Thiruvalaputhur Swaminatha Pillai (died 13 March 1972) is a flute artist from Tamil Nadu.

Early life

T K Swaminatha Pillai was born as the first son of well-known dancer, Tiruvalaputtur Kalyani Ammal. His family, which belongs to the Isai Vellalar community , hails from the Tiruvalaputur village in the Mayiladudurai taluk of the

Tanjore district Thanjavur District is one of the 38 districts of the state of Tamil Nadu, in southeastern India. Its headquarters is Thanjavur. The district is located in the delta of the Cauvery River and is mostly agrarian. As of 2011, Thanjavur district h ...

. Swaminatha Pillai has one younger brother and two younger sisters who were also Bharathanatyam dancers. The brother was a violinist. Thiruvalaputhur Krishnamoorthy Pillai was awarded Kalaimamani award from the tamil nadu state government. He accompanied vocalists like M.S.Subbulakshmi, N.C.Vasanthakokilam, Madurai Somu etc.,

Dancing career

As a child, Pillai was from his young age interested in the Arts and turned his attention towards dance right from childhood . To learn Bharatanatyam, he became a disciple of the guru Panthanallur Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai, spending more than 12 years in his

gurukulam Education in India is primarily managed by state-run public education system, which fall under the command of the government at three levels: central, state and local. Under various articles of the Indian Constitution and the Right of Child ...

. Along with his guru, he conducted several dance events and taught dance to several students. Later, he shifted to Chennai and joined Vazhuvur Ramaiyya Pillai as a dance teacher.

Family

Swaminatha Pillai has only one son. He was involved in the Indian independence movement, but refused to accept the concessions meant for freedom fighters. He served as a

Councilor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

Kumbakonam Kumbakonam (formerly spelt as Coombaconum or Combaconum) or Kudanthai is a city municipal corporation in the Thanjavur district in the States of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located from Thanjavur and from Chennai and is the headq ...

for three consecutive times.

Disciples

Pillai's dance students include Vazhuvur Samraj, L. Vijayalakshmi, Swamimalai Rajarathnam Pillai, Hema Malini and Shripriya.

Awards and recognition

Pillai received the ''Kalaimamani'' Award from the Tamil Nadu Government under the chief minister Annadurai. He also received the National Award from the President of India,

V. V. Giri Varahagiri Venkata Giri (; 10 August 1894 — 24 June 1980) was an Indian politician and activist from Berhampur in Odisha who served as the 4th president of India from 24 August 1969 to 24 August 1974. He also 3rd vice president of India from ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pillai, T. K. Swaminatha Indian male dancers 1972 deaths Year of birth missing Performers of Indian classical dance Bharatanatyam exponents Dancers from Tamil Nadu Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award