Lalgudi Jayaraman Biography 
Lalgudi Jayaraman was a famous carnatic violinist, vocalist and composer. Lalgudi G.J.R.Krishnan and Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi are his children. Harikatha exponents Vishaka Hari, Sangeetha and Shiromani Saketharaman and playback singer Bombay Jayashri Ramnath were his disciples. He was born in the lineage of a disciple of the saint musician Thyagaraja. He has received numerous awards and honours among which Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, highest honour given to artists of Indian citizenship needs special mention. He won National Film Award for Best Music Direction for the movie - Sringaram in 2006.
Lalgudi was born on September 17, 1930 in Chennai. He got initial training from his father, V R Gopala Iyer. At the age of 12, he started his musical career as an accompanying violinist. It gave him new experiences in musical world. He expanded the style of violin playing by introducing a unique style that came to be known as 'Lalgudi Bani'. He has composed several 'kritis', 'tillanas' and 'varnams' and dance compositions based on Indian ragas. He beautifully blended together bhava, rhythm and ragas by adding lyrical beauty giving new compositions in Lalgudi style.
He has accompanied great vocalists of 20th century – Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, K. V. Narayanaswamy, Maharajapuram Santhanam, D. K. Jayaraman, T. V. Sankaranarayanan, G. N. Balasubramaniam, Madurai Mani Iyer, Voleti Venkateswarulu, Nedunuri Krishnamurthy, T. N. Seshagopalan and M. Balamuralikrishna. He also introduced a new concept of musical ensemble with violin, flute and veena in 1966 and has toured in many foreign countries.
Throughout his life he has received numerous awards including - 'Nada Vidya Tilaka' by Music Lovers’ Association of Lalgudi in 1963, 'Padma Shri ‘ in 1972, 'Nada Vidya Rathnakara' by East West Exchange in New York, Sangeetha Natak Academy award in 1979, 'Vadya Sangeetha Kalaratna' by Bharathi Society, 'Sangeetha Choodamani' by Federation of Music Sabhas Chennai in 1972 and State Vidwan of Tamil Nadu by the Government of Tamil Nadu.
Published: N/A
Updated: January 07, 2014
