Kalpakam Swaminathan Biography 
Kalpakam Swaminathan was an acclaimed Carnatic musician from Sethalapathy of Tamil Nadu known as a Veena artist. She was an expert in Dikshithar's compositions and she followed Thanjavur baani or tradition. She was a recipient of highest award of excellence in arts given by Tamil Nadu government – Kalaimamani, apart from numerous honours including Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. She passed away on 6 April 2011 aged 89. An outstanding exponent of Veena, she is survived by her daughter-in-law, grandson and his family. She was a simple person, a fabulous artiste and a dedicated teacher who owned numerous disciples. Among her students, the prominent ones are Nirmala Rajasekar, L. Ramakrishnan, V. Hemalatha and Vijayalakshmi Viswanathan.
Kalpakam Swaminathan was born on 15 August 1922 in Sethalapathi village in the Tiruvarur district of Tamil Nadu. She was initiated to the world of music at the age of 8 by her mother Abhayambal. Later she studied under exponents including Musiri Subramania Iyer, Tiger Varadachariar and Mysore Vasudevachar. She followed Thanjavur style for playing Veena and was an exponent of Muthuswami Dikshitar's compositions as well as Tyagaraja vibhakti series. She has also done concerts with Chitraveena exponent Budalur Krishnamurthy Shastrigal. It was her guru Tiger Varadachariar who brought her to teaching profession by inducting her to Kalakshetra where she worked during 1940s and 1950s. She was hailed as ‘Dikshitarini’ by none other than her Guru Musiri Subramania Iyer.
In 1964 she joined Tamil Nadu Government Music College as a music teacher. She retired in the year 1980. Later she continued her professional career as a teacher as well a performer. During her later years she lived with her daughter-in law Mangalam, who is also a Carnatic vocalist. She was active as a teacher and performer a few months ago till her death. She dedicated over eight decades to veena playing and teaching. The artist known for her simplicity and modesty believed that the art was always bigger than the artist.
Published: N/A
Updated: January 28, 2016
