https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Lalita_VenkatramLalita Venkatram - Revision history2026-08-01T01:48:10ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Lalita_Venkatram&diff=511775&oldid=prevVincentOFarrell at 01:56, 30 December 20252025-12-30T01:56:30Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{short description|Indian singer}}<br />
{{Infobox person<br />
| name = Lalita Venkatram<br />
| image = LalitaVenkatram1939b.png<br />
| alt = A young South Asian woman, dark hair parted center and dressed back to nape; wearing a light-colored sari<br />
| caption = Lalita Venkatram, from a 1939 issue of ''The Indian Listener''<br />
| other_names = Lalita Venkataram, Lalitha Venkataraman<br />
| birth_name = <br />
| birth_date = 1909<br />
| birth_place = Thiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu<br />
| death_date = 1992<br />
| death_place = <br />
| occupation = Singer, music educator<br />
| years_active = <br />
| known_for = <br />
| notable_works = <br />
| spouse(s) = <br />
| relatives = <br />
}}<br />
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'''Lalita Venkatram''' (1909 – 1992), also credited as '''Lalita Venkataram''' or '''Lalitha Venkataraman''', was an Indian [[List of Carnatic singers|Carnatic singer]] and [[veena]] player. She is credited as ''the first playback singer in [[Tamil cinema]]'' and ''the first Carnatic musician to be featured on [[All India Radio]], Bombay''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Sriram|first=Krishnan|title=The First Playback Voice of Tamil Cinema|url=https://theverandahclub.com/article/the-first-playback-voice-of-tamil-cinema-303|access-date=2021-11-21|website=The Verandah Club|language=en}}</ref><br />
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== Early life ==<br />
Venkatram was born in [[Tiruvannamalai|Thiruvannamalai]], [[Tamil Nadu]], the daughter of Manavasi V. Ramaswamy Iyer and Subbalakshmi Ramaswami. Her father was a public works engineer and a composer.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Making of the Saranagati Song|url=https://archive.arunachala.org/docs/saranagati/|access-date=2021-11-21|website=Arunachala Ashrama, The Archives}}</ref><br />
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== Career ==<br />
Venkatram gave concerts in India and Ceylon, singing and accompanying herself on veena. She gave a benefit performance in Colombo after the [[1935 Quetta earthquake]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=23 January 1937|title=Mrs. Lalita Venkatram|page=3|work=The Bombay Chronicle|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.granth.12061/page/n3/mode/2up?q=Lalita+Venkatram|access-date=November 21, 2021|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> She was the first Carnatic singer to be heard on All India Radio, Bombay, because she sang on the station's first broadcast in 1933.<ref name=":0" /> She provided singing vocals for an actress in [[A. V. Meiyappan]]'s ''[[Nandakumar (film)|Nandakumar]]'' (1938),<ref>{{Cite news|last=Kumar|first=S. r Ashok|date=2020-07-23|title=Chronicling the life of movie mogul AV Meiyappan|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/chronicling-the-life-of-movie-mogul-av-meiyappan/article32173768.ece|access-date=2021-11-21|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> becoming the first playback singer in a Tamil film.<ref name=":0" /> She continued giving concerts and performing on All India Radio into the late 1940s.<ref>{{Cite news|date=7 February 1937|title=Grand Variety Entertainment|page=33|work=The Bombay Chronicle|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.granth.13533/page/30/mode/2up?q=Lalita+Venkatram|access-date=November 21, 2021|via=Internet Archive}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=2 May 1945|title=Andhra Mahasabha Celebrations|page=3|work=The Bombay Chronicle|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.granth.11372/page/1/mode/2up?q=Lalita+Venkatram|access-date=November 21, 2021|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=|first=|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dG3mDwAAQBAJ&dq=Lalita+Venkatram+veena&pg=PA53|title=The Indian Listener: Vol. XIII. No. 15: Madras 1|date=1948-08-07|publisher=All India Radio (AIR), New Delhi|pages=53|language=en}}</ref><br />
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Venkatram taught music students in Bombay after she retired from performing.<ref name=":0" /> One of her successful students was singer and composer [[Shankar Mahadevan]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Shankar Mahadevan|url=https://www.kennedy-center.org/artists/m/ma-mn/shankar-mahadevan/|access-date=2021-11-21|website=Kennedy Center|language=en}}</ref><br />
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== Personal life ==<br />
She married K. S. Venkatram. She lived in Bombay and had five children, including singer Kalyani Ramdas. Venkatram died in 1992. One of her grandchildren, Krishna Ramdas, is a professional [[tabla]] player.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Krishna Ramdas TABLA|url=https://krisram.webs.com/|access-date=2021-11-21|website=Krishna Ramdas TABLA|archive-date=2021-11-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211121174232/https://krisram.webs.com/|url-status=dead}}</ref><br />
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== References ==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
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== External links ==<br />
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* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKPD3ADNHIw A recording of Lalita Venkatram singing], on YouTube<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Venkatram, Lalita}}<br />
[[Category:1909 births]]<br />
[[Category:1992 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:Indian women singers]]<br />
[[Category:Carnatic musicians]]<br />
[[Category:Musicians from Tamil Nadu]]<br />
[[Category:Indian women playback singers]]<br />
[[Category:Veena players]]</div>VincentOFarrell