Paravai Muniyamma

Paravai Muniyamma Biography

Paravai Muniyamma is a Tamil folk singer who also plays supporting roles for Tamil movies. Very often she does cameo roles for films. She crooned the chartbuster song – Singampola for the blockbuster hit Dhool. The movie also marked her acting debut and made her extremely popular. Her delightful cameo role also garnered her cult status. Since then she is regular in Tamil films and has played grandmother kind of roles in more than 50 films. She has also received offers from Television industry. A gifted folk singer, she has done more than 2,000 stage performances till now. She regularly performs in temple festivals and has also performed in many foreign countries.

In 2015 she came to limelight when a Tamil magazine published the extreme poor condition of this singer-actress. She was leading a life in penury and was not able to afford even the cost of her medicines. Later many celebrities came forward to help her, and Chief Minister Jayalalithaa provided her Rs six lakh financial aid and Rs 6000 as monthly pension.   

Her real name is Muniyamma Karuppiah. She was born in Madurai in 1943. She first stepped into Tiruchi's All India Radio station in the early 1980s. S. Perumal Konar, a folk artiste was her mentor. She also performed regularly in temple festivals. `Naadu summa kidanthalum kidakkum', written by Joseph of Kalladipatti earned her recognition and gave her the first break to silver screen. She took the celluloid world by storm by the folk number, `Madurai Veeran Thaane' for Dhool. She is regular in several cookery shows on TV with her brand of traditional recipes. She played a bird astrologer in the movie - Sirpi. Her voice has rejuvenated the folk appeal in the film industry in the recent times.

On 29 March 2020, Muniyamma died in her Madurai residence.

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Updated: March 29, 2020