MS Subbulakshmi Birth Anniversary: Lesser Known Facts Of This Carnatic Singer
Today being the birth anniversary of legendary Carnatic singer MS Subbulakshmi, we are here with a few lesser known facts of this music exponent.
MS Subbulakshmi’s grandmother was a violinist and her mother was also a singer being a regular stage performer. So, music is in her genes and made her turn into a legendary singer!
MS Subbulakshmi’s full name is Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi and she was fondly called as Kunjamma or Kunju by her family members.
MS Subbulakshmi was just 10 years old when she gave her first-ever public performance. She sang along with her mother before hundreds of people at Sethupati School.
At the age of 11, she gave her first stage performance at Triuchirappalli’s famous Rockfort Temple and at the age of 13, she performed at Madras Music Academy.
MS Subbulakshmi was the first woman to receive the prestigious Sangeetha Kalanidhi from Chennai Music Academy in 1968.
She was also the first Indian to receive the honourable Ramon Magsaysay Award which is known as Asia's Nobel Prize for public service. Along with these prestigious awards, MS Subbalakshmi also received India's highest civilian honour 'The Bharat Ratna'.
MS Subbulakshmi also went to Coast Tour of USA to raise the funds for Hindu temples in New York and Pittsburgh.
In 1966, MS Subbulakshmi was the first Indian to perform at United Nations General Assembly.
Along with singing, she also acted in a few Tamil movies like Sevasadanam, Sakuntalai, Savithiri, Meera, and 1000 Thalai Vaangi Apoorva Chinthamani. Coming to Hindi, she acted in the Meerabai movie which was released in 1947.
A few of her famous compositions are Hanuman Chalisa, Kurai OndrumIllai and Bhajagovindam.
After the demise of her husband Kalki Sadasivam in 1997, MS Subbulakshmi stopped all her public performances.