, வரதராஜுலு குமார், ) (28 July 1934 – 7 January 1996) was a yesteryear Tamil cinema music director, born in Chennai, Tamilnadu on 28 July 1934 to Varadharajulu and Dhanabhakiyam couple, in July 1969 ...

A. M. Rajah Aemala Manmadharaju Rajah, popularly known as A. M. Rajah, was an Indian playback singer and music director. Early life A. M. Rajah was born on 1 July 1929 in Cchamanchipuram, Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh. His father died when he was thr ...

, C. Ramachandra,

Ilaiyaraaja Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan, 3 June 1943) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, instrumentalist, lyricist and singer, popular for his works in Indian Cinema, prominently in Tamil films. Reputed to be one of ...

, and

Shankar–Ganesh Shankar–Ganesh is an Indian music director duo who has worked on Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada movies for around 50 years. Career They started as assistants to Tamil music composers M. S. Viswanathan and T. K. Ramamoorthy in 1964 a ...

Baburaj Mohammad Sabir Baburaj was an Indian music composer. He is often credited for the renaissance of Malayalam film music. Baburaj has rendered music to many evergreen Malayalam film songs. Early years Baburaj was born on 9 March 1929 in Kozhikod ...

Playback singers

He has sung with other male singers such as

T. M. Soundararajan Thoguluva Meenatchi Iyengar Soundararajan (24 March 1923 – 25 May 2013), popularly known as TMS, was an Indian Carnatic musician and a playback singer in Tamil cinema for over six and a half decades. He sang over 10,138 songs from 3,162 fi ...

, Ghantasala,

P. B. Srinivas Prathivadhi Bhayankara Sreenivas (22 September 1930 – 14 April 2013) widely known as P. B. Sreenivas was an Indian playback singer, composer, harmonium player, lyricist, littérateur, and poet known for his works in South cinema, and Bollyw ...

, S. C. Krishnan,

Tiruchi Loganathan Thiruchi Loganathan (24 July 1924 – 17 November 1989) was a playback singer of the Tamil film industry. He is known for his work in movies such as ''Manthiri Kumari'' (1950) and '' Parasakthi'' (1952). He was married to Rajalakshmi, daughter ...

A. L. Raghavan A. L. Raghavan (1933 – 19 June 2020) was an Indian playback singer, who sang many songs in Tamil-language films. Biography Raghavan was born to a Saurashtra Brahmin family in Ayyampettai near Thanjavur to Lakshmana Bhagavathar, Raghavan ...

, K. J. Yesudas and S. V. Ponnusamy. He also sang duets with many female singer such as

M. L. Vasanthakumari Madras Lalitangi Vasanthakumari (popularly referred to as MLV) (3 July 1928 – 31 October 1990) was a Carnatic musician and playback singer for film songs in many Indian languages. MLV and her contemporaries D. K. Pattammal and M. S. Subbulak ...

P. Leela Porayathu Leela (19 May 1934 – 31 October 2005) was an Indian playback singer, Carnatic vocalist and a music director. She has recorded more than 5,000 songs in various Indian languages including Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi, ...

K. Jamuna Rani K. Jamuna Rani (born 17 May 1938 in Andhra Pradesh, India) is an Indian playback singer who has sung over 6,000 songs in Sinhalese, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam lnguages. Life and career Rani was born to K. Varadarajulu and violinist K ...

Jikki Pillavalu Gajapathy Krishnaveni (3 November 1935 – 16 August 2004), more famously known as Jikki, was an Indian playback singer from Andhra Pradesh. She sang around 10,000 songs in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi, and Sinhalese languag ...

P. Susheela Pulapaka Susheela (born 13 November 1935), popularly known as P. Susheela, is an Indian playback singer associated with the South Indian cinema primarily from Andhra Pradesh for over six decades. She is one of the greatest and best-known playba ...

, K. Rani,

L. R. Eswari Lourde-Mary Rajeswari, better known as L. R. Eswari, is an Indian playback singer who has sung several songs in Tamil language, Tamil, Telugu language, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi language, Hindi, Tulu language, Tulu, and English. She wa ...

, L. R. Anjali,

Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi Soolamangalam Jayalakshmi ( ta, சூலமங்கலம் ஜெயலட்சுமி) and Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi ( ta, சூலமங்கலம் ராஜலட்சுமி), popularly known as Soolamangalam Sisters ( ta, � ...

, Soolamangalam Jayalakshmi,

R. Balasaraswathi Devi Raavu Balasaraswathi Devi (born 28 August 1928) is an Indian singer and actress who performed from 1930 to the 1960s in Telugu and Tamil cinema. She was the first light music singer on All India Radio and the first playback singer in the Telu ...

N. L. Ganasaraswathi N. L. Ganasaraswathi was an Indian playback singer who sang mainly in Tamil language, Tamil films and some Telugu language, Telugu and Malayalam films. She was active in the field during the 1950s and early 60s. She sang many songs based on Carna ...

A. P. Komala Arkadu Parthasarathy Komala (born 28 August 1934), commonly known as A. P. Komala, is an Indian playback singer. She has sung songs in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada languages. Career life She was a much sought after playback singer from t ...

, A. G. Rathinmala,

T. V. Rathnam Tenkasi Vallinayagam Rathnam ( ta, தென்காசி வள்ளிநாயகம் (டி.வி.) ரத்தினம்) (1930 - 17 October 1984) hailed from Tenkasi, Madras Presidency, British India. She was a playback singe ...

, Bangalore A. R. Ramani Ammal,

Vani Jayaram Vani Jairam (born as Kalaivani on 30 November 1945), also credited as Vani Jayaram, is an Indian singer. She is best known as a playback singer in South Indian cinema. Vani's career started in 1971 and has spanned over five decades. She has don ...

S. Janaki Sistla Janaki (born 23 April 1938) is an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer from Andhra Pradesh. She is referred to respectfully as "Janaki Amma" and Nightingale of South India. She is one of the best-known playback singers in ...

, M. R. Vijaya, Sarala and Rohini. He sang duets with singing actors such as

N. S. Krishnan Nagercoil Sudalaimuthu Krishnan, popularly known as Kalaivanar () and also as NSK, was an Indian actor-comedian, theatre artist, playback singer and writer in the early stages of the Tamil film industry – in the 1940s and 1950s. He is conside ...

, T. R. Mahalingam,

P. Bhanumathi P. Bhanumathi Ramakrishna (7 September 1925 – 24 December 2005) was an Indian actress, singer, film producer, director, music composer, and novelist. She is regarded as the first female super star of Telugu cinema. She is also considered the ...

S. Varalakshmi Saridey Varalakshmi (13 August 1925 – 22 September 2009) was an Indian actress and singer who worked in Telugu and Tamil-language films. She was popular for her roles and songs in Telugu films like ''Sri Venkateswara Mahatyam'' (1960) and '' ...

and Manorama.

Filmography

Discography

Govindarajan had sung for many leading actors like

M. G. Ramachandran Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 24 December 1987), also popularly known as M.G.R., was an Indian politician, actor, philanthropist, and filmmaker who served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 until his death in 1987 ...

Gemini Ganesan Ramasamy Ganesan (17 November 1920 – 22 March 2005), better known by his stage name Gemini Ganesan, was an Indian actor who worked mainly in Tamil cinema. He was referred to as the ''Kaadhal Mannan'' (King of Romance) for his romantic roles ...

N. T. Rama Rao Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (28 May 1923 – 18 January 1996), often referred to by his initials NTR, was an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician who served as List of Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh fo ...

S. S. Rajendran Sedapatti Suryanarayana Rajendran, also known by his initials SSR (January 1928 – 24 October 2014), was an Indian actor, director, producer and politician who worked in Tamil theatre and cinema. Film career Rajendran made his acting de ...

, and

R. Muthuraman Muthuraman Radhakrishnan (4 July 1929 – 16 October 1981) was an Indian actor who predominantly appeared in Tamil language films. He was a leading actor during the 1960s and 1970s and was fondly called as ''Navarasa Thilagam''. He had paired w ...

Awards and honours

He was the recipient of three gold medals (first place) in the austere and hallowed halls of Sangeetha Vidwat Sabha (Music Academy) from

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 ...

. "Sangeetha Vidwan" Sirkali won all first places in the three categories: Apoorva Krithis of Sri Thyagaraja swamigal, Ragam-Thalam-Pallavi, and Tamil Classical Songs. He was conferred 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, ...

award by the Government of India. The Central College of Carnatic Music was the next institution for his musical enrichment. Govindarajan had also done playback singing in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

and

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

films.

Madras University The University of Madras (informally known as Madras University) is a public state university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and among the most prestigious universities in India, incorporated by an a ...

conferred a doctorate (

Honoris Causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

) on him in 1983. ''Source:'' * ISAI MANI: 1949 – Degree from Tamil Isai College, Madras * SANGEETHA VIDWAN: 1951 – Degree from Central College of Carnatic Music, Madras * ISAI ARASU: 1968 – Kunrakudi Adheenam, Kunrakudi kumari' * Best Male Playback Singer: 1971 – for songs of

Thirumalai Thenkumari ''Thirumalai Thenkumari'' () is a 1970 Indian Tamil-language road film written and directed by A. P. Nagarajan. Inspired by the 1969 film ''If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium'', it features an ensemble cast consisting of Sivakumar, Kumari Pa ...

* ISAI KADAL: 1972 – Bharathi Youth Association, Madras * INNISAI ARASU: 1974 – Tamil Nadu Nalvazhi Nilayam, Madras * DHARUMAPURA ADHEENA ISAI PULAVAR: 1974 – Adheena Vidwan of Dharumapura Adheenam appointed by Sri Guru Maha Sannidhaanam * KALAI MAMANI: 1975 – Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Manram (State Sangeetha Nataka Academy Award) * INNISAI VENDHAN: 1976 – Kandan Arts Academy, Madras * SANGEETHA BHASKARA: 1977 – Sri Shantananda Swami, Sri Bhuvaneswari Adhishtanam, Pudukkottai * ISAI THILAKAM: 1977 – Sri Thyagaraja Sangeetha Sabha * ISAI GNANA BHOOPATHI: 1978 – Brittania Hindu Shiva Temple Trust, London * EZHISAI VENDHAR AND GANAMRITHA VARITHI: 1978 – During Sri Lanka tours * PERISAIMANI: 1979 – Sangeetha Abhivrithi Sabha, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia * IRAI ISAI VENDHAI: 1979 – Seshasayee Paper Mill Temple, Erode * MIYAN TANSEN AWARD: 1980 – Delhi Drupad Sangam, New Delhi * Central

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 ...

: 1980 * Tamil Isai Mannar: 1981 – New York Tamil Sangam, New York * Gandharva Geetha Vithakar: 1981 – Ramalingar Pani Manram, Paris, France * Di Singenden Hersen Von Indien: 1981 – Yoga Center (Germans), Düsseldorf, West Germany * Tamil Nadu Arasavai Kalaignar: 1981 – At the Bharathiyar Centenary Celebrations *

Isai Perarignar Isai Perarignar (Tamil: இசைப் பேரறிஞர்) is an award given to Tamil musicians every year by the Tamil Isai Sangam Isai Mandram is a music association started to promote pure form of ancient Tamil music popularly known as th ...

: 1982 – Annual music festival honor from Tamil Isai Sangam, Madras *

: 1983 * ISAI THENDRAL: 1984 – Thyagaraja Swami Aradhana Committee, Tirutani * INNISAIMANI: 1985 – Guru Gnana Sambandar Iraipani Manram * GAMBEERA GANA ISAI VENDHAN: 1985 – Arya Vaisya Schools, Madurai * ARUL ISAI ARIGNAR: 1987 – Mauritius Education and Cultural Tour * TAMIL ISAIPERARIGNAR: 1987 – Tamil Sangam, Bangalore * MUTHAMIZH KALAI MAMANI: 1987 – Tamil Sangam, Salem * ISAIMAMANNAR: 1987 – Bharathidasan Centenary celebrations by Dravidar Kazhagam, Madras * ISAIPERARUVI: 1987 – Siddhi Vinayakar Temple, Paris, France * CULTURAL AMBASSADOR: 1987 – Frei Platz Axion-World Peace Conference in Switzerland

Personal life

His son

Sirkazhi G. Sivachidambaram Sirkazhi G. Sivachidambaram is a Carnatic music vocalist and cinema playback singer from Chennai. He is an alumnus of the Madras Medical College where he qualified as a UG & PG in Medicine and Trinity College of Music where he learnt western ...

is also a Carnatic singer.

Death

Govindarajan died on 24 March 1988 in

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

(now

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

) due to of a massive heart attack. He was aged 55.

References

External links

Article on Seerkazhi Govindarajan in Kalyana Malai
{{DEFAULTSORT:Govindarajan, Sirkazhi 1933 births Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts Tamil singers Indian Tamil people 1988 deaths Male Carnatic singers Carnatic singers Tamil Nadu State Film Awards winners People from Mayiladuthurai district Tamil playback singers Kannada playback singers 20th-century Indian male classical singers Indian male playback singers Singers from Tamil Nadu