Tiger Varadachariar (1876–1950) was a

Carnatic music Carnatic music, known as or in the 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, and Sri Lanka. It ...

vocalist from the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

n state of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

M. D. Ramanathan Manjapara Devesa Bhagavathar Ramanathan (20 May 1923 – 27 April 1984) was a Carnatic music composer and vocalist who created a distinctive style of singing rich in Bhava and Laya. He was considered for the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha K ...

was his student.

Early life

Varadachariar was born on 1 August 1876 in Kolathur,

Chingleput district Kancheepuram district is one of the 38 districts in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. The area comprising the present day Kancheepuram district was earlier a part of Chingleput district. The original Chingleput district was split in 1997 into ...

. Masilamani and Pedda Singaracharyulu encouraged him in his musical pursuits, and he studied under Patnam Subramania Ayyar for three years from the age of fourteen. However, financial family constraints required the young Varadachariar to take a position with the Survey Department at

Calicut Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second ...

. He continued to pursue his musical interests, however, and when living in

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude o ...

, he attracted the attention of Krishnaraja Wodeyar, who honoured him with the title of '

Tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living Felidae, cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily pr ...

' and presented him with a 'thoda'. Tiger Varadachari had lived for many years in Kaveripatnam then Salem District (now Krishnagiri). His humble home is still available as unaltered in Periyar St, Kaveripatnam. Many of Varadachariar's family members also pursued careers in music. His father Ramanujachariar was a musical discourser, his brother K.V. Srinivasa Ayyangar was a

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some m ...

, and another brother K.V. Krishnamachariar was a

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 ...

player. Varadachariar also noted that he learned much from the singing of his sister.

Music

Varadachariar composed 'Eediname Sudinamu' for C.Rajagopalachariar's visit to Kalkshetra in 1948 as Governor General. 'Nidu Charanamule' (Simhendramadyamam) under the

signature A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a Handwriting, handwritten (and often Stylization, stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and ...

of Tyagaraja is actually a composition of the 'Three musketeers of Kaladipet', the Tiger Brothers.

Awards

Varadachariar was awarded the

Sangeetha Kalanidhi Sangeetha Kalanidhi or Sangeeta Kalanidhi (Tamil: சங்கீத கலாநிதி, Sanskrit : संगीत-कला-निधि) (''sangeetha'' = music, ''kala'' = art, ''nidhi'' = treasure or ocean) is the title awarded yearly to ...

by Madras Music Academy in the year 1932.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Varadachariar, Tiger 1876 births 1950 deaths Male Carnatic singers Carnatic singers Sangeetha Kalanidhi recipients 20th-century Indian male singers 20th-century Indian singers 19th-century Indian male singers Singers from Tamil Nadu