Lalitha Sivakumar Biography 
Lalitha Sivakumar is an Indian Carnatic musician from Tamil Nadu, who was born into a family with rich musical traditions in Palakkad, and later married to a musical family of Chennai. She is the daughter of Mridangam maestro Palghat Mani Iyer and daughter-in-law of leading Carnatic vocalist, the late D. K. Pattammal. Noted Mridangist T. R. Rajamani and violinist T. R. Rajaram are her brothers. She is the mother of prominent Carnatic vocalist Nithyashree Mahadevan and grandmother of Lavanya Sundararaman. Thus she is linked to many prominent Carnatic musicians of Kerala and Tamil Nadu in the 20th century.
Lalitha Sivakumar has musical roots in Kerala. Yet most of the time she spent in Chennai where she was married to a musical family, and her career as a musician and vocalist groomed after that. She is the daughter of Mridangam maestro Palghat Mani Iyer, one of the foremost musicians and the first mridangist to win the Sangeetha Kalanidhi and Padmabhushan awards. When she reached 18, she married I. Sivakumar, son of D. K. Pattammal and got settled in Chennai. The day after the wedding, she became a disciple of her mother-in-law, the legendary D. K. Pattammal.
She started accompanying the legendary singer for her music concerts, and also provided vocal support. Later she trained her daughter Nithyashree Mahadevan and granddaughter Lavanya Sundararaman, who are now established Carnatic artists of present generation. Lalitha Sivakumar is mostly known for accompanying D. K. Pattammal. Yet she has given solo concerts also, and trains numerous students. She directly gives advanced Carnatic vocal training to the students. She is also known as a composer. She has served as a judge for several Carnatic and Devotional Music competitions held across India.
Published: February 18, 2019
Updated: February 18, 2019
