View source for M. S. Subbulakshmi

{{short description|Indian Carnatic classical vocalist (1916–2004)}}

{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name              = M. S. Subbulakshmi
| image             = M. S. Subbulakshmi (03).jpg
| caption           = 
| native_name       = ம. ச. சுப்புலட்சுமி
| native_name_lang  = ta
| birth_name        = Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi
| alias             = 
| birth_date        = {{birth date|df=yes|1916|9|16}}
| birth_place       = [[Madurai]], [[Madras Presidency]], [[British Raj|British India]]
| spouse            = [[Kalki Sadasivam]]
| death_date        = {{death date and age|df=yes|2004|12|11|1916|9|16}}
| death_place       = [[Chennai]], [[Tamil Nadu]], [[India]]
| genre             = [[Carnatic classical music|Indian classical music]]
| occupation        = Classical vocalist
| years_active      = 1930–1997
| label             = HMV
}}

'''Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi''' ([[Tamil language|Tamil]]: மதுரை சண்முகவடிவு சுப்புலட்சுமி;16 September 1916&nbsp;– 11 December 2004) was an Indian [[Carnatic music|Carnatic]] singer from [[Madurai]], [[Tamil Nadu]]. She was the first musician ever to be awarded the [[Bharat Ratna]], India's highest civilian honour and the first Indian musician to receive the [[Ramon Magsaysay award]].<ref>{{cite news|title=M S Subbulakshmi: 'Nightingale' of Carnatic music |url=http://www.rediff.com/news/2004/dec/11ms2.htm |newspaper=Rediff |date=12 December 2004 |location=India |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150708075137/http://www.rediff.com/news/2004/dec/11ms2.htm |archive-date=8 July 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Clare Arthurs |title=Activists share 'Asian Nobel Prize' |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/851034.stm |work=BBC News |date=25 July 2000 |access-date=20 February 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rmaf.org.ph/Awardees/Citation/CitationSubbulakshmiMon.htm |title=Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation |publisher=Rmaf.org.ph |access-date=22 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100901045121/http://www.rmaf.org.ph/Awardees/Citation/CitationSubbulakshmiMon.htm |archive-date=1 September 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{citation | year=1982 | title = The Ramon Magsaysay awards | publisher=Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KxblAAAAMAAJ&q=semi-classical | page=141}}</ref>

== Biography ==

=== Early years ===
Subbulakshmi (Kunjamma to her family) was born on 16 September 1916 in [[Madurai]], [[Madras Presidency]], to [[veena]] player Shanmukavadiver Ammal and Subramania Iyer. Her grandmother Akkammal was a violinist.

She started learning [[Carnatic music]] at an early age and trained in Carnatic music under the tutelage of [[Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer]] and subsequently in [[Hindustani music]] under [[Narayanrao Vyas|Pandit Narayanrao Vyas]].

Her mother, from the [[devadasi]] community, was a music exponent and a regular stage performer, and Subbulakshmi grew up in an environment very conducive to musical learning. Her musical interests were also shaped by regular interactions with [[Karaikudi Sambasiva Iyer]], Mazhavarayanendal Subbarama Bhagavathar and [[Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar]].<ref name="Srivastava-Women role models">{{cite book|last=Srivastava|first=Gauri|title=Women role models: some eminent women of contemporary India|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|year=2006|pages=55–57|isbn=978-81-8069-336-6|oclc=74991412}}</ref>

Subbulakshmi gave her first public performance, at the age of eleven, in the year 1927, in the 100 pillar hall inside the [[Thayumanaswami Temple, Rockfort|Rockfort Temple]], [[Tiruchirappalli]]; with Mysore Chowdiah on the violin and Dakshinamurthy Pillai on the [[mridangam]]. This was organised by the Tiruchirappalli-based [[Indian National Congress]] leader [[F. G. Natesa Iyer]].<ref name="autogenerated25">SRUTI magazine cover story on F.G.Natesa Iyer, page 25, issue number 330, March 2012</ref>

=== Move to Madras ===
In 1936 Subbulakshmi moved to [[Madras]] (now Chennai).<ref name="Hindu-Obit" /> She also made her film debut in ''[[Sevasadanam|Sevasadan]]'' in 1938.<ref name="NRCW bio">{{cite web|url=http://nrcw.nic.in/shared/sublinkimages/86.pdf|title=M. S. Subbulakshmi (1916–2004)|publisher=National Resource Center for Women, [[Government of India]]|access-date=19 October 2009}}</ref> Her debut to the world of cinema was again opposite [[F. G. Natesa Iyer]].

== Musical style and performance ==
[[File:Sevasadhanam 1938film.jpg|thumb|left|M.S. Subbulakshmi (left) with S. Varalakshmi in ''[[Sevasadanam|Sevasadhanam]]'' (1938)]]

=== Singing career ===
[[File:M. S. Subbulakshmi (01).jpg|thumb|right|M. S. Subbulakshmi]]
M.S. Subbulakshmi began her Carnatic classical music training under her mother Shanmukhavadivu; and later in Hindustani classical training under Pandit Narayan Rao Vyas. Subbulakshmi first recording was released when she was 10 years old.

Subbulakshmi gave her first performance at the prestigious [[Madras Music Academy]] in 1929, when she was 13 years old . The performance consisted of singing [[bhajan]]s (Hindu hymns).<ref>{{cite news|url=http://pakistantimes.net/2004/12/13/top10.htm|title=Popular Indian classical singer M.S. Subbulakshmi dead|date=13 December 2004|newspaper=[[Pakistan Times]]|access-date=16 October 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080611172835/http://pakistantimes.net/2004/12/13/top10.htm|archive-date=11 June 2008}}</ref> The academy was known for its discriminating selection process, and they broke tradition by inviting a young girl as a key performer. Her performance was described as spellbinding and earned her many admirers and the [[moniker]] of musical genius from critics. Soon after her debut performances, Subbulakshmi became one of the leading Carnatic vocalists.<ref name="Hindu-Obit">{{cite news|url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/2004/12/12/stories/2004121215950100.htm|title=M.S. subbulakshmi passes away, aged 88|date=12 December 2004|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|access-date=19 October 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091019104902/http://www.hinduonnet.com/2004/12/12/stories/2004121215950100.htm|archive-date=19 October 2009|url-status=usurped}}</ref><ref name="Encyclopaedia of Bharat Ratnas">{{cite book|last=Murthi|first=R. K.|title=Encyclopedia of Bharat Ratnas|publisher=Pitambar Publishing|pages=176–179|isbn=978-81-209-1307-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HkF3avvFvb4C&pg=PP1}}</ref>

By the age of seventeen, Subbulakshmi was giving concerts on her own, including major performances at the [[Madras Music Academy]].

She travelled to London, New York, Canada, the Far East, and other places as India's cultural ambassador. Her concerts at [[Edinburgh International Festival]] of Music and Drama in 1963; [[Carnegie Hall]], New York; the [[UN General Assembly]] on UN day in 1966; [[Royal Albert Hall]], London in 1982; and Festival of India in Moscow in 1987
were significant landmarks in her career.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pib.nic.in/feature/feyr98/PIBF2602982.html|title=M.S.SUBBULAKSHMI – A DIVINE MAESTRO|author=K.S. Mahadevan|publisher=Press Information Bureau, Government of India|access-date=6 January 2012}}</ref>

In 1969 she was accompanied by [[Indian Railways]] Advisor SN Venkata Rao to Rameswaram, where she sang several songs in front of each idol in the [[Ramanathaswamy Temple]]. She shared a very cordial relation with Sree Ramaseva Mandali Bengaluru for whom she performed 36 concerts.

After the death of her husband [[Kalki Sadasivam]] in 1997, she stopped all her public performances. Her last performance was in 1997, before her retirement from public concerts.

M. S. Subbulakshmi died on 11 December 2004, at her home in Kotturpuram, Chennai.

=== Films ===
M.S. also acted in a few [[Tamil language|Tamil]] films in her youth. Her first movie, ''[[Sevasadanam]]'', was released on 2 May 1938. [[F.G. Natesa Iyer]] was the lead actor, opposite Subbulakshmi, in this film, directed by [[K. Subramaniam|K. Subramanyam]]. It was a critical and commercial success.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/2000/07/10/stories/09100224.htm |title=The stamp of honour |work=The Hindu |publisher=Hinduonnet.com |date=10 July 2000 |access-date=22 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160806041332/http://www.thehindu.com/2000/07/10/stories/09100224.htm |archive-date=6 August 2016 |url-status=usurped }}</ref> [[Ananda Vikatan]] favourably reviewed the film on 8 May 1938:
{{Cquote | We should always expect something from Subramaniam's direction – for instance depiction of social ills. If we have to say only two words about this talkie based on Premchand's story it is – Go see (it).<ref name="F">{{cite book |last=Arandhai Narayanan| language= ta| year= 2008 | title=Arambakala Tamil Cinema (1931–41)| publisher=Vijaya Publications| location= Chennai| page=26}}</ref>}}

Sevasadanam is one of the early Tamil films to be set in a contemporary social setting and to advocate reformist social policies.
The film is an adapted version of [[Premchand]]'s novel ''[[Bazaar-e-Husn]]''.
The veteran Marxist leader [[N. Sankaraiah]], has described Sevasadanam as an "unusual film" for choosing the subject of marriages between young girls and old men (which had social sanction). According to him, the film successfully broughtout the "sufferings of the girl" (acted by M.S.) and the "mental agony of the aged husband".(acted by F.G.Natesa Iyer).Tamil film critic and historian Aranthai Narayanan observes in his book''Thamizh Cinemavin Kathai'' (The Story of Tamil Cinema) that "Seva Sadhanam proved a turning point in the history of Tamil cinema. In the climax, the aged husband, now a totally changed man, was shown as casting aside with utter contempt his 'sacred thread', which symbolises his Brahmin superiority. It came as a stunning blow to the then Brahmin orthodoxy."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2114/stories/20040716001508200.htm |title=Vishwanathan S. "A progressive film maker; Tribute to K.Subramanian, Volume 21 – Issue 14, Jul. 03 – 16, 2004 of Frontline magazine ,(brought out by Hindu publications), Chennai, Tamilnadu |publisher=Frontlineonnet.com |access-date=22 September 2013}}</ref>

MS Subbulakshmi also played the male role of [[Narada]] in ''Savitri'' (1941) to raise money for launching ''[[Kalki (magazine)|Kalki]]'', her husband's nationalist Tamil weekly. Her title role of the [[Rajasthan]]i saint-poetess [[Meera]] in the eponymous 1945 [[Meera (1945 film)|film]] gave her national prominence. This movie was re-made in Hindi in 1947.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Film
! Language
! Role
! Co-Star
! Director
! Music
! Banner
|-
| 1938 || ''[[Sevasadanam]]'' || [[Tamil language|Tamil]] ||  Sumathi  || [[F. G. Natesa Iyer]] || [[K. Subramanyam]] || [[Papanasam Sivan]] ||Madras United Artists Corporation
|-
| 1940 || ''[[Sakuntalai]]'' || Tamil || [[Shakunthala]] || [[G. N. Balasubramaniam]], [[Radha Viswanathan]] || [[Ellis R. Dungan]] || Thuraiyur Rajagopala Sarma & [[Kamal Dasgupta]] ||
|-
| 1941 || ''[[Savithiri (1941 film)|Savithiri]]'' || Tamil || [[Narada|Saint Narada]] ||  [[Y. V. Rao]], [[Shanta Apte]]|| Y. V. Rao || Papanasam Sivan || Royal Talkie Distributors
|-
| 1945 || ''[[Meera (1945 film)|Meera]] '' || Tamil || [[Meerabai]]  || [[V. Nagayya]] || Ellis R. Dungan || [[S. V. Venkatraman]] || Chandraprabha Cinetone
|-
| 1947 || '' Meerabai'' || [[Hindi language|Hindi]] ||  Meerabai  || [[V. Nagayya]] || Ellis R. Dungan || Dilip Kumar Roy || Chandraprabha Cinetone
|-
| 1947 || ''[[1000 Thalai Vaangi Apoorva Chinthamani]]'' || Tamil || Dancer || [[V. N. Janaki]] || [[T. R. Sundaram]] || [[G. Ramanathan]] || [[Modern Theatres]]
|}

== Awards and honours ==
[[File:Ms subbulakshmi.jpg|thumb|M. S. Subbulakshmi wearing  saree of a colour which has become synonymous to her name – MS Blue]]
[[File:MS Subbulakshmi 2005 stamp of India.jpg|thumb|right|Subbulakshmi on a 2005 stamp of India]]
[[Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru]] had this to say about M.S. Subbulakshmi- "Who am I, a mere Prime Minister before a Queen, a Queen of Music". While [[Lata Mangeshkar]] called her ''Tapaswini'' (the Renunciate), [[Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan]] termed her ''Suswaralakshmi'' (the goddess of the perfect note), and [[Kishori Amonkar]] labelled her the ultimate eighth note or ''Aathuvaan Sur'', which is above the seven notes basic to all music. The great national leader and poet [[Sarojini Naidu]] called her "Nightingale of India". Her many famous renditions of [[bhajans]] include the chanting of [[Meenakshi]] Pancharatnam, [[Bhaja Govindam]], [[Vishnu sahasranama]] (1000 names of [[Vishnu]]), [[Hari Tuma Haro]] and the [[Lord Venkateswara|Venkateswara]] [[Suprabhatam]] (musical hymns to awaken Lord Balaji early in the morning).

She was widely honoured, praised and awarded. Some of the popular ones include:<ref>{{cite news|title=MS Subbulakshmi's music is relevant even today|url=http://ibnlive.in.com/news/ms-subbulakshmis-music-is-relevant-even-today/184671-45-75.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003021041/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/ms-subbulakshmis-music-is-relevant-even-today/184671-45-75.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 October 2011|newspaper=IBN Live|date=16 September 2011|location=India}}</ref>
* ''[[Padma Bhushan]]'' in 1954<ref name="Padma Awards">{{cite web|url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |title=Padma Awards |publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India |date=2015 |access-date=21 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015193758/http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |archive-date=15 October 2015 }}</ref>
* ''[[Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]]'' in 1956
* ''[[Sangeetha Kalanidhi]]'' in 1968
* [[Ramon Magsaysay award]] (often considered Asia's Nobel Prize) in 1974
* ''[[Padma Vibhushan]]'' in 1975<ref name="Padma Awards" />
* [[Sangeetha Kalasikhamani]] in 1975 by The Indian Fine Arts Society, Chennai
* ''[[Kalidas Samman]]'' in 1988
* Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration in 1990
* ''[[Bharat Ratna]]'' in 1998

She was honoured as a resident artist [[Asthana Vidhwan]] of [[Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Humility personified|url=http://www.hindu.com/fr/2004/12/17/stories/2004121700390500.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050124204230/http://www.hindu.com/fr/2004/12/17/stories/2004121700390500.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 January 2005|date=17 December 2004|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|location=India}}</ref> Tirupati Urban Development Authority (TUDA) has installed a bronze statue of M.S. Subbulakshmi at the Poornakumbham circle in the temple town. It was unveiled by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister [[Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy]] on 28 May 2006.<ref>{{cite news|title=Statue of M.S. unveiled at Tirupati|url=http://www.hindu.com/2006/05/29/stories/2006052904441300.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071229034622/http://www.hindu.com/2006/05/29/stories/2006052904441300.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 December 2007|date=29 May 2006|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|location=Tirupati, India}}</ref>

The Kancheepuram Saree shade known as MS Blue was named after her<ref>{{cite news|title=The lure of the Kanchi silk|url=http://www.hindu.com/fr/2004/11/05/stories/2004110503240800.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041107020514/http://www.hindu.com/fr/2004/11/05/stories/2004110503240800.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 November 2004|date=5 November 2004|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|location=India}}</ref> by the well known Congress party member and philanthropist, Sri Muthu Chettiyar when they met at the residence of Sri R. Aiyadurai and Smt. Thangam Aiyadurai at Lady Desikachari Road, Madras, who were close friends of MS and Sadasivam.

A commemorative postage stamp on her was issued on 18-December-2005.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indiapost.gov.in/Stamps2005.aspx|title=Stamps – 2005|publisher=Department of Posts, Indian government|access-date=2 August 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730115103/http://www.indiapost.gov.in/Stamps2005.aspx|archive-date=30 July 2013}}</ref>
United Nations decided to issue stamp to mark  birth centenary M.S. Subbulakshmi,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/un-to-issue-stamp-to-mark-ms-subbulakshmis-birth-centenary/article8978951.ece?homepage=true |title=U.N. to issue stamp to mark M.S. Subbulakshmi's birth centenary |newspaper=The Hindu |date=12 August 2016 |access-date=13 November 2016}}</ref>
She was bestowed with enormous prize moneys with these awards, most of which she donated to charity. She has given more than 200 charity concerts and raised well over Rs. 10,000,000. She was awarded honorary degrees from several Universities. She was an ardent devotee of [[Kanchi Mahaswamigal]] and she rendered his composition "Maithreem Bhajatha" (O World! Cultivate peace) in her concert at the UN in 1966. She made a 20-minute recording of "Venkatesa Suprabhatam" for [[HMV]], the royalty from which goes to the Veda Patasala run by the Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam.<ref>{{cite news|title=Pages ago – Singing for Bapu, Jawaharlal and Paramacharya|url=http://www.thehindu.com/arts/article968377.ece|newspaper=The Hindu|date=22 December 2010|location=India}}</ref> She donated many of the royalties on several best sold records to many charity organisations.

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* M.S. Subbulaksmi, the Voice Divine (79 pages) by V. Gangadhar.
* MS – A Life in Music, [[T. J. S. George]]. 2004, HarperCollins. {{ISBN|978-81-7223-527-7}}
* {{citation | magazine=[[Frontline (magazine)|Frontline]] | title=Cover Story: The M.S. phenomenon | author=Gowri Ramnarayan | volume=21 | issue=26 | date=18–31 Dec 2004 | url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2126/stories/20041231006400900.htm | url-status=usurped | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091129195704/http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2126/stories/20041231006400900.htm | archive-date=29 November 2009 | df=dmy-all }}
* MS & Radha – Saga of Steadfast Devotion – by Gowri Ramnarayan – http://www.msstribute.org/
* Of Gifted Voice, The Life and Art of M.S. Subbulakshmi [[Keshav Desiraju]] Harper Collins. {{ISBN|978-93-9032-754-6}}

== External links ==



* {{cite web|url=http://worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com/worldmusic/view/page.basic/artist/content.artist/ms_subbulakshmi |title=Artists: M.S.Subbulakshmi, Nat Geo Music |publisher=National Geographic Society |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061114021036/http://worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com/worldmusic/view/page.basic/artist/content.artist/ms_subbulakshmi |archive-date=14 November 2006 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120716230019/http://www.rmaf.org.ph/Awardees/Biography/BiographySubbulakshmiMon.htm Biography at the official site of Ramon Magsaysay award]
* {{IMDb name|id=0836910|name=M.S. Subbulakshmi}}
* [https://dsal.uchicago.edu/images/hensley/hensley_search.html?depth=details&id=m002 Photo of MS, Sadhasivam and Ellis R. Dungan]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040712150607/http://www.hindu.com/mag/2004/06/20/stories/2004062000010100.htm M.S. Subbulakshmi: Portraits of a diva  – The Hindu]

{{Bharat Ratna}}
{{Padma Vibhushan Awards}}
{{PadmaBhushanAwardRecipients 1954–59}}
{{SangeetNatakAkademiFellowship}}
{{RMA winners of India}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Subbulakshmi, M S}}
[[Category:1916 births]]
[[Category:2004 deaths]]
[[Category:Women Carnatic singers]]
[[Category:Carnatic singers]]
[[Category:Tamil singers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian actresses]]
[[Category:Tamil actresses]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Bharat Ratna]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in arts]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in arts]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]]
[[Category:Ramon Magsaysay Award winners]]
[[Category:Indian women classical singers]]
[[Category:Actresses in Tamil cinema]]
[[Category:Musicians from Madurai]]
[[Category:Sanskrit-language singers]]
[[Category:Sangeetha Kalanidhi recipients]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian singers]]
[[Category:Singers from Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Actresses from Madurai]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women singers]]
[[Category:Women musicians from Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship]]