Dr. Smt. M.S. Subbulakshmi was born on September 16, 1916 in Madurai, Madras Presidency, India to Veena player Shanmukavadivu Ammal and Subramania Iyer. She started learning Carnatic Music at an early age initially from her mother and later trained in Carnatic music under the tutelage of Semmangudu Srinivasa Iyer and subsequently in Hindustani Music under Pandit Narayanrao Vyas. Subbulakshmi gave her first public performance in 1929 when she was 13 years old at the prestigious Madras Music Academy. Soon after her debut performance Subbulakshmi became one the leading Carnatic vocalists. Her first recording was released when she was 10 years old. She performed a vast variety of devotional musical forms in different languages including Tamil, Kannada, Sanskrit, Punjabi, Hindi, Malayalam, Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati and Marathi.
She hailed as the voice of the Nation and as the Nightingale of the country. MS was the icon of Carnatic and devotional music. Her voice and songs won appreciation from several people ranging from Mahatma Gandhi and Rajaji to Pt Nehru and Sarojini Naidu and others. She took Indian classical music to different corners of the world including to the UN General Assembly in 1966, which were significant landmarks in her career.
In recognition of her outstanding contribution to the cause and promotion of Indian Music and also in view of her long association with All India Radio, being an eminent artist of International repute, she was conferred the 'National Artist' honor by All India Radio in the year 2004. Her divine Music has been preserved as Archival Music by AIR & Doordarshan for the present and coming generations thereby making her unforgettable.
She was widely honored, praised and awarded. Some of the more popular ones include
Padma Bhushan in 1954, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1956, Sangeetha Kalananidhi in 1968, Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1974, Padma Vibhushan in 1975, Kalidas Samman in 1988, Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration in 1990, Bharat Ratna in 1998 and Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004. She was bestowed with enormous prize moneys with these awards most of which she donated to charity.
Contributed by : Chitra Ramprasad, rchitra57@rediffmail.com
First Published on 01.08.2013
Akashwani and Doordarshan have a special significance as the grand old National Public Service Broadcasters and both of them have very rich and glorious history. Almost every renowned singer, celebrated dancer and distinguished and eminent writer have been associated with Akashwani, especially in the 1940s-50s and beyond. Many of them were associated with Doordarshan as well. Doordarshan has also contributed to the blossoming of many Film Directors, Artists, and Producers.PB Parivar calls upon each of its members to join hands in building up this data base and saluting our veterans.
Please tell us about Celebrity Artists associated with your or any other AIR/DD Station. (just 6-10 lines)
Kindly submit the photographs of the artist, if available by email to pbparivar@gmail.com